Derek Malcolm has been covering the worlds of tech and entertainment for more than two decades.
Before coming to How-To Geek in 2025, Derek was a contributing editor and writer for the A/V and Home Theater section at Digital Trends, where he wrangled and wrote everything from what to watch on Netflix to reviews, explainers, and guides on the latest Bluetooth speakers, turntables, projectors, and other A/V gear.
Based in Toronto, Derek graduated from Humber College's Journalism program in 1999, after which he started covering the worlds of music, movies, TV, and celebrity for publications such as TV Guide, Hello! magazine, and Inside Entertainment. He then got the bug for covering tech and gadgets in 2006, when he served as editor-in-chief of Canadian tech magazine Connected for more than a decade.
An avid skier, when all the snow's gone Derek can be found at home spinning vinyl with his daughter or cheering on his favorite F1 team, McLaren.
Even as we squeeze every last drop out of the summer, HBO Max still doesn't do things in moderation when it comes to documentaries and docuseries, even if they do start blurring the line into reality-TV territory.
With this weekend's recommendations, for example, you can easily meet a Filipino dad whose hands are 20 times the size of a regular man's, jump over to Tennessee for a look at an insane weight-loss cult, then delve into true crime territory where your best friend could be your worst nightmare—the latter is my top pick this weekend.
TLC is no stranger to creating subgenre series that explore some of the world's most extraordinary humans—physically, mentally, and beyond. Most Extreme Humans is a new 10-episode entry that aired weekly on the network from June to mid-August, but recently arrived on HBO Max as a complete set for you to binge—and believe me, you will.
Each hour-long episode delves into the lives of people living with conditions so rare that some affect fewer than one in 100,000. Led only by narration, provided by British actor Alex Lanipekun (Spooks), the stories are theirs to tell as cameras follow them through their everyday lives—to consultations with their doctors and time with their families, as they make tough decisions while navigating a world that isn't made for them.
Some of the remarkable stories include 19-year-old Lalit, an Indian man with congenital hypertrichosis, a.k.a. "werewolf syndrome," which causes nearly all of his body to be covered in hair; Ecuadorian conjoined twins José Armando and José Luis; and Filipino man Mark Davidson Jacildo, whose condition, macrodactyly, enlarges his hands—one of which weighs more than 15 pounds. The stories are incredible and incredibly uplifting.
If you have a fascination with stories about religious cults and manipulative power brokers—think documentaries like HBO Max’s Bring Me the Beauties: A Model Cult that premiered a few of months ago—then this HBO Max series from 2021 will fascinate you, too.
The Way Down: God, Greed, and the Cult of Gwen Shamblin is a weird and creepy five-part investigative series that traces the life of Gwen Shamblin Lara, a registered dietitian in Memphis who, in 1986, founded the wildly popular Weigh Down Workshop, a Christian diet program that sold thinness as a path to god. But the story goes off the rails when Shamblin Lara breaks from the mainstream church to start her own, the Remnant Fellowship, where former members claim she imposed cult-like obedience and preached damnation if members gained weight.
Through five 45-minute episodes, Emmy-winning director Marina Zenovich uses some of the church’s own bizarre promotional videos, a plethora of news archive footage and long sit-down interviews with former church members and families of those it affected. Not surprisingly, Shamblin Lara and members of the church declined to participate in the series.
The series first three episodes aired in 2021, but episodes four and five came in April 2022, to update things after the May 2021 plane crash that killed the Laras.
Think you know HBO's most acclaimed docs? Name the film or series from the
clues alone.
This Emmy-winning HBO docuseries followed a real estate heir suspected in multiple
deaths. Director Andrew Jarecki captured a bombshell on a hot mic when the subject muttered to
himself in a bathroom, apparently unaware he was still being recorded. Which documentary is this?
This Emmy-winning HBO documentary, based on a Pulitzer Prize-winning book, exposed
the inner workings of a secretive religion through interviews with high-profile former members,
including a famous director who walked away after decades of involvement. What is this film?
This Emmy-winning HBO documentary series followed a fearless big-wave surfer's
obsessive quest to conquer a legendary wave off the coast of Portugal, exploring both the thrill of
the sport and the physical and emotional toll it takes. What is this series?
This Emmy-winning HBO documentary examined a massive 1999 music festival that
descended into chaos, violence, and fire, asking how an event meant to celebrate peace and community
turned into something so destructive. Which film is this?
