“Access to the internet is essential to modern American life,” Maria Smith explained in her March 27 talk at the Berkman Klein Center for Internet and Society at Harvard University. Job applications, school enrollments, efficient communication with doctors—all of these tasks now require reliable internet access. However, one in four Americans lives without a broadband connection in their home.

The online world is no longer a distinct world. It is an extension of our social, economic, and political lives. Internet access, however, is still often considered a luxury good in the United States. Millions of Americans have been priced out of, or entirely excluded from, the reach of modern internet networks. Maria Smith, an affiliate of Berkman Klein and the Cyberlaw Clinic, created a four-part documentary series to highlight these stark divides in connectivity, from Appalachia to San Francisco, and to uncover the complex web of political and economic forces behind them.