diff --git a/yt_dlp/extractor/curiositystream.py b/yt_dlp/extractor/curiositystream.py
index 5b76b29ff..e71b05289 100644
--- a/yt_dlp/extractor/curiositystream.py
+++ b/yt_dlp/extractor/curiositystream.py
@@ -23,6 +23,11 @@ class CuriosityStreamBaseIE(InfoExtractor):
 
     def _call_api(self, path, video_id, query=None):
         headers = {}
+        if not self._auth_token:
+            auth_cookie = self._get_cookies('https://curiositystream.com').get('auth_token')
+            if auth_cookie:
+                self.write_debug('Obtained auth_token cookie')
+                self._auth_token = cookie.value
         if self._auth_token:
             headers['X-Auth-Token'] = self._auth_token
         result = self._download_json(