A sharp new book on A.I., psyops, and magic; an entertaining video essay on video stores; and more
Roundup 03/29/2026
Greetings from Read Max HQ, and welcome to our weekly roundup column, in which I pick out some worthwhile and often overlooked books, articles, movies, and music to recommend to paying subscribers. For this week’s round-up, I’ve got:
A sharp, thought-provoking new essay collection about A.I., the computer vision, the surveillance state, U.F.O. photos, psyops, and magic (and “magick”);
a link roundup featuring pieces on bureaucracy, Killers of the Flower Moon, and the sad state of Western intellectual production;
an endlessly entertaining video essay about the video store in Hollywood films in the vein of Los Angeles Plays Itself;
a video of a mouse on a blueberry;
and four tracks I’ve been listening to a lot lately.
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Now, the roundup:
