The deep structures of human history, a reality comedy game show that make me hurt myself laughing, and more
Roundup 01/11/2025
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 slim, dense, erudite, unique book examining the deep trends and structures of human history from hunter-gathering to the industrial era;
a clever, strangely compelling reality comedy game show great for lazy watching that actually made me laugh out loud over and over;
four great albums from last year that I missed at the time of release.
If any of that sounds interesting--and if you want to support Read Max in its continuing mission of explaining the future to relatively normal people--please subscribe below. Subscribers get access to these weekly emails and to the comprehensive Read Max Master Lists of Good Movies to Watch and Good Books to Read--as well as preferred pricing on merchandise like the Read Max “EMAIL SUPPLY” caps. If you’re already a subscriber, thank you.
I love to hear from readers who want to recommend a cool book or movie (or whatever!) to me, or from readers who are looking for specific kinds of recommendations. Just leave a comment or drop me a line at maxread@gmail.com.
Finally, please note that I may receive a small commission if you purchase books via links in this email.
Now, the roundup:
