Yet more of what I'm reading about A.I., a great mixed-reality TV show, and a great new music newsletter

Roundup 04/24/2023

Housekeeping note: I reviewed Ben Smith’s book Traffic: Genius, Rivalry, and Delusion in the Billion-Dollar Race to Go Viral for The Washington Post last week. The book is a history of Gawker and Buzzfeed and a portrait of the media scene of the 2010s; you can read my review here.

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. This week I’ve got:

• another roundup of interesting and informative essays and threads about A.I.;

• an incredibly funny mixed-reality TV show; and

• a great new newsletter from one of my favorite music writers.

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. 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.

Now, the roundup. First, as always, a dispatch from the future: