Sitemap - 2024 - Read Max

Books, Movies, and Music of the year

2024: The Year in Weird and Stupid Futures

One of the best 'true-crime' books I've read in years, a gorgeous movie about sketchy archeologists, and four songs I like

Elon Musk and our other new DOGE overlords

A great "magical school" novel, a wonderfully '90s new thriller, and four tracks I've been enjoying

What Type of Guy is the alleged UHC shooter?

A good heist novel, an excellent animated movie for adults and kids, and four new songs I like

Was the UHC assassin a "pro"?

The Read Max Gift Guide 2024

This is my favorite bean recipe

An archival detective story and other links; a great, stupid action espionage TV show; and more!

People prefer A.I. art because people prefer bad art

More of what I'm reading about the election, a masterpiece "erotic thriller," and four songs I'm digging

Does Bluesky have the juice?

What I've been reading to understand the election, a pure-escapist stupid slapstick comedy, and four new tracks I like

The TikTok electorate

An easygoing hippie noir series; a fantastic, dark serial-killer movie; and an album of retro-pop bangers

What does Jeff Bezos' non-endorsement mean?

Four books to buy in this weekend's NYRB sale, a perfect and terrifying fake ghost documentary, and a perfect new fall album

Do we really need chatbots?

An extremely funny book of internet lit; a fucked-upedly scary independent horror movie; and four songs I like

How to Substack

An entertaining roundup of lost '80s paperback horror; a charming, rambling period bank-heist flick; and four new tracks I like

The future of live news online sucks

A truly creepy horror collection from a mysterious independent press, an under-appreciated Le Carré adaption, and four great new songs

Five qualities of A.I. apps

A Sebaldian exploration of great weird fiction and ghost stories, an extremely fun '90s cyberpunk anime series, and an album of gorgeous chamber folk

We're in our slop era

A great fantasy novel midway between Gabriel Garcia Marquez and Michael Swanwick; a gnarly, stylish, revenge flick; and haunting Welsh-language post-punk

Who were the bad guys in '90s Dad Thrillers?

A short, surreal, and extremely funny novel about piracy, murder, and careers; a great new libsploitation revenge-thriller action movie; and a terrific and surprising DJ set

It sure feels like Elon turned up the racism dial last month

A good contemporary spy conspiracy thriller, a wild Italian horror mystery, and four great new songs

The war over A.I. writing

A perfect hardboiled heist novel, a terrific Korean military mystery flick, and some great new songs

Telegram as an independent intelligence agency

An occult horror novel set during Argentina's dirty war, an incredible thriller about occupied France, and a great album of Japanese ambient

A guide to the streamer dipshits Trump keeps appearing with

The Read Max 'Halogencore' Guide

The man who bought Pine Bluff, Arkansas

14 "Beach Read" recommendations

What's the deal with all those weird wrong-number texts?

A terrific historical novel set in Anglo-Saxon England, a newly relevant investigative thriller, and a vibey fourth-world revelation

Why is Bitcoin even a campaign issue in 2024?

A perfectly bleak internet-native occult horror novel; a discombobulating Lynchian sci-fi epic; and a summery psych-disco album

Talking with John Ganz about J.D. Vance, Peter Thiel and the tech right

What I'm reading about J.D. Vance and Trump, an wild existentialist sci-fi sniper b-movie, and four new tracks I love

The "is Twitter real?" election

The best (??) nonfiction books of the century, a couple great neo-noirs, and a dreamy, vibey instumental album

My 25 (??) Favorite (??) Books of the 21st Century

A ripping 'Name of the Rose'-style historical mystery, a lean and fantastic martial-arts noir, and a great new mix

Is the coconut tree the most consequential dumb joke of the year?

A rich history of the Dark Ages, a great 2000s conspiracy thriller that's aged perfectly, and a quiet-weekends album

Hawk Tuah and the Zynternet

A great '90s spy thriller starring Donald Sutherland, a wild new historical novel set in Tenochtitlan, and four great new songs

My Kindle thinks I'm stupid now

A great sprawling crime saga, a strange and incredible mixed-reality documentary, and a new album of perfect indie-hyper-pop-punk

What's new in Dimension Apple?

An absurdly funny sci-fi graphic novel; two amazing new stand-up specials; and a smooth, sleazy jazz-pop record

[PODCAST] A guide to the new annoying A.I. influencer guy

A new A.I. influencer is producing some of the most criminal charts I've ever seen

LAST DAY OF SALE! A cool history of "barbarians," a new comedy about gig work and the manosphere, and a shoegaze album with an All Saints cover

Does Google know how Google works?

[PODCAST] Google's AI Overview fiasco

MEMORIAL DAY SALE! Plus: A forgotten gonzo '90s thriller with young Denzel, and a good new tick-tock about Twitter

Things the guys who have my stolen phone have texted me to try to get me to unlock it

A fascinating new book about the Bronze Age Collapse and a creepy new 45-minute masterpiece by one of my favorite horror directors

[PODCAST] OpenAI's new talking computer and Google's terrible search

The point of A.I. is to talk to a cool computer

A cool sci-fi noir with a great conceit, a strange 1980s New York urban fantasy, and a lively rock-inflected house mix

"Egg horror" and other bizarre viral recipe videos

[PODCAST] Egg Horror A.I. Recipe Videos! Cyberpunk Scam Miami! Bitcoin Freak-Enforced Mandatory 4 Non-Blondes Singalong!

One of the most haunting books I've ever read, a paranoid halogencore thriller, and more

What is A.I.-generated audio good for?

Is A.I. generated audio good for anything? (Besides shitposts)

What I'm reading about student protests, a nerdy period drama about watch-making and anarchism, and a cool Celtic folk-jazz album

One weird trick for fixing Hollywood

One weird trick for fixing Hollywood

A unique gothic horror novel, a great recent samurai flick, and a perfect Spotify playlist

What is the civil war in 'Civil War' about?

A great new Ted Chiang-ish sci-fi novel, a strange and wonderful early comedy sketch, and a Kate Bush-esque avant-folk album

Why do we use social media?

Readers recommend "apocalyptic systems thrillers" and an "American giallo" movie for fans of 'Road House'

What is "Substackism" and where does wellness fit in?

A great American spy novel; six amazing, weird gangster flicks; and vibes from Tblisi

Threads is the gas-leak social network

A fascinating book about an 18th-century "madman" and the influencing technology that tormented him, a tense Spanish thriller, and more

Should we just ban *all* social media?

The greatest compendium of conspiracies in existence, an excellent proto-Dad Thriller, and some post-vaporwave bangers

Four unpersuasive arguments against TikTok

A cool alt-history noir set in a Native American city, a great conspiracy documentary, and ... Bruce Hornsby doing Brazilian leftfield house?

'Dune: Part 2,' annotated

Pre-'Dune 2' reading, a sick Korean cop movie, and four new songs I like

Google made an A.I. so woke it drove men mad

A good new Scandinavian mystery, a le Carré-ish English political thriller,

"Dune" (the movie), annotated

An eerie, witchy '90s fantasy masterpiece; an transcendentally stupid YouTube comedy; gorgeous Irish art pop

The anti-woke hero's journey

What I'm reading about the crisis in media; a great, overlooked '90s crime thriller; and a wonderful compilation of new-sound folk covers

Massachusetts Chevy dealership's A.I. chatbot predicts Chiefs to win and also Niners to win

A great sci-fi novel about dark guilds on a moving city; an incredibly fun blaxploitation conspiracy flick; and David Sylvian on Ryuichi Sakamoto's radio show

Are "algorithms" making us boring?

A cool 2000s techno-thriller; a beautiful alt-history novel about art and architecture; and a great ambient album

Is there a 'Godzilla' of 9/11? Part Two

Music newsletters to read after Pitchfork, a sick Japanese martial-arts noir, and some songs I'm listening to

A housekeeping note about Substack and Nazis

An all-time great sci-fi story about bears, a wild nun-sex movie that makes me think of Dimes Square, and some great songs

Is there a 'Godzilla' of 9/11?

A cool Mesoamerican alt-history novel, a "good 9/11 movie" (lol), and some great singles I've been listening to

Eight predictions for 2024

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