Show Notes
Greetings from Read Max HQ! This week’s newsletter is a video-slash-podcast-slash-Substack Live with my friend John Ganz. Among the topics discussed: * The Epstein birthday book and the unbelievably creepy tone of the messages * The “tech summit” between Silicon Valley executives and the Trump administration last week * The “A.I. Bubble”: What it is, whether it might be bursting * Why A.I. slop is bad for the soul and not art * Why old Sony electronics from when we were adolescents are good for the soul in the same way that art is You can watch above, or listen to the audio version on any of your favorite podcast platforms. A reminder: Read Max is a reader-funded endeavor. Practically speaking, what that means is that producing Read Max newsletters and associated audiovisual products is my job, and in order to do my job well, I need to make money from it, so that I can exchange it for essential goods and services such as food and housing and vintage Sony electronics. If you like the job I do--if you find my writing (and recording) enlightening or entertaining, or even if it just helps you numbly pass the time such that you can put off the anxiety that accompanies awareness of mortality--please consider becoming a paying subscriber, for the bargain price of $5, or about a beer a month.
This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit maxread.substack.com
More from Read Max
Greetings from Read Max HQ! For this week’s edition of my intermittment podcast with John Ganz (author of When the Clock Broke and proprietor of the Unpopular Front Substack) we were pleased to host Quinn Slobodian and Ben Tarnoff, authors of the new book Muskism: A Guide for the Perplexed, an exploration of Elon Musk’s ideology (such as it is) and power through the system of production and accumulation he seems intent on inaugurating. I highly recommend the book, which you can purchase here; we also discussed, among other things: * this excellent essay on Muskism and Fordism from Quinn and Ben at the Law and Political Economy blog; * Musk’s relationship to apartheid South Africa; * some interesting objections to the Muskism thesis; * how Neon Genesis: Evangelion can help us explain and understand Elon Musk. This one is free for all to listen--enjoy!--but if you find it enlightening or entertaining, please consider paying to subscribe. Only with the support of paying subscribers can I put in all the work it takes to be an independent critic and journalist--to read, research, write, edit, record, etc. etc. If you value that work, consider paying about the price of one beer a month ($5) to help it continue.
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit maxread.substack.com
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit maxread.substack.com
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit maxread.substack.com
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit maxread.substack.com