Media

Recommended Reading

• Henry George - Progress and Poverty
  timeless 19th-century book which provides a genuinely useful explanation for how wealth, capital, and labor interact. makes the case for a Land Value Tax specifically, and a tax on finite natural resources more generally.
• Elizier Yudkowsky
  viewing everything through the lens of incentives and information theory, in a very accessible format. gives one some tools to reason about why things are the way they are.
• Charles Stross - Accelerando
  a fast paced and relatively concise view of one possible future. neither explicitly utopian nor dystopian: just "what could things look like if technological trends continue" through a cyberpunk lens.
• Cory Doctorow
  vaguely cyberpunk, but often looking at one particular development (distributed manufacturing, cloning, human-level AGI) and thinking about the unexpected effects.
• Terry Pratchett
  incredible wit, good natured fun that points out some silly human tendencies without being too overt about it.
• Brandon Sanderson
  vivid storyteller and excellent world builder. my favorite is his Mistborn series.

Recommended Watching

Studio Ghibli still represents the peak of animated film, as far as i'm concerned. remarkable pacing, captivating worlds & artstyle, and adventurous. my favorites are:

• Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind
• Spirited Away

besides Ghibli i've enjoyed a few other short-running anime/films:

• Made in Abyss
  amazing character- and world-building, great artwork, and an adventure-driven -- but dark -- plot that left me contemplative.
• Nichijou
  short, hilarious and sometimes over-the-top skits which build on eachother over time. good, simple fun. it's a crowded genre but Nichijou is the best in class.
• Kill la Kill
  unbelievably over-the-top, tropey, and a bit low-budget, but Studio Trigger leans into these things and makes something that's so absurd you can't forget it.
• Madoka Magica
  deconstruction of the "magical girl" genre. starts out slow and mysterious, then accelerates through some ambitious twists as you and the characters begin to learn what's really happening in the world. watch it if you're a softie who likes bittersweet (but satisfying) endings.

cartoons:

• Bravest Warriors
  it's what you'd get if you were to squash Adventure Time into 4-5 minute episodes. witty and fast-paced humor. like Nichijou, it's simply the best in its class.

TV:

• Who's Line is it Anyway?
  peak improv. Ryan Stiles, Colin Mochrie, Wayne Brady riffing off each other and the audience week after week.
• The Expanse
  sci-fi series with a great production centered in a harsh world with a bit of everything, set off by a sudden new discovery. a bunch of players stuck in political games they don't know how to escape. it's a wonder we've made it this far.

film:

• Everything Everywhere All at Once
  an exploration of what it means if the world is a multiverse. it's not too in-your-face, leaves plenty open to interpretation which is fun if you have basic familiarity with the concept.

runners up:

• Yuru Camp
  cozy series to relax to. a laid-back story of friendship and self-discovery.
• Zombieland Saga
  it's got some likable characters, a fun theme, and a good deal of unexpected turns. given it centers around zombie popstars, you'd think it'd stand out more, but in the end it's just a well-executed slice-of-life (with great music).