Books, shows, apps: Some recommendations for winter 2023
While our semiannual holiday recommendation lists focus on books, this year we asked for a bonus/ wildcard pick as well — of any media type — so you’ll also find some TV shows, movies, podcasts, games, and apps in here. The resulting list spans everything from crossword puzzles and magic shows to code-editing apps that integrate LLMs to many must-watch shows for your TV queues.
You can learn a lot about a culture through its perennial passions: For instance, science and science-fiction genres have strong showings on our lists every time. Meanwhile, repeat book recommendations this year include Martha Wells’s The Murderbot Diaries series, and J. Storrs Hall’s investigation of tech stagnation Where Is My Flying Car? Repeats recurring from past year lists include Ananyo Bhattacharya’s biography of John von Neumann, The Man from the Future; David Deutsch’s The Beginning of Infinity; Elena Ferrante’s Neapolitan quartet (My Brilliant Friend and so on); Cixin Liu’s Three Body Problem trilogy; Emily St. John Mandel’s Station Eleven; Andy Weir’s space thriller Project Hail Mary; and Gabrielle Zevin’s novel about love in the time of gaming: Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow… You can find more recommendations in our summer reading list (which also includes games) — and in these lists from seasons past: winter 2022, summer 2022, summer 2019 (which also included games, tv shows, and movies), winter 2019, winter 2018, summer 2017, winter 2017, winter 2016.
Bonus recommendations: We also just published a list of the books we curated for the giveaway library at our second annual a16z crypto Founders Summit (you can find the inaugural list from 2022 here); the list also includes personal “staff picks” notes for some of the books this year. Finally, multiple a16z crypto team members wrote books this past year! You can order these upcoming books now at the links below:
- a16z general partner and a16z crypto founding partner Chris Dixon’s Read Write Own: Building the Next Era of the Internet (Random House, January 30 in the U.S.; Cornerstone, February 1 in the U.K.)
- a16z crypto research partner and Harvard Business School professor Scott Duke Kominers and Steve Kaczynski’s The Everything Token: How NFTs and Web3 Will Transform the Way We Buy, Sell, and Create (Portfolio, January 23)
Now, onto various a16z crypto team member recs for this winter 2023…
…from Michael Blau, deal team
📺 Derek DelGaudio’s “In & Of Itself” [Hulu]
“A recording of DelGaudio’s live magic show ‘In & Of Itself’ from its NYC run. Derek is an incredible storyteller and illusionist; this show will blow your mind. If I say anymore, it will ruin it.”
📺 David Blaine’s “Real or Magic” & “Beyond Magic” [Apple TV; Youtube]
Two of the most incredible magic TV specials of all time.
[Editors’ note: See also this explanation, and magic trick, from magician Michael Blau!]
…from Dan Boneh, research
📚 Ananyo Bhattacharya’s The Man from the Future: The Visionary Life of John von Neumann [W. W. Norton]
“A wonderful biography of John von Neumann. He contributed key results to an astonishing number of fields. The book describes his contributions and their impact. Beyond the biography, it is a nice survey of the many areas of science that von Neumann touched.”
…from Joseph Bonneau, research team
📚 J. Storrs Hall’s Where Is My Flying Car? [Stripe Press]
“Provides an entertaining look at past technological optimism, especially around flying cars, and what went wrong.”
…from Sam Broner, deal team
📚 Greg Egan’s Diaspora [Night Shade Books]
Explores a post-human future where disembodied AIs are born and live in a simulated reality and occasionally interact with biological humans on Earth. The opening sequence explaining the birth of a new AI entity has stuck with me during the intelligent agent and AGI wave we’re experiencing today. Diaspora is hard sci-fi, so the justifications and explanations feel grounded in a satisfyingly possible reality.
📱 Cursor app [cursor.sh]
“A new code editor that integrates LLMs natively. You can ask it to reorganize your code, implement a method, or write API calls. New features seem to come out weekly. As an investor, I don’t always have time to write code anymore. But Cursor makes it fun and easy to jump back into tinkering on old projects or programming with new SDKs and languages. Even though I mostly use it for small projects, it would be equally as helpful for projects of all scales.”
…from Pyrs Carvolth, go-to-market team
📚 Chris Voss’s Never Split the Difference: Negotiating As If Your Life Depended On It [Harper Business]
“Tells you the proper tactics to navigate and win negotiations — personal or professional. I read it annually.”
📚 Joan Didion’s Slouching Towards Bethlehem [Farrar, Straus and Giroux]
“The chapter ‘Goodbye to All That’ is deeply introspective, about seizing the moment and enjoying where you are.”
…from Sonal Chokshi, editorial team
📺 David Goyer’s Foundation [Apple TV]
“I’m in awe of how Goyer and his collaborators took a massive galactic empire-sweeping narrative that plays out across many eons in the future… and made it so very human. In fact, the show is very relatable, and also extremely relevant, to the present. What’s especially impressive to me, though, is how they were able to bring the past into the present, since Foundation is based on Asimov’s sci-fi series from the 1940s: This was no small feat given that Asimov’s books inspired filmmakers and films from Star Wars to Dune — movies which have not only dominated, but over-saturated, our sci-fi culture with visual and verbal references. Goyer et al were able to make this work feel SO fresh, both visually and narratively, by ‘interrogating the text’ for its essence and then reinterpreting and extending it in their own ways. Goyer’s introduction of a ‘genetic dynasty’ was also particularly clever in providing visual (and emotional) continuity. Meanwhile, Asimov’s concept of ‘psychohistory’ feels as relevant as ever given battles today between progress, power, and history. Season one took a few episodes to set the scene and warm up but once it did my god it was SO good, and season two was even better — especially in the individual arcs and emotional moments that played out against such massive scales in space and time. Yay that season three is coming!”
📺 Michael Begler’s Perry Mason [HBO]
“I absolutely loved this recent remake from showrunner Begler (and producers Team Downey) for its nostalgia without and within: I read every single one of these books as a kid, patiently checking out/ requesting/ waiting on each copy from a broad network of libraries (pre-internet). I crave good ole fashioned mystery stories (which is what Veronica Mars was heading to be post season 4; and what Knives Out 1 was); both seasons really delivered there. I really liked that season one simply ‘is what it is’ — no crazy bells and whistles — and that it had an authentic (not campy) noir aesthetic. Season two really delivered on character development, costume design, acting… all of it! I’m deeply sad that the show wasn’t renewed for another season; what a travesty! (Yet another reason we need more ways to fund creatives and creativity at scale.) Still, it is definitely worth watching as the payoffs are in there.”
📺 Christopher Storer & Joanna Calo’s The Bear [FX/ Hulu]
“It’s rare that I like a show that established critics also like — such critic picks are usually an anti-heuristic for me — but The Bear from creator Storer and co-showrunner Calo (and my favorite director — and executive producer of this show — Hiro Murai) is so damn good. It’s hard to describe or pinpoint exactly WHAT makes this show so good, but I’m going to partly pin it on ‘human striving against all odds’ (given the tough restaurant business, external conflicts, internal battles, and more). There are so many memorable vignettes in this show — from something darkly funny (no spoilers!) that happens at a kid’s birthday party in season one episode four; to the family holiday dinner scene in season two episode six (definitely try watching that one during your own holiday dinners for max effect;).”
📺 Graham Yost’s Silo [Apple TV]/ Hugh Howey’s Silo series [HarperCollins]
“I devoured this show so fast, and then picked up the books right after since I couldn’t wait to find out what happens next while waiting for the next seasons. I’m also a longtime Rebecca Ferguson fan, and she is sublime as the protagonist in this; and her range is so impressive: from uber-glamorous (remember the one-shoulder yellow satin dress designed by Joanna Johnston for the opera scene in Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation??) to hard-boiled (almost literally!) boiler-room engineer and sheriff in Silo. And the silo itself — with its winding stairs, levels, and more — is so gripping as a metaphor that goes far beyond, well, a silo.”
🎥 Celine Song’s Past Lives [A24]
“This was probably the BEST movie I saw this year (well, besides Oppenheimer in 70 mm IMAX;) Past Lives puts forth some very basic views on love as a simple function of proximity. But it’s not so simple: the real art of the film is in the details it subtly shows vs. overtly dialogues: hearing accents shifting when code-switching between cultures (one that popped out to me was how she greeted her husband-to-be at the writer’s retreat); the short walks to and back from the waiting Uber at the very end; more. This movie was so unaffected and so real — it didn’t feel like it was trying to make you feel anything; you just did. It was heartbreaking in both mundane and profound ways, yet not overdone: I found it to be so gently immersive, like waves lapping at your feet, softly welcoming you into a bigger story — if you’re willing.”
📺 Lang Fisher and Mindy Kaling’s Never Have I Ever [Netflix]
“I still can’t believe this show exists on U.S. television today — having been born and raised in this country, and never seeing anything like it til now! Because: Never have I ever… seen a show that depicts ABCD culture without making it only about identity. It’s a coming-of-age story for everyone, since the heart of the show transcends all ages and cultures — focusing on family, friends, and navigating messy feelings. The show is well orchestrated, bite-sized, well-paced — yet remains a very nuanced and layered telling across four seasons (this summer was the last installment). I just watched the whole thing again continuously and it gets better and better on every rewatch.”
🎮 Playdate [play.date]
“I was on the waitlist for this from the moment it was announced, but only received my Playdate this year (finally!). It’s a pocket- and purse-sized handheld gaming device — with vintage-looking black-and-white screen, and a manual crank that functions as a controller for many of the games — made by Panic and designed with Teenage Engineering. I adore my Playdate not only because it’s so bright and cute and nostalgia-inducing, but because it has brought me back to the joys of simple, slow, non-complex gaming… Not to mention cool new game mechanics due to the crank. But the thing I like best about it is it lets games feel ephemeral (like they were for kids like me who would swap many cartridges or play many different games at different arcades) — meant to be experienced just a few times, and then never again.”
…from Jay Drain Jr., deal team
📚 Andy Weir’s Project Hail Mary [Ballantine]
“There aren’t many hard science fiction books better than Project Hail Mary. Intergalactic travel, astrophysics, chemistry, mechanical engineering, and the preservation of humanity. What more could you ask for?”
🎥 Celine Song’s Past Lives [A24]
“My favorite film of 2023. (Sorry, Oppenheimer.) It is the most raw, beautiful depiction of friendship, love, and longing I’ve seen on film in a long time. The lead actress and actor deliver world class performance, the writing is perfect, and the film is so visually stunning it makes New York City seem even more awe-inspiring than it already is. Several scenes stuck with me long, long after I left the theater.”
…from Adina Fischer, network operations team
🎧 Camilla Russo’s The Defiant podcast [thedefiant.io]
“Makes complicated web3 concepts simple to understand. It also helps keep me up to date with new web3 launches.”
…from Emily Graff, CSS program team
📚 Witold Szablowski’s What’s Cooking in the Kremlin: From Rasputin to Putin, How Russia Built an Empire With a Knife and Fork [Penguin]
“This Polish author speaks with people who worked in Tsar and Kremlin kitchens. It might seem like a strange topic, but he tells the stories of survivors of famines and wars — an interesting lens through which to look at Russia’s last 100 years and to understand the complex relationship between power and food. Weird fact: Putin’s grandfather really did cook for Lenin and Stalin.”
…from Robert Hackett, editorial team
📚 Benjamín Labatut’s When We Cease to Understand the World [New York Review]
“Labatut blurs the line between fiction and non-fiction, and in so doing he brings the reader so near the ecstasy — and misery — of scientific discovery. My favorite chapter recounts the strange tale of the eccentric French mathematician and anarchist hermit Alexander Grothendieck who revolutionized mathematics much as Einstein did for physics. Labatut masterfully melds Grothendieck’s biography with that of his enigmatic disciple Shinichi Mochizuki, the Japanese mathematician whose 2012 proof of the so-called abc conjecture in number theory remains in question.”
📱 Brilliant app [brilliant.org]
“Offers bite-sized lessons in math, science, computer programming and other subjects. I’m currently using it to re-study calculus. (I just finished the lesson on Gabriel’s horn, a paradoxical 3D shape that has finite volume and infinite surface area.) Compared to the many empty-calorie ways I could be using my phone, I consider Brilliant to be pure nutrition.”
…from Andy Hall, research
📚 Christina Thompson’s Sea People: The Puzzle of Polynesia [Harper]
“Two themes to this book will resonate with the crypto community. First, human ingenuity and courage. The book is about the astonishing history of the settlement of Polynesia, which required sailing vast distances without modern technology. And second, the scientific process and its steady development. The book chronicles the whole sequence of theories — most of which were deeply flawed — that people came up with to explain how people had traveled to these remote Pacific islands. Over time, often pushed forward by Polynesian researchers themselves, and aided by developments like genetics and radiocarbon dating, we’ve been able to learn more and more about the origins of these fascinating islands.”
…from Mason Hall, deal team
📚 David Grann’s The Wager: A Tale of Shipwreck, Mutiny and Murder [Doubleday]
“The author (also of Killers of the Flower Moon fame) draws on detailed diaries to provide an engaging account of the last voyage of The Wager, part of a small British squadron chasing Spanish galleons round the world’s oceans in the middle of the 18th century. This book captures the human spirit’s incredible ability to survive, against all odds, through shipwrecks, scurvy, mutiny, and ferocious storms. Reading this book makes you grateful for the things that make us human — the good and the bad.”
📺 Joe Bennett & Charles Huettner’s Scavengers Reign [Max]
“An animated sci-fi show where an alien planet is pretty much the main character. The flora and fauna are both beautiful and terror-inducing. It’s a trance-like, ethereal experience with an incredible ending, and it’s on my shortlist for TV show of the year.”
…from Liz Harkavy, deal team
📚 Cixin Liu’s Remembrance of Earth’s Past (Three-Body) trilogy [Tor]
“The series centers around an alien civilization and humanity’s response to it, but it also deeply explores the implications of relevant cutting-edge scientific concepts. As the story progresses from the first book through The Dark Forest to Death’s End, readers are exposed to thought-provoking scenarios that question the ethical boundaries and both the potential consequences of technological progress and immediate consequences of technological decline.”
📚 Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone’s “This Is How You Lose the Time War” [Saga Press]
“A novella that unfolds through the exchange of letters between two time-traveling agents from rival factions. The story delves into how technology can both divide and unite, and it explores the intricate dynamics of communication and connection in a technologically advanced setting.”
…from Bill Hinman, policy team
📚 Hans Fallada’s Every Man Dies Alone [Melville House]
Based on the true story of a husband and wife who became part of the German resistance in Berlin. Their courage and the love they found for each other by acting with purpose moved me deeply.
…from Maggie Hsu, go-to-market team
🗞️ The FLUX Review newsletter [Substack]
“Written by a self-described ‘ragtag band of systems thinkers’, this dense and wide-ranging newsletter offers a mix of news, insights, thought experiments, and mental models. Recent topics include how to define a problem solving process, the distinction between attention and awareness, and potential government responses to the growth of web3.”
…from Scott Duke Kominers, research team
📚 Tiago Forte’s Building a Second Brain: A Proven Method to Organize Your Digital Life and Unlock Your Creative Potential [Atria]
“In a world in which every day is a firehose of content, Forte presents a framework for optimizing information capture and processing for maximum creative value. The book is both theory and practical guide – one chapter even works through the micro-details of your digital organizer flow. Particularly compatible and complementary with David Allen’s Getting Things Done system. (Incidentally, I think of Getting Things Done by David Allen as the perfect all-ages holiday gift.)”
📚 Soji Shimada’s The Tokyo Zodiac Murders [Pushkin Vertigo]
“An utterly surreal honkaku mystery novel that is as gripping as it is puzzling. Despite what is a seemingly (and increasingly) bizarre series of murders, the solution yields to logic – the challenge, though, is whether you can put the pieces together properly.”
📚 Susanna Clarke’s Piranesi [Bloomsbury]
“Clarke’s second masterpiece immerses you in a seemingly infinite labyrinth of flooded hallways and catacombs, where the reader must wonder whether the namesake narrator Piranesi is a fantastical creature, a figment of his own imagination, or something other entirely. Part myth, part mystery — and perhaps even a small part prophecy. (Clarke’s magical-realist magnum opus Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell was featured on not one but two people’s lists this past summer, including mine.)”
📚 Brian Smith & Mike Raicht Tree Mail [Dark Horse Comics]
“A heartwarming graphic novel about the unquenchable entrepreneurial spirit of a frog trying to succeed in a bird’s world.”
🎲 John Hawksley’s 49 Incredible Mini Crosswords [Independent]
“My longtime friend has put together a series of mini-crosswords that are perfect for family solving over the holidays. They’re surprisingly challenging given their small size – and that’s not all: spread across each chapter is a “metapuzzle” that leads you to revisit the grids you’ve solved and come to understand them in a completely new way.”
🎮 sgt_slaughtermelon’s Do You Want to Feel Something? [doyouwanttofeelsomething.com]
“One of the highlights of my year was discovering this interactive journey through the mindspace of digital artist sgt_slaughtermelon. It’s a Windows 95-themed choose-your-own-adventure-style webgame, and it’s utterly captivating — forcing you to choose between gloom and levity, all while dodging the ever-present ‘intrusive thoughts.’ (One can collect NFTs as souvenirs along the way, but that’s not a necessary part of the experience. It’s possible to turn off the NFT component and simply explore.)”
📺 Markobi’s “World Champion of Magic – FISM Winner” routine [FISM]
“Winner of the Québec 2022 Fédération Internationale des Sociétés Magiques [FISM] World Championship in card magic, Markobi’s routine is equal parts ridiculous and astounding — and it will melt your mind faster than you can say “royal flush”. (Best watched with chips.)”
📺 Tony Clark’s Balls and Rings routine [Penn & Teller: Fool Us]
“The most beautifully emotional sleight-of-hand performance I’ve ever seen, QED. (And yes, he did fool ’em!)”
…from Mike Manning, marketing team
📚 Daniel James Brown’s Facing the Mountain: A True Story of Japanese American Heroes in World War II [Viking]
“Brown’s well-researched account follows the path of several Japanese American men and their extended families during WWII. After the attack on Pearl Harbor and America’s response to it upended everything in their lives, the men overcame numerous obstacles and displayed incredible bravery in fighting for the U.S. Some risked their lives across Europe in the 442nd Regimental Combat Team even as their families were incarcerated by their own government. One man relentlessly defended his Constitutional rights against that incarceration. By the end of the book you feel like you know each man personally, and you are left with overwhelming respect for what they sacrificed in service of the greater good. A fulfilling and compelling read all the way through.”
…from Collin McCune, policy team
📚 Barbara W. Tuchman’s The Guns of August: The Outbreak of World War I [Presidio Press]
“Provides excellent context for the lead-up to WWI, some of which provides insight to current conflicts in Ukraine and Israel.”
📺 Graham Yost’s Silo [Apple TV]
“The best sci-fi show of 2023.”
…from Valeria Nikolaenko, research team
📚 Heinrich Harrer’s Seven Years in Tibet [Penguin]
“A first-hand account of one of the first Europeans to enter Tibet in the 1940s. Heinrich Harrer, a climber, lived there until the Chinese invasion in 1950 and tutored the young Dalai Lama. Harrer describes life in Lhasa with amazing attention to detail and humor. It’s a fascinating journey of a human that strives to make a positive impact to the world around him.”
…from Brian Quintenz, policy team
📚 Robert Kurson’s Shadow Divers: The True Adventure of Two Americans Who Risked Everything to Solve One of the Last Mysteries of World War II [Random House]
“An older best-seller. Deep water divers discover a sunken German U-boat off the coast of New Jersey. A story about danger, discipline and persistence.”
📚 Curtis Faith’s The Way of the Turtle: The Secret Methods that Turned Ordinary People into Legendary Traders [McGraw-Hill]
“Two legendary traders make a bet that strangers can follow their trading system with the same results. The story became the basis for the 1983 movie Trading Places.”
…from karma (Daniel Reynaud), engineering team
📚 Daniel E. Lieberman’s Exercised: Why Something We Never Evolved to Do Is Healthy and Rewarding [Pantheon]
“Dispels some common myths about fitness and exercise based on anthropological studies. There are some essential takeaways for us desk-bound masses yearning to run free.”
📺 Patrick Somerville’s Station Eleven [Max]
“A great limited series with a well-rounded story arc. This show stands out in the post-apocalyptic genre with its unique approach: it’s dark but never cynical and it presents a world without clear-cut heroes or villains. (Based on the novel Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel.)”
…from Jason Rosenthal, CSS program team
📚 Martha Wells’s All Systems Red: The Murderbot Diaries [Tordotcom]
“A series of seven sci-fi novellas chronicling the adventures of a rogue SecUnit chartered with protecting a group of annoying and often clueless humans while they explore distant planets. After hacking its own governor module, the murderous android becomes self-aware and nicknames itself “Murdberbot”. Scornful of humans, all it really wants is to be left alone long enough to figure out who it is and watch media. Adventure, hilarity, and a surprising amount of poignancy ensue.”
…from Anna Semenova, marketing team
📚 Tim Ferriss’s Tools of Titans [Houghton Mifflin Harcourt]
“I’m reading 2-3 books at a time, which helps me stay entertained and efficiently absorb information at the same time. Recently, I’ve been re-reading and taking notes on Tools of Titans and I find it helps me to push myself.”
🎲 Vlaada Chvátil’s Codenames [Czech Games Edition]
“I play this board game at least 2-3 times a week.”
…from Ross Shuel, network operations team
📚 Laurence Bergreen’s Over the Edge of the World: Magellan’s Terrifying Circumnavigation of the Globe [William Morrow]
“A gripping narrative of the first circumnavigation of the globe. It illuminates the hazards, allure, and rewards of exploration beyond the frontier of humanity’s knowledge and the unique type of leader required to get there.”
…from Arianna Simpson, investing team
📚 Gabrielle Zevin’s Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow [Knopf]
“Both the story line and the character development are super engaging, and as a result, I found myself unable to put down the book. The characters felt like some of the founders we might invest in – talents and flaws and all!”
…from Aiden Slavin, policy team
📚 David Deutsch’s The Beginning of Infinity: Explanations That Transform the World [Penguin]
“A fun, original set of explanations answering some of the deepest questions about the purpose of human societies. Reflecting on everything from multiverse theory to aesthetics, physicist David Deutsch compellingly argues that open, error-correcting, dissent-riddled societies are best placed to create explanations, solve problems, and realize the best parts of humanity. His ideas about how good explanations evolve align with thinking on the transformative benefits of decentralization.”
📚 Adam Higginbotham’s Midnight in Chernobyl: The Untold Story of the World’s Greatest Nuclear Disaster [Simon & Schuster]
“A fast-paced, nonfiction thriller about what happens when power is consolidated, critique suppressed, and science yoked to bureaucracy. If Deutsch praises open societies, Higginbotham warns about their opposite. In the Era of Stagnation, the Soviet system saw top-down, central planning fail to such an extent that the KGB resorted to turning its spy satellites on its own land to ascertain basic economic data. This ambitious, closed society stifled criticism and, ultimately, produced history’s greatest nuclear disaster.”
…from Porter Smith, network operations team
📚 Richard Feynman’s The Feynman Lectures on Physics [CalTech]
“The famous lecture series is an accessible walkthrough of the physical laws that govern everything around us. Whether describing water’s smooth appearance as ‘something like a crowd at a football game as seen from a very great distance’ or his use of a machine gun to introduce quantum mechanics, Feynman is an ideal tour guide for complicated subjects that too often remain a mystery.”
📺 Will Smith’s Slow Horses [Apple TV]
“The anti-Bond spy series: a crew of bumbling, sarcastic, and disheveled spies sent out to pasture, yet who still manage to find themselves at the center of attention.”
…from Mariano Sorgente, deal team
📚 Lyn Alden’s Broken Money: Why Our Financial System is Failing Us and How We Can Make it Better [Timestamp Press]
“Explains in a deep way how financial and monetary systems evolved and how they work. The book explains how money is created and destroyed, and the relationship between commodities, debt, and currency. It also shows us that throughout history, better money always prevails.”
…from Tim Sullivan, editorial team
📚 Elena Ferrante’s My Brilliant Friend: A Novel [Europa Editions]
“I finally got around to reading this modern classic after having been berated about it for a decade. I should not have put it off: Ferrante’s prose is compulsively readable, her characters are sharply drawn, and the details of the setting and the plot make this a captivating entry point into her work.”
📚 Martha Wells’s All Systems Red: The Murderbot Diaries [Tordotcom]
“Autonomous killer human-machine hybrid with a conscience makes its way through the galaxy developing inconvenient friendships with humans and machines alike. Each entry is a bite-sized piece of sci-fi candy.”
🎮 Arkane Austin’s Prey [Bethesda Softworks]
“An open world video game set in an alternate timeline involving aliens, simulations, body modifications, and a little horror — plus alternate endings depending on in-game choices. Immersive and hopeful about the future of humanity — if you play your cards right.”
…from Ish Verduzco, marketing team
🎧 David Senra’s Founders podcast [founderspodcast.com]
“In particular, episode #25, ‘Against the Odds: An Autobiography of James Dyson‘, is unexpectedly inspiring. One of the best motivational stories of grit, ups, downs, and a ton of determination from an underdog founder.”
…from Ali Yahya, investing team
📚 J. Storrs Hall’s Where Is My Flying Car? [Stripe Press]
“This book offers a great account of why much of the technology that was promised to us by 1960s science fiction — including flying cars — never came to pass. It goes deep into the scientific, technical, and economic causes of the apparent stagnation that started in the 70s. It makes it clear that there is a great deal of technology that we could have, if only we made the choice to have it.”
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