At The Logic, we like to stay plugged into cultural touchstones as well as the latest tech and business developments: we’re voracious readers, movie and TV buffs, dedicated music fans, and frequent podcast listeners. We even have a staff book club that meets regularly to discuss the most groundbreaking nonfiction writing.
With the holiday season approaching, we asked our team and subscriber community for recommendations on what to read, watch and listen to. Some of them are related to tech and business; others aren’t. The only criterion was that their picks must have been published or broadcast this year.
So get comfortable, snuggle up in front of the fire and dive into some of our picks for the best of 2022.
BOOKS
Survival of the Richest: Escape Fantasies of the Tech Billionaires
By Douglas Rushkoff
For a certain class of person, humanity’s existential problems aren’t to be solved, they’re to be fled—to other planets, to the sea, to a well-stocked bunker in New Zealand. Tech thinker Douglas Rushkoff blew out to book length an earlier blog post about a surreal meeting with hedge-fund operators who questioned him about existential problems in that way of not dying in an apocalypse, such as “How do I keep my armed guards from turning on me?” – David R.
The Nineties: A Book
By Chuck Klosterman
As a young kid growing up in the ‘90s, I didn’t fully appreciate the decade politically or culturally at the time. Klosterman’s The Nineties brought to life an era that had mostly existed in my memories like a dream—or a cable TV show. One thing I recall clearly from the period was getting the internet on our home computer. I didn’t grasp then just how much that would influence my life and the world. This book takes readers like me, who need some reminding, back to the time just before the internet’s ubiquity—showing the impressions that the decade’s culture, sports, politics and science have made on life today, and at the same time, just how much has changed. – Catherine
Some of My Best Friends: Essays on Lip Service
By Tajja Isen
Tajja Isen’s debut essay collection is an honest look at what it means to receive “token apologies and promises” in the realms of law, publishing and the arts; her experience in voice acting gives the collection a unique perspective on what it means to be entertained. It also explores the peaks and valleys of what it means to be a part of CanCon, in an essay that will have you nodding at page after page. Mostly, this book is an affirmation to what I believe a lot of us have been thinking over the last year or so, masterfully put to words by Isen. I’d recommend this book to anyone who works in the aforementioned fields, and even more to anyone who doesn’t. – Aaliyah
The Chaos Machine: The Inside Story of How Social Media Rewired Our Minds and Our World
By Max Fisher
On its surface it’s pushing an open door, arguing that social media can be toxic even when used properly. But Fisher, a reporter at The New York Times, adds social psychology and shoe-leather reporting to demonstrate all the ways the polarizing and herding influence of social-media algorithms erodes social capital. – Paul Wells, contributor
The End of the World Is Just the Beginning: Mapping the Collapse of Globalization
By Peter Zeihan
This book sounds depressing, but it provides a view of the macroeconomic forces in play which are affecting and influencing all industries. It has a playful writing style (especially his footnotes) and builds a cohesive narrative around his core message, and it’s backed by recent data and visualizations which help to show how he has formed his insights. I appreciate that he is not making predictions, but rather gathering insights from history and identifying the recent changes in global policies. It is then up to the reader to assess what happens next. – Kris Hansen, a Logic reader
TELEVISION SERIES
Andor
Created by Tony Gilroy, Disney Plus
Set before the original Star Wars movie trilogy, the backdrop of “Andor” is the sclerotic, corrupt Empire. Even many of the baddies are petty bullies or functionaries just trying to get by, and the heroes take advantage of the holes in a power structure that’s started to take itself for granted. After some slow first episodes, a space-opera series made for grown-ups turns on the hyperdrive and becomes part heist story, part political drama (with episodes written by Beau Willimon, of “House of Cards”). Diego Luna and Stellan Skarsgård lead a cast with a lot of newcomers and more than a few “Hey, it’s her! From that thing!” faces. – David R.
Slow Horses
Written by Mick Herron, Apple TV Plus
Gary Oldman headlines as a British spy who’s both washed and unwashed, a vulgar counterpoint to his minimalist turn a few years ago as le Carré’s George Smiley. The show clips along nicely, but really this is a sneaky way for me to recommend the Slough House books on which it’s based. I ripped through seven of them this year, but cut myself off months ago to save the rest for the holidays. – Jordan
Severance
Dan Erickson, Apple TV Plus
No spoilers, so this has to be vague: a group of employees do hard-to-figure-out tasks at their 9-5 job at Lumon Industries after going through a so-called severance procedure that sees the mind and memories of their selves at work severed from that of their selves outside of work. It’s described as a sci-fi thriller that ends its first season with a big cliffhanger. – Aleksandra
Spirit Rangers
Karissa Valencia, Netflix
YouTube compilations of fire trucks responding to emergencies have their place in the portfolio of tools to appease a preschool-aged child, but there’s also some really good, interesting children’s television being made today. One of my favourite go-tos is “Spirit Rangers,” a series about three Indigenous siblings who live in a national park in California and have the power to transform into animals and enter a spirit dimension. With an all-Indigenous writer’s room, it’s the type of show that simply did not exist during my childhood. And it’s tons of fun—brightly coloured, magical, dramatic and full of animals and nature. – Claire
Barry (Season 3)
Bill Hader, HBO
It’s hard to say whether “Barry” is a comedy, drama or something else entirely. Bill Hader stars as a hitman who decides to become an actor, joining a Los Angeles theatre school run by an eccentric acting coach played by Henry Winkler. The third season leans into the surreal premise—especially action scenes shot from angles that feel off but somehow pleasing—but also asks questions about redemption, self-deception and whether Barry can escape his true nature. – Sebastian
FILMS
Decision to Leave
Park Chan-wook, Moho Film
A beautifully shot and perfectly paced romantic mystery, and a good film to watch if you want to spend the rest of the day deep in thought. – Hanna
Untold: Breaking Point
Chapman Way and Maclain Way, Netflix
I love a sports success story that attempts to unlock the secrets of team-building, excellence and performing under pressure. But this late 2021 Untold documentary, which chronicles Mardy Fish’s mid-career ascent to become the No. 1-ranked tennis player in the U.S. (and the pressures that come along with it), shows the strength of realizing weakness is OK. Through Fish’s own narration, he unpacks the deep toll that winning, competition and “hustle culture” can put on all of us. – April
The Swimmers
Sally El Hosaini, Netflix
The Swimmers tells the harrowing true story of the Mardini sisters, who are both competitive swimmers in the process of qualifying for the Olympics when they are forced to flee Syria during its civil war. It’s a beautiful exploration of the injustices of war, the pitfalls of bureaucracy and what it means to fight for survival, and tells its story in a way that speaks to the experiences of many yet feels deeply personal. – Ariel
Brother
Clement Virgo, Elevation Pictures
Set in the Galloway Road neighbourhood in Scarborough, this film centres around two Jamaican-Canadian brothers growing up in the ‘90s. It’s a Canadian film adaptation of an award-winning Canadian novel, and it deals beautifully with themes of masculinity, family, identity and BIPOC issues in our society. As a BIPOC child of immigrants, this movie hit me emotionally in many ways. I cannot recommend it enough. – Max
ALBUMS
All Blue
Julianna Riolino, You’ve Changed Records
The debut solo album from this Toronto alt-country musician is pure Americana. It’s the perfect homage to some folk classics. “Queen of Spades” feels like it could have been plucked straight out of a Dolly Parton album. The simple beauty of “Thistle and Thorned” is a personal favourite: it’s stripped down in full appreciation of Riolino’s stellar voice. Those distinct vocals are also featured on this truly addictive Subaru commercial. (I’m sorry to report this track is unreleased, so you’ll just have to enjoy it alongside the advertisement. And, to the YouTube commenter who said “I will buy this car if I can listen to the full version of this song”: strong same.) – Amanda
The Loneliest Time
Carly Rae Jepsen, Interscope Records
Thanks to an iPod that failed during a 19-hour, 40-minute aeronautical journey, I went much of a decade without listening to music. Theatre kid and dance-pop queen Carly Rae Jepsen’s Emotion played a major role in me returning to tunes a few years ago. Her latest album is an anthem for being alone and living with other people in the internet age. The dating-app satire “Beach House” is a backing track for the micro-cycle of hope and loss that repeats every time you swipe right. “Surrender My Heart” is about new love, sure, but also about committing to anything you don’t dare to care about. “So nice” is, well, so nice. As CRJ told The Cut, music is “permission to feel whatever it is that you need to feel.” With The Loneliest Time slinking out your speakers, you’re never really lonely. – Murad
MUNA
MUNA, Saddest Factory Records
In September, I saw MUNA live and was taken back to a time in my life where I wished I’d had their lyrics, but somehow having them now seamlessly filled in the gaps anyway. MUNA, their self-titled, third album now lives happily in my Spotify likes, and I’d recommend it to anyone in a bit of a music rut. There’s a little acoustic moment, a lot of electro-pop, and it won’t take you more than an hour to listen to. – Aaliyah
Coeur Encore
Clara Luciani, Universal Music Division Romance Musique
I first heard of Luciani when her prominence grew in 2018–19 after she released Sainte-Victoire, her first studio album, and Swiss-French radio blasted her tunes well into 2020. Her modern adaptation of French disco eventually grew on me. This album still rocks. – Jonathan
PODCASTS
The Prince: Searching for Xi Jinping
Sue-Lin Wong, The Economist
This is the life-and-times treatment of Xi that we needed to understand his rise to power and his actions as China’s most powerful leader since Mao. Wong doesn’t get all the way inside the black box, but she does find contemporaries of Xi who shed light on the traumas and triumphs that shaped his worldview and hardened his resolve. – Charlie
Normal Gossip
Kelsey McKinney, Defector Media
“Normal Gossip” is a funny and often strange storytelling podcast hosted by Defector co-owner, Kelsey McKinney. Each episode features a deliciously juicy second-hand (or third-hand!) tale about messy people you’ll never meet. It’s low-stakes voyeurism with high entertainment value and a close approximation of spilling tea with friends. – Jenna
The All-In Podcast
Chamath Palihapitiya, Jason Calacanis, David Sacks and David FriedbergWhether you love- or hate-listen, these four Silicon Valley titans provide a front-row seat to the drama surrounding Elon Musk’s purchase of Twitter (some of them are investors), the FTX fallout (some of them chose not to invest), and the broader economic headwinds facing the tech sector. They serve as a bellwether for the libertarian views in the Valley, and their antagonistic takes on the relationship between Big Tech and the media reflect a broader polarization in society, serving either as a clarion call or warning sign, depending on where you sit. – David S.
