Jim Spencer

thematically connected

The Road

McCarthy's Pulitzer novel strips survival to its most elemental — love between father and son

thematically connected

The Perks of Being a Wallflower

The epistolary novel that defined its generation of outsiders

thematically connected

All Quiet on the Western Front

The anti-war novel — inside the trenches of WWI with no glory, only mud

thematically connected

Dune

Herbert's foundational epic — ecology, religion, and empire across the stars

thematically connected

The Last of Us

The defining post-apocalyptic story in games

thematically connected

Outer Wilds

The most meditative space exploration game — about curiosity and loss

thematically connected

Spec Ops: The Line

A third-person shooter that becomes an indictment of the genre and its players

thematically connected

Station Eleven

What survives of us is art — a hopeful post-pandemic fable

thematically connected

Atlanta

Donald Glover's show navigates the Atlanta rap scene with surreal precision

thematically connected

Boyhood

Linklater filmed a boy growing up over twelve years — the most patient portrait of adolescence in cinema

thematically connected

Apocalypse Now

Coppola's hallucinatory vision of Vietnam as a journey into the heart of darkness

thematically connected

Princess Mononoke

Studio Ghibli at its most epic — nature, industry, and the cost of progress