Ben Boychuk

Opinion Editor, Blaze Media

Movie: The Prestige

• Dir. Christopher Nolan (2006)
• Starring Christian Bale and Hugh Jackman as rival magicians in the early 20th century, it’s about science and magic, deceit and terrible truth, and, above all, obsession. At the risk of sounding pedantic, it might be the best film ever made about the crucial difference between “cost” and “price.”

Album: Koyaanisqatsi

• by Philip Glass (1982)
• Tracks like “Prophesies” and “Pruit Igoe” are arresting and maybe meditative but not at all boring or out of reach. I listen to this album often when I’m editing other people’s work. It helps me focus.

Book: The Art Of Clear Thinking

• by Rudolf Flesch (1951)
• The Art of Clear Thinking just might be a vital relic in an age of muddled thought and short attention spans. The book is long out of print, but if you can find it, read it, absorb it, cherish it, and hand it down.

Rob Eno

BlazeTV Media Critic

Movie: The Godfather Epic

• Dir. Francis Ford Coppola (2016)
• It’s hard to choose between The Godfather and The Godfather Part II. So, why not watch them both together in chrono logical order in this release from HBO?

Album: Sacred Arias

• by Andrea Bocelli (1999)
• As the Church drowns in a sea of contemporary worship music, a return to tradition soothes the soul. Bocelli delivers with glorious renditions of Ave Maria, Panis Angelicus l, and more.

Book: Travels With Charley

• by John Steinbeck (1962)
• What could be more American than a man, his dog, and an RV exploring the mid-20th century frontier? Steinbeck brings us on a journey to rediscover ourselves and our nation.

Peter Gietl

Managing Editor, Frontier and Return

Movie: Nosferatu

• Dir. Robert Eggers (2024)
• Eggers’ Nosferatu is less a remake than a resurrection—a haunting, atmospheric plunge into dread. Bill Skarsgård’s portrayal of Count Orlok is a creature of pure nightmare, his presence staining every frame like a mesmerizing obscenity. Lily-Rose Depp twists and shimmers, embodying the notion of evil invading her psyche in a beautiful and unsettling performance.

Album: Caravelle

• by Polo & Pan (2017)
• Polo & Pan is a French electronic music duo known for their playful, sun-soaked sound, which blends house, disco, and tropical rhythms with dreamy panache. I’m transported to Paris whenever I put them on.

Book: The Dark Forest

• by Liu Cixin (2008)
• The second book in Remembrance of Earth’s Past, the Chinese science-fiction trilogy masterpiece, is a mind-shattering novel. I’ve been haunted by it and can’t stop thinking about its implications for humanity. It posits that searching for aliens could be a very, very bad idea.

Matthew Peterson

Editor in Chief, Blaze Media

Movie: The Fall

• Dir. Tarsem (2006)
• In our current era of film, in which it seems as if no one is really trying anymore, The Fall may not have been a masterpiece but is an exceptionally beautiful experiment of the sort that has all but disappeared.

Album: In The Beginning

• by Stevie Ray Vaughn (1992)
• In the Beginning is that sort of dirty, raucous live double album that at times records and transmits the very spirit of the thing itself: manually controlled electronically enhanced strings slicing the air, pouring straight out of the soul.

Book: Landmarks

• by Robert Macfarlane (2015)
• The Cambridge literature professor’s “word-hoard” has not only stuck with me over the years, but grown in significance: a glossary of words describing natural phenomena that reveals our ignorance in the age of the feed and the algorithm, and teaches us to see again.

James Poulos

Editorial Director, Frontier

Movie: The Substance

• Dir. Coralie Fargeat (2024)
• More than a feminist yawp or a French stunt, Fargeat’s white hot second film is a consuming fable about how and why we abuse ourselves right now. She knows just what time it is psychologically and techno logically, and, like a true artist, isn’t afraid to show it.

Album: Serene Demon

• by Art D’Ecco (2025)
• D’Ecco harks back to the simpler times when artists costumed their identities for the sake of the music itself. Here he tackles the patient evil seeking one’s greatest weakness — with the punch and freshness of Bowie, Franz Ferdinand, etc.

Book: Playing To Win

• by David Sirlin (2005)
• A longtime champion on the competitive Street Fighter video game circuit, Sirlin’s counsel emphasizes the embrace of what seems absurd from every standpoint but that of seeking victory. A fascinating primer for those trying to understand gamer mindset as much as those hoping to reduce their livestream crashouts.