SXSW TBR List

10 books by SXSW speakers about investigating AI, ocean life, and more

Follow Your Art is on our to-be-read list after SXSW this year.

South by Southwest (SXSW) has its ups and downs, and to us, the highest highs come from finding the right threads to pull after the festival is over. We do that by bringing home some selections from the SXSW Bookstore, a curated collection of books by featured conference speakers.

Conference panels are samples for a general audience; learning that sticks for the long term comes from spending 10-plus hours getting into the nuance of these thinkers’ frameworks and experiences.

Last year was our first publishing our SXSW TBR list — that’s “to be read,” for the less chronically online — and we actually followed through on a few titles. Without a hint of exaggeration, I think one of our picks, Blood In The Machine by Brian Merchant, changed my life. Catch me at a gathering and I guarantee the Luddites will come up.

Whether or not bookworms are attending the conference, they can shop online via the local independent bookstore BookPeople, which runs the official online version of the SXSW bookstore on Bookshop.org. Or of course, readers can also always see what the Austin Public Library has on offer.

- From your friendly CultureMap Austin editor.

Here are 10 books Austin editor Brianna Caleri and network writer Amber Heckler are adding to our must-read lists. Titles are organized alphabetically by the author's last name.

Somebody Should Do Something: How Anyone Can Help Create Social Change by Michael Brownstein, Alex Madva, and Daniel Kelly
Ebook retails for $19.99; also available in paperback ($24.95) and hardcover ($32.95)
In their panel for Somebody Should Do Something, these three authors and trained philosophers untangled some of the most paradoxical messes of social change without resorting to platitudes. They let case studies speak for themselves, introduced the audience to important named frameworks that can be researched on their own, and most importantly, maintained the belief that we don’t need firm answers to make a difference. — Brianna Caleri, editor

The Radiant Sea: Color and Light in the Underwater World by Steven Haddock and Sönke Johnsen with foreword by Helen Scales
Hardcover retails for $55
As we deal with the trials and tribulations of life on land, let’s jump into the water for some beautiful ocean photography. This book focuses on species with transparent parts, bioluminescence, and fluorescence, resulting in a surreal cast of sea creatures displayed in brilliance against dark backgrounds. These pages bring art and science together in a book that made the Smithsonian Magazine’s top 10 photography books of 2025. — BC

Empire of AI: Dreams and Nightmares in Sam Altman's OpenAI by Karen Hao
Ebook retails for $16.99; also available in paperback ($20) and hardcover ($32)
Artificial intelligence was all over the SXSW schedule this year, and the rules of engagement are changing faster than anyone can keep up with. At least we have investigative journalist Karen Hao, leader of the Pulitzer Center's AI Spotlight Series. Empire of AI tracks some of the actual costs of AI — not just ideological weaknesses, but serious environmental and labor concerns that get swept under the rug when we worry about “robots” taking over, and not the people building them. — BC

Wired Wisdom: How to Age Better Online by Eszter Hargittai and John Palfrey Jd
Paperback retails for $20
Basically everyone could benefit from a lesson in digital literacy. Stereotypes tell us that older folks are especially vulnerable to online attacks and propaganda, but Wired Wisdom pushes back against those claims with original research. After making sure netizens over 60 are duly respected for their internet savvy, this book offers intergenerational strategies to make sure we’re all on the same page. Or tab. — BC

Follow Your Art: Uncover and Unleash Your Creative Voice by Katie Johnson and Ilana Griffo
Paperback retails for $21.99
If you’ve never succeeded at finishing The Artist’s Way (guilty), Follow Your Art could be the right alternative resource to draw out your creativity and make it a bigger part of your life. Johnson and Griffo, the owners of art education platform Goodtype, help readers reconnect and develop an authentic creative voice through this workbook’s prompts, advice, and immersive exercises. – Amber Heckler, network writer

The Double Tax: How Women of Color Are Overcharged and Underpaid by Anna Gifty Opoku-Agyeman with foreword by Chelsea Clinton
Ebook retails for $15.99, also available in hardcover ($29)
Referring to the pink tax — the well-known phenomenon that products marketed to women cost more than their equivalent marketed to men — The Double Tax adds on the additional layer of being Black. Research for this book was collected across the country, ensuring that we know where to start closing gaps in opportunity, generational wealth, childcare and housing costs, and more. Intersectional feminists will have actionable solutions by the end of this book. — BC

Turtle Island: Foods and Traditions of the Indigenous Peoples of North America by Sean Sherman, Kate Nelson, and Kristin Donnelly
Ebook retails for $14.99; also available in hardcover ($45)
Oglala Lakota chef Sean Sherman’s cookbook is more than a collection of recipes; it’s a tool for eating more sustainably. Some of the mindful techniques taught in Turtle Island include eating with the seasons, getting nutrition through plant-forward foods, and whole-animal cooking. These methods have been used by Indigenous communities for generations, and this book is the culmination of many cultural practices and recipes. — AH

Turning to Birds: The Power and Beauty of Noticing by Lili Taylor
Ebook retails for $14.99; also available in paperback ($20) and hardcover ($30)
National Audubon Society board director and Sunrise on the Reaping actress Lili Taylor penned a series of essays about her journey embracing mindfulness, nature, and wildlife while she was taking a break from acting. Turning to Birds encourages readers to “find joy in the most unexpected places” by paying closer attention to the world around them. – AH

Margo’s Got Money Troubles by Rufi Thorpe
Ebook retails for $9.99; also available in paperback ($18.99) and hardcover ($28)
Twenty-year-old Margo is jobless, degreeless, has a newborn baby, and a piling stack of bills. She turns to OnlyFans, and the success might be more than she can handle. For those who like to read a book before watching its adaptation, Thorpe’s novel offers a funny and heartwarming story that will have readers hooked until the AppleTV series premieres. – AH

Marsha: The Joy and Defiance of Marsha P. Johnson by Tourmaline
Ebook retails for $14.99; also available in hardcover ($30)
I read Marsha in February, not expecting to see it in the SXSW Bookstore, but it’s well worth a re-read. This biography of LGBTQ rights activist Marsha P. Johnson doesn't only cement her legacy in the publishing world, but it also puts a spotlight on Tourmaline’s writing through a compassionate, disability-first lens. Marsha doesn’t always flow in chronological order; rather, it focuses on the phases of Marsha’s life and contextualizes inconsistencies rather than glossing over them.. – AH

books sxsw education technology nature history

Movie Review

Horror film Undertone finds chill despite slightly flat story

Photo courtsy of A24

Nina Kiri in Undertone.

While the horror genre is still capable of producing some innovative filmmaking, most of the output tends to fall back on jump scares and other tropes to deliver their terror. So when a film like the new Undertone tries something different, it should be applauded for the effort, even if it’s not as successful in its execution.

Evy (Nina Kiri) is a podcaster who co-hosts a show called Undertone, which focuses on paranormal videos and sounds they find on the internet. Her co-host, Justin (Adam DiMarco), lives in London, so — for kind of contrived reasons — in order to make the time difference between them work, Evy records at around 3 am her time. Evy — who lives at home with her bedridden, dying mother — is the skeptic of the two, consistently debunking clips that Justin presents to her.

Her doubts are tested when Justin brings in a series of 10 audio clips that purport to be about a boyfriend recording his girlfriend as she talks in her sleep. The audio begins in a lighthearted manner and quickly turns creepy and then sinister as unexplained things start happening. Evy senses that what she’s hearing is bleeding into her own world, especially when inexplicable actions take place in her mother’s bedroom.

Written and directed by first-time feature filmmaker Ian Tuason, the film is effective early on when it introduces the story concept. Making great use of sound design, Tuason essentially puts the audience inside Evy’s head, where every little sound is heightened. Setting the podcast sessions in the middle of the night ups the anxiety level for both her and the audience.

However, as the film goes along it gets a little tedious watching Evy listen to the audio, even as Tuason attempts to keep the film dynamic by moving the camera around her. The premise of the story — progressively going through 10 clips — and Tuason’s framing of shots that focus as much on the background as they do on Evy seem to promise more interesting results than actually transpire.

What ultimately holds the film down more than anything is its lack of different viewpoints. The only other person who’s actually seen is Evy’s mother, who is unable to speak. Evy speaks to Justin, another friend, and a doctor over the course of the story, and while each broadens our understanding of Evy somewhat, none of them make her a truly three-dimensional person. Getting a little more information about her history might have helped the story work better.

Kiri does her level best to vary her acting in the various podcast scenes, and even when they start to get repetitive, she remains compelling and watchable. It’s difficult to judge the other actors based on audio alone, but knowing that DiMarco also starred in season 2 of The White Lotus helps to visualize him and his acting style.

Undertone does well in creating a spine-chilling mood, but it needed something beyond that to become a truly great horror movie. Tuason shows some promise as a filmmaker, especially in the way he uses the camera to create tension, but a more complete story will serve him better the next time around.

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Undertone is now playing in theaters.

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