Welcome to IP Surveillance #16, your weekly scan of the books, articles, podcasts, games, and alternative IP that Hollywood should be watching — before everyone else does.

From federal agents who can't be investigated to Russian intelligence recruiting arsonists on Telegram, the IP emerging right now is built on a single structural tension — powerful institutions that refuse to police themselves, and the outsiders who step into the breach. It's the DNA of prestige television, and it's everywhere.

In this edition: Baldur's Gate goes to HBO with Craig Mazin, Jeremy Strong stars in Franzen's Crossroads for Netflix, Sundance's biggest sales, five unoptioned books with breakout potential, and the long-form journalism that's structurally pre-adapted for the screen.