2021 Media I Loved

No algorithms were involved in the making of this list

A friend of mine used to put together his top 10 songs of the year list, post it on Facebook, and then everyone would comment with their own top 10. These were my top 10 songs in 2014:

1. Left Hand Free – Alt-J

2. Options – Partynextdoor

3. Drugs You Should Try – Travis Scott

4. Won’t Look Back – Duke Dumont

5. A Place Like This – Majid Jordan  

6. Beggin for Thread – Banks

7. The Pressure – Jhene Aiko

8. 2 On / Thotful ft. Drake – OB Obrien

9. Fever – The Black Keys

10. Foreign ft. Bieber – Trey Songz

Simple times. I didn’t include songs in these lists, but below are some of my favorite things I listened to (albums/podcast episodes) and read (books/articles) this year. Notably missing are things I watched, including movies, which I left off because everything I’m excited to see “from 2021” just came out or comes out in the next couple of weeks. I also excluded TV, because I don’t watch a lot of TV. Many of these were originally recommended to me by friends, the original algorithm.

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Albums

I thought 2021 was a fairly underwhelming year for new music, at least for me. Only one of my most-listened-to artists (according to Spotify Wrapped) released a new album this year and it’s not on this list. Only three of them have a lead singer who’s still alive. Though, in looking at some others’ Albums of the Year lists, there are definitely some releases I missed that I’m excited to get to in the coming weeks. Anyway, here are some albums I plan to listen to for a long time:

• 30 — Adele

• CALL ME IF YOU GET LOST — Tyler, The Creator

• Collapses In Sunbeams — Arlo Parks

• Conclave – Conclave

• I Don’t Live Here Anymore – The War on Drugs (Bonus: Song Exploder Podcast)

• Mood Valiant – Hiatus Kaiyote

• Promises – Floating Points, Pharoah Sanders, London Symphony Orchestra

• Solar Power – Lorde

• Valentine — Snail Mail

Podcast Episodes

Individual episode and new show discovery are nowhere near where they should be at this point. I feel fairly confident that Spotify will end up being the de facto podcasting app, and subsequently fix this problem, but I’m still not using it unless I have to. Separation of church and state. Anyway, here are some podcast episodes that taught me something or altered my worldview:

• America’s Culture Revolution — Honestly with Bari Weiss

• Dwayne Betts on Reading, Prison, and the Million Book Project – EconTalk (2020, but I want to include it)

• Glorious Basterds – Storytime with Seth Rogen

• Hamilton Morris — Duncan Trussell Family Hour

• Heavyweight (every episode, but namely these two different two-parters)

  • Barbara Shutt + Barbara Wilson

  • Justine + Stephen

• Kenny Beats on the Regional Sounds of Hip Hop – Broken Record with Rick Rubin (Part 1)

• The Line (Miniseries)

• Quentin Tarantino — The Moment with Brian Koppelman

• "Wait But Why?" with Tim Urban — Uncomfortable Conversations with Josh Szeps

• Yeonmi Park: North Korea – Lex Fridman Podcast

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Books

Much like the music I listened to this year, most of the books I read this year were a bit older. The only exception is one audiobook created this year. Anyway, here are some books I gave at least four stars on Goodreads:

• A Moveable Feast – Ernest Hemingway (1964)

• The Bomber Mafia – Malcolm Gladwell (2021, Audiobook)

• Down and Out in Paris and London – George Orwell (1972)

• Meet Me in the Bathroom: Rebirth and Rock and Roll in New York City 2001-2011 — Lizzy Goodman (2018)

• Not Fade Away: A Short Life Well Lived — Laurence Shames & Peter Barton (2004)

• The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo — Taylor Jenkins Reid  (2018)

• The Spy and the Traitor: The Greatest Espionage Story of the Cold War — Ben Macintyre (2019)

Articles

I think the only real alternative to scrolling on social media all day is to read articles previously saved for later. Not to brag (to brag), but I was in the top 5% of Pocket readers this year. Barring a change in my preferred read-later app (eyeing Matter), I’d like to be in the top 1% next year, as that’s an indication that I’m spending more time reading good writing. Anyway, here are things I saved earlier to read later and share now:

• 99 Additional Bits of Unsolicited Advice (The Technium)

• The Clashes in Israel (Tangle)

• Clubbing Is a Lifeline – and It's Back (The New Yorker)

• He Had an R.V., a Camera and a Plan to Document America. Was That Enough? (NYTimes)

• He Went to 105 Shows in One Season. Now He Watches TV. (NYTimes)

• How to Get a Table at Carbone (The New Yorker)

• Isabelle Boemeke Is the Nuclear Influencer the World Deserves (Highsnobiety)

• Jonah Hill Is SuperGood (GQ)

• Private Schools Have Become Truly Obscene (The Atlantic)

• Reopening My Restaurant Now Would Mean Breaking a Promise to Diners (Grub Street)

• The Story Behind Palace, the World’s Most Entertaining Fashion Brand (GQ)

• then and now (bookbear express)

• When the Parking Lot Is Its Own Strange Trip (NYTimes)

• Whole Milk Mounts Its Triumphant Comeback (Grubstreet)

• Why I Hope to Die at 75 (The Atlantic)