A Few Favorite Things From 2021

Hello! I want to share a few of my favorite things from the past year. Some of these will be interesting to you, and likely some of them won’t. Okay here we go.

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Favorite Thing I Watched on TV

Inside by Bo Burnham (Netflix Special)

Just an amazing commentary on the pandemic and our relationship with the social internet. Definitely some language and adult themes in this special, so watch it with that in mind. But I cannot point you to a better piece of cultural commentary on where we are today. Bo is so thoughtful, and while I’m not sure this is “comedy” that’s what it’s called. (But it is funny at times.)

Favorite Playlist I Listened To

Chillhop Radio (jazz/lofi hip hop beats to study/relax to)

This playlist is my default playlist that plays in the background of working, doing morning devos, and whatever else throughout my day (other than during the Christmas season, during which Vince Guaraldi’s trio takes over).

You can click on the title of it above for the Spotify playlist, or find a YouTube stream here. It is just great working, reading, studying background music.

Favorite Thing I Watched on YouTube

Savoring: The Sunset Series Returns

Hank and John Green’s vlogbrothers channel is definitely my favorite YouTube channel of all time. The guys are brilliant. They’re kind. John Green is arguably one of my favorite thinkers and writers ever. This video is so good.

Favorite Video Game I Played

Hades (Released 2018, played on Nintendo Switch)

As noted above, this game was released a few years ago, but I didn’t start playing it until late last year and it was the primary game I played for the first few months of 2021. It’s a blast. The art is beautiful. The voice lines are creative, unique, and hysterical. Huge fan of this game. Worthy of every award it has ever won (and it’s won a lot).

Favorite Podcast I Listened To

Tim Ferriss, Chris Dixon and Naval Ravikant — The Wonders of Web3

I think that in a few years we will look back on this single podcast episode and recognize it as the podcast that led a lot of people to become interested in Web3, the metaverse, crypto, and the future of the internet. I don’t listen to many podcasts these days, but man this was a helpful episode. Not sensationalistic. Not overly complicated. Helpful. Interesting. Even inspiring!

Favorite Newsletter Subscription

Galaxy Brain (from Charlie Warzel)

Charlie is a former New York Times columnist who went independent to Substack earlier this year. I subscribed to his newsletter right away because he had been one of my favorite writers at the Times, and it has been an amazing newsletter. He announced just a couple of weeks ago that his newsletter was acquired by The Atlantic and that it would continue in much the same way, just under the umbrella of The Atlantic (one of my favorite magazines around). Highly recommend Charlie for great internet culture commentary!

Favorite Book I Read

The Anthropocene Reviewed by John Green

Easily my book of the year. Wonderful writing. Funny. Heart-wrenching. As already stated, I think John Green is an amazing writer and thinker. I want to be like him when I grow up. Read this book, please.

Favorite App I Used

TikTok

I’m a little ashamed to say it because I resisted downloading it for so long out of concerns re: data privacy and China. But I have to admit that it was my favorite app of the year and definitely my favorite social media app of the year. Vine is my favorite social media app of all time, and TikTok is the spiritual successor to Vine that I always wanted.

Favorite TikTok I Watched

Funny Toks @loltoks

Airplane Side-eye

I don’t know if this is really my favorite TikTok of the year, but when I spent 20 minutes looking through all of the ones I liked and saved from the last year, this is the one that made me laugh the hardest again. I think the reason I find it particularly funny is because it’s personal—I can’t tell you how many times we’ve had this happen with our daughter this year. Hilarious.

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That’s it! I am sure I could share a lot more favorites with you, but that’s all I’ll share for today. Have a wonderful Christmas.