2022 Content Year in Review
Another year, another feast of material
Read time: 12 minutes
If you’ve been following this blog for a while now you are probably aware of my slightly neurotic tradition of aggregating all of the content I consume and publishing a “Best of” recap at the end of the year. This annual recap documents my favorites from each of the following categories: Books, Podcasts, Articles/ Essays/ Blog Posts, and Movies. I do this to hopefully share something that you may have missed and also as a way to look back at what I consumed and remember everything I’ve read, watched, and listened to over the past twelve months.
This year, like every year, I observed some trends that arose unintentionally in my consumption habits. In 2022 I read fewer books with a pivot to more short-form written content. During the summer I went through a stretch of listening to a lot of podcasts but that tapered off towards the end of the year. As for movies, I think I was much better about being purposeful about the films I watched. On the whole, I would consider 2022 a year of incredible and thought-provoking content and applaud whatever algorithm (whether it be explicit or implicit) sourced me everything I consumed.
Without further ado, I present my content wrap-up for 2022. Please feel free to drop me any recommendations that either align with what I have listed below or that I may have missed as a result of a blind spot that I may not be aware of.
Top Books of 2022
Infinite Jest - David Foster Wallace
I promise this is the last time I’ll mention reading this book before I set out for greener pastures but I do have to mention it one more time because as of right now it sits alone in a group of books that are over a thousand pages that were worth the effort for me. Yes, it was dense. Yes, it was challenging. Yes, I spent a lot of time rereading passages to comprehend what the hell was going on. But despite all of that this is without a doubt my favorite book that I have ever read.
The book is set in a slightly dystopian North America which has become a new nation known as the Organization of North American Nations. The plot follows several sets of characters whose stories overlap but whose main plot follows the creation and attempted dissemination of “The Entertainment” by a Quebec-based terrorist group as retaliation against the United States for creating a massive trash dump in Canada called “The Concavity.” “The Entertainment” is a movie that is so addicting that anyone who sees it cannot stop watching and dies as a result of not being able to tear themselves away from the screen. The book follows characters in three main settings: a Tennis Academy in Boston, a Halfway house down the street from said Tennis Academy, and a mountain in Phoenix that hosts a conversation between two spies.
I could go on and on about this one (and have) but all I can say is that the writing in this book is second to none and while it’s a massive read it’s an incredibly worthwhile effort. If you are looking for a project and to read one of the best books of all time, I highly recommend you spend a good chunk of your 2023 going through this masterpiece.
Lolita - Vladmir Nabokov
The most controversial book I have ever read but also the one that seems to be at the top of many lists featuring the best fiction books ever written. Nabokov is a legend in the fiction writing community and while English was not his mother tongue, this book is in a league of its own in the beauty of its prose. The main character is a pedophile (like I said, controversial) and the story is told through his perspective as the unreliable narrator. In a letter published after the book was written, Nabokov says that this book was his love letter to the English language and a celebration of America. In the letter, he gave the following quote that still gives me chills weeks after reading it:
“For me a work of fiction exists only insofar as it affords me what I shall bluntly call aesthetic bliss, that is a sense of being somehow, somewhere, connected with other states of being where art (curiosity, tenderness, kindness, ecstasy) is the norm.”
If you need any further motivation to pick this one up I’ll let you know that it’s short and a fascinating experience of a book.
East of Eden - John Steinbeck
In the last few years, I’ve pivoted towards reading fewer books published recently and more books published farther in the past. The reason I’ve done this is that it’s almost impossible to know which of the books being published today are going to stand the test of time, but it’s easy to know which books have already stood the test of time. If you take a look at the books published 40 years ago that are still relevant you can immediately have a decently accurate idea of which ones from that era are worth reading. This simplifies the “What should I read” question and helps pick a higher percentage of better books to start. You’re only going to read so many books in your life, so you might as well read the good ones.
I picked up this book because my brother Paul recommended it as Steinbeck’s best work (and better than the oft-assigned “Grapes of Wrath”) and oh boy did it not disappoint.
The villain in this book is one of the evilest characters I’ve ever read and while depressing at times, it’s a fantastic portrait of life in the American West around the turn of the twentieth century. The writing is beautiful and the story is heart-wrenching throughout. If you’ve been looking for a kick in the pants to read some classic American Literature, here it is.
Top Podcasts of 2022
Dissecting “INSIDE” by Bo Burnham - Dissect
The first half of my year was a period of obsession with Bo Burnham’s content. I watched every special he’s made (multiple times), I watched the specials he directed, and I even listened to every interview he’s done any every platform I could find. The inspiration for this deep dive was his special, INSIDE, and this podcast series goes in-depth to analyze the special and tease out all thematic and stylistic choices made in its production. If you liked the special then you will love this podcast as it provides an insane amount of detail on how it was made and the sheer amount of work that went into it.
Bo Burnham # 3 - The Pete Holmes Show
Here’s another topic I’ve written a few times about this year: The Pete Holmes Show. This year I listened to 30 episodes of this podcast and while that represents a lot of time listening to one guy speak, I don’t regret a second of it. This conversation with Bo Burnham in 2016 illuminates Bo’s creative process and goes deep into many of the topics he covered in his special, “INSIDE”, four years before its production. It’s a three-hour podcast which is an insane amount of time to listen to two people talk to each other but it is entertaining and thought-provoking throughout. As mentioned I developed a minor obsession with Bo’s work this year and this was one of the launchpads that sent me down the rabbit hole. If you liked INSIDE and are at all interested in what Bo thinks on several topics, this one is for you.
Neil Gaiman - The Tim Ferriss Show
Tim Ferriss gets a lot of flack for having a weird and cringe-worthy fan base and while that impression is slightly true, I also think he is one of the best long-form interviewers of this generation. This interview, with the fiction-writing legend Neil Gaiman, is an incredible piece of conversation. Tim’s style lets you crawl inside the mind of this legendary writer and this podcast gave me a lot of inspiration for my writing practice. This one might not be for everyone but if you are interested at all in the craft of writing you can do no better than this interview.
Ric Elias: Earning the Gift of Life - The Peter Attia | RELISTEN
As a general rule, I rarely relisten to podcasts. I listen once, accept that I am going to forget most of what I’ve heard, and let whatever information that is going to stick settle into my subconscious and pop up when I least expect it. This podcast is different. I haven’t heard another conversation that has made me more grateful to be alive than this one. Given the source, it makes sense. Ric Elias was on the flight that Captain Sullenberger crash-landed in the Hudson River and as a result, he has the unique perspective of someone who knew they were going to die but survived. Ric is an eloquent speaker and the subject matter of this conversation is life-affirming in all the right ways. If you’re ever feeling down or pessimistic about your prospects in life give this a listen and I guarantee it will boost your mood.
Michael Schur - The Tim Ferriss Show
Michael Schur produced and wrote most of The Office (and portrayed Mose, Dwight’s brother) and is one of the more interesting people I’ve heard speak. His experience at Harvard, writing his thesis on Infinite Jest, and his time in Hollywood make excellent fodder for an enlightening conversation. This one goes all over the place but has interesting nuggets throughout. I highly recommend this for the philosophically inclined.
Top Articles, Essays, or Blog Posts of 2022
David Foster Wallace on 9/11, as Seen from the Midwest - Rolling Stone
I was too young to remember 9/11 but this piece from DFW is a haunting and vivid depiction of what the mood was like the day the towers went down. It’s understandably heavy but at the same time is the most descriptive and real piece of journalism about how the country felt in cities outside of Ground Zero. DFW describes his experience as only he can and it serves as a sobering reminder of how lost everyone felt on that fateful day and the strange sense of patriotism that swept the nation immediately after the news broke. Not for the faint of heart but I would say this is nearly a required read for anyone who hasn’t seen it yet.
The Locus of Entertainment - Nat Eliason
Ironically, in a post summarizing all of the consuming I’ve done this year, this is a blog about how we benefit far more from entertainment when the locus is internal instead of external. Internal entertainment would be anything that you have to do some amount of work to make entertaining. Take for example a book. Even though you are consuming something, there is still work required by you to “hallucinate” and build the image of the story yourself. External entertainment is a form of entertainment that does the work for you. For example, watching a TV Show. In this post, Nat argues that we should force ourselves to create as much of our entertainment as possible as this is the type of entertainment that will be much more fulfilling in the long run. This is a good kick in the pants if you feel you spent too much time on Netflix in 2022.
Because the Bell Rings - The Imperfectionist
As someone who has desperately been searching for a “Perfect” daily routine and who struggles deeply when whatever routine I currently have going is interrupted, this piece was much-needed reading for me. It’s a great and succinct post that serves as a reminder that those “interruptions” in your routine are a vital part of what makes your life your life. For those who are slaves to maximizing productivity and struggle to take a breather once in a while, this is for you.
Should You Reverse Any Advice You Hear - Scott Alexander
With more news coming out about how you can find evidence to support whatever viewpoint you have, this is a great post that instructs us to think about how we arrive at the information we are seeking and encourages us to question whether we should be taking that advice or reversing it. After reading this I have tried to get myself to ask “Am I the kind of person who needs to hear this or am I the kind of person who gets enough of this advice already” before following whatever guidance I find on the internet.
Productivity Advice - Zero Credibility
“Just do the work”. I’m a sucker for a good productivity hack or new project management software and this post put me firmly in my place. “Just do the work” is the only productivity advice you need. Whatever you need to do to get bored enough to start your work is exactly how you should plan your routine and design your environment. It’s a short piece but pushed me to get more done than many of the productivity blogs I read last year.
Top Movies of 2022
Everything Everywhere All At Once
This movie took the world by storm when it was released and for good reason. It was one of the funniest, weirdest, and most unique films released in the last few years and such a joy to watch that I saw it in theaters twice. In a day and age when most new movies are sequels and recycled content from existing IP, this was a breath of fresh air from Hollywood. The Multiverse was a big trend for movie topics this year and this was the best and most entertaining representation of that theme. If you haven’t seen it, this is one of the few movies that I would recommend to almost anyone.
As surprising as it may seem, last year was the first time I’ve seen this all-time classic. And it is an all-time classic. The tone is perfectly laid back and seems to uniquely encapsulate a well-remembered period in American history. Not only is it a good time all the way through but you also get to see Matthew McConaughey’s Hollywood debut. I’d be surprised if many of you haven’t seen it but if you haven’t and want a couple of hours of good ole fashioned fun, throw this one on your list for the near future.
This one won an Oscar a few years ago but I only got around to seeing it in 2022. I’m a sucker for a well-done adaption of a true story and this scratches that itch perfectly but more than that this movie has some of the best acting I saw all year. Colin Firth and Geoffrey Rush portray a beautiful on-screen relationship between King George VI and Lionel Logue, his speech therapist. It is tense and stressful but ultimately a perfectly human story about insecurities that we can all empathize with. If you click the link and are scared off by the negative Letterboxd reviews, don’t stress, those are just cinema snobs who are overly focused on the camera work and not enough on the story.
Robert Eggers has made some seriously weird movies throughout his career. His first film, The Witch, was solid albeit nearly impossible to understand given the old English accents. His second film, The Lighthouse, was beyond my comprehension and one of my least favorite movies of 2019. Previous work excluded, I was excited to see what he was going to do with The Northman as it was hyped up long before its release and highly anticipated by critics all around the world. It was, in my opinion, his best and most interesting film yet. It’s a historical drama set in the days of the Vikings and is the most historically accurate portrayal of that period. I thought this one was awesome but if you watch it and disagree with me, I wouldn’t be surprised. Egger’s style is out there so if you’re on the fence, I’d talk to someone who knows your taste before investing the time to watch it.
Hell or High Water / Wind River
I’m batching these two movies together for a few reasons: first, they were both written by Taylor Sheridan, who also wrote Sicario (which was on my list for 2020). Second, thematically they resonate with each other. Both are brutal, upsetting stories set in rural parts of the United States that feature the plight of small-town law enforcement. Third, because I only wanted to list five movies but I couldn’t choose between these two. If you liked Sicario, or like the series Yellowstone, I can’t recommend these enough. They’re both stressful and gritty films but the payoff is worth it for each of them.
Thanks for reading and please do send me any recommendations you might have!
Infinite Jest, a book I had never heard of before, came up in conversation last night. Guess that's life telling me to go read it.