My neighbor and I were on a failed mission to get my nephew a Christmas present (I went drunk shopping at Five Below and it all worked out!) and wandered into their favorite bookstore in the city, McNally Jackson. We looked at book jackets and I finally said, “I didn’t read anything this year.” Then I rattled off the articles I read in New York Magazine (to the detriment of those around me if I am not up to date on current events I will suffocate) and National Geographic, which I subscribed to this year because the paywall is embarrassingly high. Why are you gatekeeping scientific developments from me, National Geographic Society?

(Journalism is worth paying for, but you know who doesn’t have a paywall? Sensationalist drivel that's not news. ...You knew that.)

“See?! You did too read this year!” It's the most reassuring thing I heard in 2022, probably.