A Protest Against Forgetting #6: "Kevin's Favorites of 2022
Hello, friends. It's Kevin. Thank you for visiting.
I'd like to share with you some of my favorite things I discovered this year. Historically, I am awful at compiling such lists because I cannot remember if this thing or that came into my life this year or last or in 1983 or I've actually never met before. But since our entire purpose here is walking into the fire of past frustrations, I am going to act on the advice of my dear friend Ted here who said compiling such lists of year-end favorites "is the bane of my existence until its done. Then I'm grateful."
From bane to grateful, away we go.
Favorite Books I Read in 2022:
My friend Erin Keane published an essay collection in September called Runaway: Notes on the Myths that made Me (Belt Publishing, 195 pages) about her mother who ran away from home as a teenager. Big topics are what it means to be looked after or neglected without cause, whom a "good girl" or "bad girl" is and how pop culture advocates on behalf of some people worth saving and not others.
I loved this book so much. Given it away as gifts, screamed on its behalf. It's the kind of book you feel want everyone to know because of how much better reading it made you.
Runaway was just selected as one of NPR's Best Books of 2022.
Published back in April, my friend Danyel Smith's music memoir Shine Bright: A Very Personal History of Black Women in Pop (One World, 311 pages) is so frickin' brilliant and beautiful I bust out into tears (then song) even talking about it. If names like Aretha, Chaka, Whitney and Mariah mean something to you, then this is the book for you. If deep dives into where the ubiquitous sounds of our time came from, this is also the book for you.
Shine Bright was named a Best Book of the Year by NPR, Pitchfork, Publisher's Weekly and the San Francisco Chronicle.
Favorite Movies I Saw in 2022:
You don't need me to tell you that BLACK PANTHER: WAKANDA FOREVER is brilliant and sad and a fitting tribute to the late great Chadwick Boseman but not as good as the first BLACK PANTHER movie. Nor do I need to prattle on that TOP GUN: MAVERICK is great fun but doesn't look nearly as good as the original TOP GUN since the director of that movie is dead. And you really don't need me to be the 57th person to tell you that NOPE is really not a horror movie and thank the great good lord Jordan Peele can make movies that aren't primarily designed to terrify everyone who gets anywhere near them.
Other than that, I've been rather out to lunch with seeing movies that actually came out this year. I missed THE WOMAN KING, which I should not have missed and will rectify that error immediately. Equally so with NEPTUNE FROST as I have been an admirer of its creator Saul Williams since my early 20s. And as far as documentaries go (as I am now a maker of same, apparently), I was overjoyed to catch THE TERRITORY (a thriller about the murderous struggle for control of the Brazilian Rainforest) via Sundance at Home (whose tickets just went on sale) and am glad I will have some time at the end of this year to watch DESCENDANT, RIOTSVILLE USA and THE JANES. Links above to their trailers to judge if you feel the same.
Favorite Podcasts I Heard in 2022:
I've gonna have a hard time not proclaiming great things about Season 3 of ARTICLES OF INTEREST, a podcast about what we wear and what it means by my dear friend Avery Trufelman.
I get that 7 episodes between 30-60 minutes about the evolution of "preppie" as a style and a cultural construct might not seem like your bag immediately because it sure wasn't mine. But let the series take you and before you can put your second foot down you are learning, you are entertained, you are glad to have been there.
Avery is simply the best mind in podcasting today. Listen and your ears and your heart will never come up empty.
HONORABLE MENTIONS:
GONE SOUTH is a great true crime podcast about criminal activity below the Mason-Dixon line. Season 2 is about The Dixie Mafia, a white southern organized crime culture you probably have not heard of.
AMERICA'S GIRLS is an 8 episode podcast series by the brilliant journalist Sarah Hepola, about the Dallas Cowboy Cheerleaders, a topic I have zero knowledge of or familiarity with and loved so much still.
MARTINI SHOT remains the best podcast about Hollywood, year in year out.
A HISTORY OF ROCK MUSIC IN 500 SONGS is a decade-long podcast project by British author Andrew Hickey. He's only on song #160 as of this writing and up to the year 1967 but it's the kind of show where life stops when a new episode comes out. If you're into the history of popular music, that will happen to you too.
SNACKS I ENJOYED EATING IN 2022:
Estrellita's Snacks is a woman-owned El Salvadorean kitchen based here in the Bay Area who makes the best plantain and yucca chips I have ever had in my entire life. They ain't chip but neither is their quality and taste. Order here.
For those mid-day, didn't-I-eat-an-hour ago? moments, The Off The Farm Protein Bar is heaven sent, particularly if you like Peanut Butter. They're pretty dense so slice it in half and bag the rest for tomorrow.
FINAL NOTES:
My annual 50-song playlist of music I discovered the previous year will be out in late January. Until then, the 2021 Edition of The Smokler 50 for your enjoyment.
When consulting year-end best-of lists, I use NPR Music and Pitchfork for Music, and my own history on Pocketcasts (for podcasts) and The Story Graph (for books). And for 15 years, the Largehearted Boy blog has provided the definitive index of Best Of Year End Books Lists.
This newsletter will be something different next year.
See you soon,
Kevin
Written on Tuesday Morning, Dec. 20, 2022. Logo by Dave Linabury.