2023 Wrapped: The best stuff I did, watched, read, listened to, and bought

A round-up of this year with many, many thanks

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Hey pals. You’ve probably been hit with a lot of year-end lists in the form of newsletters and articles and podcasts and video and etc. etc. etc. Well, I’m here with another, because they’re fun to make and hopefully fun to read.

You know that Spotify “wrapped” feature? The one that tells you what you listened to in the past year? (Shoutout to my family/friends who have kids and learned what they already knew: that they listened to the Frozen soundtrack for 9,000 hours.)

I put together a “wrapped” for this past year in general. It includes some major life moments and some small life moments. I’ve also rounded up the most worthwhile things I read, watched, listened to, or bought this year. If you have time off over the holidays and need recommendations to fill the time, or you’re still looking for a last minute present/“I made it through another year” treat, I’ve got you covered.

I hope you have a wonderful end to your year, and I hope this next one only gets better.

*RANDOM LIFE STATISTICS*

Number of newsletters started:

• 1

Before we get any further, thank you so much for signing up for this newsletter. And for those of you who pay to read these posts? I’m beyond grateful. I don’t take it lightly that you give me your time and/or your money. It was a leap of faith to take my writing into my own hands, and it’s been very moving that so many of you followed me here. Having paid subscribers means that growing this is a sustainable model for my writing, and that fact alone makes the writing feel more liberating than it has in almost a decade.

It’s a huge privilege to do what I do. I feel like it’s not super cool to say you love your job anymore. I’m told it’s very Millennial. I see TikToks that roast my generation for thinking a career — not devoted to saving the world, that is — could be a passion or could give your life meaning.

But that’s the truth for me, cool or not (I also think that in 2024 we should get over the generational competition thing, it’s so boring). I delight in doing this, and I sincerely hope the things I’ve put into the world this year made you laugh, taught you something, or made you think about a topic a little differently. You’re the reason I feel like any of this matters even a little bit.

Amount of time spent being a silly goose: 

• 45%

Number of new jobs I started:

• 1

If you’ve been checking out our shows over at Meadowlark Media, you’re the real MVPs. Co-hosting and building Oddball with Amin Elhassan, getting to hang out on Wednesdays with the Mike Golics on Gojo & Golic, popping onto the Dan LeBatard Show with Stugotz, and joining Pablo Torre Finds Out on occasion has been such a blast. Please keep following along in 2024 because it’s all only going to get weirder and better!

In the spirit of Christmas, here’s the absolutely unhinged Christmas episode we did for PTFO:

Number of times I sprinted through the airport to catch my flight and made it as the door was closing:

• 1

Number of days I was sore afterwards:

• 4

Number of years old I feel when I stand up and sit down: 

• 1000

Number of haircuts I got that changed my life: 

• 1 — you can read about it here.

Number of times I got married:

• 1

In September, we had a very small ceremony in my parents’ backyard in Rockport, Maine, followed by a beautiful dinner at Nina June, Sara Jenkins’ restaurant down the street. Shoutout to our wonderful photographer, Jenny McNulty of Wylde Photography, who captured the whole thing so beautifully, as you can see.