2020 Favorites - Podcasts, TV, and Music

This month has completely snuck up one me. I was lying in bed and realized that I hadn’t even thought about my 2020 favorites post for podcasts, TV and music. Hell- I’m STILL compiling my 2020 favorites for eyeshadow palettes. How are we only a week away from the new year?! So I spent yesterday afternoon really thinking about what I loved in and what managed to capture my imagination and distract me during this strange year.

Podcasts

My relationship with podcasts changed quite a bit this year. I used to listen to podcasts on my way to and from work and at my desk during my work day. I listed to a LOT of podcasts. This year as we were in lockdown and I wasn’t commuting my podcast consumption dropped dramatically. But I missed them. More than any other medium besides music, podcasts are the thing that I enjoy the most. And so in late Spring/early Summer I made a concerted effort to start listening to them again. I now listen to podcasts on my nearly daily walks and while I do dishes or chores around the house. When thinking of which podcasts were my favorites this year, four immediately popped into my head.

Very Presidential premiered in the Spring and was a limited run podcast. I mentioned this podcast in one of my monthly faves this past Summer and it remains a fave for me. It covers the untold stories of US Presidents ranging from JFK to Thomas Jefferson. Your draw will be on the floor while listing to this podcast. Next on my list is You’re Wrong About. This podcast was recommended by a friend and I am hooked. The two hosts, Michael and Sarah do a deep dive into history and stories of popular figures like Princess Diana and Nancy Grace to the details of the Tuskegee Syphilis Experiment and the Newsboy Strike of 1899. WeCrashed: The Rise and Fall of WeWork debuted in January (which feels like a lifetime ago) and ran with 7 episodes but it was such a fantastic real life tale of greed, the cult or personality and grifting. The parallels between the story behind WeWork and the Theronos is mind-boggling. Crime Junkie is a perennial fave and was on my 2019 list of favorite podcasts. If you enjoy true crime tales and appreciate them being told in a responsible way I highly recommend this podcast.

TV

I actually haven’t watched a TON of TV shows this year. Shocking, I know. I’ve been mostly living on YouTube videos that have been such a fantastic low stakes distraction. But there were a handful of shows that I really enjoyed and that stayed with me. Some were intense and thought-provoking while others were just really fun to watch.

Staged is the newest favorite on this list. It originally aired in the summer on the BBC and is now on Hulu. The entire premise of the show and the story behind it is pretty great: David Tennant and Michael Sheen play themselves during lockdown in the UK, attempting to rehearse a play via Zoom. The two actors shot the entire series in their homes during real lockdown and the show features their real life spouses as well. I laughed SO HARD watching this show. It is 6 episodes at 22 minutes each so it is a breeze to binge and I did it during a quiet weekday morning. Lovecraft Country is NOT a breeze to watch. Far from it. It is intense and at times scary but it is entirely worth the effort. I don’t want to go to far into the details of the show to avoid spoilers but the premise is looking at the horrors of racism through the realm and view of Sci-Fi. The acting is STELLAR and if Jurnee Smollet doesn’t get an Emmy nod for her performance I will protest. The Great debuted towards the beginning of lockdown and it was SUCH a welcome distraction. It tales a VERY fictionalized version of how Catherine the Great came to power. The show is modern and hilarious and vaguely campy and I loved it.

I May Destroy You is not a light watch. It deals with rape, consent, trauma and evils of social media. But it does it in such a way that is so compelling and so real. Michaela Coen is an amazing writer and I wish she got as much attention as her peers like Phoebe Waller-Bridge. She deserves it. And she is also so fantastic as the main character. Who is not a perfect victim and is not even a reliable narrator for some of the show but is someone you care about and root for. I’m sure you have heard at least some of the hype around The Queen’s Gambit and I am here to tell you that all of it is true. One thing that 2020 has brought us (besides plague) are amazing female characters who are complicated, interesting and flawed. The Queen’s Gambit is based on the book of the same name. The main character, Beth Harmon, is an orphaned chess prodigy whose addiction to booze and pills threatens her metric rise to the top of her field. Also - the costumes are amazing.

Music

Most of the music I listened to this year were old faves. I did listen to newer releases of course, but only one of them truly stuck out for me and when I heard it for the first time I literally thought, “this is my favorite song of this year”. And that song is Billie Eilish’s My Future. This song just encapsulated so perfectly what I was feeling at the time of it’s release and despite some hiccups and peaks and valleys how I still feel about my own future. In a really dark time, this song just lifted my spirits so much. And every time I listen to it - which is a LOT (It was the number 2 song on my Spotify rewind this year - and should have been number one) those same feelings arise. It’s a fantastic reminder of how music can be such a balm when you need it to be.

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