best essays 2019

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Longreads Best of 2019: Essays

Lesson Plan: This Is Not a Drill ( Jasminne Mendez, Queen Mob’s Tea House )

On Facebook author Jasminne Mendez said “Lesson Plan” came out of “an attempt at capturing what I’ve felt and what I can only imagine feeling.” Art at its best, at its height, at its most vivid brings us into an experience so deeply one cannot help but feel the effects of the work in our marrow. “Lesson Plan” captures something unique and raw through structure, precision, poetics, and accuracy of what an initially conventional turned unconventional school day looks like when it comes to a new “normal”: active shooters/drills. How can we keep kids safe? Is that even possible anymore? What pressures are educators under? What and who gets lost when these events occur? When will this kind of terror end? The refrain of “this is not a drill” pulsates throughout. Remember… remember… remember. The bare honesty of “Lesson Plan” exemplifies the kind of writing that inspires you to experiment with how to encapsulate and explore our reality, as distressing as it may be.

Lilly Dancyger

A contributing editor at Catapult, founder and host of the Memoir Monday newsletter and reading series, and editor of Burn It Down: Women Writing About Anger .

The Greeter (T Kira Madden, The Sun )

Matthew Salesses Author of the novels The Hundred-Year Flood and the forthcoming Disappear Doppelgänger Disappear (Little A, August 2020).

The Uncanny Child (Elisa Gabbert, The Paris Review )

What should an essay do? I am reading, right now, about mirror neurons and desire. Mirror neurons are the neurons that fire both when we do something and when we watch someone else do that thing; they are said to be responsible for empathy, and learning. Empathy and learning are at the heart of what compels me to read an essay. In the essays I like best, I rarely know at first why I am reading. Forgive me, but I never read an essay for a story. In fiction, many different desires are in conflict, provoking the readerly desire to both get to the end of the story and never get to the end of the story. In an essay, the only desire to shape the audience’s desire is the essayist’s. In other words, fairly or not, I want a novel to know what I want; I want an essay to show me what I want. Desire is mimetic — how and what we desire is learned from the desires of others — so a good essay must take responsibility for the desires of its readers. An essay should show us how to want better, by showing us the essayist thinking through her own wants. The essayist who does this most reliably for me is Elisa Gabbert. Instead of offering one essay to read from 2019, I would like to offer a step in one author’s direction.

Vanessa Mártir

Writer, educator, and the founder of the Writing Our Lives Workshop.

‘Queen & Slim’ Could Be One of the Great Love Stories of All Time — if You Let It (Carvell Wallace, The New York Times Magazine )

Choosing a best of 2019 essay was nearly impossible because so many gorgeous essays were published this year, but this feature by Carvell Wallace is one is that will stay with me for a long time. I know an essay is that good when I want to share it with my 15-year-old daughter.

I love essays that take me on a journey. I love to see inside people’s lives, into their humanity, their hearts, their emotions, what moves them and shatters them, what gives them hope, what they survive. I rarely expect that from a movie review.

Carvell Wallace’s language is beautiful and wrenching but what got me was his ability to put into words what I have struggled to write: “Every experience is either life-affirming or life-denying. There is just one trick. It sometimes happens that to move toward love — true, active, life-affirming love — means to move toward death.”

This essay brought me closer to life, which is what I seek in an essay. The pain and joy of the testimony.

Wallace writes unflinchingly about how loss and our proximity to death can shape us and open us up if we allow it. He doesn’t negate or make light of what it’s like to live as a person of color in this country, the dangers we face constantly, as we go about our lives. He affirmed what experiencing loss and injustice has taught me: that fear cannot stop us from experiencing joy, from loving and letting ourselves be seen….

Carvell Wallace reminded me in this essay of what art and writing can do, and ultimately that’s why I chose it as the best essay of 2019.

Rani Neutill

A writer and professor of writing and literature at work on “ do you love me? ,” a memoir about fractured identity and her relationship with her mentally ill Bengali immigrant mother.

Breaking My Own Silence (Min Jin Lee, The New York Times )

Every year, a slew of fantastic essays are published. 2019 felt even more exceptional in this regard. One particular essay resonated with me, both as a child of an immigrant mother who struggled with language, accent, and assimilation into American society, and as a scholar of Asian American literature. Novelist, Min Jin Lee’s, “Breaking My Own Silence,” beautifully chronicles her journey through life and education and the difficulty of speaking and speaking up. She moved from Seoul to Queens, NY when she was 7 years old and narrates her experience as a Korean immigrant to recount how the English language is one of the determining, often insidious, forces of assimilation. She also describes how she encountered notions of Asian women as silent, weak and submissive — the lotus blossom stereotype. Lee astutely and emotionally notes the differences between talking and writing. The links between the two and the power of both. The painful nature of each expressive gesture. Her experiences as a Korean immigrant, now having lived in the West for more than four decades, build to make sense of herself as a writer.

So many scenes moved me. I recalled moments in my own childhood where my mother’s practices as a Bengali immigrant separated me from my classmates — how people made fun of my name and the way my mother made up my hair. She always braided it, wove ribbons into each plait, and wrapped them up into two ovals that bounced around my head. This is something mothers did to their daughters in Kolkata as they sent them off to school. It was one of the ways in which my mother attempted to hold onto her identity as a Bengali woman. I often felt the shame of not being able to be what was considered beautiful and “American,” because of this. Lee’s essay helped me make sense of my own experiences and the ways in which I learned to become a writer and someone who struggles.

Morgan Jerkins

Author of the New York Times bestseller, This Will Be My Undoing , and the Senior Editor at ZORA .

The Crane Wife (C.J. Hauser, The Paris Review )

I don’t know even know where to begin with this essay. It was only published five months ago and I bring it up every chance I get when talking about how to craft a personal narrative in a structurally unique way. Who would’ve thought that the end of an engagement combined with the discovery of cranes and their behavior would have that much in common? Hauser beautifully blends this moment of coming into her own as a newly single woman who’s studying cranes as she reflects on all the times in her previous relationship where she had red flags to leave. Emotionally resonant, vulnerable, and smart, I hope Hauser continues to publish as much as she wants.

Ayşegül Savaş

The author of Walking on the Ceiling .

Manual for Mourning a Great Poet (Caroline Stockford, Yrakha )

Many of the essays I read this year were written with outrage, a sentiment particularly well-suited to social media and the types of essays that get circulated within it. Outrage is easily spread; its sting is unambiguous and quickly felt. It has come to represent how much we care; it may seem the only way to write about the things that matter to us. In the language of outrage, the unremarkable aches of our lives can be cast aside, the small cares washed away.

Caroline Stockford’s essay “Manual for Mourning a Great Poet” is an ode to old-world passions — to beers and cigarettes in backstreets, posters of rock stars, poems recited by heart. It is about the betrayal, friendship, and abuse of a great poet’s life. The poet in the essay, Küçük İskender, will be unknown to non-Turkish readers, though he was a cult figure in Turkish poetry. That is part of the essay’s heartbreak. Not because Küçük İskender didn’t achieve international fame, but because he lived fiercely and passionately within literature. The essay reminded me of the force of true poetry; that outrageously frail manual for living a life.

Sari Botton Essays editor, Longreads

The Optics of Opportunity (Hafizah Geter, Gay Magazine )

I will confess that when Hafizah Geter tweeted about her experience with Barnes & Nobel’s failed, deeply problematic Springing Center Fellowship for emerging writers, I reached out to invite her to write an essay about it for Longreads. I knew I wouldn’t be the only editor pursuing this important piece, and I was happy to see it land at Gay Magazine .

In the essay, Geter sets the record straight on outrageous displays of racism, white privilege, and gaslighting on the part of white instructor, Jackson Taylor, after her classmate wrote about it less critically in The New Yorker , framing the story as just “a quirky tale of wealth and nepotism.”

She also brings to light the morally bankrupt opportunism of Barnes & Noble founder Steve Riggio and his daughter, Stephanie (an incognito fellow in the program herself), who seemed to have created the fellowship — for which they “had invited a group of emerging writers to use our work to engage and interrogate structures of power” but were averse to questioning white power — to project a false air of wokeness.

It was an unfair bargain the participants didn’t know they were making, and Geter gets at this urgently and compellingly. She writes: “…as a black, queer woman I am aware of how much harder people of color have to labor in order to be allowed to reap our fruits. I am no stranger to how often opportunity has a racial cost. And wasn’t this an opportunity? — every writer in the room was thinking — though for the writers of color, like it too often is, it was opportunity at a cost…The exchange the people of color at the Springing Center made for the ‘opportunity’ was in granting favorable optics — after all, among the people of color, we carried most of the notable bylines that gave the room prestige — The New Yorker, Tin House, books forthcoming from Knopf and Graywolf. But our admission into white spaces is never free, even when we are the ones carrying the room.”

Hideous Men (E. Jean Carroll, The Cut )

In this stunning excerpt from her memoir, What Do We Need Men For?: A Modest Proposal , E. Jean Carroll recalls being sexually assaulted by numerous men throughout her life, and outright raped in the mid-’90s in a Bergdorf Goodman dressing room by none other than Donald Trump.

Carroll manages to control the narrative in a piece in which she is abused, again and again, even deploying humor in places as she points to various absurdities of coming up as a woman in media in the ’60s. “I am a member of the Silent Generation,” she writes. “We do not flap our gums. We laugh it off and get on with life.”

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20 Must-Read Best Essay Collections of 2019

Rebecca Hussey

Rebecca holds a PhD in English and is a professor at Norwalk Community College in Connecticut. She teaches courses in composition, literature, and the arts. When she’s not reading or grading papers, she’s hanging out with her husband and son and/or riding her bike and/or buying books. She can't get enough of reading and writing about books, so she writes the bookish newsletter "Reading Indie," focusing on small press books and translations. Newsletter: Reading Indie Twitter: @ofbooksandbikes

View All posts by Rebecca Hussey

Calling all essay fans! For your reading pleasure, I’ve rounded up the best essay collections of 2019. It was a fabulous year for essays (although I say that about most years, to be honest). We’ve had some stellar anthologies of writing about disability, feminism, and the immigrant experience. We’ve had important collections about race, mental health, the environment, and media. And we’ve had collections of personal essays to entertain us and make us feel less alone. There should be something in this list for just about any reading mood or interest.

These books span the entire year, and in cases where the book isn’t published yet, I’ve given you the publication date so you can preorder it or add it to your library list.

I hope this list of the best essay collections of 2019 helps you find new books you love!

About Us: Essays from the Disability Series of the New York Times , edited by Peter Catapano and Rosemarie Garland-Thomson

This book emerged from a New York Times series of personal essays on living with a disability. Each piece was written by a person in the disabled community, and the volume contains an introduction by Andrew Solomon. The topics cover romance, shame, ambition, childbearing, parenting, aging, and much more. The authors offer a wide range of perspectives on living in a world not built for them.

Black is the Body: Stories from my Grandmother’s Time, My Mother’s Time, and Mine by Emily Bernard

Emily Bernard’s essays are about her experiences of race. She writes about life as a black woman in Vermont, her family’s history in Alabama and Nashville, her job as a professor who teaches African American literature, and her adoption of twin girls from Ethiopia. It begins with the story of a stabbing in New Haven and uses that as a springboard to write about what it means to live in a black body.

Burn It Down: Women Writing about Anger , edited by Lilly Dancyger (Seal Press, October 8)

Women’s anger has been the source of some important and powerful writing lately (see Rebecca Traister’s Good and Mad and Soraya Chemaly’s Rage Becomes Her ). This collection brings together a diverse group of writers to further explore the subject. The book’s 22 writers include Leslie Jamison, Melissa Febos, Evette Dionne, and more.

The Collected Schizophrenias by Esmé Weijun Wang

The Collected Schizophrenias is a collection of essays on mental and chronic illness. Wang combines research with her personal knowledge of illness to explore misconceptions about schizophrenia and disagreements in the medical community about definitions and treatments. She tells moving, honest personal stories about living with mental illness.

The Collector of Leftover Souls: Field Notes on Brazil’s Everyday Insurrections by Eliane Brum, Translated by Diane Grosklaus Whitty (Graywolf, October 15)

This volume collects work from two of Brum’s books, and includes investigative pieces and profiles about Brazil and its people. She focuses on underrepresented communities such as indigenous midwives from the Amazon and people in the favelas of São Paulo. Her book captures the lives and voices of people not often written about.

Erosion: Essays of Undoing by Terry Tempest Williams (Sarah Crichton Books, October 8)

This volume collects essays written between 2016 and 2018 covering the topic she has always written so beautifully about: the natural world. The essays focus on the concept of erosion, including the erosion of land and of the self. They are her response to the often-overwhelming challenges we face in the political and the natural world.

The Good Immigrant: 26 Writers Reflect on America , edited by Nikesh Shukla and Chimene Suleyman

This volume brings together an amazing group of writers including Chigozie Obioma, Jenny Zhang, Fatimah Asghar, Alexander Chee, and many more. The essayists are first and second generation immigrants who describe their personal experiences and struggles with finding their place in the U.S. The pieces connect first-person stories with broader cultural and political issues to paint an important picture of the U.S. today.

Good Things Happen to People You Hate: Essays by Rebecca Fishbein (William Morrow, October 15)

In the tradition of Samantha Irby and Sloane Crosley, this collection is a humorous look at life’s unfairness. Fishbein writes about trouble with jobs, bedbugs, fires, and cyber bullying. She covers struggles with alcohol, depression, anxiety, and failed relationships. She is honest and hilarious both, wittily capturing experiences shared by many.

I Like to Watch: Arguing My Way Through the TV Revolution by Emily Nussbaum

This book contains new and previously published essays by New Yorker critic Emily Nussbaum. The pieces include reviews and profiles. They also argue for a new type of criticism that can accommodate the ambition and complexity of contemporary television. She makes a case for opening art criticism up to new forms and voices.

I’m Telling the Truth, But I’m Lying by Bassey Ikpi

Bassey Ikpi’s essay collection is about her personal experiences dealing with Bipolar II and anxiety. She writes about struggling with mental health even while her career as a spoken word artist was flourishing. She looks at the ways our mental health is intertwined with every aspect of our lives. It’s an honest look at identity, health, and illness.

Little Weirds by Jenny Slate (Little, Brown and Company, November 5)

These pieces are humorous, whimsical essays about things that are on Jenny Slate’s mind. As she—an actress and stand-up comedian as well as writer—describes it, “I looked into my brain and found a book. Here it is.” With a light touch, she tells us honestly what it’s like to be her and how she sees the world, one little, weird piece of it at a time.

Make It Scream, Make It Burn: Essays by Leslie Jamison

Here is Jamison’s follow-up essay collection to the bestselling Empathy Exams . This one is divided into three sections, “Longing,” “Looking,” and “Dwelling,” each with pieces that combine memoir and journalism. Her subjects include the Sri Lankan civil war, the online world Second Life, the whale 52 Blue, eloping in Las Vegas, giving birth, and many more.

My Time Among the Whites: Notes from an Unfinished Education by Jennine Capó Crucet

Crucet grew up in Miami, the daughter of Cuban refugees. Here she explores her family’s attempts to fit into American culture and her feeling of being a stranger in her own country. She considers her relationship to the so-called “American Dream” and what it means to live in a place that doesn’t always recognize your right to be there.

Notes to Self: Essays by Emilie Pine

Emilie Pine is an Irish writer, and this book is a bestseller in Ireland. These six personal essays touch on addiction, sexual assault, infertility, and more. She captures women’s experiences that often remain hidden. She writes about bodies and emotions from rage to grief to joy with honesty, clarity, and nuance.

Our Women on the Ground: Essays by Arab Women Reporting from the Arab World by Zahra Hankir (Editor) and Christiane Amanpour (Foreword)

This collection gathers together 19 writers discussing their experiences as journalists working in their home countries. These women risk their lives reporting on war and face sexual harassment and difficulties traveling alone, but they also are able to talk to women and get stories their male counterpoints can’t. Their first person accounts offer new perspectives on women’s lives and current events in the Middle East.

The Source of Self-Regard: Selected Essays, Speeches, and Meditations by Toni Morrison

Picking this up is a fitting way to pay tribute to the great Toni Morrison, who just passed away last summer. This book is a collection of essays, speeches, and meditations from the past four decades. Topics include the role of the artist, African Americans in American literature, the power of language, and discussions of her own work and that of other writers and artists.

Surfacing by Kathleen Jamie

Kathleen Jamie is a poet and nature writer. These essays combine travel, memoir, and history to look at a world rapidly changing because of our warming climate. She ranges from thawing tundra in Alaska to the preserved homes of neolithic farmers in Scotland and also examines her own experiences with change as her children grow and her father dies.

Thick: And Other Essays by Tressie McMillan Cottom

As of this writing, Thick was just longlisted for a National Book Award in nonfiction. McMillan Cottom’s essays look at culture and personal experience from a sociological perspective. It’s an indispensable collection for those who want to think about race and society, who like a mix of personal and academic writing, and who want some complex, challenging ideas to chew on.

White Flights: Race, Fiction, and the American Imagination by Jess Row

White Flights is an examination of how race gets written about in American fiction, particularly by white writers creating mostly white spaces in their books. Row looks at writers such as Don DeLillo, Annie Dillard, David Foster Wallace, Jonathan Franzen, and more to consider the role that whiteness has played in the American literary imagination.

The Witches Are Coming by Lindy West (Hachette Books, November 5)

The Witches Are Coming is Lindy West’s follow-up to her wonderful, best-selling book Shrill . She’s back with more of her incisive cultural critiques, writing essays on feminism and the misogyny that is (still) embedded in every part of our culture. She brings humor, wit, and much-needed clarity to the gender dynamics at play in media and culture.

There you have it—the best collections of 2019! This was a great year for essays, but so were the two years before. Check out my round-ups of the best essay collections from 2018 and 2017 .

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The 10 Best Essay Collections of the Decade

Ever tried. ever failed. no matter..

Friends, it’s true: the end of the decade approaches. It’s been a difficult, anxiety-provoking, morally compromised decade, but at least it’s been populated by some damn fine literature. We’ll take our silver linings where we can.

So, as is our hallowed duty as a literary and culture website—though with full awareness of the potentially fruitless and endlessly contestable nature of the task—in the coming weeks, we’ll be taking a look at the best and most important (these being not always the same) books of the decade that was. We will do this, of course, by means of a variety of lists. We began with the best debut novels , the best short story collections , the best poetry collections , and the best memoirs of the decade , and we have now reached the fifth list in our series: the best essay collections published in English between 2010 and 2019.

The following books were chosen after much debate (and several rounds of voting) by the Literary Hub staff. Tears were spilled, feelings were hurt, books were re-read. And as you’ll shortly see, we had a hard time choosing just ten—so we’ve also included a list of dissenting opinions, and an even longer list of also-rans. As ever, free to add any of your own favorites that we’ve missed in the comments below.

The Top Ten

Oliver sacks, the mind’s eye (2010).

Toward the end of his life, maybe suspecting or sensing that it was coming to a close, Dr. Oliver Sacks tended to focus his efforts on sweeping intellectual projects like On the Move (a memoir), The River of Consciousness (a hybrid intellectual history), and Hallucinations (a book-length meditation on, what else, hallucinations). But in 2010, he gave us one more classic in the style that first made him famous, a form he revolutionized and brought into the contemporary literary canon: the medical case study as essay. In The Mind’s Eye , Sacks focuses on vision, expanding the notion to embrace not only how we see the world, but also how we map that world onto our brains when our eyes are closed and we’re communing with the deeper recesses of consciousness. Relaying histories of patients and public figures, as well as his own history of ocular cancer (the condition that would eventually spread and contribute to his death), Sacks uses vision as a lens through which to see all of what makes us human, what binds us together, and what keeps us painfully apart. The essays that make up this collection are quintessential Sacks: sensitive, searching, with an expertise that conveys scientific information and experimentation in terms we can not only comprehend, but which also expand how we see life carrying on around us. The case studies of “Stereo Sue,” of the concert pianist Lillian Kalir, and of Howard, the mystery novelist who can no longer read, are highlights of the collection, but each essay is a kind of gem, mined and polished by one of the great storytellers of our era. –Dwyer Murphy, CrimeReads Managing Editor

John Jeremiah Sullivan, Pulphead (2011)

The American essay was having a moment at the beginning of the decade, and Pulphead was smack in the middle. Without any hard data, I can tell you that this collection of John Jeremiah Sullivan’s magazine features—published primarily in GQ , but also in The Paris Review , and Harper’s —was the only full book of essays most of my literary friends had read since Slouching Towards Bethlehem , and probably one of the only full books of essays they had even heard of.

Well, we all picked a good one. Every essay in Pulphead is brilliant and entertaining, and illuminates some small corner of the American experience—even if it’s just one house, with Sullivan and an aging writer inside (“Mr. Lytle” is in fact a standout in a collection with no filler; fittingly, it won a National Magazine Award and a Pushcart Prize). But what are they about? Oh, Axl Rose, Christian Rock festivals, living around the filming of One Tree Hill , the Tea Party movement, Michael Jackson, Bunny Wailer, the influence of animals, and by god, the Miz (of Real World/Road Rules Challenge fame).

But as Dan Kois has pointed out , what connects these essays, apart from their general tone and excellence, is “their author’s essential curiosity about the world, his eye for the perfect detail, and his great good humor in revealing both his subjects’ and his own foibles.” They are also extremely well written, drawing much from fictional techniques and sentence craft, their literary pleasures so acute and remarkable that James Wood began his review of the collection in The New Yorker with a quiz: “Are the following sentences the beginnings of essays or of short stories?” (It was not a hard quiz, considering the context.)

It’s hard not to feel, reading this collection, like someone reached into your brain, took out the half-baked stuff you talk about with your friends, researched it, lived it, and represented it to you smarter and better and more thoroughly than you ever could. So read it in awe if you must, but read it. –Emily Temple, Senior Editor

Aleksandar Hemon, The Book of My Lives (2013)

Such is the sentence-level virtuosity of Aleksandar Hemon—the Bosnian-American writer, essayist, and critic—that throughout his career he has frequently been compared to the granddaddy of borrowed language prose stylists: Vladimir Nabokov. While it is, of course, objectively remarkable that anyone could write so beautifully in a language they learned in their twenties, what I admire most about Hemon’s work is the way in which he infuses every essay and story and novel with both a deep humanity and a controlled (but never subdued) fury. He can also be damn funny. Hemon grew up in Sarajevo and left in 1992 to study in Chicago, where he almost immediately found himself stranded, forced to watch from afar as his beloved home city was subjected to a relentless four-year bombardment, the longest siege of a capital in the history of modern warfare. This extraordinary memoir-in-essays is many things: it’s a love letter to both the family that raised him and the family he built in exile; it’s a rich, joyous, and complex portrait of a place the 90s made synonymous with war and devastation; and it’s an elegy for the wrenching loss of precious things. There’s an essay about coming of age in Sarajevo and another about why he can’t bring himself to leave Chicago. There are stories about relationships forged and maintained on the soccer pitch or over the chessboard, and stories about neighbors and mentors turned monstrous by ethnic prejudice. As a chorus they sing with insight, wry humor, and unimaginable sorrow. I am not exaggerating when I say that the collection’s devastating final piece, “The Aquarium”—which details his infant daughter’s brain tumor and the agonizing months which led up to her death—remains the most painful essay I have ever read. –Dan Sheehan, Book Marks Editor

Robin Wall Kimmerer, Braiding Sweetgrass (2013)

Of every essay in my relentlessly earmarked copy of Braiding Sweetgrass , Dr. Robin Wall Kimmerer’s gorgeously rendered argument for why and how we should keep going, there’s one that especially hits home: her account of professor-turned-forester Franz Dolp. When Dolp, several decades ago, revisited the farm that he had once shared with his ex-wife, he found a scene of destruction: The farm’s new owners had razed the land where he had tried to build a life. “I sat among the stumps and the swirling red dust and I cried,” he wrote in his journal.

So many in my generation (and younger) feel this kind of helplessness–and considerable rage–at finding ourselves newly adult in a world where those in power seem determined to abandon or destroy everything that human bodies have always needed to survive: air, water, land. Asking any single book to speak to this helplessness feels unfair, somehow; yet, Braiding Sweetgrass does, by weaving descriptions of indigenous tradition with the environmental sciences in order to show what survival has looked like over the course of many millennia. Kimmerer’s essays describe her personal experience as a Potawotami woman, plant ecologist, and teacher alongside stories of the many ways that humans have lived in relationship to other species. Whether describing Dolp’s work–he left the stumps for a life of forest restoration on the Oregon coast–or the work of others in maple sugar harvesting, creating black ash baskets, or planting a Three Sisters garden of corn, beans, and squash, she brings hope. “In ripe ears and swelling fruit, they counsel us that all gifts are multiplied in relationship,” she writes of the Three Sisters, which all sustain one another as they grow. “This is how the world keeps going.” –Corinne Segal, Senior Editor

Hilton Als, White Girls (2013)

In a world where we are so often reduced to one essential self, Hilton Als’ breathtaking book of critical essays, White Girls , which meditates on the ways he and other subjects read, project and absorb parts of white femininity, is a radically liberating book. It’s one of the only works of critical thinking that doesn’t ask the reader, its author or anyone he writes about to stoop before the doorframe of complete legibility before entering. Something he also permitted the subjects and readers of his first book, the glorious book-length essay, The Women , a series of riffs and psychological portraits of Dorothy Dean, Owen Dodson, and the author’s own mother, among others. One of the shifts of that book, uncommon at the time, was how it acknowledges the way we inhabit bodies made up of variously gendered influences. To read White Girls now is to experience the utter freedom of this gift and to marvel at Als’ tremendous versatility and intelligence.

He is easily the most diversely talented American critic alive. He can write into genres like pop music and film where being part of an audience is a fantasy happening in the dark. He’s also wired enough to know how the art world builds reputations on the nod of rich white patrons, a significant collision in a time when Jean-Michel Basquiat is America’s most expensive modern artist. Als’ swerving and always moving grip on performance means he’s especially good on describing the effect of art which is volatile and unstable and built on the mingling of made-up concepts and the hard fact of their effect on behavior, such as race. Writing on Flannery O’Connor for instance he alone puts a finger on her “uneasy and unavoidable union between black and white, the sacred and the profane, the shit and the stars.” From Eminem to Richard Pryor, André Leon Talley to Michael Jackson, Als enters the life and work of numerous artists here who turn the fascinations of race and with whiteness into fury and song and describes the complexity of their beauty like his life depended upon it. There are also brief memoirs here that will stop your heart. This is an essential work to understanding American culture. –John Freeman, Executive Editor

Eula Biss, On Immunity (2014)

We move through the world as if we can protect ourselves from its myriad dangers, exercising what little agency we have in an effort to keep at bay those fears that gather at the edges of any given life: of loss, illness, disaster, death. It is these fears—amplified by the birth of her first child—that Eula Biss confronts in her essential 2014 essay collection, On Immunity . As any great essayist does, Biss moves outward in concentric circles from her own very private view of the world to reveal wider truths, discovering as she does a culture consumed by anxiety at the pervasive toxicity of contemporary life. As Biss interrogates this culture—of privilege, of whiteness—she interrogates herself, questioning the flimsy ways in which we arm ourselves with science or superstition against the impurities of daily existence.

Five years on from its publication, it is dismaying that On Immunity feels as urgent (and necessary) a defense of basic science as ever. Vaccination, we learn, is derived from vacca —for cow—after the 17th-century discovery that a small application of cowpox was often enough to inoculate against the scourge of smallpox, an etymological digression that belies modern conspiratorial fears of Big Pharma and its vaccination agenda. But Biss never scolds or belittles the fears of others, and in her generosity and openness pulls off a neat (and important) trick: insofar as we are of the very world we fear, she seems to be suggesting, we ourselves are impure, have always been so, permeable, vulnerable, yet so much stronger than we think. –Jonny Diamond, Editor-in-Chief

Rebecca Solnit, The Mother of All Questions (2016)

When Rebecca Solnit’s essay, “Men Explain Things to Me,” was published in 2008, it quickly became a cultural phenomenon unlike almost any other in recent memory, assigning language to a behavior that almost every woman has witnessed—mansplaining—and, in the course of identifying that behavior, spurring a movement, online and offline, to share the ways in which patriarchal arrogance has intersected all our lives. (It would also come to be the titular essay in her collection published in 2014.) The Mother of All Questions follows up on that work and takes it further in order to examine the nature of self-expression—who is afforded it and denied it, what institutions have been put in place to limit it, and what happens when it is employed by women. Solnit has a singular gift for describing and decoding the misogynistic dynamics that govern the world so universally that they can seem invisible and the gendered violence that is so common as to seem unremarkable; this naming is powerful, and it opens space for sharing the stories that shape our lives.

The Mother of All Questions, comprised of essays written between 2014 and 2016, in many ways armed us with some of the tools necessary to survive the gaslighting of the Trump years, in which many of us—and especially women—have continued to hear from those in power that the things we see and hear do not exist and never existed. Solnit also acknowledges that labels like “woman,” and other gendered labels, are identities that are fluid in reality; in reviewing the book for The New Yorker , Moira Donegan suggested that, “One useful working definition of a woman might be ‘someone who experiences misogyny.'” Whichever words we use, Solnit writes in the introduction to the book that “when words break through unspeakability, what was tolerated by a society sometimes becomes intolerable.” This storytelling work has always been vital; it continues to be vital, and in this book, it is brilliantly done. –Corinne Segal, Senior Editor

Valeria Luiselli, Tell Me How It Ends (2017)

The newly minted MacArthur fellow Valeria Luiselli’s four-part (but really six-part) essay Tell Me How It Ends: An Essay in Forty Questions was inspired by her time spent volunteering at the federal immigration court in New York City, working as an interpreter for undocumented, unaccompanied migrant children who crossed the U.S.-Mexico border. Written concurrently with her novel Lost Children Archive (a fictional exploration of the same topic), Luiselli’s essay offers a fascinating conceit, the fashioning of an argument from the questions on the government intake form given to these children to process their arrivals. (Aside from the fact that this essay is a heartbreaking masterpiece, this is such a good conceit—transforming a cold, reproducible administrative document into highly personal literature.) Luiselli interweaves a grounded discussion of the questionnaire with a narrative of the road trip Luiselli takes with her husband and family, across America, while they (both Mexican citizens) wait for their own Green Card applications to be processed. It is on this trip when Luiselli reflects on the thousands of migrant children mysteriously traveling across the border by themselves. But the real point of the essay is to actually delve into the real stories of some of these children, which are agonizing, as well as to gravely, clearly expose what literally happens, procedural, when they do arrive—from forms to courts, as they’re swallowed by a bureaucratic vortex. Amid all of this, Luiselli also takes on more, exploring the larger contextual relationship between the United States of America and Mexico (as well as other countries in Central America, more broadly) as it has evolved to our current, adverse moment. Tell Me How It Ends is so small, but it is so passionate and vigorous: it desperately accomplishes in its less-than-100-pages-of-prose what centuries and miles and endless records of federal bureaucracy have never been able, and have never cared, to do: reverse the dehumanization of Latin American immigrants that occurs once they set foot in this country. –Olivia Rutigliano, CrimeReads Editorial Fellow

Zadie Smith, Feel Free (2018)

In the essay “Meet Justin Bieber!” in Feel Free , Zadie Smith writes that her interest in Justin Bieber is not an interest in the interiority of the singer himself, but in “the idea of the love object”. This essay—in which Smith imagines a meeting between Bieber and the late philosopher Martin Buber (“Bieber and Buber are alternative spellings of the same German surname,” she explains in one of many winning footnotes. “Who am I to ignore these hints from the universe?”). Smith allows that this premise is a bit premise -y: “I know, I know.” Still, the resulting essay is a very funny, very smart, and un-tricky exploration of individuality and true “meeting,” with a dash of late capitalism thrown in for good measure. The melding of high and low culture is the bread and butter of pretty much every prestige publication on the internet these days (and certainly of the Twitter feeds of all “public intellectuals”), but the essays in Smith’s collection don’t feel familiar—perhaps because hers is, as we’ve long known, an uncommon skill. Though I believe Smith could probably write compellingly about anything, she chooses her subjects wisely. She writes with as much electricity about Brexit as the aforementioned Beliebers—and each essay is utterly engrossing. “She contains multitudes, but her point is we all do,” writes Hermione Hoby in her review of the collection in The New Republic . “At the same time, we are, in our endless difference, nobody but ourselves.” –Jessie Gaynor, Social Media Editor

Tressie McMillan Cottom, Thick: And Other Essays (2019)

Tressie McMillan Cottom is an academic who has transcended the ivory tower to become the sort of public intellectual who can easily appear on radio or television talk shows to discuss race, gender, and capitalism. Her collection of essays reflects this duality, blending scholarly work with memoir to create a collection on the black female experience in postmodern America that’s “intersectional analysis with a side of pop culture.” The essays range from an analysis of sexual violence, to populist politics, to social media, but in centering her own experiences throughout, the collection becomes something unlike other pieces of criticism of contemporary culture. In explaining the title, she reflects on what an editor had said about her work: “I was too readable to be academic, too deep to be popular, too country black to be literary, and too naïve to show the rigor of my thinking in the complexity of my prose. I had wanted to create something meaningful that sounded not only like me, but like all of me. It was too thick.” One of the most powerful essays in the book is “Dying to be Competent” which begins with her unpacking the idiocy of LinkedIn (and the myth of meritocracy) and ends with a description of her miscarriage, the mishandling of black woman’s pain, and a condemnation of healthcare bureaucracy. A finalist for the 2019 National Book Award for Nonfiction, Thick confirms McMillan Cottom as one of our most fearless public intellectuals and one of the most vital. –Emily Firetog, Deputy Editor

Dissenting Opinions

The following books were just barely nudged out of the top ten, but we (or at least one of us) couldn’t let them pass without comment.

Elif Batuman, The Possessed (2010)

In The Possessed Elif Batuman indulges her love of Russian literature and the result is hilarious and remarkable. Each essay of the collection chronicles some adventure or other that she had while in graduate school for Comparative Literature and each is more unpredictable than the next. There’s the time a “well-known 20th-centuryist” gave a graduate student the finger; and the time when Batuman ended up living in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, for a summer; and the time that she convinced herself Tolstoy was murdered and spent the length of the Tolstoy Conference in Yasnaya Polyana considering clues and motives. Rich in historic detail about Russian authors and literature and thoughtfully constructed, each essay is an amalgam of critical analysis, cultural criticism, and serious contemplation of big ideas like that of identity, intellectual legacy, and authorship. With wit and a serpentine-like shape to her narratives, Batuman adopts a form reminiscent of a Socratic discourse, setting up questions at the beginning of her essays and then following digressions that more or less entreat the reader to synthesize the answer for herself. The digressions are always amusing and arguably the backbone of the collection, relaying absurd anecdotes with foreign scholars or awkward, surreal encounters with Eastern European strangers. Central also to the collection are Batuman’s intellectual asides where she entertains a theory—like the “problem of the person”: the inability to ever wholly capture one’s character—that ultimately layer the book’s themes. “You are certainly my most entertaining student,” a professor said to Batuman. But she is also curious and enthusiastic and reflective and so knowledgeable that she might even convince you (she has me!) that you too love Russian literature as much as she does. –Eleni Theodoropoulos, Editorial Fellow

Roxane Gay, Bad Feminist (2014)

Roxane Gay’s now-classic essay collection is a book that will make you laugh, think, cry, and then wonder, how can cultural criticism be this fun? My favorite essays in the book include Gay’s musings on competitive Scrabble, her stranded-in-academia dispatches, and her joyous film and television criticism, but given the breadth of topics Roxane Gay can discuss in an entertaining manner, there’s something for everyone in this one. This book is accessible because feminism itself should be accessible – Roxane Gay is as likely to draw inspiration from YA novels, or middle-brow shows about friendship, as she is to introduce concepts from the academic world, and if there’s anyone I trust to bridge the gap between high culture, low culture, and pop culture, it’s the Goddess of Twitter. I used to host a book club dedicated to radical reads, and this was one of the first picks for the club; a week after the book club met, I spied a few of the attendees meeting in the café of the bookstore, and found out that they had bonded so much over discussing Bad Feminist that they couldn’t wait for the next meeting of the book club to keep discussing politics and intersectionality, and that, in a nutshell, is the power of Roxane. –Molly Odintz, CrimeReads Associate Editor

Rivka Galchen, Little Labors (2016)

Generally, I find stories about the trials and tribulations of child-having to be of limited appeal—useful, maybe, insofar as they offer validation that other people have also endured the bizarre realities of living with a tiny human, but otherwise liable to drift into the musings of parents thrilled at the simple fact of their own fecundity, as if they were the first ones to figure the process out (or not). But Little Labors is not simply an essay collection about motherhood, perhaps because Galchen initially “didn’t want to write about” her new baby—mostly, she writes, “because I had never been interested in babies, or mothers; in fact, those subjects had seemed perfectly not interesting to me.” Like many new mothers, though, Galchen soon discovered her baby—which she refers to sometimes as “the puma”—to be a preoccupying thought, demanding to be written about. Galchen’s interest isn’t just in her own progeny, but in babies in literature (“Literature has more dogs than babies, and also more abortions”), The Pillow Book , the eleventh-century collection of musings by Sei Shōnagon, and writers who are mothers. There are sections that made me laugh out loud, like when Galchen continually finds herself in an elevator with a neighbor who never fails to remark on the puma’s size. There are also deeper, darker musings, like the realization that the baby means “that it’s not permissible to die. There are days when this does not feel good.” It is a slim collection that I happened to read at the perfect time, and it remains one of my favorites of the decade. –Emily Firetog, Deputy Editor

Charlie Fox, This Young Monster (2017)

On social media as in his writing, British art critic Charlie Fox rejects lucidity for allusion and doesn’t quite answer the Twitter textbox’s persistent question: “What’s happening?” These days, it’s hard to tell. This Young Monster (2017), Fox’s first book,was published a few months after Donald Trump’s election, and at one point Fox takes a swipe at a man he judges “direct from a nightmare and just a repulsive fucking goon.” Fox doesn’t linger on politics, though, since most of the monsters he looks at “embody otherness and make it into art, ripping any conventional idea of beauty to shreds and replacing it with something weird and troubling of their own invention.”

If clichés are loathed because they conform to what philosopher Georges Bataille called “the common measure,” then monsters are rebellious non-sequiturs, comedic or horrific derailments from a classical ideal. Perverts in the most literal sense, monsters have gone astray from some “proper” course. The book’s nine chapters, which are about a specific monster or type of monster, are full of callbacks to familiar and lesser-known media. Fox cites visual art, film, songs, and books with the screwy buoyancy of a savant. Take one of his essays, “Spook House,” framed as a stage play with two principal characters, Klaus (“an intoxicated young skinhead vampire”) and Hermione (“a teen sorceress with green skin and jet-black hair” who looks more like The Wicked Witch than her namesake). The chorus is a troupe of trick-or-treaters. Using the filmmaker Cameron Jamie as a starting point, the rest is free association on gothic decadence and Detroit and L.A. as cities of the dead. All the while, Klaus quotes from Artforum , Dazed & Confused , and Time Out. It’s a technical feat that makes fictionalized dialogue a conveyor belt for cultural criticism.

In Fox’s imagination, David Bowie and the Hydra coexist alongside Peter Pan, Dennis Hopper, and the maenads. Fox’s book reaches for the monster’s mask, not really to peel it off but to feel and smell the rubber schnoz, to know how it’s made before making sure it’s still snugly set. With a stylistic blend of arthouse suavity and B-movie chic, This Young Monster considers how monsters in culture are made. Aren’t the scariest things made in post-production? Isn’t the creature just duplicity, like a looping choir or a dubbed scream? –Aaron Robertson, Assistant Editor

Elena Passarello, Animals Strike Curious Poses (2017)

Elena Passarello’s collection of essays Animals Strike Curious Poses picks out infamous animals and grants them the voice, narrative, and history they deserve. Not only is a collection like this relevant during the sixth extinction but it is an ambitious historical and anthropological undertaking, which Passarello has tackled with thorough research and a playful tone that rather than compromise her subject, complicates and humanizes it. Passarello’s intention is to investigate the role of animals across the span of human civilization and in doing so, to construct a timeline of humanity as told through people’s interactions with said animals. “Of all the images that make our world, animal images are particularly buried inside us,” Passarello writes in her first essay, to introduce us to the object of the book and also to the oldest of her chosen characters: Yuka, a 39,000-year-old mummified woolly mammoth discovered in the Siberian permafrost in 2010. It was an occasion so remarkable and so unfathomable given the span of human civilization that Passarello says of Yuka: “Since language is epically younger than both thought and experience, ‘woolly mammoth’ means, to a human brain, something more like time.” The essay ends with a character placing a hand on a cave drawing of a woolly mammoth, accompanied by a phrase which encapsulates the author’s vision for the book: “And he becomes the mammoth so he can envision the mammoth.” In Passarello’s hands the imagined boundaries between the animal, natural, and human world disintegrate and what emerges is a cohesive if baffling integrated history of life. With the accuracy and tenacity of a journalist and the spirit of a storyteller, Elena Passarello has assembled a modern bestiary worthy of contemplation and awe. –Eleni Theodoropoulos, Editorial Fellow

Esmé Weijun Wang, The Collected Schizophrenias (2019)

Esmé Weijun Wang’s collection of essays is a kaleidoscopic look at mental health and the lives affected by the schizophrenias. Each essay takes on a different aspect of the topic, but you’ll want to read them together for a holistic perspective. Esmé Weijun Wang generously begins The Collected Schizophrenias by acknowledging the stereotype, “Schizophrenia terrifies. It is the archetypal disorder of lunacy.” From there, she walks us through the technical language, breaks down the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual ( DSM-5 )’s clinical definition. And then she gets very personal, telling us about how she came to her own diagnosis and the way it’s touched her daily life (her relationships, her ideas about motherhood). Esmé Weijun Wang is uniquely situated to write about this topic. As a former lab researcher at Stanford, she turns a precise, analytical eye to her experience while simultaneously unfolding everything with great patience for her reader. Throughout, she brilliantly dissects the language around mental health. (On saying “a person living with bipolar disorder” instead of using “bipolar” as the sole subject: “…we are not our diseases. We are instead individuals with disorders and malfunctions. Our conditions lie over us like smallpox blankets; we are one thing and the illness is another.”) She pinpoints the ways she arms herself against anticipated reactions to the schizophrenias: high fashion, having attended an Ivy League institution. In a particularly piercing essay, she traces mental illness back through her family tree. She also places her story within more mainstream cultural contexts, calling on groundbreaking exposés about the dangerous of institutionalization and depictions of mental illness in television and film (like the infamous Slender Man case, in which two young girls stab their best friend because an invented Internet figure told them to). At once intimate and far-reaching, The Collected Schizophrenias is an informative and important (and let’s not forget artful) work. I’ve never read a collection quite so beautifully-written and laid-bare as this. –Katie Yee, Book Marks Assistant Editor

Ross Gay, The Book of Delights (2019)

When Ross Gay began writing what would become The Book of Delights, he envisioned it as a project of daily essays, each focused on a moment or point of delight in his day. This plan quickly disintegrated; on day four, he skipped his self-imposed assignment and decided to “in honor and love, delight in blowing it off.” (Clearly, “blowing it off” is a relative term here, as he still produced the book.) Ross Gay is a generous teacher of how to live, and this moment of reveling in self-compassion is one lesson among many in The Book of Delights , which wanders from moments of connection with strangers to a shade of “red I don’t think I actually have words for,” a text from a friend reading “I love you breadfruit,” and “the sun like a guiding hand on my back, saying everything is possible. Everything .”

Gay does not linger on any one subject for long, creating the sense that delight is a product not of extenuating circumstances, but of our attention; his attunement to the possibilities of a single day, and awareness of all the small moments that produce delight, are a model for life amid the warring factions of the attention economy. These small moments range from the physical–hugging a stranger, transplanting fig cuttings–to the spiritual and philosophical, giving the impression of sitting beside Gay in his garden as he thinks out loud in real time. It’s a privilege to listen. –Corinne Segal, Senior Editor

Honorable Mentions

A selection of other books that we seriously considered for both lists—just to be extra about it (and because decisions are hard).

Terry Castle, The Professor and Other Writings (2010) · Joyce Carol Oates, In Rough Country (2010) · Geoff Dyer, Otherwise Known as the Human Condition (2011) · Christopher Hitchens, Arguably (2011) · Roberto Bolaño, tr. Natasha Wimmer, Between Parentheses (2011) · Dubravka Ugresic, tr. David Williams, Karaoke Culture (2011) · Tom Bissell, Magic Hours (2012) · Kevin Young, The Grey Album (2012) · William H. Gass, Life Sentences: Literary Judgments and Accounts (2012) · Mary Ruefle, Madness, Rack, and Honey (2012) · Herta Müller, tr. Geoffrey Mulligan, Cristina and Her Double (2013) · Leslie Jamison, The Empathy Exams (2014) · Meghan Daum, The Unspeakable (2014) · Daphne Merkin, The Fame Lunches (2014) · Charles D’Ambrosio, Loitering (2015) · Wendy Walters, Multiply/Divide (2015) · Colm Tóibín, On Elizabeth Bishop (2015) · Renee Gladman, Calamities (2016) · Jesmyn Ward, ed. The Fire This Time (2016) · Lindy West, Shrill (2016) · Mary Oliver, Upstream (2016) · Emily Witt, Future Sex (2016) · Olivia Laing, The Lonely City (2016) · Mark Greif, Against Everything (2016) · Durga Chew-Bose, Too Much and Not the Mood (2017) · Sarah Gerard, Sunshine State (2017) · Jim Harrison, A Really Big Lunch (2017) · J.M. Coetzee, Late Essays: 2006-2017 (2017) · Melissa Febos, Abandon Me (2017) · Louise Glück, American Originality (2017) · Joan Didion, South and West (2017) · Tom McCarthy, Typewriters, Bombs, Jellyfish (2017) · Hanif Abdurraqib, They Can’t Kill Us Until they Kill Us (2017) · Ta-Nehisi Coates, We Were Eight Years in Power (2017) · Samantha Irby, We Are Never Meeting in Real Life (2017) · Alexander Chee, How to Write an Autobiographical Novel (2018) · Alice Bolin, Dead Girls (2018) · Marilynne Robinson, What Are We Doing Here? (2018) · Lorrie Moore, See What Can Be Done (2018) · Maggie O’Farrell, I Am I Am I Am (2018) · Ijeoma Oluo, So You Want to Talk About Race (2018) · Rachel Cusk, Coventry (2019) · Jia Tolentino, Trick Mirror (2019) · Emily Bernard, Black is the Body (2019) · Toni Morrison, The Source of Self-Regard (2019) · Margaret Renkl, Late Migrations (2019) · Rachel Munroe, Savage Appetites (2019) · Robert A. Caro, Working (2019) · Arundhati Roy, My Seditious Heart (2019).

Emily Temple

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My 26 Favorite Essays of 2019

May 6, 2021

Est. reading time: 25 min

As part of my year-end review, I always review my favorite reading of the year. These usually tend to be “long-form” online essays diving deep into interesting ideas.

Revisiting my notes on these articles serves three functions:

Helps me absorb their ideas more deeply
Serves as a reminder to think about how I can use their ideas as building blocks in upcoming projects
Reveals clues about where the next year’s learning may take me

This year I’ve decided to write a review of each of the most important essays I discovered in 2019. Each one includes a short summary of what it’s about, the main idea I took away from it for my own work and life, and a link to my full notes if any.

They are presented in no particular order.

1. The Curse of Xanadu (Gary Wolf)

This long article is a complete history of the longest-running software development project of all time: the quest to create a “universal, democratic hypertext library” that would allow humans to evolve into the next stage of evolution. It was called Xanadu, and it was conceived in the 1960s by computing visionary Ted Nelson. It was both an inspiration for generations of computer scientists, programmers, and designers, and a spectacular failure at delivering working software. It is a fascinating tale at the intersection of human ego and hubris, and the ever-expanding capabilities of computer software.

The idea I took away : there are predictable, repeating failures common to projects that seek to create the “ultimate” knowledge management system. Xanadu is the most famous of them, but its lessons are present in many other similar projects. I like to learn from the successes of others, but find that learning from their mistakes is even more helpful. Also, it is possible to succeed at popularizing an idea, without actually delivering on its promise.

My full notes

2. Fast earners: South Korea’s millionaire, celebrity schoolteachers (Anna Fifield)

For some time I have been predicting the rise of “superstar” online teachers who command the same following, prestige, and earnings as film and music celebrities. Someone on Twitter sent me this article, describing such a trend already happening in South Korea. These instructors are like rock stars, complete with paid endorsements, multiple product lines, and multimedia content with sky-high production values. As is often the case, the future is already here, in Asia.

The idea I took away : online education increasingly looks like other media industries such as gaming, music, and film – a tiny percentage of producers dominate the rankings, and command vast followings. They are best understood as cross-platform multimedia brands based on their unique personalities and styles. The old institutions of education no longer have a stranglehold on access to students, and the very best teachers can now make a lot more money and have a much bigger impact teaching thousands of people across the globe. I’ll continue to be an evangelist for the growth of this trend.

3. Intro: Finding Our Place (Packy McCormick)

This series opened my eyes to a trend I hadn’t seen coming: the rise of IRL (in real life) membership-based communities. It makes a lot of sense and it’s something I’ve felt myself: we are spending so much time online that it has created an epidemic of isolation and loneliness. People long to connect with others in the flesh, to be seen and to communicate in intimate ways that are still only possible in person. Some of these groups are based on identity, some on interest, and some are general groups for professionals.

The idea I took away : the explosion of the Internet over the past couple decades has created a vacuum of connection. People want and need to look each other in the eye, to share their experience and hear that of others. The pendulum of community is starting to swing the other way, and a new generation of membership groups are arising to meet that need. In May we are facilitating our first week-long, in-person immersion to explore the philosophical implications of building a Second Brain. I’m thinking more and more about the role of in-person experiences in growing our business and community.

4. Workshops as Portals (Tom Critchlow)

This detailed, excellent post sums up an idea I’ve had brewing for a long time: workshops can be used in a far more strategic and powerful way than most people realize. More specifically, they can be used as “portals” into a client’s business, allowing you to gain clarity about how you can best work together as a bridge to long-term retained work. This might seem like an extremely niche idea, until you realize how many problems it solves for independent contractors of all kinds (who will soon make up a majority of the workforce). It allows clients to get comfortable “sparring” with you, make them feel that you’ll listen closely, understand their real underlying problems, determine whether they have the budget to solve them, demonstrate that you have something to offer, understand the team dynamics, understand the full context for the work you’ll be doing, and identify any hidden blind spots they might have.

The idea I took away : designing and running workshops is a “meta-skill” that is valuable far beyond professional facilitators and trainers. It is a multi-purpose format that is useful to kick off any kind of collaboration or engagement between people who haven’t worked together before. It can also be used for testing new ideas and validating new products. This makes it a candidate for a course, and I have it on my radar to develop such a course in the future.

5. First Men and Original Sins (Adam Roberts)

This was an unexpected hit for me. It tells the story of the relationship between religious faith and the U.S. space program. After Apollo astronaut Bill Anders read from the Biblical book of Genesis while en route to the moon in 1968, religion and free speech became the single most controversial issue faced by NASA. They received more than 8 million letters and petitions advocating for freedom of religious expression in space. The author makes an interesting point that to the extent the space program failed to keep the interest of the American public, it is because it didn’t tap into the imagination, courage, and adventure of space exploration. That imagination was instead captured by science-fiction and fantasy stories like Star Wars, which in the decades since we’ve spent more money on than the actual exploration of space.

The idea I took away : grand endeavors (like space exploration, and also building a “second brain”) are not just a matter of raising funds and solving practical problems. There is an element of mystery, narrative, and heroic archetypes that must be expressed if large numbers of people are going to pay attention. What we are doing with such endeavors is building an alternative world, and it has to be a world people want to live in.

6. Belonging is a superpower – Patterns for decentralised organising (Oliver Sylvester-Bradley)

This article summarizes a handful of useful principles for thinking about “decentralized organizing” – how do we enable groups of people distributed across the world to create a community, without us being responsible for organizing it? It draws from a workshop on this topic by the founders of Loomio, who are doing a “grand tour” of local meetups where they teach and speak on what they’ve learned in their company. Patterns such as “Intentionally produce counter-culture,” “Systematically distribute care labour,” “Make decisions asynchronously,” and “Keep talking about power” are just specific and counter-intuitive enough to be useful guidelines. Others such as “Make explicit norms and boundaries,” “Agree how you use tech,” “Using rhythm to cut information overload,” and “Generate new patterns together” are best practices codified.

The idea I took away : I can already see that community has been a big trend for me in 2019. Especially community enabled by, enhanced by, or responding to the growth of the Internet. I suppose I spend so much of my time online – not only working but creating, researching, writing, communicating, and playing – that I have a personal interest in this. The patterns identified in this article are ones I’ve observed myself, and it helped me begin to think about how we manage the Forte Labs community in a more systematic, but still decentralized way.

7. The More Beautiful World Our Hearts Know Is Possible (Charles Eisenstein)

This profound essay was the missing piece for my thoughts on what I call “ Servant Hedonism .” Eisenstein speaks so powerfully about a definition of pleasure as fulfilling our needs, the importance of pleasure in creating a future we actually want to live in, and how the current paradigm teaches us to deny the greater pleasures of connection and intimacy in favor of shallower, safer ones. I haven’t encountered such clear and compelling writing on pleasure as a redeeming and purifying force before.

The idea I took away : that the denial and postponement of pleasure, which I’ve trained myself so deeply in, has become an addiction. That taking my business and my work to the next level cannot be done through even more sacrifice and pain. It can only be done by making the work itself joyful. This is a surprisingly hard addiction to break, because it requires self-love and self-respect, which are hard to come by for someone so used to punishing themselves as a form of motivation. This is a deep lesson I think I will be integrating slowly for years to come.

8. Mindstorms: what did Papert argue and what does it mean for learning and education? (Amy J. Ko)

I had heard a lot about the educational theorist, educator, and computer scientist Seymour Papert , known for pioneering artificial intelligence and for his “constructivist” theory of education. But I could never find the time to read about his ideas in their original form. Through reading this article, I came to the conclusion that I too am a constructionist. Like Papert, I don’t believe that knowledge is a passive, fungible medium like soybeans or oil, that merely needs to be “transferred” from one person’s head to another. Instead, learning is an iterative, cumulative process of “constructing” knowledge out of bits of experience, theory, and experimentation. We cannot passively “absorb” a piece of abstract knowledge such as E=mc^2. We have to build up that knowledge through practical experience.

The idea I took away : that my role as a teacher is not to “impart the right knowledge” to my students. It is to create environments and experiments where they can construct that knowledge for themselves. This means I have to sometimes resist the desire to simply “create content” that answers their questions directly, which is so easy to do online, in favor of creating experiences. My responsibility shifts more toward accountability, coaching, feedback, facilitation, and encouragement than providing answers. I codified these principles for our own online courses in The Forte Academy 8 Pillars of Education .

9. The Tyranny of Ideas (Nadia Eghbal)

This essay explores the relationship between people and the ideas they carry and promote. Nadia offers a different framing of people themselves as “agents of change,” instead suggesting that they can be seen as “…intermediaries, voice boxes for some persistent idea-virus that’s seized upon them and is speaking through their corporeal form.” This resonates a lot with how I’m beginning to see the Second Brain idea. It’s no longer something I strictly control, that only comes from me. There are enough people in enough places talking about it that it has a life of its own.

The idea I took away : that it’s okay to have an identity and interests outside my big idea, and it isn’t even really “my” idea anyway. I can enjoy this ride and do my very best work without feeling that the responsibility for its success lies completely on my shoulders. In fact, the idea is using me, not the other way around. This gives me a measure of relief and peace of mind.

10. We Don’t Sell Saddles Here (Stewart Butterfield)

This is a classic from 2014, but I only discovered it this year. It is a call to arms from the founder of the Slack messaging app to his team, which had only been working on the product for 7 months and was two weeks away from its preview release. Butterfield articulates a lot of things that were important for me to hear for my own business. For example, that “our job is to understand what people think they want and then translate the value of Slack into their terms,” which reminded me that there is a translation process needed between stated wants and deeper needs. I was reminded that we are selling the result of the thing, not the thing itself, which is after all just a product. Butterfield reminded me of just how big of an ask it is for customers to change their behavior and make time in their day for the product I’m selling. And I was reminded that the ultimate promise of what I am offering is who my customers will become as a result of using it.

The idea I took away : immersed in the logistics of daily work, it’s very easy to lose sight of the ultimate customer benefits. It’s easy to forget how big of a leap is required from the old way of doing things to the new way. It it easy for the transformation that customers are seeking to become a slogan or mission statement. But these things are possible, and they do matter, and it’s important that I continue to appreciate them.

11. Against Waldenponding: II (Venkatesh Rao)

This is an issue of the Breaking Smart newsletter by Venkatesh Rao, in which he explores the idea that “software is eating the world” and its implications for technology, business, society, and politics. The idea of “Waldenponding” was an important one for me to integrate into my work. Rao introduced it in an earlier issue, as “a broad tendency to retreat from, and artificially limit, digital life.” In this followup, he expands on the idea, criticizing the “primitivist, fetishistic fear of screens as demonic objects” and “a way of relating to digital devices that seems shaped by a fearmongering vision of them as soul-sucking pumps, and their designers as Dark Lords who are far too powerful for you, mere mortal, to actively resist.” Waldenponders, as they are known, paint everything digital as inherently bad, and other things such as manual labor, in-person conversations, and long walks in the woods as inherently good. Rao argues that treating the digital world as profane is just another way of having your attention hacked, since there is as much humanity and “soul” online as anywhere in the physical world. As long as you know where to look and how to keep it in balance.

The idea I took away : the anti-technology trends that are so popular right now (Minimalism, Essentialism, Deep Work) are not just common sense solutions to the challenges many people are facing in their use of technology. They have a potentially damaging side effect: keeping people from appreciating and benefitting from the incredible opportunities the Internet offers, which are still in their infancy. It is a strain of Luddite thinking that misses much of the good being created by technology. In my work with Building a Second Brain, I have a responsibility to advocate for those benefits and make them more accessible to more people. Having a Second Brain is a key tool in successfully navigating the torrent of information we now all have access to.

12. What is Amazon? (Zack Kanter)

This essay went viral this year, in its brilliant attempt to dive deep into how Amazon works at a fundamental level. It is a great example of an insight-oriented piece of writing uniquely enabled by the Internet, with its infinite space to tell such a story. But Amazon isn’t that relevant to my work or business. What I noticed was that the core framing of this piece is around bottlenecks, and how Bezos systematically located, expanded, and removed one bottleneck after another to sustain the company’s growth. For example:

“And so, circa 2002, we start to see the emergence of a pattern: 1) Amazon had encountered a bottleneck to growth, 2) it had determined that some internal process or resource was the bottleneck, 3) it had realized that it could not possibly develop and deploy enough resources internally to remove that bottleneck, so 4) it instead removed the bottleneck by building an interface to allow the broader market to solve it en masse. This exact pattern was repeated with vendor selection (Amazon Marketplace), technology infrastructure (Amazon Web Services, or AWS), and merchandising (Amazon’s Catalog API).”

The idea I took away : I continue to be amazed how useful it is to understand bottlenecks in analyzing companies of any shape or size. I’m beginning to think my next book, after Building a Second Brain, should be a book explaining the Theory of Constraints to a new generation. It’s taken me a long time and a lot of effort to be able to understand it, largely because much of the source texts are outdated, or applied only to certain industries like manufacturing. But the model of constraints is such a broadly useful framework, it could be worth spending a couple years reinterpreting for modern times.

13. Info Tech of Ancient Democracy (Julian Dibbell)

This excellent essay explores how early democracies such as in Ancient Greece used technology to manage the complexities of voting, tallying, decreeing, and delivering key information where it was needed. Democracy is inherently an information-intensive process, with power and authority flowing in multiple directions instead of only top-down from a single ruler. They had to invent such tools as the “kleroterion,” or allotment machine, tokens used for authentication, juror tickets used for assigning jurors to specific courts, tagging ropes dipped in red paint for identifying truant jurors, the klepsydra water clock for timing speeches, and many others.

The idea I took away : I had never considered that political structures, such as democracy, were directly dependent on specific technological inventions. Or that a society’s ability to store, transmit, and authenticate information directly determined the complexity it could achieve in its governance. Fast forward to today, and technology is most often framed as a threat to democracy. This has made me think a lot about how the widespread use of extended thinking devices, which I call Second Brains, could shape the political evolution of nation states. Maybe having a Second Brain will be a requirement for holding political office, or for becoming a judge, or for voting on complex technical matters?

14. The White Darkness (David Grann)

Not only is this an enthralling story told with excellent writing, about the Antarctic explorer Henry Worsley, who attempted to become the first man to cross the continent on foot. It is also quite an impressive example of interactive media. When viewed on the original webpage at The New Yorker, it uses multiple overlays, dynamically changing color schemes, and maps that shape-shift as you scroll to convey the feeling and experience of traversing the most brutal environment on Earth. Despite decades of predictions about the rise of multimedia reading, it’s still rare to see this kind of thing. It takes a combination of skills in writing, graphic design, web design, and storytelling that are rarely found in combination, except in teams at major newspapers. And they usually aren’t interested in multimedia experiments.

The idea I took away : the experience of reading this article reminded me of just how much potential is still untapped when it comes to media on the Internet. There is still precious little of it available online, especially by amateurs, which is where I suspect the real innovation lies. I wonder if the capabilities of a Second Brain could help this trend along, since we tend to naturally store very diverse kinds of media in one place in our digital notes. I’ll be on the lookout for more examples and opportunities to experiment.

15. The Algorithmic Bonus Mindset (Venkatesh Rao)

Another email from the Breaking Smart newsletter, this one introduces the idea of an “Algorithmic Bonus.” A bonus is “an unexpected extra reward that you did not factor into initial risk/reward calculations; a sign of serendipity in a process.” Knowledge work, Rao argues, is particularly rich in bonuses that naturally emerge from working with software: “…an insight or discovery generally allows you to gain a bonus by rethinking the scope of what you’re doing.” In other words, knowledge work is so inherently ambiguous that you can and should change the goal you are working toward based on what you’ve learned along the way. This is a way of realizing the value of the play and exploration inherent to knowledge work.

The idea I took away : the Algorithmic Bonus refers to a phenomenon that is at the root of working with technology, but that most people don’t fully understand, even when they are creating that technology. There is a fundamental serendipity to creating code or content and distributing it online, that attracts opportunities and benefits that weren’t part of the original goal. This calls into question the usual attitude toward goals, as something you “set” and make progress on relentlessly, regardless of what happens. The Internet rewards people who are more open to tangential, peripherally interesting things. I see having a Second Brain as a way of expanding one’s peripheral vision so you can see and act on more of these kinds of “bonus” opportunities.

16. What MDMA Therapy Did For Me (Tucker Max)

This account of the author’s experience with MDMA Therapy came out of the blue, but ended up being one of my first encounters with trauma and ways of treating it. It’s a remarkable story of how a simple substance known as MDMA (or ecstasy) can have profound healing effects. Max describes the protocol he followed and the realizations he had from it. I see it as part of a broad relaxation of taboos toward trauma, psychedelics, and therapy over decades.

The idea I took away : I continue to be pleased and surprised by how much interest there is in trauma and its treatment. From all over the political spectrum, from traditional therapy to alternative treatments, and from parts of society that would never otherwise meet. There is an awakening that I’ve been exploring both through my own personal experiences, and from reading books like How to Change Your Mind and The Body Keeps the Score . I think MDMA therapy holds a lot of promise as one of the safest, most accessible forms of trauma treatment. I’ll keep an eye on how it continues to evolve.

17. Farnam Street’s 2018 Annual Letter to Readers (Shane Parrish)

This letter, sent by Farnam Street founder Shane Parrish to his email list at the end of last year, was a big inspiration for me. I hadn’t seen the leader of an online business so openly and honestly share how the business was doing and what they planned for the future. He talks about each aspect of the business, how it’s doing, the challenges it’s facing, and where they are seeking to improve. It follows much the same format as a letter to investors, except in this case it is written for people investing mostly their time.

The idea I took away : I can see in this letter that the readers and customers of Farnam Street are being included as stakeholders in the success of the community and business. I’m inspired to move in that direction, opening up the business and decentralizing the community so that I am not the bottleneck to its growth. I increasingly believe that the bottleneck to the spread of my message is the speed with which I can give away power, authority, and control.

18. Scaling Knowledge at Airbnb (Chetan Sharma and Jan Overgoor, Airbnb Engineering & Data Science)

The Airbnb blog is one of the best sources I’ve found for clear, practical thinking on knowledge management in organizations. They definitely take a computer science and design lens to it, but even not understanding all of it I always find their takes refreshing because of this focus on specifics. In this post, the authors create a solution for a shared knowledge repository that can be accessed across teams, called the Knowledge Repo. It combines a process around contributing and reviewing work, with a tool to present and distribute it. It borrows from academic peer review, while making it faster and more flexible. I also liked how they explicitly identified the five principles that this repository should follow: Reproducibility, Quality, Consumability, Discoverability, and Learning.

The idea I took away : so much of the writing on “group knowledge management” I come across is incredibly vague and abstract. Without practical examples and implementation experience, there is no test of whether the ideas presented actually work in the real world. This post encouraged me to use tangible pieces of work, such as codebases and design assets, as the best representations of “knowledge.” As I begin to look for ways that a Second Brain can be used collectively, within and across teams, I think it will really help to keep things concrete.

19. The Glass Box And The Commonplace Book (Steven Johnson)

This thoughtful essay examines two competing models for content on the web: the glass box, a static and isolated monument suitable only for observation, and the commonplace book, a tradition going back centuries in which intellectuals copied passages into a curated notebook for their reference and review. He compares the features and implications of each metaphor, and comes down strongly on the side of the commonplace as a better model.

The idea I took away : I liked the framing of the “textual productivity” of an information ecosystem, similar to the productivity of a biological ecosystem. Key to this kind of productivity is that words are fungible – free to flow, move, evolve, and get recontextualized depending on the needs of a given person at a given time. A healthy ecosystem requires an overlapping of multiple kinds of activity in the same space, so that serendipity (and thus creativity) can emerge. This is something I’ve noticed myself many times, but was never able to articulate so precisely.

20. The Intelligent Use of Space (David Kirsh)

Once again, I had heard a lot about this paper but only recently found the time to read it in full. It describes how physical space is “intelligent,” and can be used as a resource to perform valuable functions. Specifically, space can offer: spatial arrangements that simplify choice; spatial arrangements that simplify perception; and spatial dynamics that simplify internal computation. All three of these can be used by people to design and manage workspaces in ways that increase their effectiveness and reduce time, attention, and energy wasted.

The idea I took away : these ideas are essential to understanding the nature of organizing, whether we are talking about belongings in our house or files on our computer. Organizing is only superficially an aesthetic phenomenon, of putting things in neat containers. It also deeply influences our perception, our thinking, and our behavior. I found powerful parallels in the intelligent use of physical space, applied to digital space, which has many of the same properties despite being immaterial. I haven’t integrated it into my teaching yet but I believe that this deeper understanding of space is going to have a big impact on the design of information systems. We now spend as much time living and working in virtual spaces as physical ones, and our mental models have yet to catch up.

21. The Ecstasy of Influence | Harper’s Magazine (Jonathan Lethem)

This essay is about how borrowing and appropriation are essential to the creative process: “Invention, it must be humbly admitted, does not consist in creating out of void but out of chaos.” The author cites numerous examples, historical precedents, and echoes of this idea throughout history. I especially love his example of Don Swanson’s work at the University of Chicago on “undiscovered public knowledge” – the phenomenon of significant scientific discoveries made by simply reading existing literature and making connections across disciplines. I think this is going to be a bigger and bigger issue, as the amount of published research grows but our ability to understand and make sense of it does not. I also got a big kick out of the “key” at the end, which reveals the numerous sources that the author cobbled together and adapted to write this very essay!

The idea I took away : nothing is truly original, and this fact should be embraced and declared instead of sheepishly admitted. I believe that the myth of originality, in fact, is one of the biggest barriers to people’s creative self-expression. If you think that every idea you produce has to be completely novel, totally unprecedented, that is a perfect recipe for never creating anything at all. I’ve become more forceful and proud of the true plagiaristic nature of creativity since reading this article.

22. The Hall of Mirrors (Matthew Sweet)

This short post gave me a stunning realization: that my entire approach to note-taking is based on finding ideas and framings that contradict the ones I currently hold. If a statement is congruent with what I already believe, or can be reasonably extrapolated, I usually won’t capture it in my notes at all. I took this approach organically over time, as I realized that having a bunch of self-confirming quotes and facts resulted in terribly boring writing. But it also makes a lot of sense in hindsight: we already have such a strong tendency to confirm our existing biases, we don’t need yet another mechanism for doing so. A Second Brain should, in fact, actively counteract those biases, presenting us with contradictions and counterpoints that lead us to improve our thinking.

This quote sums this idea up well:

“The Purpose of the Commons (and of my Library):

To be a repository that contains, not just glimpses of the truth, but fragments of the false, the possible, the impossible, the mystic, the concrete, the ludicrous, the believable, the unbelievable, the unspeakable, the beautiful, the ugly, and the uncategorisable. It should not be a source of confirmation and certainty, but a generator of disquiet, doubt, confusion and uncertainty.”

The idea I took away : it’s important for me to teach this method of taking notes, as I’ve since realized that most people don’t do it naturally. Most of them read texts about topics they already know a lot about, with viewpoints they already mostly agree with, and save the excerpts that are most aligned with their existing opinions. Baking in this self-contradictory approach to note-taking into my teaching opens up the possibility that a Second Brain could become a tool for systematically refining our understanding of truth, not just collecting opinions.

23. The Garden and the Stream: A Technopastoral (Mike Caulfield)

I’m noticing another trend in my reading this year: the impact of information literacy (and what I’m starting to think of as information fluency , a step beyond literacy) on the health of society, civic discourse, and democracy. Probably no surprise there in light of recent events. This brilliant essay argues that the current model for the web – the sweet, salty fat of “the web as conversation” – is an impoverished and obsolete model for learning and research. Like a quickly flowing stream, it prioritizes the merely novel and sensationalistic at the expense of the substantive. That’s nothing new, but Caulfield also offers an alternative model: the web as a garden. A garden is “more timeless, integrative, iterative, something less personal and less self-assertive, something more solitary yet more connected.” This is a powerful alternative metaphor for how I see a Second Brain. It is something that can be cultivated, grown, but that also has its own intelligence and evolutionary history. A garden is a place where things happen, not just a tool for solving some narrow problem.

The idea I took away : this essay offers many, many valuable insights, but I’ll focus on the broader point: that good metaphors are incredibly powerful thinking tools. The image of a garden opens up many subtle implications and parallels that just wouldn’t be as accessible without that metaphoric bridge. I’ve concluded that I need to use multiple, overlapping metaphors to describe what we are building in a Second Brain, depending on the needs of my audience. Each one will shine light on a different aspect.

24. Only Openings (Frank Chimero)

This short essay, adapted from a presentation at the School of Visual Art’s Thesis Festival, provides a reframing of design that I think is really helpful. This entire era of design has been dominated by Apple’s world-changing success, and it can be difficult to see an alternative to the vision of seamless, clean shapes with user-friendliness as the ultimate value. Chimero argues that he doesn’t want simple things, he wants things that give him clarity , which is subtly different. He wants to see the seams, to see how things are made, so that he feels like the designer trusts him with that knowledge.

The idea I took away : there is an open-mindedness, a comfort with uncertainty, in this view of design that I think is needed in the online maker community. As web designers, writers, video makers, and online course instructors we are constantly exposed to the very best, most polished examples of our craft. Unlike with physical objects, even the most finely crafted digital artifacts can be endlessly duplicated and distributed around the world. This gives us all an unrealistic standard that we think we have to meet to get started. I notice it in my students, believing they have to match the celebrities they see in their Instagram feeds in quality with their very first creation. The next era of design, I predict, will be all about “seeing the seams.”

25. Your brain does not process information and it is not a computer (Robert Epstein)

I really enjoyed this article because it strikes to the heart of how we tend to think about the human brain, whether we realize it or not: as a particularly sophisticated computer. We use metaphors and analogies drawn from computing in describing every aspect of the brain: information, data, rules, software, knowledge, lexicons, representations, algorithms, programs, models, memories, images, processors, subroutines, encoders, decoders, symbols, buffers. Epstein argues that none of these things actually exist in the human brain, and never will: “We don’t store words or the rules that tell us how to manipulate them. We don’t create representations of visual stimuli, store them in a short-term memory buffer, and then transfer the representation into a long-term memory device.” This is basically a new way of framing the “embodied cognition” hypothesis that has gained so much ground in recent years – that our experience is inextricably bound up in our bodies, not in some computer-like information storage device.

The idea I took away : although I think Epstein largely misses the point – that computers are a metaphor for human cognition, not a literal explanation – it was very interesting to use his arguments to think about what this metaphor might cause us to miss. What gets lost in the comparison of brains to computers? What do we systematically overlook? I don’t have firm answers, but some of the observations in this article point toward what the next generation of cognitive science might look like. Since each generation tends to be a reaction against the excesses of the previous generation. In the meantime, I think deconstructing the mind-computer metaphor reminds us that we still barely understand how the brain works.

26. Why Is the Human Brain So Efficient? (Liqun Luo)

An interesting counterpoint to the previous pick, this article examines how and why the human brain is so remarkably efficient at processing information. At a neurochemical level, the brain can only perform about a thousand basic operations per second, based on the average speed of synapse firing. That is about 10 million times slower in raw speed than a modern computer. But then why are we able to, say, respond to a tennis ball flying at us over the net far better than any computer? The short answer is: through massively parallel processing. Each neuron can send inputs and outputs to 1,000 other neurons, creating multiple potential pathways for information processing. A computer transistor, on the other hand, only has three such connections.

The idea I took away : there are a lot of similarities in how computers and brains function, even if they are not exactly equivalent. Computing continues to be the most fertile ground for understanding how the brain stores and makes sense of data, and it’s worth continuing to map their similarities. At the same time, better understanding the brain has powerful implications for computing: for example, massive parallelism with multiple cores, and deep learning for recognizing objects visually.

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9781328465801

Best American Essays

Robert Atwan

HarperCollins

01 October 2019

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The Best American Essays 2019

A collection of the year's best essays selected by Robert Atwan and guest editor Rebecca Solnit. Award-winning writer, cultural critic, and activist, Rebecca Solnit, an "unparalleled high priestess of nuance and intelligent contemplation" (Maria Popova), selects the best essays of the year from hundreds of magazines, journals, and websites.

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Harvard Successful Essays | 2019

Our new 2022 version is up now.

Our 2022 edition is sponsored by HS2 Academy—a premier college counseling company that has helped thousands of students gain admission into Ivy League-level universities across the world. Learn more at www.hs2academy.com . Also made possible by The Art of Applying, College Confidential, Crimson Education, Dan Lichterman, Key Education, MR. MBA®, Potomac Admissions, Prep Expert, and Prepory.

Sponsored by Dan Lichterman : As an admission essay specialist, Dan Lichterman has been empowering students to find their voice since 2004. He helps students stand out on paper, eliminating the unnecessary so the necessary may speak. Drawing upon his storytelling background, Dan guides applicants to craft authentic essays that leap off the page. He is available for online writing support within the US and internationally. To learn more and schedule a brief complimentary consultation visit danlichterman.com .

"Ut Italiam laeti Latiumque petamus"

"Sandra, would you mind reading the next few lines and translating them for us?"

The professor glanced at me, a kind glimmer in his bespectacled eyes. I gulped. I was in a classroom of eighteen, five of whom were high school Latin teachers. And I was supposed to recite and translate Livy's Ab Urbe condita — with elisions! After fumbling through a few words and mistaking a verb for a noun, I finished the first sentence. I skimmed the second line, looking for the main verb. Singular. I searched for a singular noun and pieced the two together. Then, I noticed an accusative and added it as a direct object. As I continued, a burst of exhilaration shot through my body. My eyes darted across the page, finding a verb, a noun, and objects. I reached the end of the passage and grinned, relief pulsing in my veins.

"Very good!" The professor beamed at me before selecting his next victim.

A few months ago, I never would have imagined myself sitting in Harvard's Boylston Hall this summer for six hours a week, cherishing the ancient literature of Rome. Even though the professor decided I was eligible for the course despite not taking the prerequisite, I was still nervous. I worked hard in the class, and it reminded me just how much I love the language.

A few months ago, I never would have imagined myself sitting in Harvard's Boylston Hall this summer for six hours a week, cherishing the ancient literature of Rome.

Translating has always given me great pleasure and great pain. It is much like completing a jigsaw puzzle. Next, I look for phrases that connect the entire clause — does this adjective match this noun? Does this puzzle piece have the right shape? The middle of the sentence is the trickiest, full of convoluted dependent clauses, pieces colored ambiguously and with curves and edges on all four sides. I am sometimes tangled in the syntax, one of the worst feelings in the world. After analyzing every word, I try to rearrange the pieces so they fit together. When they finally do, I am filled with a satisfaction like no other. Translating forces me to rattle my brain, looking for grammatical rules hidden in my mind's nooks and crannies. It pushes my intellectual boundaries. No other language is as precise, using inflection to express gender, number, and case in just one word. When I pull apart a sentence, I am simultaneously divulging the secrets of an ancient civilization. Renowned scholars are telling the stories of their time through these words! No other language is as meticulous. Every line follows the same meter and the arrangement of every word is with a purpose. The story of Pyramus and Thisbe includes a sentence where the word "wall" is places between the words "Pyramus" and "Thisbe" to visually show the lovers' separation. Translating is like life itself; the words are not in logical order. One cannot expect the subject of a sentence to appear at the beginning of a clause, just like one cannot plan the chronology of life. Like the delayed verb, we do not always know what is happening in our lives; we just know it is happening.

When translating we notice the nouns, the adjectives, and the conjunctions just like we see the people, senses, and connections of our lives. However, we often do not know what we are doing and ask ourselves the age-old question: Why are we here? Perhaps we are here to learn, to teach, to help, to serve, to lead, or just to live. We travel through life to decide what our purpose is, and it is that suspense and our unknown destinies that make the journey so irresistibly beautiful. I feel that same suspense and unknown when I translate, because I am beautifully struggling to unlock a past I know very little of. It is unbelievably exhilarating.

Thus, I question why others consider Latin a dead language. It is alive in all of the Western world. The Romance languages of French, Spanish, and Italian all have Latin origins. Without Latin, I would not be able to write this essay! It is alive in the stories it tells. You may see an apple and associate it with orchards, juice, pie, and fall. When I see an apple, I think of the apple of discord thrown by Eris that ultimately caused the Trojan War. This event, albeit destructive and terrifying, leads to the flight of Aeneas and eventually, his founding of Rome.

I study Latin for its rewarding return, incredible precision, intellectual challenge, rich history and culture, and deep influence on our world. I study Latin to show others how beautiful it is, to encourage the world that it should be valued. I study Latin to lead our society, like Aeneas did, toward a new city, a new dawn where everyone appreciates a mental trial of wits, everyone marvels at a vibrant past, and no one wonders whether Latin is dead or not.

What is most striking about Sandra's essay was not the fact that she was taking a class alongside high school Latin teachers, or that she was taking a summer class at Harvard. Rather, it was how in-depth Sandra went into her thought process when translating Latin. It became clear from the vivid detail with which she described her translating process that she takes it rather seriously, and it is always a pleasure to read application essays that make such passion clear.

It became clear from the vivid detail with which she described her translating process that she takes it rather seriously, and it is always a pleasure to read application essays that make such passion clear.

That said, there are times where Sandra's writing appears to deliberately make something engaging when there is no need. For example, “One cannot expect the subject of a sentence to appear at the beginning of a clause, just like one cannot plan the chronology of life” seemed to be an intentionally poetic sentence made to fit Sandra's claim that “translating is like life itself.” Overall, the simile works, but you should not feel forced to make dramatic claims in your essay. If you write about something that you are passionate about, that should naturally become clear in the way you write.

Disclaimer: With exception of the removal of identifying details, essays are reproduced as originally submitted in applications; any errors in submissions are maintained to preserve the integrity of the piece.

Christopher

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When I broke the news to my volunteer team, we were in a church basement, cleaning up after the final event of the summer. I tried to downplay it. I nudged Ms. Diana, the neighborhood leader, in the shoulder, and said, "Guess what I'll be doing next Wednesday — having lunch with the president." Her face blazed with a kilowatt smile. Before I could slow her down, she shouted, "Christopher's meeting President Obama next week."

Eldred dropped his broom, Ms. Sheila left the cups scattered on the floor, and all the others came running over and fusilladed me with questions. Yes, the campaign had chosen me from all the other summer organizers. Yes, I would bring photos for everyone. And yes, we had the strongest team by the numbers — total calls, knocks, voters registered, and events — in the country.

I felt guilty that only I could go and told them so. "I wish that I could bring you all with me. You made nearly all of the calls, brought your friends and family along, and made this what it is. I've just been here to facilitate." The others good-naturedly shouted me down. Then Ms. Melva spoke up. Her words were pressed out against the heaving of her respirator. "Christopher, don't feel bad. You'll bring us wherever you go in your pocket. Just pull us out when you meet Barack."

For a long time, I was perplexed by her advice. Then I thought back to the exercise that we employed before any volunteer activity. We sat in a circle and gave our reasons for being in the room, willing to work with the campaign. That way, when it came time to make our "hard ask" on the phones, we would be supported by personal conviction and shared purpose. The "hard ask" is the Obama campaign's tactic for garnering support or a commitment to volunteer, moving from values to idealism to specific action.

In my work on the campaign, I am reminded of my cross-country coach, Rob. Before every single race, from petty league meets to national championships, Rob taps the spot on his thigh where a pocket would be. We look at our teammates who are lining up with us and tap the same spot. Coach Rob is reminding us, and we're reminding each other, that we carry "the bastard" in our pockets with us throughout the race.

I want an education that fills my pockets. And, perhaps more importantly, an education that prompts hard asks, that demands us to use the

"The bastard in your pocket" is a metaphor for the sum of our efforts to succeed as runners. "The bastard" exists as a sort of Platonic ideal form of the high school cross-country runner, melded from accrued mileage and mental conditioning. My goal in a race is to take this ideal form and to transform it into a reality that lives on the course.

I want an education that fills my pockets. And, perhaps more importantly, an education that prompts hard asks, that demands us to use "the bastard" and that uses the compounded experiences of a group for a single purpose.

Through the two examples of his volunteer work and cross-country experience, Christopher is able to depict a nuanced and sophisticated understanding of leadership and a profound dedication to teamwork.

In the opening paragraphs, he describes the moment in which he related news of an invitation to meet the president to his volunteer team. The moment is shown as the culmination of Christopher’s efforts as a summer organizer for the Obama campaign. The mention of the invitation serves as a validation of demonstrable and impressive leadership; further, the reference to members of his team by name displays that his work was meaningful and personal.

The last paragraph in Christopher's essay serves as a succinct but powerful conclusion, one that links the kind of educational experience he seeks with his determined, goal-actualizing mentality.

Throughout the essay, Christopher reveals his passion for forming and being a part of a community as both a goal in itself and as a way to achieve success for the team. This is a point he elaborates upon in his reference to "the bastard in your pocket," which he presents as an ideal that can be transformed into action in order to achieve examples of his volunteer work and cross-country success. An allusion to the words of his cross-country coach, he uses this example to expand upon his views toward community and lived experience. He talks about both action and intention, emphasizing his own success in transforming beliefs and ideas into tangible results. The last paragraph in Christopher’s essay serves as a succinct but powerful conclusion, one that links the kind of educational experience he seeks with his determined, goal-actualizing mentality.

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I’m a bit of a grandma. I don't wear horn rimmed spectacles, nor perch on a rocking chair, and I certainly wish I carried hard candies in my backpack. However, I do enjoy baking: butter sizzling as it glides across heated metal like a canoe across a glassy lake; powdered sugar fluttering through the air like glitter from a confetti cannon. Some consider themselves math, literature, or history nerds. I rifle through cookbooks, browse the internet for ingenious new recipes, and revel in this year’s birthday gift: a copy of “Bread Illustrated.”

My greatest achievement in elementary school was not the perfect score on a spelling test, but the first time I mastered a batch of cookies that didn’t bear a rigidity comparable to steel. To my parents’ bewilderment, I dismissed Barbies, yo-yo’s, and jump ropes in favor of a wire whisk: It was love at first sight.

Why do I bake? Sometimes it’s to thank a friend or reconnect with former colleagues, employers, and teachers. Just as often, it’s the intricate processes involved. Creating the exacting liaison between eggs and flour to create a pâte à choux is, for me, a form of meditation. And sometimes I bake to reflect and even gain insight into my other interests.

Baking pastries for my next Junior Commission meeting, I ruminated on my interviews with officers and local homeless regarding their direct experiences with human trafficking in my own community. I recalled a police detective telling me, “For a youth isolated from family and friends, it doesn’t take much to accept the exploitation because he believes trafficking is his only chance of survival. I remember thinking, “Except that your body has to be sold like a box of cereal at Safeway?” This inspired my exhibit that was presented at high schools in my county, in which a figure, made up of barcodes, stands silhouetted against a black background.

Creating the exacting liaison between eggs and flour to create a pâte à choux is, for me, a form of meditation. And sometimes I bake to reflect and even gain insight into my other interests.

Then there was the time my political interests literally gave me food for thought. As a Senate page, I welcomed Senators and staff back from their Independence Day recess with choux à la crème, that perfect French amalgam of wheat, egg, butter and air we call cream puffs. I had cherry-picked the ingredients from a local farmer’s market, because local and organic is more than just a trend for me; it means contributing to the reduction of food miles and supporting small businesses rather than Big Agra. Ironically, activists that day chose to protest an aggressively lobbied pro-GMO bill by showering the Senate floor with dollar bills. Senators and staff brushed them off of their jackets while gingerly stepping around them to navigate the room.

But the elephant in the room wasn’t the litter of currency, but the senators who paid more attention to corporate lobbyists than the protesters exposing their corruption. It deepened my perspective on how politics intersects our lives, farm to table. Yet, I’ve realized that when I feel empowered to advocate for a cause, I need to remember how the audience — legislators, for example — might view both my side and the opposing side. Sometimes they see us both as intruding groups. Other times, there are unseen advantages to acting in agreement with one side over the other or coming to a compromise.

If, as M.F.K Fisher said, “First we eat, then we do everything else,” then baking is an avenue through which I have connected with people, causes and even intellectual pursuits. But the greatest gift that baking offers me is the responsibility to share. With this, I have realized an innate priority: to turn my talents, whether in the kitchen or an advocacy meeting, into tools to improve the welfare of others. My goal is to employ my compassion, intellect, and creativity into a career in public service. As much as I sometimes feel like a grandma, I also know a lot of grandmothers who happen to run our political system.

Laura opens with a unique opening line, sure to catch the eye of an admissions officer. She proceeds to draw upon compelling and specific imagery, which grounds the reader in her life while adding authenticity and depth to her interest in baking. Referring to her first successful batch of cookies as a moment of pride in her childhood, Laura sets herself apart from peers who may have chosen to focus on other interests.

Through citing baking as a way to connect with others, Laura shows that she sees herself as part of a greater community — something which admissions officers appreciate seeing. Further, Laura sets the stage for an exploration of baking as a form of meditation, showcasing her thoughtful nature, as she writes that “creating the exact liaison between eggs and flour... is a form of meditation.”

Through citing baking as a way to connect with others, Laura shows that she sees herself as part of a greater community — something which admissions officers appreciate seeing.

Writing that baking is a way to “gain insight into my other interests” is a segue into fleshing out her other interests — something which done poorly can read as artificial, but here naturally flows with the essay. We see Laura consider the less fortunate in her community as she bakes, showing rather than telling how she sees baking as a form of meditation. While the second to last paragraph walks the line between reciting a resume and maintaining the momentum of her story, the line "how politics intersects our lives, farm to table," clinches its greater point as a reflection on the impact of politics on everyone's daily lives.

Laura closes with a quote, a tactic which could read as artificial with a cliche choice. However, her quote speaks to the specific intersection of food and a greater purpose, elevating the themes of her essay. She concludes by connecting her passion for baking with the greater world, underscoring how her passion for baking unifies her mindset, compassion for others, and goals for the future.

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My father said I didn’t cry when I was born. Instead, I popped out of the womb with a furrowed brow, looking up at him almost accusatorially, as if to say “Who are you? What am I doing here?” While I can’t speak to the biological accuracy of his story — How did I survive, then? How did I bring air into my lungs? — it’s certainly true that I feel like I came preprogrammed with the compulsion to ask questions.

I received my first journal in preschool, probably because my parents were sick of cleaning my crayon drawings off my bedroom wall. Growing up, my notebooks became the places where I explored ideas through actions in addition to words. If the face I was sketching looked broody, I began to wonder what in her life made her that way. Was she a spy? Did she just come in from the cold? Graduating from crayons to markers to colored pencils, I layered color upon color, testing out the effects of different combinations, wondering why the layering of notes in music filled me with the very same happiness as the sight of the explosion of paired colors beneath my hands.

I began to take notes, on anything and everything. Reading Steve Martin’s Born Standing Up , I took away lessons on presentations, of maintaining a rhythm and allowing crescendos of energy to release every so often. While watching a documentary on people preparing for a sommelier exam, I made note of the importance of an enriching environment where most everything points you to your goals. Flipping through my old journal, I see that even an article about trouble in the South China Sea inspired notes on precedent and maintaining tradition lest you provoke the unknown. I was looking for the rules of the world.

More than just a place to catalogue my observations about the world, my notebooks are places to synthesize, to course-correct, to pinpoint areas for iterative improvement.

More than just a place to catalogue my observations about the world, my notebooks are places to synthesize, to course-correct, to pinpoint areas for iterative improvement. When the words are down on paper, I see my patterns of thought and the holes in my logic stark against the white page. If I have a day of insecurity that leads to a sudden rush of journaling characteristic of that in a teen movie, looking down at the angsty scribbles, I'll recognize my repeated thoughts and actions and look for pressure points in that system of behavior where I can improve.

Now my 2016 notebook returns to exploring the world through actions and experiments. Dozens of doughnut-shaped sketches dot pages that ask “how would you play tic-tac-toe on a torus?” Another page containing bubble letters answers the simpler question of the result of sorting these figures into groups of topological equivalences. Not two pages later are the results of a research binge on Mersenne primes that took me through perfect numbers and somehow deposited me at a Wikipedia page detailing the mathematical properties of the number 127. Once again, I look for the rules of the world.

Whenever I feel discouraged, I look to my stack of notebooks, shelved neatly by my desk. In those pages I’ve learned that I have room to fail and grow, to literally turn over a new leaf if a problem is particularly tricky. Through years of scribbling away, I’ve learned that the most fundamental part of my development has been giving myself the space to try: to sketch mangled faces, to draw the wrong conclusions, to answer a question incorrectly, and to learn from my mistakes without shame. I look to that mass of notebooks filled with my ideas, my mistakes, and my questions, and I'm reminded that I’ve grown before, and that I’ll grow again, all the while asking questions.

Marina’s opening line catches readers' attention, although it’s not immediately clear how it relates to the theme until Marina's reflection on her initial anecdote shows, rather than tells, her predilection for asking questions. Marina stakes her interest in keeping notebooks through anecdotes relating even back to preschool. Although her imagery borders on purple prose, the momentum of the essay keeps the writing from dragging too much.

Marina tracks her shifts in mental framework — from initially gathering information to finally synthesizing and building upon her observations — as she flips through the pages of her notebooks. While the examples of notes taken, in paragraph three, walk the line between adding detail and being repetitive, they deepen the reader's understanding of her notebooks. We see her exhibit a growth mindset, as she notes that she uses her notebooks as a space to process thoughts and find areas for improvement.

Marina tracks her shifts in mental framework — from initially gathering information to finally synthesizing and building upon her observations — as she flips through the pages of her notebooks.

The second-to-last paragraph also walks the line between deepening Marina's interests and adding redundant details. However, it broadens Marina's interests to not only cover pop culture and world events, but also math. This also exemplifies the paragraph's purpose, of the notebooks as a way to explore the world through experimentation.

Marina closes her essay on a positive, grounded note that brings the content of the essay one step further to show her mindset of iterative growth. With a closing sentence returning to "asking questions," she exhibits full-circle imagery which underscores the essay's theme.

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I am African-American, Caucasian, Jewish, and gay, and narrowly escaping the degradation of my ancestors: my great-great-great grandfather's slavery, my grandmother's persecution in the Holocaust, and the denial of gay identity. I am the personification of the culture and struggles of each of these groups. As I walk through life with this mix, I must be able to respect and love all different walks of life. Furthermore, during those times that I stereotype people, I assume roles onto their identity. I am able to stop myself and realize that they hold the wisdom from experiences that I do not, and that I am actually hurting myself. Judging a book by its cover really does make you miss out. Some people I know acknowledge me as the gay guy, a member of that small minority that is stricken with bullying and identity crisis, seldom as a Jew or black. It has always been important to me for people to recognize me by my radiant personality and not by my superficial sexuality or race. My ethnicity and orientation do not define me: they are the tools my ancestors have granted so that I can pursue my destiny, and I have my individual spirit to color my path. I am an independent, positive person.

My ethnicity and orientation do not define me: they are the tools my ancestors have granted so that I can pursue my destiny, and I have my individual spirit to color my path.

I carry the mark of maturity with the essence of vitality. I can only hope that people remember me via my relationships with them and my effects on their lives. And so I apply the same mindset to others. The snappy, aggravated cashier at the grocery store checking me out may be working through her retirement to pay for her granddaughter's tuition. Or the black youth with his jeans hanging low and "speaking Ebonics" is actually executing a facet of his culture from which he takes pride and grows. Moreover my template also allows me to be open-minded; how could I not be cultural? My ancestors would not have succeeded without those that have listened and empathized with their plights. And how could I shut my ears? I cannot; I will not. I will not allow myself to shut out another's opinion simply because I was not introduced to their beliefs in my upbringing. How ignorant and arrogant to speak my gospel and thrive on the grace of others but not even consider others' words? Every breath I take is due to the grace of those magnanimous humans before me who not only listened to those Jews, or those slaves, or that gay person, but also took it upon themselves to advance humanity beyond close-mindedness into a world where every individual's contribution based on their experience is respected. There is never a time to neglect the social fragility of our existence, not in the courtroom or the living room. To assume the serenity of social culture is a blind eye to the macrocosm of daily life. It is my expectation to persevere for the fight for human rights and to respect the nature of all cultures and all peoples through my actions as well as my words. It is insufficient to tell someone they are wrong for persecuting. We have to help them find no solace in their prejudice. Not only do I have a duty to argue for the progress of our humanity, I will do so by example.

In this essay, Aiden immediately captures the reader's attention with a blunt confession of his complex identity before delving more deeply into how his identity has shaped his outlook on life.

This essay emphasizes the importance of struggles and challenges the narrowness of identity. Perhaps the most poignant strength of Aiden’s piece is its message: that superficial aspects of identity do not define a person; rather, one's identity affects how one pursues his or her destiny. One aspect which could have improved this essay is to break the thoughts into more than one paragraph as to give the reader a chance to breathe and pace him or herself. Despite this, Aiden’s thoughts flow gracefully and logically throughout his writing, and the content pulls the reader in so it is barely noticeable that his essay functioned as one large paragraph.

Aiden shows his insightfulness and maturity both by acknowledging the strife his ancestors went through, but also by taking his acknowledgment and great respect for them and applying them to his own life.

Aiden shows his insightfulness and maturity both by acknowledging the strife his ancestors went through, but also by taking his acknowledgment and great respect for them and applying them to his own life. His writing is wise, powerful, and greatly moving, and the depth of his wisdom and maturity clearly impressed those who read it.

I stood frozen in the produce aisle at ShopRite, wondering which of the five varieties of oranges to buy. Valencia, blood orange, organic, Florida navel – what were the differences? When I asked my mom which variety she was looking for, she responded curtly, “It’s your choice. Pick what you want.” The thing was, I didn’t know what I wanted.

For my parents, this level of freedom – even in the orange section of the grocery store — is somewhat unique to the United States. The lingering policies of the Cultural Revolution in 1970s China dictated life choices for my parents; growing up in poverty, their families’ sole concern was putting food on the table. As a result of economic disadvantage, higher education became my parents’ life goal. “If I didn’t make it to college,” my dad told me, “I would have been trapped in that godforsaken village for the rest of my life” (only one-tenth of his high school ever made it). My parents didn’t have a choice: my mom’s entire life revolved around studying, and my dad was spanked into shape at home. Sports, music, or entertainment were out of the question – my parents’ only option was to work hard and dream of a choice in America.

The miraculous thing is that my parents, having no freedom of choice for the better part of twenty years, still had the vision to grant me choice in the United States. Unfortunately, this is not common, even in our beloved land of opportunity. All I have to do is talk to my closest childhood friends - children of other Asian-American immigrants – to see the glass walls that cultural and familial expectation have erected around their lives. For some of them, playing the piano is an obligation, not a hobby, and medical school is the only career option.

The miraculous thing is that my parents, having no freedom of choice for the better part of twenty years, still had the vision to grant me choice in the United States.

Oddly enough, I had always felt a bit left out when I was younger – why weren’t my parents signing me up for American Math Competitions and middle school summer research programs, when all my friends were doing them? I’ve come to realize, though, that having the choice to do the things I’m interested in brings out an enthusiasm I can explore passionately and fully. My many hobbies – playing soccer with our neighbor in my backyard, fiddling around with Mendelssohn on my violin, or even talking to my friend about our latest stock picks – all have come from me, and I’m forever grateful to my parents for that.

The contrast between my parents’ lives and mine is shocking. In the United States, I have so many paths available to me that I sometimes can’t even choose. I don’t even know what kind of oranges to buy, yet oranges – or any other fruit - were precious delicacies to my dad as a child. I can dream of attending a school like Harvard and studying whatever I want, whether it be math, economics, or even philosophy or biochemistry – a non-existent choice for my parents, who were assigned majors by their universities. I can even dream of becoming an entrepreneur, which I see as exploration and self-destiny in its purest form. I can be sure that wherever my true passions take me, my parents will support the choices that I make, as they have for seventeen years.

Most importantly, though, I value that Harvard, with its centuries-long devotion to educating the full person, fosters the same sense of choice for its students that I have come to so deeply appreciate in my parents. I am exhilarated to have the freedom to define my own academic journey and, looking forward, for this upcoming four-year odyssey to lay the groundwork for a lifetime of exploration. For me, thankfully, it’s all possible - but only because of the sacrifice and vision of my parents.

Kevin begins his essay with an anecdote, a tried and true method of grabbing readers’ attention. Through the colorful imagery of choosing oranges in the store, Kevin begins to construct a theme of self-direction.

Through the colorful imagery of choosing oranges in the store, Kevin begins to construct a theme of self-direction.

References to his parents' past show Kevin’s appreciation for their struggles as well as his broader awareness of global issues. This contextualizes not only his application, but also his mindset. We see Kevin reflect on his childhood, his initial mental perturbation about not being like other children finally reconciled with his understanding of his unique opportunity. Kevin further shows his self-awareness of his freedom to pursue his own interests — a strong choice, as many colleges desire intellectually curious students.

Kevin closes his essay with a return to his anecdote about choosing images in the store, a full-circle imagery method which helps to underscore his essay's theme. He makes clear that he would make the most of his college education, and just as importantly, that he appreciates the values of the school to which he's applying. Kevin ends his essay on an uplifting, mature note, reflecting what kind of student he would be on campus.

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I was in 9th grade the first time I stumbled upon a copy of Newsweek. What caught my eye was its trademark title: white type, red highlight, a connotation that stories of great consequence lay beneath. Such bold lettering gave me a moment's pause, and I was prompted to leaf through its glossy pages.

To my surprise, I was instantly hooked.

A new world unfolded before me. Biting social commentary. World conflicts that weren't dumbed down. Piquant reviews of best-selling books, controversial exposés of political figures, tantalizing tidbits on pop culture, full-page spreads of photographs.

And the prose was elegant, sharp, mesmerizing. It radiated sophistication and IQ. As I scanned the credentials of the authors, my only thought was, wow. The articles were written by worldly, ambitious people who were experts in their fields, people with PhDs and MBAS from world-class institutions, people who could write brilliantly, who got paid to give their opinions, who walked with a purpose and ran in the direction of their dreams. People I knew — then and there — I’d like to one day become.

This is what education looks like, I told myself. I was young, I was impressionable. Like a child standing on the outside of a candy store, nose pressed against the glass, I hungered to be a part of that cerebral adult world. So I read that magazine from cover to cover. Twice. And with each turn of the page I felt my small-town naïveté break into smaller and smaller pieces. I remember that day as an incredibly humbling experience. I had an awkward, self-conscious epiphany: that I actually knew next to nothing about the world. There I was, cream of the crop of my middle school, fourteen years of "smart" outwitted by a thin volume of paper. I was used to feeling gifted, to getting gold stickers and good grades, to acing every elementary examination placed in front of my cocky #2 pencil.

I wasn't used to feeling like I'd been living in the Dark Ages.

At the same time, however, I struggled with another realization, one that was difficult for me to define. I felt. . . liberated. I felt as though I had taken a breath of fresh air and found it to be bracing and delicious, like it was the first breath I'd ever taken, and I'd never known that air was so sweet.

I wasn't used to feeling like I'd been living in the Dark Ages.

Talk about a paradigm shift: somehow, reading Newsweek had re-kindled my natural intellectual curiosity; it had, briefly, filled a hole in my soul that I didn't know existed. It had also sparked something within me-a hint of defiance, a refusal to accept complacency. One taste of forbidden fruit, and I knew I could never go back.

Although reading a news magazine seemed like a nonevent at the time, in retrospect it was one of the defining moments of my adolescence. That seemingly unextraordinary day set a lot of subsequent days in motion-days when I would push my limitations, jump a little higher, venture out of my comfort zone and into unfamiliar territory, days when I would fail over and over again only to succeed when I least expected it, days when I would build my dreams from scratch, watch them fall down, then build them back up again, and before I knew it, the days bled into years, and this was my life.

At 14, I'd caught a glimpse of where the bar was set. It always seemed astronomically high, until it became just out of my grasp. Sadly, Newsweek magazine went out of print on January 1, 2013. Odd as it may sound, I'll always be indebted to an out-of-print magazine for helping me become the person I am today.

Julia’s strongest skill here is her powerful language and poetic use of metaphors. One of the highlights of the essay is her description of how reading Newsweek humbled her, remarking that she was used to feeling "gifted" but now felt like she had been living in the Dark Ages. Her answer of the prompt is spot-on, expressing precisely how the experience marked a transition from childhood to adulthood.

Her answer of the prompt is spot-on, expressing precisely how the experience marked a transition from childhood to adulthood.

Julia could have elaborated on why being interested in Newsweek was such a surprise for her. She also could have chosen a more reflective and thoughtful conclusion to end an otherwise very strong piece of writing. There is definitely an irony between what was at the time an "out-of-print magazine" and her "natural intellectual curiosity" that could have been teased out further.

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As the first texts came in — “Where are you? The game’s over.” — I grinned, my feet propped up against the trunk and my back relaxed along the incline of the thickest arm of the tree. I swung off the branch and clambered down. The satisfaction on my face a little too apparent, I walked back to my friends, who sat out of sight on a swing set. The competition of the night was manhunt, a combination of hide-and-seek and tag renamed to suit the “dignity” of kids our age.

As I approached the swings, Marc called out, “You won. Where’d you hide?” “That tree over there,” I replied. “You climbed a tree?” Jack laughed, the surprise clear on his face. As manhunt novices, we had previously confined our gameplay to the ground. They were intrigued, recognizing I had taken our sport to new heights, literally.

As absurd as perching on a tree may be, there’s an undeniable thrill to discovering a new hiding spot and changing the game. In that way, manhunt simultaneously fuels my desire to innovate and my love of competition — passions I transfer from my musical, academic, and athletic pursuits to the boundaries of Jack’s backyard.

I search for new perspectives, new trees to climb, in all my endeavors. When I improvise in jazz band, I enjoy sharing original musical riffs and runs. My bandmates and I persist in the hunt for a “perfect solo.” While we know there's no such thing, we look for the next moment of musical insight that will change the complexion of our improvisation. And though we improve as a group, each of us takes pride in our own unique, musical style. The challenge of blending these varying shades of jazz into a cohesive performance is the reason I love being a part of the band.

In that way, manhunt simultaneously fuels my desire to innovate and my love of competition — passions I transfer from my musical, academic, and athletic pursuits to the boundaries of Jack's backyard.

The classroom brings new perspectives as well. Each day’s lesson engages my curiosity as I consider the world from a different physical, historical, or political point of view. It’s the excitement in my Physics teacher’s voice as he tells us that lightning strikes from the ground up and that Zeus is a lie, or the tightly bound silence in the room as a classmate reads aloud a letter home from an American soldier in Vietnam, that captures my interest.

My competitive drive, meanwhile, kicks in whenever I hear a countdown, whether it’s the measure before a jazz solo or the seconds before a sailing race. When I’m out on the water, the urgent beep of my watch preceding the start refocuses my attention to the wind and waves before me. I envision the race ahead, visualizing the changes in wind patterns and the movement of the fleet of boats. When the pounding of my heart drowns out my thoughts and I fall into the rhythm of maneuvering the boat, that’s when I know I’m at my competitive peak.

Similarly, my drive comes to life during soccer games, when a desire to win embodied in a slide tackle is all that defends our net. Though the steely looks in my opponents’ eyes and the chants from the stands threaten to distract me, my ambition and pride in representing my high school harden my nerves on the game field and fuel my resolve in practice.

As much as I love to compete and innovate, the thrill of achievement is matched by the camaraderie among the friends, bandmates, and teammates with whom I share the journey. The determination to push my limits and reach for the next branch is at the root of my athletic ambitions and musical interests, but the personal relationships and shared experiences along the way make the process all the more rewarding. Even in a casual game of hide-and-seek and tag, I compete, innovate, and develop lasting bonds and memories that make a good-natured competition more than a zero-sum game. That’s what delivers the real joy of manhunt.

Opening in the middle of the action with incoming texts and the imagery "my feet propped up against the trunk and my back relaxed along the incline of the thickest arm of the tree," Reginald immediately grounds the reader in his surroundings. The writing has a clear voice, lighthearted yet confident, exemplified through its easy rhythm.

Reginald's choice of details to set the stage — grinning, clambering down the tree, and explaining manhunt in a tongue-in-cheek manner — serves doubly as a portrait of his personality. Reginald shows, not tells, his innovative nature through recounting how he won a game of manhunt. As his opening anecdote has completed its purpose of humanizing Reginald, he connects the values inherent to the game to his broader interests in "musical, academic, and athletic pursuits." Tales of improvising jazz not only reflect Reginald's appreciation for the arts, but also his ability to collaborate with others and appreciate others' hard work.

Tales of improvising jazz not only reflect Reginald's appreciation for the arts, but also his ability to collaborate with others and appreciate others' hard work.

The details in his paragraph on his academic curiosity add a layer of authenticity, strengthening his essay more than a simple statement of his curiosity. Similarly, because the imagery in Reginald's discussions of sailing and soccer captures readers' attention, we can be sure that it is a deep interest of Reginald's which he is pursuing for far more than just another accolade to add to his resume.

To balance out his emphasis on competition, Reginald closes with appreciation for all of his friends and teammates. We see that his pursuit of competition stems from a desire for constant self-improvement. Returning to the imagery of hide-and-seek, Reginald lands his full-circle theme.

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Languages have played a central role in my life. I have studied a variety of languages, to varying degrees — but always in the name of my greater goal, which is to understand people — to truly comprehend what lies beneath the surface: How does a culture conceive of itself? what can we learn about how the Japanese based on formality of address? What can be said about the Germans, whose language requires the verb appear at the end of a sentence? Maybe not much, but without the knowledge of the language, the possibility of real understanding is impaired. My interest in linguistics — psychology as well — derives from this belief: there is an underlying structure to all language, and through the study and comprehension of this structure, there can be a mutual understanding.

My interest in linguistics — psychology as well — derives from this belief: there is an underlying structure to all language, and through the study and comprehension of this structure, there can be a mutual understanding.

Beyond the underlying structure, words themselves have a deep and rich history, and their usage is a form of beauty in itself. It was my father who opened my eye to this truth — who taught me to love words for their stories and to appreciate etymology. It began as a friendly contest between us, but for me, appreciation soon became full-fledged adoration that was only encouraged by my study of Latin. I began drawing connections I had previously missed between words I use every day, and I found myself spending hours in front of the computer looking for sites to aid me in my discoveries. One of my favorite discoveries (and an apt one to share with you) is the word hedera.

I happened upon hedera when I noticed the similarity among the words apprehend, aprender, and apprendre, in Spanish and French, respectively. It was clear, judging by the orthography and definitions, that these words shared a Latin root, but in my studies, never had I come across such a word. Next thing I knew, I had the following on my hands: apprentice, comprehend, prehensile, apprehensive. What relationship exists between one who is learning a trade and a sense of foreboding? The answer lay within the etymologies, which led to hedera, the Latin word for ivy. Once suffixes had been stripped away, the remaining word was always -hendere. Alone, the word means virtually nothing; it was contrived from hedera as a verb form to convey a sense of grasping. What better to do so than ivy, a plant known for its tenacity? I could not help but admire the ivy which had embedded itself into the foundations of language.

Language is all about meaning and understanding, but to grasp the true meaning of language, one must look beyond the surface of the sentence to the structure, and even beyond that to the meaning and histories of the words themselves. Language, therefore, is my passion because it is the study of understanding.

The strength of Valerie’s essay lies, unsurprisingly, in her adept use of language to string together sentences as well written as they are communicative. Valerie’s writing is uncharacteristically advanced for her age: It is free of the attempts at poetic flourish that often appear in personal statements and manages to showcase her extensive vocabulary without using ten-dollar words. As Valerie’s puts forward, words and language are the tools she commands best; her essay is proof of this.

As for its content, this essay successfully exhibits its author's intellectual curiosity by parsing through the reasons why she loves linguistics and then demonstrating her learning process by parsing an actual word. And yet, this exercise causes the writer to stray from her initial discussion of how linguistics helps her better understand cultures and people, a wildly intriguing concept that ultimately doesn't get much airtime here.

This essay successfully exhibits its author's intellectual curiosity by parsing through the reasons why she loves linguistics and then demonstrating her learning process by parsing an actual word.

Beyond that, this essay could exhibit more about its author as an individual. Though Valerie’s alludes to a playful relationship with her father, this is all we get in the way of a glimpse into her personality. At 475 words, this essay is well under the 650-word limit. A more colorful introduction, some insight into how Valerie’s love of linguistics shapes her interactions with others, or a more personal conclusion could liven up what is already a sound argument for the writer's keen intellect.

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Language is not the sole domain of humans. Animals also talk, and over the last few years I have been fascinated by learning two new languages that even foreign language school students have never heard of. Studying animal languages is very different from learning Korean, Chinese, or Spanish. There are always dictionaries to refer to when I learn human languages, but when learning animal languages I don't have a Google translator to spit out satisfactory answers. In fact, I have to use my own judgment, which combines my mind, heart, and instinct to interpret what I hear.

Tree frogs, specifically Japanese tree frogs and Suweon tree frogs, use songs not just to express their amorous intentions but to survive. While these two species may look physically identical, they are sexually incompatible. So in order to lure the right female, male frogs sing serenades that are distinguishable from other species. Analyzing these serenades at an ecology lab with spectrograms and waveforms, I decoded every pulse of sounds emitted by these ravenous tree frogs into the patterns of numbers to let humans understand their lyrics.

Unlike frogs' mating songs, bats use language not only to communicate but also to navigate and locate insects at night. While flying, bats shoot out biosonar sounds and listen to the echoes that bounce off obstacles to grasp the world around them. Visualizing a world just with sound, I was enchanted by their invisible language when I studied the Greater Horseshoe bat's supersonic echolocation at a wildlife conservation lab. When bats cast nets of invisible words every millisecond during free flight and ziplining experiments, we captured and revealed their dialogue that had neither conjugations nor grammar.

After eavesdropping on tree frogs' and bats' conversations, I discovered that they use languages for survival. The language of the frogs exemplifies power — the stronger and bigger a frog is, the louder it can sing, scaring off all its prey and bravely exposing itself to predators. And for bats, their invisible language is their vision. They silently scream out for help and listen carefully as nature's echoes guide their path. In a sense, animals communicate with other species and with nature.

On the other hand, humans have developed esoteric words, convoluted sentences, and dialects to express their sophisticated ideas and feelings. This amazing evolution has, I believe, isolated us from nature. Now we prefer to live away from wildlife, tending to communicate only among other Homo sapiens sapiens through texts, tweets, and e-mails. Taking a page from Dr. Dolittle's pocket diction, I hope that my work helps us broaden our anthropocentric minds and understand animals who also share our biosphere. If our souls are reconnected with nature, maybe we could hear Mother Nature whisper some secrets about her mysteries that we are too wired or unaware to heed.

In the same way, I want to take risks in learning to communicate with other species beyond human beings and become a multilingual biologist who connects human and animal realms.

Early explorers boldly left the comforts of their homeland to learn the languages and traditions of other cultures. Due to their dedication, these self-taught bilinguals were able to bridge cultures and share values between different communities. In the same way, I want to take risks in learning to communicate with other species beyond human beings and become a multilingual biologist who connects human and animal realms. I wish to venture into the animal kingdom and become a pioneer in mastering and sharing nature's occult dialects with our species. When we finally learn to comprehend and harmonize with nature, we humans might become more humane.

Describing her study of animal languages was likely quite difficult for Samantha express through other components of her application. Her essay brings to light this extremely unique academic interest while also depicting the relations and insight she draws between animal and human language.

Instead of writing about her interest in science or biology, she writes about a very specific scientific niche in which academic context is needed; similarly, she focused on providing just as much insight about the topic as she did about the academic details of the topic itself.

Because it isn't a good idea to scholastically ramble in a college essay, Samantha instead weaves a story with a mixture of academic knowledge and self-reflection. Additionally, instead of writing about her interest in science or biology, she writes about a very specific scientific niche in which academic context is needed; similarly, she focused on providing just as much insight about the topic as she did about the academic details of the topic itself.

Samantha’s powerful and articulate description of her interest captivates the reader. Her framing of animal language in humanistic terms, such as when she talks about bats' languages in terms of "conjunctions and grammar," makes the essay exceptional. She develops this comparison further near the end of the essay when she presents her insight about the disconnect between humans and animals and her future desires to reconnect the two. While the unique topic in itself was likely to grasp the audience's attention, Samantha’s expressive reflections and explicit desire to continue studying the topic mesmerizes the reader even further.

The Best American Essays

Ponder life. Read an essay today.

Sunday, December 1, 2019

Robert atwan.

ROBERT ATWAN has been the series editor of The Best American Essays since its inception in 1986. He has edited numerous literary anthologies and written essays and reviews for periodicals nationwide.

- Back Cover, The Best American Essays 2020 .

- Back Covers, The Best American Essays 2019 , 2018 , 2017 , 2016 , 2015 .

- Back Cover, The Best American Essays 2003 .

- Back Cover, The Best American Essays 2001 , 2004 .

- Back Cover, The Best American Essays of the Century .

- Back Cover, The Best American Essays 1987 .

- Back Cover, The Best American Essays 1986 .

Visit Amazon's Robert Atwan Page

Rebecca Solnit

Rebecca Solnit on Amazon

- Back Cover, The Best American Essays 2019 .

Writer, historian, and activist REBECCA SOLNIT is the author of eighteen books about environment, landscape, community, art, politics, hope, and feminism, including two atlases, of San Francisco in 2010 and New Orleans in 2013, Men Explain Things to Me , The Faraway Nearby , A Paradise Built in Hell: The Extraordinary Communities That Arise in Disaster , A Field Guide to Getting Lost , Wanderlust: A History of Walking , and River of Shadows: Eadweard Muybridge and the Technological Wild West (for which she received a Guggenheim Fellowship, the National Book Critics Circle Award in criticism, and the Lannan Literary Award). A product of the California public education system from kindergarten to graduate school, she is a columnist for Harper’s Magazine .

- The Best American Essays 2015 (p. 223). Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. Kindle Edition.

Monday, June 3, 2019

- The Best American Essays 1987 (p. 315). Ticknor & Fields.

Longform Best of 2019

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The Senseless Logic of the Wild

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Losing Religion and Finding Ecstasy in Houston

Walking away from a Christian youth.

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The Night the Lights Went Out

On trying to remember nearly dying.

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Gimme Shelter

A year living in a shack in Oakland.

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The Black Art of Escape

400 years have passed. Where do we go from here?

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The best video essays of 2019

Our annual survey of moving-image criticism in movie form features recommendations from 39 essayists and experts, recommending videos from 51 seconds to 4½ hours long that explore the powers and possibilities of cinema and more.

Ariel Avissar , Will DiGravio , Grace Lee Updated: 14 January 2020

A frame from Chloé Galibert-Laîné’s video essay Watching The Pain of Others

Introduction

“I’m not sure I know exactly what a video essay is or is supposed to be… We are using this term as a way to bring a community together.” — Chloé Galibert-Laîné

Three years into this poll, many more years since the form first emerged, and most of us who make and consume this work remain quite unsure of what exactly constitutes a video essay. But one thing is clear: we love watching them, and we love making them.

This year has been a notable one for video essays or, to use the umbrella term, audiovisual criticism, in ways both good and bad. In December of 2018, Fandor ceased operation, leaving a void in the video essay landscape. With even more limited outlets to finance their work, more and more video essayists have turned to venues like Patreon.

That same month, Tecmerin: Revista de Ensayos Audiovisuales began publication, joining [in]Transition as another peer-reviewed academic publication solely devoted to videographic scholarship. Will DiGravio launched the Video Essay Podcast , featuring in-depth conversations with prominent video essayists. Christian Keathley, Jason Mittell and Catherine Grant published a new open-access book and website, The Videographic Essay: Practice and Pedagogy , a welcome resource for studying and teaching the form. As video essays are increasingly incorporated into academic institutions and publications, as well as film festivals and journals worldwide, these new initiatives and others illustrate the ever-growing sense of collaboration and community that characterises the world of video essays.

Indeed, if there is one word we would like to suggest as embodying the ethos of this year’s poll, it’s ‘community’. Despite the title of the poll, its true purpose is not to establish a definitive list of the ‘best’ essays of the year, which we recognise is an impossible – and perhaps irrelevant – task. Instead, it is our hope that this list will inspire an ongoing conversation amongst those who make and consume this work, highlighting essays our contributors found noteworthy, memorable, exciting or illuminating. This list hopes to serve as the beginning of that conversation, not its end.

Crunching the results

An overview of the poll, and some numbers and statistics: 39 contributors submitted nominations. They are ⅔ (26) male, nearly ⅓ (12) female, and one non-binary contributor; they are academics (21) and non-academics (18); they are scholars, teachers, critics, journalists, YouTubers, filmmakers, curators and festival programmers; most are active video essayists themselves; they are from 17 countries across five continents; ten of them are from the US, and 26 are from Europe – including eight from the UK alone.

Together they submitted a total of 216 votes, which amount to 134 unique entries, consisting primarily of online video essays, but that also include several short and feature-length films (documentaries, essay films and videographic experiments), a few gallery installations and even a live performance, and ranging in length from a mere 51 seconds to a whopping 4½ hours – attesting to the increasingly diverse range of creations that can be considered as ‘video essays’. These works were made – or published – this past year, by both established essayists and newcomers to the field; some of the videos were viewed only once or twice prior to appearing on this poll, others had up to 5.5 million views, and everywhere in between. Thirty-four videos have previously been published on established online platforms such as MUBI , [in]Transition , Sight & Sound , NECSUS , Movie: A Journal of Film Criticism , De Filmkrant and others. While making up about 25 per cent of the videos featured on the poll, these published videos received 45 per cent of the votes (98 votes).

Works selected for the poll were created by essayists from 21 countries across four continents; 48 of them are from the US, 64 from Europe – including 28 from the UK alone, and 10 from Australia. They are overwhelmingly in the English language, either exclusively or partially (124 works). Not surprisingly, the primary focus in terms of medium is cinema (92 works), with television a considerably distant second (only ten works, a mere seven per cent) – videographic telephilia , it seems, still remains relatively dormant when compared with its cinematic counterpart. Video games and gaming culture are the focus of eight videos, with others touching on art, philosophy, online culture, photography, architecture, clothing, food and more.

The top-mentioned videos on the list are Watching The Pain of Others by Chloé Galibert-Laîné (12 mentions); The Haunting of The Headless Woman by Catherine Grant and Gesture in A Woman Under the Influence by Tracy Cox-Stanton (nine each); Visual Disturbances by Eric Faden and Pan Scan Venkman by Cormac Donnelly (six each). Essayists with multiple video essays featured on the poll include Cristina Álvarez López & Adrian Martin (six different videos); Catherine Grant and Grace Lee (five); Jason Mittell , Leigh Singer , Luís Azevedo , Thomas Flight and Ariel Avissar (three).

Of the 134 works featured on the poll, 91 are by men, 32 by women. The remaining works were made by mixed-gender couples or teams or by non-binary essayists. This gendered split leaves a lot to be desired – as does the similar gendered split evident in the makeup of the poll’s contributors. That said, it is of note that the three videos that received the highest amount of votes – by far – were all by female essayists; that of the six essayists whose combined films received the highest number of votes, five were female; and that of the four essayists who had the highest number of different videos featured on the poll, three were female.

We hope this poll and the ongoing conversation it seeks to participate in and inform can help further expand the community of practitioners, critics, scholars and enthusiasts of the video essay, and that this community will become increasingly more inclusive – in terms of gender, geography, subject matter and others – in the years to come.

And here are the results…

Table of contributors

(Click on a name to jump to their picks.)

Film theorist and curator, Charles University in Prague & Národní filmový archiv

Watching The Pain of Others by Chloé Galibert-Laîné

Watching The Pain of Others

This essay has been haunting me for the whole of 2019. Whether I have seen it on the internet, at a film festival, at an academic conference or at a video essay symposium, it has always been an enigma waiting to be solved. What intrigued me the most was not the author’s ambiguous fascination with the YouTube Morgellons community but her investigation of online communication as such. Galibert-Laîné feeds into the desktop interface, yet the gaps between her and other subjects become all the more visible. Still, the communication needs to keep going, even to the point of ridicule.

The Algorithmic Nickelodeon by Shane Denson

Despite its formal shortcomings, this must be one of the most thought-provoking videographic works I have seen. Denson’s theoretical manifesto imagines a form of audiovisual criticism that would not be merely expressive but transformative, reinventing our notion of subject-object relations. For this to happen, deformations of the image/object and displacements of the analyst/subject must take place simultaneously. Creative thinking joins forces with EEG headsets and editing programmes to create a media-theoretical ‘perpetuum mobile’, designed for constant questioning of what cinema means in the age of algorithms.

The Philosophy of Horror (Part 1): Etymology by Péter Lichter and Bori Máté ( watch trailer )

Experimental film and video essay circuits still do not communicate nearly as much as they should. This found footage adaptation of Noël Carroll’s famous book on horror certainly provides a lot of inspiration for videographic film studies. Its theoretical investigation delves deep into a filmic matter, specifically into 35 mm film prints of A Nightmare on Elm Street and its sequel. Both manual interventions and autonomous micro-organic processes participate in this enquiry, showing to what extent the horror-in-film and the horror-of-film are closely intertwined.

Indy Vinyl on The Clock (and the clock) by Ian Garwood

Garwood’s research project on record-playing moments in American independent cinema keeps growing, with the aforementioned video being the most exciting instalment so far. Not unlike its role model, Christian Marclay’s 24-hour museum blockbuster , the video essay plays with the ambivalence of cinematic phantasmagoria, deconstructing it yet affirming its mysterious pull. Nevertheless, the way Garwood organises the clips into convoluted multi-screens and editing software interfaces makes this video so much more than a supercut-by-numbers, turning it into a poignant example of reflective videographic nostalgia.

Gesture in A Woman Under the Influence by Tracy Cox-Stanton

Cox-Stanton’s video is kind of a last-minute discovery, taken straight out of the latest NECSUS issue . This ambitious experiment in “delayed cinema” examines gestures on both microscopic and macroscopic levels. A careful study of Gena Rowlands’ singular movements makes them reveal their (not only cinematic) doubles, entwined in multi-faceted histories of female representation in Swan Lake ballet, medical photography, early cinema advertising, etc. The author’s impressive use of superimpositions highlights how the filmic gesture never co-exists with itself, as well as how video essayists may orchestrate their overlapping associations.

Criticism in the Age of TikTok by Charlie Shackleton

As the online media landscape is constantly changing, videographic film criticism needs to keep searching for new platforms. Shackleton’s smartphone essay seeks this potential in TikTok, a mobile app designed for making spontaneous short-form (60 seconds max) videos. Even if this potential was not fulfilled, the idea of making video essays within such strict spatial and temporal limitations provokes my imagination. It could open a space for videographic criticism that would be less explanatory and more gestural, less linear and more iterative, less about analysing films than performing critical spectatorship… it is certainly worth a try.

Reproduction Interdite by Johannes Binotto

Just when I thought that supercuts are beneath me, I encountered this clever and subversive take on the genre. Binotto’s compilation of back views in cinema is paradoxical in essence: it reveals a pattern of images whose aim is to disclose something from us. This paradox works really well, all the more so for its subtle visual variations and the disturbing choo-choo train rhythm.

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Ariel Avissar

Scholar, lecturer and videographic dabbler at the Steve Tisch School of Film and Television, Tel Aviv University

An inspired, affective and intellectually stimulating personal voyage of discovery into the lives (and pain) of others, making brilliant use of the affordances of the desktop documentary form. I’ll leave the more detailed recommendations to the (many) other contributors who nominated this one. A must-watch.

Adaptation – Unconventionally Conveying the Conventional by Michael Tucker / Lessons from the Screenplay

An exemplary adaptation of Spike Jonze’s Adaptation into video-essay form, this meta-video essay offers an entertaining portrayal of the video essayist’s creative process; rather than the usual explanatory illustration of screenwriting concepts through a specific film, accompanied by Tucker’s voice-over, this one (fittingly) opts to show rather than tell. After all, “any idiot can write voice-over narration to explain the thoughts of a character” – or of a video essayist. This video provides a refreshing alternative.

The Two Irises by Eleni Palis

In this fascinating videographic fusion, Palis takes a meticulous look at two films (Taxi Driver and Stanley & Iris) whose relation to one another initially seems merely superficial (both have female characters named Iris, and both star Robert De Niro), and masterfully weaves them together into a coherent flow that uncovers uncanny intertextual reverberations. The video reframes both films anew, suggesting a compelling new reading, achieved exclusively through editing and juxtaposition.

The Problem Solving of Filmmaking by David F. Sandberg

In this unusual instance of a video essay by a filmmaker discussing their own work (Shazam!), Sandberg offers an insightful and amusing peek behind the curtain and a demystification (of sorts) of the creative process – as well as a winking critique directed at the very notion of inferred authorial intent (and of video essays that might be overthinking it…).

The Real Fake Cameras of Toy Story 4 by Evan Puschak (The Nerdwriter)

Puschak is one of the most popular video essayists working today; like the best of his work, this video is both a loving and admiring tribute to its subject, and an engaging, highly watchable lesson in film literacy, enabling everyone from the seasoned cinephile to the layest of laymen an increased appreciation of the aesthetic language of cinema.

Knock-About by Jason Mittell

Another entry in Mittell’s ongoing project The Chemistry of Character in Breaking Bad , this video picks apart Walter White’s infamous “I am the one who knocks” speech, and offers a scathing critique of the mighty Heisenberg. Perhaps the simplest of Mittell’s Breaking Bad videos, it is elegant, enjoyable and persuasively conveys its argument through editing alone, creating irony through the juxtaposition of sound and image.

Luís Azevedo

Maker of direct-to-video essays at The Discarded Image , Beyond the Frame , and Little White Lies

36 Westerns Timed to First Gunshot by Adam Tinius / Entertain the Elk

Blackface, whitewashing and the grey zone – a two-part video inquiry by Leigh Singer

Spirited Away: What’s in a Name? by Grace Lee / What’s So Great About That?

Stranger/Things by Philip Brubaker

How The Irishman Builds On Goodfellas by Thomas Flight

The Inner Chronicle of What We Are – Understanding Werner Herzog by Tom van der Linden / Like Stories of Old

Dunkirk | How Christopher Nolan Captures the Dunkirk Spirit by Thomas Wijnaendts van Resandt

Johannes Binotto

Researcher and lecturer in film and media studies, hat wearer, video tinkerer

Gesture in A Woman Under the Influence

Since I first saw it I cannot stop thinking about Gena Rowlands’ performance as Mabel Longhetti. In her both dense and dancerly reading Tracy Cox-Stanton connects it to a whole cultural history of the exposed, scrutinised and still inexhaustible gestures of the female body, from Anna Pavlova to the patients in the Salpêtrière to Amelie Hastie’s “vulnerable spectator”. A reading of A Woman Under the Influence not to end all readings but to begin them anew.

Second Time’s the Charm (A Rebecca Sitcom Intro) by David Scanlon

Marrying (sic!) the images of Hitchcock’s Rebecca with the theme song of the eighties sitcom Who’s the Boss? may seem like a simple idea but turns out to be a radical critical act that works in both directions: Not only does it reveal a campiness that was actually always present (but rarely acknowledged) in the classic but also points to a haunting uncanniness in those TV shows we once considered just guilty pleasure.

A Very Rare Bear by Oswald Iten

As I see so many video essays focused on formal questions of the mise-en-scène, I have the feeling that studies on acting styles and techniques are more rare. Undoubtedly an absolute rarity however is the analysis of the acting style not of an actress or actor but of an animated bear. A very rare video essay on a very rare bear indeed.

The Thinking Machine 29: Sigh… by Cristina Álvarez López and Adrian Martin

Another astonishing analysis of acting, this time focused on Robert Mitchum’s syncopating sighs as dramatic punctuation. The true surprise however comes near the end when this video essay literally turns into a dream come true. There is something truly Freudian (and truly daring) about using one’s own dream as utterly convincing argument.

The Barber Approves: A Moment in John Ford’s My Darling Clementine by Will DiGravio

The barber knows best. A small, fleeting and seemingly insignificant gesture at the border of one of film history’s most beloved classics is unfolded and spread out into the grand coordinates of this film and Western movies in general: East/West, civilisation/wilderness, in/out, myself/other. And it doesn’t end for me there. I keep wondering. For example about the odd way the barber holds his customer’s hat. What is it that the barber knows?

FALLING: 3 x Girls in Uniform by Catherine Grant

Among this year’s many video essays by Catherine Grant and besides the now published ultimate online edition of her seminal Dissolves of Passion I particularly liked this juxtaposition of the three versions of Mädchen in Uniform. Presented as a grid of six simultaneous screens it leaves it to the viewer to draw the connections between the excerpts and to see how the three adaptations of the same book seem to rework each other retroactively. The freedom of the viewer to think beyond the frame stands in an interesting contrast to the confinement that the characters in the films experience.

Painting #3 by Ruth Baettig ( see details )

Although not intended as a video essay in the strict sense I consider the installation Painting #3 by Ruth Baettig nonetheless as a high moment of videographic research. Moments from Antonioni’s The Red Desert projected on glass only become visible by the artist applying paint onto the otherwise transparent surface. Rarely has the double meaning of ‘screen’ as both barrier and display been shown so elegantly and that watching films is never passive consumption but dependent on active participation.

Philip Brubaker

Filmmaker, critic, video essayist

IFFR v2 2 by Luís Azevedo

In the greatest tradition of meta filmmaking, Azevedo sums up the intricate process of making a video essay beautifully and with humour. He fine tunes the desktop documentary format to suit this piece commissioned by the Rotterdam International Film Festival. I was impressed with how he turns the camera on himself and smoothly integrates performance with his masterful editing.

Just Don’t Think I’ll Scream by Frank Beauvais

A dazzling, feature length essay film that abstracts hundreds of movies (including Hollywood ones I might recognise) and repurposes them to suit the personal and political narrative of the narrator. I noticed that rarely does Beauvais include imagery where we can see the eyes of another human being; the way he distances himself and us from identifying with the people in the clips over the entire running time is a masterful display of re-appropriation to support his written thesis. This film is a hearty meal for cinephiles.

Pan Scan Venkman by Cormac Donnelly

A charming video essay that strikes just the right note of overthinking and elevates pop culture to an academic level of importance. Donnelly’s observations about pan and scan resonated with me, and probably most video essayists of a certain age who grew up curious about why were allowed to see what we saw on TV and what that unusual lateral camera move was all about.

Why Martin Scorsese Is Right About Marvel Movies by Thomas Flight

A timely video essay that capitalises on an amusing bone of contention on the Internet. Flight uses a spare, but highly effective approach of juxtaposing clips from Marvel films and classic cinema without commentary, and letting the clips speak for themselves. When so many Internet commentators are weighing in with their verbal opinions on the matter, I appreciated the show, don’t tell approach that Flight employs. Good choice of clips, too.

Nelson Carvajal

Video artist and founder of Free Cinema Now

Martin Scorsese: Hands // Mains de maître by Trois Couleurs

The best supercut of the year. Proves that a mashup can be both montage and magnificently moving.

The Unloved – The House That Jack Built by Scout Tafoya

I’ve been a fan of Scout’s work for quite some time. He’s been at this The Unloved video essay series for years but with this particular entry, he achieves a new level of insight and discovery. There’s not a Criterion special feature that can touch this one. Exceptional.

The Marvelous Soy Cuba by Michael Cumming

Much in the spirit of my own #InformedImages video essay series, this video piece does the most powerful act of enlightening by simply showing us.

Replicant Teleology by Catherine Grant

The esteemed scholar Catherine Grant is constantly searching for new meaning in moving image works, so whenever she takes a crack at it herself, I sit up in my seat and pay attention, happily.

Remake | Remodel – Suspiria (1977) vs Suspiria (2018) by Leigh Singer

I consider myself a good ‘cutter’ and I’ve always considered Mr. Singer’s work to be pretty damn good. Here he shows why he’s one of the best AND he throws in some impressive VO. Show-off! (But seriously, this is one of the best video essays in a long time.)

Tracy Cox-Stanton

Savannah College of Art and Design, founder and editor of The Cine-Files

Mad Science/Mad Love and the Female Body in Pieces by Allison de Fren

I’m (affectionately) theming my 2019 picks ‘wordy academics’ since they are all scholarly videos that feature voiceover. I find them all brilliant and I appreciate the ways they differently invigorate academic discourse. This one by Allison de Fren is a lively tour de force of history, theory, and criticism that helps us trace the cultural threads that run from Franju to Frankenhooker.

‘Say, Have You Seen the Carioca?’ by John Gibbs

‘Say, Have You Seen the Carioca?’

This video describes itself as “an experiment in non-linear and non-hierarchical approaches to film history.” It offers exactly that, beginning with an associative ‘mind map’ scribbled onto a calendar page, and then follows those links. It made me think of more connections, and I could imagine the concept map spilling over onto more and more pages, which is, I think, what this method captures so deftly – history as meshwork.

Visual Disturbances by Eric Faden

This video pulls out all the stops to set up its very compelling argument about the possibilities of cinema as represented in the films of Jacques Tati. It’s really a model of pedagogy, staging learning experiments, integrating scholarship, using multiple screens, titles, graphics, and masking to convey its idea of ‘invisible cinema’ so gracefully and effectively. If anything, it is almost too professional in its presentation with its own score and voice actor, losing a bit of the personal touch that I actually appreciate in video essays. But it is a remarkable accomplishment, so rich and effectual.

Three Video Essays on Lighting and Time by Patrick Keating

Patrick Keating’s videos on Dietrich, You Only Live Once and neorealist lighting are so clear and adept in their analyses. I am certain they will be indispensable to the film analysis classroom.

Andris Damburs

Curator of 35 MM – A GROUP FOR CINEPHILES

STANLEY KUBRICK Shot By Shot | 2001 by Antonios Papantoniou

Stalker – Crafting the Ethical Ideal by Chris Joecken

The Directors Series – Terrence Malick [Part 4] by Cameron Beyl (also: Part 3 )

2018 MOVIE TRIBUTE by Max Shishkin (Clique)

Allison de Fren

Video essayist and media scholar; Associate Professor in Media Arts & Culture, Occidental College, Los Angeles

I know from experience that using female voiceover in a video essay is an act of courage, since female vocals – like all forms of female performance – are submitted to appraisal in ways that male vocals are not. I have decided to focus on video essays made by women that use voice and narration in ways that I find both instructive and inspirational. Each speaks in multiple registers and implicates herself in the work(s) that she is analysing, while also mapping its and her relations to others within the larger visual economy of image making and viewing. Such relational web weaving is not only a highly effective methodological approach to our current networked moment, but it also evokes older lineages of feminist practice, both material and theoretical. Presented in the reverse order in which they were published:

This video essay takes to heart Harun Farocki’s suggestion that the essayistic is found in “not depicting the whole” but rather pursuing holistic understanding “by ‘show[ing] a few particulars in detail’”. Its prismatic retrieval and reworking of the gestural fragments of A Woman Under the Influence across cinematic texts and historical contexts enables a rare clarity of vision about the emotional, and sometimes pathological, labour the female body is often asked to perform culturally.

The Speed (and Stillness) of Being Online by Grace Lee / What’s So Great About That?

In this video essay, the ‘hypernarration’ often associated with the professional male essayist is replaced with ‘hypercognition’, a dizzying associative thinking through of ideas about time, space, speed, slowness, motion, stillness, frequency, volume, fidelity, resolution, signal, noise etc in the media that consume an increasing share of our attentional real estate. No one speaks across media texts, media forms and media platforms quite like Grace Lee.

As in many of her video essays, Galibert-Laîné’s affective and subjective experience of the media text(s) under her scrutiny becomes the focalising lens for her analysis. This ‘video diary’ is, however, more intimate. It gets, both literally and figuratively, under the skin of her own and others’ engagement with the online ecosystem of illness-related media (what some have called cyberchondria). It is a brave and insightful exploration of internet intersubjectivity, especially that of women.

Monica Delgado

Film critic, director of Desistfilm

A horror in the breach: Claire Denis’s Trouble Every Day by Jessica McGoff

The correspondences between skin and celluloid texture.

Liquid perception by Catherine Grant

The author materialises a philosophical fragment about the image with perfect scenes of Jean Vigo.

This video shows an interdisciplinary treatment, and deepens on the topic of bodies in the films of Cassavetes.

Physical Storytelling in Céline Sciamma’s Coming-of-Age Trilogy – a Video Essay by Oswald Iten

I love Sciamma’s movies and I feel that this video essay shows her construction processes of female subjectivities.

Will DiGravio

Host, The Video Essay Podcast ; Graduate Student, University of Cambridge; Contributor, One Perfect Shot

Pan Scan Venkman

Perhaps my favourite video essay of the year. Cormac’s tone and substance brilliantly blend the personal and scholarly to create a compelling media artefact and an ode to the beauty of the VHS tape!

Mashup of the Afternoon by Ariel Avissar

I’ve watched Ariel’s piece more times than I can remember. Many of the video essays I watch (and love, and also make myself) about Hitchcock present him as the ground-breaking, endlessly innovate auteur who changed cinema and influenced almost every filmmaker who came after him, blah, blah, blah. But Ariel’s brilliantly edited essay thinks about Hitchcock’s influences and wonders, did Hitchcock have Maya Deren and Meshes of the Afternoon somewhere in his mind as he made Psycho? The answer may be yes, and it’s a truly wonderful thought.

The Haunting of The Headless Woman by Catherine Grant ( Spanish version )

The next time someone asks me for an example of an academic video essay I’m going to send them Katie’s piece. Not only does the essay brilliantly blend montage, music, and text on screen, but the nature of the piece itself illustrates what sets video essays apart from traditional scholarship: the ability to ask well-founded questions that go unanswered or, as Katie told me on the first episode of the Video Essay Podcast, to “construct something that is arguable but not definite”.

As is the case with so many of Grace’s video essays, this piece is too rich and all-encompassing to sum up in 100 words. I’m constantly awed by her ability to blend so much into a single essay without a hitch in the flow or narration. In this video, Grace proves that she is one of the great online philosophers of our time.

As one of the editors of this poll, I had the pleasure of reading everyone else’s reasons for selecting Chloé’s essay, so I could here simply write, “What they said.” But I will add that I had the pleasure of talking about the piece with Chloé on The Video Essay Podcast and our conversation, like her essay itself, was incredibly generative and had me feeling inspired, and has pushed me to think about media and my own objects of study in new ways.

I really appreciate video essays that aim to explain or explore a cultural phenomenon as it happens, and Charlie’s is a perfect example. The piece navigates the world of TikTok and provides us with a glimpse into not only the platform itself, but what that platform can be. Like Watching The Pain of Others and Pan Scan Venkman, the essay is a brilliant media artefact that captures a part of the world we engage with everyday – our phone screen – and manipulates it to challenge our own understanding of an interface that is constantly changing.

Object Oriented Breaking Bad by Jason Mittell

Like so much of Jason’s videographic work, Object Oriented Breaking Bad challenges our (or at least my own) understanding of what a video essay can be. The essay is part of Jason’s audiovisual book The Chemistry of Character in Breaking Bad, and may seem out of place when compared to the rest of the book’s essays, but its inclusion reminds us that the use of objects in the show is just as deliberate and carefully constructed as the characters and their stories, and thus just as worthy of examination.

Javier H. Estrada (head of programming), Andrea Morán (programmer), Ramón del Buey (programmer)

Romantic Comedy by Elizabeth Sankey ( watch trailer )

An enjoyable review through several milestones of the ‘boy-meets-girl’ that identifies the repetition of plot twists and how film language can build romance.

Peripheral Attention by Victoria Oliver Farner

An interesting device (what we see and what we don’t) to understand how our eyes move across the shot.

Reinaldo’s Motifs by Ricardo Vieira

A playful and minimalist use of sound to highlight the motifs of Reinaldo Ferreira’s cinema.

It is fair to say that in this video essay, images, words and montage, all together, are up to Denis’s film.

Venetian Shadows by Luís Azevedo

The venetian blinds as a common denominator to illustrate more than just its trademark shadows: it’s the mystery of the genre, its energy, its beat.

Re-Enacting the Future by Chloé Galibert-Laîné and Kevin B. Lee

A much-needed critical study about recreations and the role of cinema in the writing of the future History.

Chloé Galibert-Laîné

Filmmaker and researcher, SACRe/Ecole normale supérieure de Paris

Without any claim to comprehensiveness, here are six online video essays that inspired me this year (in alphabetical order):

Beyond Action by Ana Rodríguez León

Hard as You Can by Tiyan Baker

Hollow Jungle by Conor Bateman

La position couchée by Seumboy Vrainom :€

what remains / geriye kalanlar by belit sağ

A Room with a Coconut View by Tulapop Saenjaroen ( watch trailer )

And I’d also like to mention Kodak by Andrew Norman Wilson; these last two short films are not available online, but I found them tremendously compelling in the way they fictionalise an essayistic approach to pre-existing images.

Ian Garwood

Lecturer in Film and Television Studies at the University of Glasgow

The Haunting of The Headless Woman by Catherine Grant

The Haunting of The Headless Woman

I was lucky enough to see this on the big screen, as part of a presentation by Catherine Grant on her work. This uses superimpositions beautifully, along with economical and evocative captions, to explore the connections between The Headless Woman and Carnival of Souls.

This is a fascinating audiovisual essay that achieves its ambition of offering a non-linear approach to film history. It makes fascinating connections between films, music and cultural practices across different era and geographical locations. It makes use of a lot of different types of sources and amalgamates them all very effectively.

This is a much-feted video essay and deservedly so. It builds great narrative momentum as it explores confessional YouTube videos from the point of view of their spectators, their makers and in the context of a wider online culture.

Reproductive Futurism and the Politics of the Sequel by Kathleen Loock

This is the most fully-realised ‘thesis video’ I saw this year: it delivers a multi-faceted argument about the relationship between Blade Runner and its sequel, utilising superimpositions and split screen expertly to make the connections clear.

I’ve enjoyed seeing different instalments of Jason Mittell’s audiovisual book on Breaking Bad appear online over the year. This one constitutes an ‘interstitial’ chapter, deflating a menacing speech by Walter White through a montage of moments in which the character is subject to a series of pratfalls.

This video essay features three of my favourite things, wonderfully placed in combination: an appreciation of small moments of performance; an ability to connect the parts to the whole; and attention to the significance of non-verbal utterances.

Notes on YouTube Art (Part One): A YouTube Artworld by James MacDowell / The Lesser Feat

This is a very substantial opening episode to a series about YouTube Art. It manages to present a cohesive well-structured argument about the possibilities of YouTube video as art, whilst also getting the viewer onside through the welcoming tone of the voiceover, and its willingness to admit this is just a starting point in the author’s thinking on the topic.

Video essayist and Professor of Film at the University of Reading

The Extensions of Mad Men by Ariel Avissar

Dietrich Lighting: A Video Essay by Patrick Keating

This is one of a triptych of audiovisual essays on lighting by Patrick Keating, published in Movie: A Journal of Film Criticism – I could have picked any of them.

Death and Time in ‘A Ghost Story’ – Videographic Epigraph by Enrique Saunders

Dan Golding

Senior lecturer at Swinburne University, and Screen Sounds host on ABC Classic

Flamenco, As Digested by a Classical Musician by Nahre Sol

I continue to be absolutely amazed by the video essay world of music YouTube, but particularly by Nahre Sol. I could’ve chosen any of her videos (her Steve Reich and Bach videos in particular are highlights) but the intellectual depth to her breakdown of where Flamenco music comes from and how it works really left me speechless. The world of film video essays could still learn a lot about what’s going on here, I think.

Why You Shouldn’t Watch The Birth of a Nation (and why you should) by Kyle Kallgren / Brows Held High

Another great year for Kyle Kallgren, who approaches his videos with good humour, good faith enquiry, and an absolute resolute lack of patience for regressive politics. This video is a pretty definitive exploration of the place (or rather, the ideal lack of place) for Birth of a Nation on our film syllabi.

How To See the First Movies by Sean Yetter/The Museum of Modern Art

Is it unfair to include a video essay by a major institution with comparatively boundless resources, time, and funding to throw at the form – compared to bedroom editors and educators? Perhaps. All I can say is that no video essay moved me or changed the way I view the moving image as much as this one in 2019. If only we all had Dave Kehr’s vocal quality, too.

I’ve really enjoyed Grace Lee’s videos this year. Her relatable, good humoured narration and refusal to accept simple answers make each new video an exciting occasion. This video traces out a few old – and a few new – ideas about Being Very Online. Shout out to Lee’s video about the politics of Untitled Goose Game , too, though as I worked on that game’s music it seems a little self-congratulatory (sorry)!

Catherine Grant

Professor of Digital Media and Screen Studies, Birkbeck, University of London; Founding co-editor of [in]Transition

Poor Jessie by Jason Mittell

I love how it uses the vid format to study Jesse’s complete character arc in Breaking Bad. This work is part of Mittell’s The Chemistry of Character in Breaking Bad – I only selected one video from this work, but all of it is amazing.

One of my favourite videos that we published this year at [in]Transition. If you read the wonderful peer reviews of this work by Maria Hofmann and Alisa Lebow, you can see why.

Another of my favourite [in]Transition videos from this year, and again the peer reviewers Drew Morton and Amanda Ann Klein nail precisely why.

Once Upon a Screen: Lord of the Flies by Ariel Avissar

I love the concept and realisation of this video. It’s kept so simple yet it’s so effective. It’s part of a great series convened by Avissar and Evelyn Kreutzer – this one is my favourite to date.

The Thinking Machine 26: Only Free Gestures by Cristina Álvarez López and Adrian Martin

It’s always hard to pick just one by Álvarez López and Martin as they are my favourite video essayists by far, and are very prolific. But I have loved their videos for Filmkrant and this one was the stand out for me in that series this year – an audiovisual essay inspired by, extending on, and acting upon a quote from Raymond Bellour’s magisterial text Analysis in Flames (1984).

Physical Storytelling in Céline Sciamma’s Coming-of-Age Trilogy by Oswald Iten

Oswald Iten’s work is consistently brilliant. This year it was a toss up for me between this video and his study of coloured lighting in Paris, Texas.

First-Person Shooter: Mysterious Photography in Firewatch by Grace Lee (What’s So Great About That?)

Grace Lee’s work is so well made and consistently engaging. I show it to my students as the best kind of example for them – essential and committed critiques of contemporary audiovisual media.

Reader in Film and Sonic Arts, Liverpool John Moores University.

Videos listed in alphabetical order:

Cox-Stanton brilliantly interweaves film theory and history to offer an interpretation of gesture through a discussion of the essayistic in essay film and the audiovisual essay. The voice over is particularly effective and assured.

Also featured in the same issue of NECSUS is Evelyn Kreutzer’s video essay, The Mighty Maestro on Screen . This special issue on Gesture is compelling and makes the case for Film Studies to incorporate audiovisual material in the production of an argument.

De Fren’s argument develops and extends on from her earlier feature film The Mechanical Bride, and audiovisual essays Fembot in a Red Dress and Ex Machina: Questioning the Human Machine. Here the tone is smart, the voice over is humorous and playful, and the conclusion subverts questions of taste to offer an exploitation revenge narrative that confronts patriarchal control.

Donnelly’s audiovisual essay demonstrates the capacity of the form to draw attention to a small moment in the soundtrack that allows the essayist to reassess a film, and in turn, pan and scan VHS technologies. The voice over is compelling and offers a new way to consider Ghostbusters through a cinephiliac gaze.

Gibbs’s audiovisual essay interweaves archival documents and pedagogy to discuss non‐linear, non‐hierarchical approaches to film history. Intercutting student re-enactments of Brazilian prologues the video essay is inventive and robustly researched.

I first saw a draft of this at the NECS conference in Gdañsk, Poland, June 2019. Two other video essays which were shown as part of a panel on the video essay there deserve a mention, (but unfortunately are not yet published): Jaap Koojiman’s Talking [Heads] About Whitney, and Chiara Grizzaffi and Guilia Scomazzon’s Stories of Haunted Houses: The Representation of Domestic Spaces in Contemporary Gothic Films and TV Series.

Grant’s audiovisual essay draws comparisons between Verónica (María Onetto) in Lucrecia Martel’s The Headless Woman and Mary Henry (Candace Hilligoss) in Herk Harvey’s Carnival of Souls. Both women are haunted and haunt the screen. The layering and superimposition of material illustrates the opaqueness of these characters. Here, form expertly follows function.

Loock’s audiovisual essay is exquisite in detail and allows for nuanced theories and ideas about reproduction and seriality to be unpicked. The voice over is highly effective and it is a compelling case for philosophical approaches in film studies to be tested within the audiovisual material itself.

Criticism in the Age of TikTok

Shackleton’s audiovisual essay on TikTok was my entry point to the app and as such has been illuminating not only of this new media but also on how to represent that media. The audiovisual essay is slick, engaging and offers significant critique of TikTok. The ‘phone-top documentary’ style is compelling and appropriate for the argument.

Chiara Grizzaffi

Adjunct faculty at IULM University. Co-editor of [in]Transition

Elsaesser Senses by Catherine Grant

The Thinking Machine 31: Journey to the Centre by Cristina Álvarez López and Adrian Martin

Oswald Iten

Film scholar, video essayist, animator

Early on, Martin states that “certain screen memories are tied not to the most realistic films but the exact opposite – the most artificial, the most fantastic. As if all the obvious seams and props and effects gave more space to the imagination, allowing us to imbue these scraps with a lingering life.” What follows is a deeply personal journey into how both the experience and the memories of seeing Journey to the Center of the Earth (1959) shaped his “inner universe”. Formally, I especially like the dreamy pace and use of Benny Herrmann’s music.

Another personal journey down memory lane. But in this one, Donnelly focuses on how seeing Ghostbusters on VHS shaped his subjective reading of the film. Pan Scan Venkman is a reflection on the construction of meaning and the “authenticity of the experience [he] had with the VHS version”. Pan-and-scan as an accidental feature instead of a bug.

Hayao Miyazaki – How Animation Comes to Life by Kristian Williams / kaptainkristian

While Youtube is full of videos that attempt to explain Miyazaki’s animated features, Williams focuses on their powerful aural texture (an aspect that has always fascinated me). What stands out in all of Kristian Williams’s videos is production value (especially top-notch rotoscoping). He masterfully combines images from different sources without drawing attention to it so that Kiki can greet the Chihiro’s train on the water within the same frame. Plus, he actually mentions the names of some of Miyazaki’s unsung collaborators.

Memorias de C/Leo: On Auteurism and Roma by Jeffrey Middents

The strength of this video lies in its simplicity: Jeffrey Middents’ juxtaposition of a scene from Roma with voice-over narration from Y Tu Mamá También (instead of his own commentary) works perfectly well without any background information. Yet, the accompanying text in Mediático made me want to rewatch the earlier film.

The Rise and Fall of UPA (part 3 of a 3-part series) by Andrew Saladino / The Royal Ocean Film Society

*Special Mention* The story of the highly influential artist-driven cartoon studio UPA is told in a straight-forward documentary format that could well be used as a teaching tool. Saladino also manages to clearly separate fact from opinion and makes good use of his own animation skills to maintain a style that is neither too glossy nor too self-made and perfectly fits his subject.

Rishi Kaneria

Filmmaker & video essayist

How Football and Grime Music Inspired the UK’s Sneaker Culture | Sole Origins by Complex

What This Photo Doesn’t Show by The Art Assignment

Why this creepy melody is in so many movies by Vox

Bohemian Rhapsody’s Terrible Editing – A Breakdown by Thomas Flight

How Aladdin Changed Animation (by Screwing Over Robin Williams) by Lindsay Ellis

Why Jurassic Park Looks Better Than Its Sequels by Jonathan Burdett / Films&Stuff

Why All Movies From 1999 Are the Same by Jack Nugent / Now You See It

Miklós Kiss

Associate Professor in Audiovisual Arts and Cognition at University of Groningen, NL / co-author of Film Studies in Motion: From Audiovisual Essay to Academic Research Video

A true delight to see a thoroughly researched and superbly presented autonomous video among those quick and ephemeral stuff online. My favourite AV work of 2019.

Visual Disturbances – Eye Tracking Demonstration by Eric Faden

A truly informative behind the scenes video for Visual Disturbances – on how did Faden extract plus enhance the visual quality of eye-tracking data and then remap these on an HD film source. The care for quality is admirable and inspiring.

Adaptation – Unconventionally Conveying the Conventional by Michael Tucker (Lessons from the Screenplay)

*me thinking how to pull off a funny meta-comment about this brilliant meta-video on Spike Jonze’s and Charlie Kaufman’s meta-movie Adaptation.

Fairytales of Motion by Alan Warburton

Great balance between well-researched information, explanatory clarity, and aesthetically pleasing presentation; another enlightening video by Alan Warburton (animation by Ewan Jones Morris).

Twin Peaks ACTUALLY EXPLAINED (No, Really) by TwinPerfect

This surprisingly convincing (or only confident?) 4.5-hour elucidation, the Sátántangó of explanatory videos, takes up on an impossible (or useless?) task.

Jaap Kooijman

Associate Professor Media Studies, University of Amsterdam.

The Thinking Machine 35: All Inside by Cristina Álvarez López and Adrian Martin

Published in De Filmkrant, All Inside by the prolific duo Cristina Álvarez López and Adrian Martin shows how a relatively simple yet extremely effective audiovisual essay can invite – or even force – viewers to pay full attention to detail. First, the short prologue to a Girls episode is cut up in 20 shots, using multiscreen. Subsequently, the shots are presented in full screen, with Martin’s voice-over providing the analysis. Finally, the sequence is shown in its entirety, allowing viewers themselves to recognise the rich details that otherwise would have been lost in casual television viewing.

Beyond the Screen #nofilter by Maria Hofmann

‘Thought-provoking’ might be the best word to describe Beyond the Screen #nofilter, an audiovisual essay that seduces one with its beauty, while posing questions about the politics of aesthetics and the insatiable quest for authenticity. The voice-over seems disarming, but in fact challenges viewers to question their own subject positions in relation to those who are represented on screen (all images taken from Michael Glawogger’s 2011 documentary Whores’ Glory). The essay is also a reminder that we need to reread Jean Baudrillard to make sense of a world in which the distinction between representation and the represented seemingly has disappeared.

I hesitated to include this work by Catherine Grant in my personal list, as I have worked with her on other audiovisual projects and I want to avoid charges of favouritism. Yet The Haunting of The Headless Woman, published in Tecmerin, is a true masterpiece. The morphing of scenes from the two films Carnival of Souls and The Headless Woman is not only beautifully done (enhanced by the haunting soundtrack), but also effectively visualises the theoretical argument about intertextuality. Grant’s audiovisual essay showcases the added value of videographic criticism to conventional film scholarship.

Dietrich Lighting: A Video Essay

Dietrich Lighting is the second of three audiovisual essays on lighting by Patrick Keating (made in 2018 but published in Movie: A Journal of Film Criticism in 2019). Its straightforward explanatory mode is a great didactical tool, demonstrating the effects of different lighting techniques, such as the ‘butterfly pattern’ created by key light. Yet simultaneously, the audiovisual essay works as a tribute to one of cinema’s most charismatic and iconic actresses.

Evelyn Kreutzer

Northwestern University

Hands, Up by A Zinsel

Video essayist

All Gorilla Glue ads but perfectly cut by Álvaro Alcaraz/Averroes

This might seem like a troll entry (and maybe it is a bit) but in a landscape of super-cuts that are increasingly banal, this one manages to not only be funny, but to re-contextualise advertising into the surreal barrage of imminent violence we all know it to be.

As one YouTube commenter writes: “Remember, the possibility of getting attacked by a gorilla at any point is extremely low… But it’s never 0.”

The Case for Asset Flips by Patricia Taxxon

This is a video essay partly done in the form of an original song. That song is a banger!

“Take off your jacket take off your pants, imma teach you how to dance. LET’S KICK IT UP!”

On Belief by Rie Toguchi

This is a film I saw at the Goldsmiths MFA Fine Art degree show this year, and I sat and watched the whole thing. Sure, it’s only 12 minutes long, but that’s plenty of time for me to usually get up and wander off. It’s a truly captivating piece of work.

Manufactured Discontent and Fortnite by Dan Olson / Folding Ideas

A revealing dive into the insidious practices of Fortnite, a storefront with a game attached.

getting Breened by Shannon Strucci

An insightful explanation of the appeal of possibly the most unappealing director.

(as a companion video, see also: Bad Movies by Curio )

Kevin B. Lee

Video essayist, Professor of Crossmedia Publishing at Merz Akademie, Stuttgart

The author summons 400 films to fashion a self-crafted vessel to navigate through the darkest period of his life. He answers his own condition of being exhausted by the daily suffering of his world with an equally overwhelming array of images he used as cinematic self-medication. The attention given to matching each image to his narration creates a stunning lucidity even while describing so much distress. (Seen at Berlinale 2019.) [ Also nominated by five critics in our Best Films of 2019 poll .]

Also: The Image Book by Jean Luc-Godard ( watch trailer )

My First Film by Zia Anger

There is now such a thing as a live video essay. Anger’s videographic post-mortem of her failed first feature conscripts its audience as participants in a real-time behind the scenes tour of all the factors informing what went wrong with her production, culminating in a communal act of destruction and creative resurrection. (Seen at a workshop in Merz Akademie, Stuttgart.) [Read: Reclaiming failure: Zia Anger’s My First Film performance ]

Also: Nos Defaites / Our Defeats by Jean-Gabriel Periot ( watch trailer )

Runtime by Connor Bateman

Just when you think the supercut has worn out its welcome, this ingenious compilation takes an odd trope – horror scenes set in movie theatres – and with the help of resourceful post-production effects, creates a chain of spectatorial terror mean to play in an endless loop. In the post-cinema era, this study of screening room terrors resonates as a poignant historiography.

Also: Little Lower Than the Angels by Neozoon ( watch trailer )

The Speed (and Stillness) of Being Online

Amidst the ever-growing swarm of YouTube video essays and their ever-swelling bag of visual and narrational tricks, I took the most from this breathtaking critical speedrun through the digital mediascape. It performs the paradoxical feat of both embodying the too-muchness of always-on digital life, while generating a space of reflection within the vortex, like the eye of a hurricane.

Also: Criticism in the Age of TikTok by Charlie Shackleton

Transformation Scenario by Clemens von Wedemeyer

It’s hard to choose between either of these two outstanding works are breathtaking interrogations of the digital transformations behind today’s image making. They both combine a necessary historical awareness with a rare sensitivity to how reality as we know it is being utterly transformed, with political consequences that too easily go unnoticed: quite literally, they expose the power of seeing.

Also: Fairytales of Motion by Alan Warburton

The most extensive single work of videographic film scholarship that I’ve seen this year is this study of cinematic non-seeing. It uses a variety of videographic approaches, from eye tracking to filmed experiments, scientific research and cinematic close reads, to give deep attention to an overlooked aspect of film spectatorship.

Also: works curated by Oana Ghera for History of Romanian Fiction Cinema, an event held at EUROPALIA film festival .

Another outstanding academic video essay (which has also screened at film and media festivals) takes the format to bold and unsettling degrees of self-representation and implication. Video essays have always been about the performance of knowledge as much as they are about the knowledge being performed. By virtue of its ingenious approaches to its subject, this video raises a host of fascinating questions about how experience and knowledge are performed, transmitted and re-performed through the viral ecology of media.

Also: Adaptation – Unconventionally Conveying the Conventional by Michael Tucker / Lessons from the Screenplay

Kathleen Loock

Department of English and American Studies, University of Flensburg

The first two video essays on my list for 2019 are about spectatorial experiences and wonderfully well-crafted in how they blend personal reflection and close analysis. They take subjective viewing experiences and memories as the starting point for videographic explorations. Based on his memories of watching Ghostbusters (1984) over and over on VHS as a kid, Cormac Donnelly considers the Pan and Scan process (which re-framed widescreen movies for release on VHS) and examines how a recent 4K Blu-Ray release of the movie (without the familiar Pan and Scan modifications) challenged his memories and interpretation of Ghostbusters.

This video essay, too, is analysing a subjective viewing experience, in this case a disturbing one that does not seem to let go of Galibert-Laîné. Adopting a ‘desktop documentary’ approach, she has made a thoughtful, vlog-style video essay in response: viewers can watch her watching, reacting to, researching, analysing and deconstructing Penny Lane’s The Pain of Others (2018), a found-footage documentary (made of online videos) about a mysterious skin disease (Morgellons) and the online community that forms around it. This is a truly exceptional video essay that blurs boundaries and provides new insights into the affective dimensions of spectatorship.

Psycho vs. Psycho: Hitchcock’s Classic vs. Gus Van Sant’s Remake by Leigh Singer

The next two video essays on my list for 2019 are concerned with intertextuality, or, more precisely, with the ways in which repetition and variation play out between two movies and affect their meanings. Both use the video essay form to great effect. Singer’s video essay is part of the series Remake | Remodel that he is currently producing for the UK film magazine Little White Lies. Juxtaposing Hitchcock’s classic with the probably most-discussed film remake in the history of academic quarterlies, Singer succeeds in producing an insightful, new take on the debate.

The other video essay focusing on intertextuality is Catherine Grant’s beautifully composed The Haunting of The Headless Woman (which also appeared in Spanish as El embrujo de La mujer sin cabeza). Grant draws connections between the female protagonists of Lucrecia Martel’s The Headless Woman (2008) and Herk Harvey’s Carnival of Souls (1962), drawing attention to the haunting presence of the earlier film in the later one. The result is a stunning video essay and important contribution to the study of intertextuality.

The final three entries on my list for 2019 have all succeeded in expanding my own views on the affordances and aesthetics of videographic criticism. Hofmann’s video essay on Austrian filmmaker Michael Glawogger’s documentary Whores’ Glory (2011), about prostitutes in Thailand, Bangladesh, and Mexico, makes a theoretically sound and provocative statement about how viewers consume documentaries in the digital age and about the relationship between the realities of globalisation and aesthetic form. The video essay challenges stylised images and the troubling desire for authenticity in order to raise (rather than answer) important questions about documentary viewership.

No Voiding Time: A Deformative Video Essay by Alan O’Leary

This video essay engages in deformative criticism. I found it especially impressive how O’Leary theorises his deformative approach to Paul Thomas Anderson’s movie Inherent Vice (2014) in the written statement. Going beyond the technical or the algorithm, he asks what new kind of knowledge deformative experiments that defamiliarise the original movie can produce, thereby exploring a fascinating mode of videographic criticism in a creative and artistic manner.

Records in American Independent Cinema: 1987-2018 by Ian Garwood

This supercut forms part of Garwood’s larger Indy Vinyl project on vinyl-playing moments in American independent cinema. It compiles record-playing moments in 148 movies within a three-minute pop song timeframe. I was impressed by the quantitative approach to the topic and its visualisation in the video essay form.

Jessica McGoff

Video essayist and film writer

Runtime by Conor Bateman

Daniel Mcilwraith

Video essayist and video editor

Jason Mittell

Video essayist; Professor of Film & Media Culture, Middlebury College; Project Manager, [in]Transition

A masterful video that sets a new standard for how video essays can explore spectatorship. The meta-levels here are dizzying: an online video about a documentary video about online videos, all of which grapple with seeing and being seen, and at the same time, a meditation on the blurring of the different windows we use to view, converse about, research, and process cultural material. While I did not come away feeling empathy for the Morgellons sufferers, I felt deeply implicated by Galibert-Laîné’s own intertwined feelings of researcher, audience member, and conversant. My top video essay of the year!

Visual Disturbances

Like Watching The Pain of Others, this video pushes the boundaries of scholarly videographic criticism in a number of ways: incorporating mixed methods and approaches, shooting original footage to stage an experiment, and extending the typical length of academic videos beyond that de facto standard of 15-20 minutes. Most importantly, it demonstrates how some types of analysis, even in a more analytic and less poetic form, can only be accomplished videographically, as if Faden were to ‘write up’ this research project, it would fail to convey its ideas or convince its audience.

I first saw an earlier version of this video years ago, which Grant categorised as a stalled work-in-progress. Now, transformed by the haunting use of spatial montage, it stands as one of her most accomplished and powerful works, merging affective and analytic power.

Untitled Goose Game: Is it Good to be Bad? by Grace Lee/What’s So Great About That?

The crossover between film/TV video essays and video game video essays is small, but Lee shifts her typically cinematic gaze to the video game world with stunning results. A smart meta-overinterpretation of a stupid game, with a playful mockery of both her own and other video essayists tendencies, this recent video embodies the tone and depth that makes Lee’s channel a delight.

Occupying Time: The Battle of Algiers by Alan O’Leary

One core element of videographic criticism is that the critic does something to a film. O’Leary takes that impulse to ‘do something’ in an array of different directions here, exploring temporality as a multifaceted element. The effect is impactful, even if it is unclear what it ‘means’ or reveals about the film – we see and experience different ways of understanding, which are ultimately sufficiently meaningful.

I’m always looking for videographic works on television, and this short experimental piece merges two things that I don’t particularly like – Marshall McLuhan’s aphoristic media theory and Mad Men – into something that I quite like. It asks why Don Draper et al. were not engaging with McLuhan’s theories on the program, and shows us what it might have been like if they had via a deformative logic.

As someone who has written a book and created a video essay about the film Adaptation, I was smitten by Michael Tucker’s ambitious take that pushes the formal limits of the video essay.

Carlos Natálio

Scholar, Film Critic, Investigator, Film Programmer, Co-creator and co-editor of À pala de Walsh

Video essays are becoming an important part of the long going battle for image representation. This piece reflects on the powers of reenactment in terms of influencing the future for political events and also the way we perceive history. Rhymes will never be alike, the power is in the cut.

Bits and pieces of film shattered. Logics of perception severed. We are now supposed to aim the gaze at the periphery, the small detail, the invisible layers of shot. Would it be possible that decolonising the image will pass through this new way of organising visual shots?

Robert Bresson: The Falls by Alexander Melyan

One of the blessings of video essays is the ability to make us see more. Sudden patterns or contrasts in a director’s oeuvre, for example. This piece not only makes us think of the role of the fall in Bresson’s universe and ethics, but also allows us to understand the specific ways the french master would carve the ethereal from the material world. Objects, humans, animals, they all are from this existence and they all carry alike its weight. To fall doesn’t belong to drama, it belongs to volume, lines and movement.

The Master: Back & Forth by Jacob T. Swinney

The Master is an enigmatic work. Cinema that both advances in time and tracks back too. Another film emerges, one where motorcycles can appear from the throat of a character, and the sea water can emerge inside an office. From multitasking to overlapping layers of visual meaning, that is a challenge!

Singin’ in the Pain by Colin McKeown

Remembering is also dismembering. Sometimes a past laugh is an actual agony. Or Johnny Depp who was a victim in Nightmare on Elm Street and now gives us a grin. In this piece, as the director states: “A Clockwork Orange, Fame and Singin’ in the Rain. The ghosts of parallel universes dance and sing together.”

Correct Machine by Eva Elcano Fuentes

A beautifully edited piece that reflects on the way we regard the machine. Children look at the camera, they are curious. An engine is burning, we are curious. We look at it, the machines (the cameras) they reply back. Anxiety and curiosity versus the all recording gaze. This is a love story far from complete complicity or divorce

Emergency: Donald Trump’s Touch of Evil by Cristina Álvarez López and Adrian Martin

Sometimes cinema anticipates reality. Donald Trump belongs to the universe of Welles’s Touch of Evil. Cristina and Adrian are not posing a hypothesis, they are reminding us of the obvious. Video essays are also tools for unveiling these nightmares.

Charlie Shackleton

Filmmaker and video essayist

The Proposal by Jill Magid

A forthright statement on a subject close to any video essayist’s heart – the deleterious effects of intellectual property law – Jill Magid’s remarkable essay feature The Proposal is constrained by the very thing it takes to task, and all the more potent for it.

Few video essayists exercise more care with their raw materials than Chloé Galibert-Laîné, and care is exactly what’s required in handling the subject of Morgellons, the scientifically unsubstantiated skin condition which has amassed self-diagnosed sufferers since the early 2000s, not to mention The Pain of Others, a disquieting 2018 film on the subject. Galibert-Laîné navigates this rocky terrain with remarkable poise and refreshing transparency, putting herself on screen to reveal the intimacy at the heart of the superficially sterile desktop documentary form.

Triple Chaser by Forensic Architecture and Praxis Films

Laura Poitras and her team at Praxis Films provide an electric aesthetic complement to the rigorous but prosaic stylings of human rights research agency cum video essay powerhouse Forensic Architecture in this confrontational contribution to the Whitney Biennial, in which they investigate tear gas grenades manufactured by the Safariland Group. (Safariland’s owner is vice chair of the Whitney’s board.)

Zia Anger’s spellbinding desktop documentary exists only as an ephemeral live performance, and as such, may never exist again, having seen its last scheduled performance in November. Coming to terms with that fact is an experience not out of keeping with the performance itself, which for all its dynamism and spectacle, is at heart an intimate study of failure, frustration and loss.

Eric Faden’s mammoth video essay on the cinematic possibilities of ‘inattentional blindness’ was one of the most continually surprising things I saw all year, shuffling liberally through all manner of audiovisual modes, from focus-group commentary, to close textual study, to – most spectacularly – elaborately staged meta-theatre.

The Image You Missed by Dónal Foreman

Dónal Foreman’s rueful film is at once a history of the Troubles and a portrait of his estranged father, the documentarian Arthur MacCaig. Weaving together excerpts from MacCaig’s influential body of work, he grapples – as so many of the best video essays do – with the irresolvable, in this case an admiration for his subject’s achievements and a lament for the costs at which they came.

Leigh Singer

Video essayist, film journalist, film programmer

The only thing I’m certain of in terms of video essay work in 2019 is that I haven’t seen nearly enough of it. Of those I did, these all made a strong impression.

How the Helicopter Chase in Goodfellas Was Made by Luís Azevedo / Beyond the Frame

Reproductive Futurism and the Politics of the Sequel

Dietrich Lighting: A Video Essay by Patrick Keating~Z

Kogonda’s Columbus Subconscious Reflections by Mikolaj Kacprzak

Shannon Strucci

video essayist StrucciMovies and Scanline, podcaster Critical Bits and Struggle Session

The Labour of Art by Sarah Zedig / let’s talk about stuff.

Zedig’s work, often autobiographical, is always thoughtfully written and sincere, with an admirable level of vulnerability. This video of hers – on art, procrastination, the internet, hobby monetisation, and the way our culture undervalues art and exploits the artists who produce it – articulates feelings and problems I have struggled with for years and articulates them better than I could have myself.

Queer ✨ by Oliver Thorn / Philosophy Tube

Although Thorn’s work – a series of video essays on philosophy – is always well-researched, inventive, and theatrical, his tone and content vary tremendously, and while his more serious and heavy videos are just as valuable, I deliberately chose Queer✨, a celebratory and playful coming-out video (complete with three separate musical numbers and who knows how many costume changes!) because on top of being illuminating and entertaining, it’s also joyful, and that joy is contagious.

How Accessible Were This Year’s Games? By Mark Brown / Game Maker’s Toolkit

In this video Brown catalogs accessibility options from 50(!) different video games, both independent and AAA, pointing out missteps and celebrating particularly effective and inventive triumphs in accessibility. It’s clear a great deal of time and money went into this video, as did a passion for accessibility, and it can be appreciated not only as a tool for selecting games based on what options they provide and as a nudge for developers who are lacking, but also as an example of how to make a fantastic video essay.

Roleplaying, Running the Game #83 by Matt Colville

On a platform full of cynicism and self-aggrandisement, Colville’s emphasis is always on anti-elitism and open encouragement. He takes years of experience in playing, running, and designing games and uses that as a foundation – sharing anecdotes, talking candidly about his own failures, and putting in work to make the tabletop games space more welcoming and less intimidating. In this video Colville goes in-depth into his entire philosophy on roleplaying, and regardless of how much experience you may have in tabletop or how your style and preferences differ from his, you’re guaranteed to find something entertaining and insightful therein.

Fruit Salad by You Suck at Cooking

You Suck At Cooking has evolved its own set of rituals and language, both in how each video’s ‘recipe’ is delivered and in the construction of the videos themselves (which typically end with an original song over footage of animals in an idyllic setting). It even has its own in-universe mythos – it’s the only YouTube cooking show I know of that has a fan wiki. Fruit Salad is a short and accessible episode that showcases a lot of what I love about the show- elaborate in-camera visual effects, dubiously educational food facts, and a good-natured but subversive sense of humour.

Climate Denial: A Measured Response by Harry Brewis / hbomberguy

I hesitated to include hbomb’s work due to bias- we have worked together on multiple projects (though not this one!). But bar-none this is the hardest I have ever laughed at any video essay (at both 1:02 and 4:03) and the humor and energy Harris brings to his work without sacrificing sincerity or depth of research is, as far as I am concerned, unparalleled.

The Bizarre Modern Reality of The Simpsons by John Walsh / Super Eyepatch Wolf

Super Eyepatch Wolf’s body of work is an exploration of nerd media- anime, wrestling, video games- slickly edited yet imbued with warmth and a deep, genuine love for everything he talks about. This video, well-edited and well-researched and using that same lens of openness and sincerity, delves into Simpsons meme culture.

[Back to top]

Scout Tafoya

Video essayist, critic, filmmaker

Joan Mitchell, Departures by Ken Jacobs

A Story From Africa by Billy Woodberry

Euphoria : Visual References by Candice Drouet

Made me see how little media by the children of rich people starts from scratch. Incredible finds from one of my favourite working editors.

Scorsese’s Second Take by Nelson Carvajal

Re-Enacting the Future by Kevin B. Lee & Chloé Galibert-Laîné

Smoke Gets In Your Eyes by Daniel Mcilwraith

Milad Tangshir

Iranian director based in Italy

Re-Enacting the Future

[Read: From the firing wall to the barricades: Kevin B. Lee and Chloe Galibert-Laîné interrogate re-enactments and rehearsals ]

Tarkovsky’s Napes by Pavel Tavares

Export/Import: Pedro Almodóvar’s Dark Habits and What Have I Done to Deserve This? by Cristina Álvarez López and Adrian Martin

Rear Window’s Runway by André Ferreira and Ricardo Vieira Lisboa

Irina Trocan

Freelance film critic, Lecturer at the National Theater and Film University, Bucharest

Student Bodies by Ho Rui An

An intellectually elaborate short film on East Asia’s historical relations with the Western world where the filmmaker reframes architecture, monuments and fragments of film so as to both visualise the topic at hand and make us see them with new eyes.

A very erudite take on the feedback loop between animation and visual/social observation, it draws a terrifying (but thoroughly persuasive) straight line between cartoon archetypes and automated pattern recognition in surveillance society.

Kondo-Culture: The Fall of the House of ‘Stuff’ by Grace Lee / What’s So Great About That?

This fluidly edited video spells out why Marie Kondo’s success signifies more than meets the spark-joy receptors: a shift in social values among the comfortable middle class where shiny, orderly, clear surfaces symbolise luxury more than owning an overabundance of stuff (and everything you might be drawn to and miss is crammed in a digital folder).

Replaying a few scenes from the beginning of Coppola’s The Conversation after cutting out the small portion where spectators are likely to focus their attention, it presents straightforward evidence of just how much more there is to look at in every frame.

This analysis of Gena Rowlands’ performance in A Woman Under the Influence digresses quite unexpectedly in various directions (ballet, Laura Mulvey, 19th century photographic observation of ‘hysterical’ women, Harun Farocki’s meditations on the essay film via Song of Ceylon), in order to further illuminate the resonance of Rowlands’ gestures.

Operation Jane Walk by Robin Klengel & Leonhard Müllner

An exquisite architectural tour of New York, produced by hijacking the post-apocalyptic landscape of a multiplayer shooter. Artfully dodging bullets and proper game action, the on-screen characters follow the tour guide who ruminates on Jane Jacobs’ The Death and Life of Great American Cities as well as the transformations of New York since the 1950s.

A mirror maze of horror films where the action takes place in a cinema, this film shows us characters who watch others suffer a horrible death next to a cinema screen before suffering themselves from an equally tragic fate. It is less similar to Godard’s evocative scenes set in cinemas or Purple Rose of Cairo-type homages and closer to David Cronenberg’s wry short contribution for To Each His Own Cinema. When films and thrills become the only thing that those characters are inhaling, there is no moment to breathe out.

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More From Forbes

How writing can make you a better coach.

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Telling your story

Storytelling is an essential part of leadership communications. In the following sentence, Steve Almond, author of Truth Is the Arrow, Mercy Is the Bow , writes:

“The most fundamental question for readers is to who we’re being ask to care about, what they desire, and what sort of trouble they encounter in pursuit of that desire. In other words, what promises is the piece making? Has our protagonist been forced to reckon with external obstacles and internal conflicts?”

If you were to substitute readers for followers and a piece for a story, you would have an excellent framework for shaping a story. Almond has authored 11 books and has taught writing in MFA programs for decades. Truth Is the Arrow is a distillation of what he teaches. And he does it with verve, candor, style and courage.

Why We Need Stories

For that reason, his exploration of storytelling is worth exploring for leaders who need to communicate more effectively with their followers. Stories have beginnings, middles and ends, and in the management environment, leaders know the beginning but not the ending. Forming the ending – fulfilling the mission – is a series of "middles" – ever-changing and ever-challenging.

The narrative in fiction has been plotted, though when the writer is writing, they may not know it at the time. Same for work life. We mark milestones, but we are still in the process. Storytelling – that sheds light on people and effort – makes the progression worthy of further commitment.

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A vital part of storytelling is revealing something of yourself. Almond does a skillful job telling parts of his story throughout the book. He is not afraid to laugh at his early writing efforts. More directly, he deals with family challenges and is not afraid to call himself out for shortcomings in his teaching.

Almond notes that writers come to workshops to express themselves, and part of that expression involves the grasp of self-knowledge. In this regard, the principles of the writing process mirror the coaching process, peeling back the layers to help the individual learn more about themselves.

An essential part of storytelling is humor. At this, Almond is a master. Not afraid to reveal his own foibles, he does so in ways that make us laugh and at the same time say, “I know that feeling.” That lesson is something that binds listeners – and followers – to the storytellers. Consider it vulnerability tinged with what it means to be fully alive.

Revealing Self

Near the end of the book, there is a chapter, "Man at the Top of the Stairs," that explores a character's inner life. Writers have to find a different way of being in the world," writes Almond. "The making of literature is the manner by which we come to understand our inner lives, by which we travel in difficult truth toward elusive mercy, and thereby affirm the bonds of human kindness."

Same holds true for leaders. Their connection to those they lead may waver from time to time, but when the leader knows themselves they have the capacity to look outward, to connect with others with story that resonate with shared experience. And when those stories reflect hopes and aspirations tempered with kindness and grace, the connection between leader and follower remains resilient and firm.

First posted on Forbes.com 5.00.2024

Note: For more insights into the parallels between writing and coaching, here is my LinkedIn Live interview with Steve Almond.

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This is a grid showing parts of nine book covers.

The Best Books of the Year (So Far)

The nonfiction and novels we can’t stop thinking about.

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By The New York Times Books Staff

May 24, 2024

Fiction | Nonfiction

We’re almost halfway through 2024 and we at The Book Review have already written about hundreds of books. Some of those titles are good. Some are very good. And then there are the following.

We suspect that some (though certainly not all) will be top of mind when we publish our end-of-year, best-of lists. For more thoughts on what to read next, head to our book recommendation page .

The cover of “James” is black. The title is in yellow, and the author’s name is in white.

James , by Percival Everett

In this reworking of the “Adventures of Huckleberry Finn,” Jim, the enslaved man who accompanies Huck down the Mississippi River, is the narrator, and he recounts the classic tale in a language that is his own, with surprising details that reveal a far more resourceful, cunning and powerful character than we knew.

Local bookstores | Barnes and Noble | Amazon

Good Material , by Dolly Alderton

Alderton’s novel, about a 35-year-old struggling to make sense of a breakup, delivers the most delightful aspects of romantic comedy — snappy dialogue, realistic relationship dynamics, funny meet-cutes and misunderstandings — and leaves behind clichéd gender roles and the traditional marriage plot.

Martyr! , by Kaveh Akbar

A young Iranian American aspiring poet and recovering addict grieves his parents’ deaths while fantasizing about his own in Akbar’s remarkable first novel, which, haunted by death, also teems with life — in the inventive beauty of its sentences, the vividness of its characters and the surprising twists of its plot.

The Hunter , by Tana French

For Tana French fans, every one of the thriller writer’s twisty, ingenious books is an event. This one, a sequel to “The Searcher,” once again sees the retired Chicago cop Cal Hooper, a perennial outsider in the Irish west-country hamlet of Ardnakelty, caught up in the crimes — seen and unseen — that eat at the seemingly picturesque village.

Wandering Stars , by Tommy Orange

This follow-up to Orange’s debut, “There There,” is part prequel and part sequel; it trails the young survivor of a 19th-century massacre of Native Americans, chronicling not just his harsh fate but those of his descendants. In its second half, the novel enters 21st-century Oakland, following the family in the aftermath of a shooting.

Headshot , by Rita Bullwinkel

Set at a women’s boxing tournament in Reno, Nev., this novel centers on eight contestants, and the fights — physical and emotional — they bring to the ring. As our critic wrote: This story’s impact “lasts a long time, like a sharp fist to your shoulder.”

Beautyland , by Marie-Helene Bertino

In 1970s Philadelphia, an alien girl sent to Earth before she’s born communicates with her fellow life-forms via fax as she helps gather intel about whether our planet is habitable. This funny-sad novel follows the girl and her single mother as they find the means to persevere.

Knife: Meditations After an Attempted Murder , by Salman Rushdie

In his candid, plain-spoken and gripping new memoir, Rushdie recalls the attempted assassination he survived in 2022 during a presentation about keeping the world’s writers safe from harm. His attacker had piranhic energy. He also had a knife. Rushdie lost an eye, but he has slowly recovered thanks to the attentive care of doctors and the wife he celebrates here.

Everyone Who Is Gone Is Here: The United States, Central America, and the Making of a Crisis , by Jonathan Blitzer

This urgent and propulsive account of Latin American politics and immigration makes a persuasive case for a direct line from U.S. foreign policy in Central America to the current migrant crisis.

The Wide Wide Sea: Imperial Ambition, First Contact and the Fateful Final Voyage of Captain James Cook , by Hampton Sides

By the time he made his third Pacific voyage, the British explorer James Cook had maybe begun to lose it a little. The scientific aims of his first two trips had shifted into something darker. According to our reviewer, the historian Hampton Sides “isn’t just interested in retelling an adventure tale. He also wants to present it from a 21st-century point of view. ‘The Wide Wide Sea’ fits neatly into a growing genre that includes David Grann’s ‘ The Wager ’ and Candice Millard’s ‘ River of the Gods ,’ in which famous expeditions, once told as swashbuckling stories of adventure, are recast within the tragic history of colonialism .”

The Rebel’s Clinic: The Revolutionary Lives of Frantz Fanon , by Adam Shatz

This absorbing biography of the Black psychiatrist, writer and revolutionary Frantz Fanon highlights a side of him that’s often eclipsed by his image as a zealous partisan — that of the caring doctor, who ran a secret clinic for Algerian rebels.

Fi: A Memoir , by Alexandra Fuller

In her fifth memoir, Fuller describes the sudden death of her 21-year-old son. Devastating as this elegant and honest account may be — it’s certainly not for the faint of heart — it also leaves the reader with a sense of having known a lovely and lively young man.

Explore More in Books

Want to know about the best books to read and the latest news start here..

John S. Jacobs was a fugitive, an abolitionist — and the brother of the canonical author Harriet Jacobs. Now, his own fierce autobiography has re-emerged .

Don DeLillo’s fascination with terrorism, cults and mass culture’s weirder turns has given his work a prophetic air. Here are his essential books .

Jenny Erpenbeck’s “ Kairos ,” a novel about a torrid love affair in the final years of East Germany, won the International Booker Prize , the renowned award for fiction translated into English.

Kevin Kwan, the author of “Crazy Rich Asians,” left Singapore’s opulent, status-obsessed, upper crust when he was 11. He’s still writing about it .

Each week, top authors and critics join the Book Review’s podcast to talk about the latest news in the literary world. Listen here .

RBC Canadian Open picks 2024: Best bets for PGA Tour golf this week

By cody williams | may 28, 2024.

We're heading north of the US border this week to the 2024 RBC Canadian Open, which returns to Hamilton Golf & Country Club for the first time since 2019 when Rory McIlroy ran away from the field. This tournament, of course, gave us some elite scenes when Nick Taylor broke a 70+ year drought to give us a Canadian winner (and for Adam Hadwin to get leveled by security) at this PGA Tour event.

The Par 70 course is quite similar in many ways to what we saw at Colonial last week. Driving accuracy and approach play are crucial and it's a ball-striker's golf course. Rory's win was an outlier to some degree because of his length off of the tee because this isn't necessarily a course that can be bludgeoned to death. That's something we're keeping in mind with our RBC Canadian Open picks.

We need something big with our expert picks too as the golf betting gods have been anything but kind to this point. It was a shutout against us last week in Texas so maybe Canada will live up to its repuation and be nicer. With that, let's get right into our RBC Canadian Open picks for this week at Hamilton.

Note: All odds are courtesy of BetMGM unless otherwise noted. Game odds refresh periodically and are subject to change. For more betting picks and advice, check out BetSided .

Golf betting record in 2024 through PGA: 15-118-0, -34.33 Units (1-49 on outrights and longshots | -4.6 units at Charles Schwab) | One and Done Total for 2024: $6,744,778.00 (Mark Hubbard $19.292 at Schwab)

If you or someone you know has a gambling problem and wants help, call 1-800-GAMBLER.

RBC Canadian Open PGA Tour expert picks: Winner, Top 10 and One and Done

Top 10 pick for the rbc canadian open: davis thompson (+400).

Davis Thompson is a guy we've seen contend on the PGA Tour before, including within the past month when he finished T2 at the Myrtle Beach Classic. He followed that up last week with a solid T17 finish at Colonial. And the profile is enticing. Over the last 12 rounds in this field, he's seventh in SG: Off-the-Tee, sixth in SG: Approach and fourth in SG: Tee-to-Green despite losing (slightly) strokes around the green. His short game has been an issue this year at times but his last two starts have seen that start to level out. If that continues this week at a nice fit for his ball striking, he could absolutely be on the first page of the leaderboard.

Winner pick for the RBC Canadian Open (0.5 Units): Shane Lowry (+2200)

In truth, I think there's a good chance that Rory McIlroy (+400) comes back to Hamilton and gets the win with how he's been playing. But I can't bet that number in good conscience, so we're going with Shane Lowry this week. His ball striking has been a weapon for months now but we finally saw the putter, which had been bleeding strokes, show signs of life at the PGA Championship, gaining in three of the four rounds. He also finished T2 behind Rory at this venue in 2019 and it fits his ideal build for accuracy and ball striking. If the putter stays solid for Lowry, the Irishman should be in the mix again.

One and Done pick for the RBC Canadian Open: Aaron Rai

We'll unpack more on Aaron Rai in just a moment but, since we already burned Lowry as a One and Done pick (poorly) at the RBC Heritage, we're taking the Englishman this week for a strong finish to get us on a nice trajectory down the home stretch for One and Done.

RBC Canadian Open picks: More best bets for PGA Tour this week

Aaron rai to finish top 10 at the rbc canadian open (+320).

We're not making you wait long for the Aaron Rai breakdown. Over the last 20 rounds in this field, Rai is second in Fairways Gained, a key stat this week at Hamilton where being the fairway can be hugely important. Meanwhile, he's made good on that, ranking third in this field in SG: Approach over the last 12 rounds. He's thrived on courses that demand accuracy and ball striking over the past couple of years and, though he bled strokes with the short game at Colonial, he'd gained in his four previous events in that capacity. With that, I like for him to continue a nice run overall of late with a Top 10 finish.

Mac Meissner to finish Top 20 at the RBC Canadian Open (+275)

Maybe my favorite bet of the week and I wouldn't even hate getting even more aggressive than a Top 20 with Mac Meissner. An up-and-comer to some degree, Meissner's last two starts resulted in a T13 at Myrtle Beach and a T5 at the Charles Schwab. That bodes well for him at this course in terms of form and fit but the numbers back it up too. Over the last 16 rounds, Meissner is fourth in this field in SG: Tee-to-Green at 1.397. He's also gaining with the putter. He's an accurate driver whose best skill has been on approach lately and might be in the midst of a legitimate run. It's time to capitalize on that.

Kelly Kraft to finish Top 40 at the RBC Canadian Open (+210)

Talk about way down the board but there's a good reason to be in on Kelly Kraft this year and in this tournament. Over the last 20 rounds, Kraft is third in this field in SG: Approach, first in driving accuracy, and second in greens in regulation. He's played just four times on the PGA Tour in 2023, so the sample size is limited and the short game has been erratic but I can't ignore that tee-to-green profile at this course, so for only a Top 40, I'll take the swing.

Longshot pick to win the RBC Canadian Open (0.1 Units): Mac Meissner (+9000)

Again, I think Meissner is trending toward something big with the way he's playing right now, so I'm also going to sprinkle on him to win outright. Let's have a week!

Next. Best Golfer Every State. The best golfer from every U.S. state. dark

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The Best Horror Movies on Max to Watch Right Now

Max has the horror goods.

Max hosts a ton of content, but how's its horror selection? If you like flicks like Carrie, Midsommar and Evil Dead Rise, it's worth scanning the streamer's library for a title to spend a creepy evening with.

Here are nine standout scary movies on Max. All these films received generally favorable reviews or better, according to Metacritic. If you're wondering what Max is all about, here's more on the streaming service , which unites the HBO Max and Discovery Plus libraries.

Black Swan (2010)

Reserve your seat for this surreal psychological horror movie about a talented ballerina's unraveling. Natalie Portman's character Nina feels pressure to embody not only the innocent and elegant White Swan but the dark and sensual Black Swan for the leading part in a production of Swan Lake. But she doesn't fit the latter swan's mold as much as newcomer Lily (Mila Kunis) does. The film follows her obsessive hunt for perfection.

Eraserhead (1977)

David Lynch's first feature-length film will make you feel like you're in a bizarre nightmare. The 90-minute black-and-white horror flick is packed with odd sounds and imagery, and the result is incredibly eerie. Don't even get me started on the main character's freakish, otherworldly looking "baby" (that's oddly still kind of cute?). There are messages about men and parenthood here, but even setting aside the bigger picture, Eraserhead's surreal world is absolutely worth a visit.

Midsommar (2019)

Horrors take place in broad daylight in this haunting film from Ari Aster. Set at a midsummer festival in a remote Swedish village, Midsommar has plenty of disturbing surprises in store for its guests. Prepare for some shocking scenes and a gripping performance from Florence Pugh.

Hereditary (2018)

This is one you shouldn't watch alone. The feature-length directorial debut from Ari Aster (Midsommar) is about what a family uncovers after the death of its matriarch, and it may be the scariest entry on this list. If you're up for a disturbing flick with great performances, venture cautiously into Hereditary.

It Comes at Night (2017)

This grim horror film is about a family living in a secluded home in the aftermath of an unnamed cataclysm and what happens when a desperate couple with a young child enters the picture. The terrors aren't supernatural, but this harrowing flick will haunt you.

Carrie (1976)

It's more Stephen King, and you have to watch Sissy Spacek's Oscar-nominated portrayal of the prom queen at least once in your life. Why not now?

Evil Dead Rise (2023)

A family accidentally unearths some unimaginable evils in this gory supernatural horror story. It's the fifth entry in the film franchise after The Evil Dead (1981), Evil Dead II ('87), Army of Darkness ('92) and Evil Dead (2013).

The Witch (2015)

This historical horror movie pretty much guarantees nightmares. The disturbing flick centers on a family in 1630s New England and marks Anya Taylor-Joy's film debut. Over the 90-minute flick, strange and shocking things happen to a farmer and family who've relocated to a remote area on the edge of a forest.

Night of the Living Dead (1968)

George Romero's first horror film is an easy recommendation. A group of survivors take refuge in a house while members of the undead swarm outside. The influential flick is often regarded as the first modern zombie movie , and while it may not offer Freddy Krueger-level frights, you'll be drawn in by the characters at the center of its story. You're going to want to leave the door open for this one (but in the case of an actual apocalypse, keep it very, very shut).

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The 5 Best Cheap Dishwashers for a Budget-Friendly Kitchen Upgrade

These cheap dishwashers have fewer bells and whistles than the premium picks, but no compromises when it comes to getting your dishes clean.

Gear-obsessed editors choose every product we review. We may earn commission if you buy from a link. Why Trust Us?

Throwing in laundry at home is a major lifestyle upgrade over shlepping to the laundromat. The same holds true for doing dishes: You can’t beat the convenience of a dishwasher versus working through a sink full of dirty pots. And, just like budget-friendly washing machines, there are plenty of cheap dishwashers that cover all the essentials—namely, leaving your dishes sparkly clean. While they may have fewer bells and whistles, they’re just as effective as more expensive options, and most are Energy Star-certified to help save you money on electric.

For more kitchen appliances recommendations, check out the best stainless steel refrigerators , front-load washers , and smart ovens .

The Best Cheap Dishwashers

Best Overall: GE Fully Integrated 24-Inch Budget Dishwasher
Best With Third Rack: GE Dry Boost 24-Inch Built-In Affordable Dishwasher
Best Smart: Samsung Smart Stainless Steel 24-Inch Budget Dishwasher
Best for Small Kitchens: Frigidaire 18-inch Built-In Inexpensive Dishwasher
Best Portable: GE Smart Portable 24-Inch Affordable Dishwasher

What to Consider

Price aside, shopping for a cheap dishwasher versus a more expensive model isn’t that different. The same basics apply, including type, size, capacity, and key features like the number of wash cycles and noise level. Here’s an overview of the most important considerations.

Most of the cheap dishwashers we write about are standard built-in or integrated models. There are also portable and countertop dishwashers, and we include a few in our coverage, though keep in mind that they typically have fewer features and tend to be louder.

Size and Capacity

There are standard 24-inch-wide dishwashers and more compact, or “half-size,” 18-inch models. You’ll see the number of place settings that fit inside listed in specs, but that isn’t the best or the most reliable metric since dinner dishes are rarely so uniform. That metric may be deceiving, too, since a traditional five-piece place setting includes a teacup and saucer. Instead, measure the height of your biggest dishes and check whether the racks move to make more space for tall items.

Noise Level

Noise is measured in decibels, or dBA, and a dishwasher’s noise level is almost always included in the specs on a retailer’s website. Anything that’s 44 dBA or less is considered ultra-quiet; 45 to 50 dBA is very quiet, and anything 51 dBA or more is average. Models with 38 or 39 dBA are the quietest on the market, though it’s tough to find budget-friendly options in that range.

A third rack is handy for small items that tend to slip out of a silverware basket, like straws and travel mug lids, and stainless steel tubs are preferable to plastic for durability. Most cheap dishwashers are Energy Star-certified and use 3.5 gallons of water or less during a normal cycle, and typically feature an average of four to six wash cycles.

In terms of smart features, there are Wi-Fi-enabled models and others with optional Wi-Fi connectivity. Some models offer a self-cleaning filter, though we still recommend cleaning your dishwasher at least twice a year.

How We Selected

We only recommend cheap dishwashers from major appliance brands we’ve grown to trust, such as GE, Frigidaire, Bosch, and Samsung, and aimed to include models with the most attractive features and the lowest price points.

We considered the most popular models from these brands and compared specs, including the number of cycles, tub material, noise level, and Energy Star certification, as well as convenient extras like third racks and removable silverware baskets.

GE Fully Integrated 24-Inch Budget Dishwasher

This built-in dishwasher comes out on top for its solid lineup of features and ultra-quiet operation.

If, like me, you can’t stand struggling to hear the TV over a loud dishwasher, quiet operation is a big priority. That’s one of many reasons I love this model, which has an ultra-quiet 48-dBA noise rating. Two other features at the top of my list are a fingerprint-resistant finish and a stainless steel tub. I also like that this model is Wi-Fi-compatible in case I want to upgrade.

Other highlights include a one-hour quick wash among the dishwasher’s five cycles, and the option to run a half-load on the top or bottom rack. The model comes in six finishes, plus it’s Energy Star-rated.

The only drawback, though likely not a dealbreaker, is that the part required for enabling Wi-Fi is sold separately.

GE Dry Boost 24-Inch Built-In Affordable Dishwasher

It isn’t easy to find a dishwasher with a third rack for under $1,000, but this GE model fits the bill. It’s also one of the few at this price that allows you to run a half-load on the upper or lower rack to save water.

The cheap dishwasher has a total of five cycles, including steam and sanitize, plus a boosted heat-dry setting. There’s also a 12-hour delay, and with a noise rating of 50 dBA, the built-in dishwasher is relatively quiet.

Samsung Smart Stainless Steel 24-Inch Budget Dishwasher

You can’t beat this Samsung dishwasher for smart capability, ultra-quiet operation, and thoughtful design. It has an impressive 44-dBA noise rating and seven cycles—including quick wash and delay—plus a third rack and a stainless steel tub.

There’s also a self-clean filter. The cheap dishwasher looks as good as it performs, too, with a sleek door that has a fingerprint-resistant finish. Not a bad package for the price.

Frigidaire 18-inch Built-In Inexpensive Dishwasher

This 18-inch dishwasher has solid features for a compact model, plus it’s ADA-compliant for anyone who needs guaranteed accessibility. There are six wash cycles, including quick-wash and a sanitizing cycle, along with 24-hour delay start.

It also has a stainless steel tub and self-cleaning filter, plus the dishwasher is Energy Star-certified. It’s available in three finishes and has a recessed handle, which looks more streamlined and saves space in tight kitchens, though some customers say the panel controls are hard to read in low lighting.

GE Smart Portable 24-Inch Affordable Dishwasher

If you want a cheap dishwasher and a built-in isn’t an option for you, consider this portable GE model. The 24-inch smart dishwasher is set on four casters and comes loaded with features, including a third rack, an adjustable top rack, and hard food disposal to prevent clogging. There are five wash cycles and there is a delayed start setting. If you have a small kitchen or limited storage, this dishwasher also comes in an 18-inch model.

Rachel Klein is a Senior Commerce Editor for Popular Mechanics , where she writes about everything from garden hose reels and patio furniture to mesh wifi systems and robot vacuums. She started her career as a daily newspaper reporter and was a travel editor for more than a decade before she started testing and reviewing luggage, noise-cancelling headphones, and other travel-related products. Fast-forward another five years and her area of expertise includes home decor, appliances, tech, and outdoor adventure gear. In her spare time, you'll find her planning her next trip, reading historical fiction, and seeing as much art as she can squeeze into a weekend.

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The 5 Best Airlines For First Class In 2024

Airlines are still focusing on premium products, including first class.
Air France, Lufthansa, Etihad Airways, and Singapore Airlines have quality first class experiences.
However, All Nippon Airways could be the best first class experience to discover in 2024.

Despite airlines shying away from first class seating during the past few years, especially before the pandemic, there has been a resurgent focus on premium products in 2023 and 2024. Demand for first, business, and premium economy class seating has driven airlines to innovate and refresh their top-of-the-line products, with several carriers introducing new first class seats and suites.

If you were to look to tick off a few bucket list-worthy first class seats to fly on in 2024, several airlines have introduced or are planning to introduce new first class cabins during the year, indicating that the crème de la crème of airline seats is not going away anytime soon.

Air France’s La Première

Announced in: may 2022.

Aircraft available on:

Boeing 777-300ER

While the cabin is not available yet, Air France has promised that it will be during the upcoming winter season, which starts in October 2024. The carrier announced that it was redesigning its La Premiere cabin, exclusively deployed on its 777-300ERs, in May 2022.

At the time, Air France said that La Premiere would be the longest on the market, offering up to three modular configurations that can be fully privatized, including transforming the seat into a sofa or a bed. Furthermore, the carrier promised that it would appear on more aircraft than previously.

Benjamin Smith, the chief executive officer (CEO) of Air France, said that La Premiere represents the best of French excellence and is a vital part of the airline’s DNA. The executive noted that even at the peak of the pandemic, the airline saw the importance of a first class cabin, especially on routes across the Atlantic Ocean.

Pictures: Air France Teases New First Class Seat Design

Lufthansa allegris, announced in: february 2023.

Airbus A350
Boeing 787-9
Boeing 777X

While Lufthansa teased the new designs of its first class cabins in October 2022, the German airline officially introduced the new Allegris cabins, including new first class seats, in February 2023. The seats will feature on Airbus A350, Boeing 787, and 777X aircraft, upon their delivery to the German airline.

At the time, Lufthansa said the new Allegris seats would be introduced with its latest Airbus A350-900 aircraft in 2024. However, two of its most recent Airbus A350-900 aircraft were straight sent to the desert, reportedly because supply chain issues derailed the airline’s plans to introduce the new cabins on the two aircraft, which is why they are now parked at Teruel Airport (TEV), Spain.

Why Lufthansa Has Flown Two Brand New Airbus A350s Straight To Storage

Nevertheless, while they might be delayed, the first class cabins will still have plenty on offer, including unprecedented privacy for the German airline’s top-of-the-line seats. For example, Lufthansa said that customers can warm or cool their seats in the suite according to their needs.

Lufthansa Pushes New Cabin Launch To 2024 Due To Delivery Delays

Etihad airways the residence, announced in: may 2014.

Airbus A380

While ‘The Residence’ is not a new product, the fact is that with the return of the airline’s Airbus A380 aircraft, passengers once again can enjoy ‘The Residence,’ an even more luxurious cabin than first class on the UAE-based Etihad Airways flights.

The one new development with the self-advertised three-room suite in the sky is that starting April 2024, the airline will deploy its Airbus A380 aircraft to fly between Abu Dhabi Zayed International Airport (AUH) and New York John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK). When the aircraft returned to service in July 2023, the airline deployed it only on the AUH – London Heathrow Airport (LHR) route.

A380 Return: The Fleet Of Etihad Airways In 2024

Singapore airlines first class, announced in: july 2013.

While it has been more than a decade since Singapore Airlines first unveiled its newest first class product, the cabin still has been one of the top-rated cabins globally as the airline has managed to provide an unparalleled experience to its customers.

Unfortunately, the carrier’s Boeing 777-300ER only welcomes four first class passengers since its other long-haul aircraft, including the Airbus A350-900, A350-1000, A380, and Boeing 787-10, only have business class seats. The only exception is the Airbus A380, with the airline offering the ‘Suite’: a similar experience to Etihad Airways ‘The Residence.’ When Singapore Airlines announced the cabin in July 2013, it said that the seat would introduce a new industry benchmark for premium air travel, including redesigning its business and economy class seats.

5 Reasons Flying Singapore Airlines Is Worth It

All nippon airways the suite, announced in: july 2019.

All Nippon Airways (ANA) announced its new first class seats in July 2019 . The airline, which also publicized its newest business class seat on the same date, described the then-new suite as designed by combining Japanese heritage and Western design.

While Skytrax rated Singapore Airlines’ first class as the superior product in 2023, maybe ANA, whose first class was ranked as the third-best seat in the world, will have what it takes to take it to the next level. After all, Air Frances’s La Premiere, voted second-best, is getting a refresh, which could go either way and provide a potential opportunity for ANA.

The Japanese carrier offers its first class product on two aircraft, its iconic ‘Flying Turtles,’ the Airbus A380s, and the Boeing 777-300ER. When it introduced the new suites, ANA said that this was the most spacious fully enclosed seating ever seen on an ANA aircraft, adding that features include privacy-enhancing doors and a 43-inch monitor, which also showed entertainment in a 4K resolution.

Which US Airlines Still Have First Class In 2024?

The 5 Best Airlines For First Class In 2024

It wasn't just the endless shrimp: Red Lobster's troubles detailed in bankruptcy filing

Red Lobster's Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing and the closing of multiple locations of the Florida-based chain are the culmination of massive debt, a carousel of CEOs, an all-you-can-eat shrimp controversy and an overall decline in guests.

Bankruptcy documents filed in the Middle District of Florida detail how Red Lobster has struggled in various ways, including a 30% drop in guests since 2019. In a 124-page document obtained by USA TODAY on Tuesday, Red Lobster CEO Jonathan Tibus explains why the seafood restaurant chain filed for bankruptcy on Sunday and why he supports the decision.

"Recently, the debtors have faced a number of financial and operational challenges, including a difficult macroeconomic environment, a bloated and underperforming restaurant footprint, failed or ill-advised strategic initiatives, and increased competition within the restaurant industry," Tibus said in the bankruptcy document.

When Tibus was retained as Red Lobster's chief revenue officer on Jan. 11, prior to being named CEO, he said that "it was immediately clear that Red Lobster’s performance was deteriorating and had been doing so for several years," according to the filing.

"Red Lobster’s annual guest count has declined by approximately 30% since 2019 and has only marginally improved from pandemic levels seen during 2020 and 2021," Tibus said. "Although Red Lobster’s net sales increased by approximately 25% from 2021 to 2023 (which itself represents modest recoveries following the COVID-19 pandemic), net sales have begun to show material decline during the last twelve months."

Red Lobster has an outstanding debt of $294 million, according to the bankruptcy filing.

Where to get cheddar bay biscuits: Red Lobster's fan favorite pastry is still available in stores

Red Lobster's liquidity declined rapidly

Red Lobster suffered a $76 million net loss during fiscal year 2023, according to Tibus. Cash losses, including $31 million from June 2023 to September 2023, led to Red Lobster's liquidity rapidly declining, the CEO said in the document.

Red Lobster expected to generate "a significant amount of cash" to recover the cash losses by December, but things did not rebound.

"By the end of 2023, it became clear that the company’s liquidity crisis would not be cured by the seasonal bump in revenue," Tibus said.

According to Tibus, Red Lobster's business continued to take a hit for the following reasons:

◾ Menu prices across the restaurant industry increasing due to inflation, leading to potential consumers feeling less inclined to eat out.

◾ A "material portion" of the leases for Red Lobster's 687 locations being priced above market rates. The company spent $190.5 million in lease obligations, over $64 million of which paid for underperforming stores.

◾ Operational decisions by former management harming the company's financial situation in recent years.

Will America lose Red Lobster? Changing times bring sea change to menu, history, outlook

Unlimited endless shrimp menu addition being investigated

Tibus references a significant example of mismanagement, and it involves former Red Lobster CEO Paul Kenny adding unlimited endless shrimp as a permanent $20 item to the menu "despite significant pushback from other members of the company's management team," according to the bankruptcy filing.

Kenny's decision regarding the endless shrimp cost Red Lobster $11 million and saddled the company "with burdensome supply obligations, particularly with its investor, Thai Union," Tibus said in the bankruptcy filing.

Red Lobster is investigating the circumstances around Kenny's decision, including whether he and Thai Union were behind supply issues that resulted in major shortages of shrimp, according to Tibus. Restaurants went days or weeks without certain types of shrimp, he added.

Thai Union was also heavily promoted in Red Lobster stores, which Kenny encouraged, Tibus said in the bankruptcy document. Kenny also eliminated two of Red Lobster's breaded shrimp suppliers, leaving Thai Union with an exclusive deal that resulted in higher costs for the seafood restaurant chain, the document continued.

USA TODAY was unable to find contact information for Kenny and Red Lobster didn't respond to an email requesting it.

'Restructuring is the best path forward'

To get Red Lobster back on its feet, Tibus said he "developed a three-prong strategic priority plan." The plan includes making sure Red Lobster is a "great place to work" by focusing on employee culture and retention, continuing to provide "consistent experiences and excellent customer service," and reducing the company's cost structure without compromising quality, he detailed in the bankruptcy filing.

After closing and vacating 93 nonperforming stores on May 13, Red Lobster is now working to identify and eliminate nonproductive spending across all departments, Tibus said. The company attempted to relocate the employees of the "financially burdensome" stores to nearby locations and reorganize midlevel management, according to the CEO.

"This restructuring is the best path forward for Red Lobster. It allows us to address several financial and operational challenges and emerge stronger and re-focused on our growth," Tibus said in a statement Sunday night. "The support we've received from our lenders and vendors will help ensure that we can complete the sale process quickly and efficiently while remaining focused on our employees and guests."

Contributing: Gabe Hauari

The week’s bestselling books, May 19

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Hardcover fiction

1. Funny Story by Emily Henry (Berkley: $29) A pair of opposites with the wrong thing in common connect.

2. James by Percival Everett (Doubleday: $28) An action-packed reimagining of “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.”

3. Long Island by Colm Tóibín (Scribner: $28) The story of a woman alone in a marriage and the bonds she rekindles on her return to the place and people she left behind.

4. Table for Two by Amor Towles (Viking: $32) A collection of stories from the author of “The Lincoln Highway.”

5. The Women by Kristin Hannah (St. Martin’s Press: $30) An intimate portrait of coming of age in a dangerous time and an epic tale of a nation divided.

6. The Paris Novel by Ruth Reichl (Random House: $29) An adventure through the food, art and fashion scenes of 1980s Paris.

7. The Familiar by Leigh Bardugo (Flatiron Books: $30) A magic-infused novel set in the Spanish Golden Age.

8. The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store by James McBride (Riverhead: $28) The discovery of a skeleton in Pottstown, Pa., opens out to a story of integration and community.

9. Martyr! by Kaveh Akbar (Knopf: $28) An orphaned son of Iranian immigrants embarks on a search for a family secret.

10. The Ministry of Time by Kaliane Bradley (Avid Reader Press/Simon & Schuster: $28.99) A fusion of genres and ideas that’s part time-travel romance and part spy thriller.

Hardcover nonfiction

1. The Demon of Unrest by Erik Larson (Crown: $35) An exploration of the pivotal five months between Abraham Lincoln’s election and the start of the Civil War.

2. The Creative Act by Rick Rubin (Penguin: $32) The music producer’s guidance on how to be a creative person.

3. Somehow by Anne Lamott (Riverhead Books: $22) A joyful celebration of love from the bestselling author.

4. The Anxious Generation by Jonathan Haidt (Penguin Press: $30) An investigation into the collapse of youth mental health and a plan for a healthier, freer childhood.

5. Knife by Salman Rushdie (Random House: $28) The renowned writer’s searing account of the 2022 attempt on his life.

6. Say More by Jen Psaki (Scribner: $29) The former White House press secretary shares the lessons she’s learned on her path to success.

7. The Wager by David Grann (Doubleday: $30) The story of the shipwreck of an 18th century British warship and a mutiny among the survivors.

8. An Unfinished Love Story by Doris Kearns Goodwin (Simon & Schuster: $35) The historian recounts the experiences she and her husband embarked upon in the last years of his life.

9. Coming Home by Brittney Griner, Michelle Burford (Knopf: $30) The WNBA star’s raw account of her detainment in Russia and her journey home.

10. The Wide Wide Sea by Hampton Sides (Doubleday: $35) An epic account of Capt. James Cook’s final voyage.

Paperback fiction

1. Murder Your Employer by Rupert Holmes (Avid Reader Press/Simon & Schuster: $19)

2. A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas (Bloomsbury: $19)

3. The Three-Body Problem by Cixin Liu, Ken Liu (Transl.) (Tor: $19)

4. This Summer Will Be Different by Carley Fortune (Berkley: $19)

5. The Midnight Library by Matt Haig (Penguin: $18)

6. Rouge by Mona Awad (S&S/Marysue Rucci Books: $19)

7. The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid (Atria: $17)

8. Dune by Frank Herbert (Ace: $18)

9. A Court of Mist and Fury by Sarah J. Maas (Bloomsbury Publishing: $19)

10. The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho (HarperOne: $18)

Paperback nonfiction

1. The Backyard Bird Chronicles by Amy Tan (Knopf: $35)

2. The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron (TarcherPerigee: $19)

3. The Eater Guide to Los Angeles (Abrams Image: $20)

4. The Hundred Years’ War on Palestine by Rashid Khalidi (Metropolitan Books: $20)

5. The Body Keeps the Score by Bessel van der Kolk, M.D. (Penguin: $19)

6. Everything I Know About Love by Dolly Alderton (Harper Perennial: $19)

7. Cinema Speculation by Quentin Tarantino (Harper Perennial: $21)

8. Just Kids by Patti Smith (Ecco: $19)

9. Barbarian Days by William Finnegan (Penguin: $19)

10. Born Limitless by Rick Torrison (Ethos Collective: $15)

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IMAGES

Longreads Best of 2019: Essays
Call for essays: “Best English Studies Essay Competition 2019
The Best American Essays 2019
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The Best American Essays 2019 by Robert Atwan
From lost languages and extinct species to life-affirming cosmologies and literary myths that offer cold comfort, the personal and the public collide in The Best American Essays 2019. This searching, necessary collection grapples with what has preoccupied us in the past year—sexual politics, race, violence, invasive technologies—and yet, in ...
The Best American Essays 2019
This searching, necessary collection grapples with what has preoccupied us in the past year—sexual politics, race, violence, invasive technologies—and yet, in reading for the book, Solnit also found "how discovery can be a deep pleasure.". The Best American Essays 2019 includes Michelle Alexander, Jabari Asim, Alexander Chee, Masha ...
Longreads Best of 2019: Essays
Longreads Best of 2019: Essays. We asked writers and editors to choose some of their favorite stories of the year in various categories. Here is the best in essays. by Longreads December 10, 2019. Jennifer Baker. Publishing professional, contributing editor to Electric Literature, creator/host of the Minorities in Publishing podcast, editor of ...
The 20 Best Essay Collections of 2019 to Add to Your TBR
Erosion: Essays of Undoing by Terry Tempest Williams (Sarah Crichton Books, October 8) This volume collects essays written between 2016 and 2018 covering the topic she has always written so beautifully about: the natural world. The essays focus on the concept of erosion, including the erosion of land and of the self.
The Best American Essays 2019
A collection of the year's best essays selected by Robert Atwan and guest editor Rebecca Solnit. Award-winning writer, cultural critic, and activist, Rebecca Solnit, an "unparalleled high priestess of nuance and intelligent contemplation" (Maria Popova), selects the best essays of the year from hundreds of magazines, journals, and websites.
The 10 Best Essay Collections of the Decade ‹ Literary Hub
Esmé Weijun Wang, The Collected Schizophrenias (2019) Esmé Weijun Wang's collection of essays is a kaleidoscopic look at mental health and the lives affected by the schizophrenias. Each essay takes on a different aspect of the topic, but you'll want to read them together for a holistic perspective.
My 26 Favorite Essays of 2019
Others such as "Make explicit norms and boundaries," "Agree how you use tech," "Using rhythm to cut information overload," and "Generate new patterns together" are best practices codified. The idea I took away: I can already see that community has been a big trend for me in 2019. Especially community enabled by, enhanced by, or ...
The Best American Essays 2019
A collection of the year's best essays selected by Robert Atwan and guest editor Rebecca Solnit. "Essays are restless literature, trying to find out how things fit together, how we can think about two things at once, how the personal and the public can inform each other, how two overtly dissimilar things share a secret kinship," contends Rebecca Solnit in her introduction.
The Best American Essays 2019
The Best American Essays 2019 includes Michelle Alexander, Jabari Asim, Alexander Chee, Masha Gessen, Jean Guerrero, Elizabeth Kolbert, Terese Marie Mailhot, Jia Tolentino, and others. A collection of the year's best essays selected by Robert Atwan and guest editor Rebecca Solnit. "Essays are restless literature, trying to find out how ...
The Best American Essays 2019
A collection of the year's best essays selected by Robert Atwan and guest editor Rebecca Solnit. "Essays are restless literature, trying to find out how things fit together, how we can think about two things at once, how the personal and the publi...
The Best American Essays 2019 Kindle Edition
The Best American Essays 2019 - Kindle edition by Atwan, Robert, Solnit, Rebecca, Atwan, Robert. Download it once and read it on your Kindle device, PC, phones or tablets. Use features like bookmarks, note taking and highlighting while reading The Best American Essays 2019.
The Best American Essays 2019 ebook by
The Best American Essays 2019 includes Michelle Alexander, Jabari Asim, Alexander Chee, Masha Gessen, Jean Guerrero, Elizabeth Kolbert, Terese Marie Mailhot, Jia Tolentino, and others. About this book. 303 Pages. 7 - 8 Hours to read. 93k Total words. In this series. Add Series to Cart.
The Best American Essays 2019
Publication Date 2019-10 Section New Titles - Paperback / Essays. Type New Format ISBN 9781328465801 A collection of the year's best essays selected by Robert Atwan and guest editor Rebecca Solnit. Award-winning writer, cultural critic, and activist, Rebecca Solnit, an "unparalleled high priestess of nuance and intelligent contemplation" (Maria ...
The Best American Essays 2019|Paperback
From lost languages and extinct species to life-affirming cosmologies and literary myths that offer cold comfort, the personal and the public collide in The Best American Essays 2019. This searching, necessary collection grapples with what has preoccupied us in the past year—sexual politics, race, violence, invasive technologies—and yet, in ...
Harvard Successful Essays
Harvard Successful Essays | 2019 ... Piquant reviews of best-selling books, controversial exposés of political figures, tantalizing tidbits on pop culture, full-page spreads of photographs.
The Best American Essays: 2019
- Back Covers, The Best American Essays 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015. Robert Atwan has been the series editor of The Best American Essays since its inception in 1986. He has edited numerous literary anthologies and written essays and reviews for periodicals nationwide. - Back Cover, The Best American Essays 2003.
Essays · Best of 2019 · Longform
The Senseless Logic of the Wild. It was just a kayaking trip. Then it upended their lives. Jon Mooallem New York Times Magazine.
The Best American Essays 2019 (Paperback)
The Best American Essays 2019 includes Michelle Alexander, Jabari Asim, Alexander Chee, Masha Gessen, Jean Guerrero, Elizabeth Kolbert, Terese Marie Mailhot, Jia Tolentino, and others. About the Author. ROBERT ATWAN has been the series editor of The Best American Essays since its inception in 1986. He has edited numerous literary anthologies ...
The Best American Essays 2019
The Best American Essays 2019 - Ebook written by Robert Atwan. Read this book using Google Play Books app on your PC, android, iOS devices. Download for offline reading, highlight, bookmark or take notes while you read The Best American Essays 2019.
The Best American Essays 2019
The Best American Essays 2019 is written by Robert Atwan and published by Mariner Books. The Digital and eTextbook ISBNs for The Best American Essays 2019 are 9781328467119, 1328467112 and the print ISBNs are 9781328465801, 1328465802. Save up to 80% versus print by going digital with VitalSource.
PDF Volunteer State
Best Essays, then, represents the exemplary writing of student authors, the support of their instructors, the effor ts made by nominating faculty, and hours of hard work the selection committee does ... The student essays appearing in this publication were submitted between the summer 2019 and summer 2020 terms. We think they demonstrate both ...
The best video essays of 2019
The best video essays of 2019. Our annual survey of moving-image criticism in movie form features recommendations from 39 essayists and experts, recommending videos from 51 seconds to 4½ hours long that explore the powers and possibilities of cinema and more. Ariel Avissar , Will DiGravio , Grace Lee.
How Writing Can Make You A Better Coach
Storytelling - that sheds light on people and effort - makes the progression worthy of further commitment. A vital part of storytelling is revealing something of yourself. Almond does a ...
The Best Books of 2024 (So Far)
Knife: Meditations After an Attempted Murder, by Salman Rushdie. In his candid, plain-spoken and gripping new memoir, Rushdie recalls the attempted assassination he survived in 2022 during a ...
RBC Canadian Open picks 2024: Best bets for PGA Tour golf ...
For more betting picks and advice, check out BetSided. Golf betting record in 2024 through PGA: 15-118-0, -34.33 Units (1-49 on outrights and longshots | -4.6 units at Charles Schwab) | One and ...
The Best Horror Movies on Max to Watch Right Now
The Witch (2015) This historical horror movie pretty much guarantees nightmares. The disturbing flick centers on a family in 1630s New England and marks Anya Taylor-Joy's film debut. Over the 90 ...
The 5 Best Cheap Dishwashers in 2024
Best Overall: GE Fully Integrated 24-Inch Budget Dishwasher. Best With Third Rack: GE Dry Boost 24-Inch Built-In Affordable Dishwasher. Best Smart: Samsung Smart Stainless Steel 24-Inch Budget ...
The 5 Best Airlines For First Class In 2024
Air France, Lufthansa, Etihad Airways, and Singapore Airlines have quality first class experiences. However, All Nippon Airways could be the best first class experience to discover in 2024 ...
Red Lobster's endless shrimp, customer drop detailed in bankruptcy doc
Bankruptcy documents filed in the Middle District of Florida detail how Red Lobster has struggled in various ways, including a 30% drop in guests since 2019. In a 124-page document obtained by USA ...
The week's bestselling books, May 19
1. The Demon of Unrest by Erik Larson (Crown: $35) An exploration of the pivotal five months between Abraham Lincoln's election and the start of the Civil War. 2. The Creative Act by Rick Rubin ...