My consumption of stuff for fun was limited this year since I spent 90% of my time working on Tested. But here's what I turned to and enjoyed this year.
music
for going to the gym
- These Words by Badger
- PUSH 2 START by Tyla
- Omg by Candelita (let's go METS)
- I'm Flush by KNEECAP
- Seize the Power by YONAKA
- Bikini Bottom by Shaavani
for driving around town
- Kim Deal's Nobody Loves You More album
- Tyler, The Creator's CHROMAKOPIA album
- Lizzy McAlpine's Older (and Wiser) album
- Nilüfer Yanya's My Method Actor album
- Absinthe & OJ by Jasimi
- Give It To Me by Miya Folick
- Van Goes by EELS
for working in the studio
- Mutazione soundtrack
- Lazerbeak's Luther / Penelope / Cameron trilogy
- Everything by Etran de L'Aïr
books
I didn't read much this year because I was too busy making Tested with all my waking minutes, so here are the few I did manage to find time for:
- The Country of the Blind: A Memoir at the End of Sight by Andrew Leland
- The Light Eaters: How the Unseen World of Plant Intelligence Offers a New Understanding of Life on Earth by Zoë Schlanger
- Foreverism by Grafton Tanner
- Blood in the Machine: The Origins of the Rebellion Against Big Tech by Brian Merchant
- The Terraformers by Annalee Newitz
- Open Throat by Henry Hoke
- Piranesi by Susanna Clarke
art
podcasts
When I'm deep in making a podcast I basically stop being able to listen to other podcasts – my ears need a break! But these shows remained in rotation.
other
I am very bad at video games. I never really played them much growing up, and so things that are "intuitive" to many are not to me. I always wind up stuck in the corner, somehow looking at the sky, and cannot figure out how to get out. I don't want to fight anything, and stuff that has a timer on it makes me really anxious. So I always assumed that games were simply not for me (which is fine! not everything has to be for me). But this year I found a version of "playing video games" that was actually very satisfying: watching my partner play puzzle games. I get to help solve the puzzle, but I don't have to actually touch the controls and get frustrated! Here are the ones we played together that I liked best:
