The best things I read this year
2021 Edition
Hello and welcome back to my favorite annual tradition: the best things I read this year. I set out this year, bright-eyed, bushy-tailed, and hilariously naive, determined to read 100 books. That’s right, one more book than the number of luftballoons Nena sang about. I, decidedly, did not read 100 books.
I did, however, read a tremendous amount of thoughtful, insightful, and expertly reported works this year in addition to a whopping [REDACTED] books. One of the joys of my job is that, over the years, I’ve gotten to know so many of the writers of the pieces that end up on this lists as colleagues and, when I am lucky, as friends.
Another thing I have done this year has been to write exponentially more, in my own voice, for myself. And not just tweets! The toil and self-loathing of writing more has given me an even deeper appreciation for the great work so many people gave us this year so, without further adieu, here are the best things I read this year.
Books
Empire of Pain, Patrick Radden Keefe
Empire of Pain is an excruciatingly reported story of three generations of the Sackler family. The story turns from an inspirational tale of an immigrant family in New York City to a story of a corrupt cabal in large part responsible for the opioid crisis that roils America today. It’s also, pointedly in this moment, a glimpse into the opulence that the one percent of the one percent lives and the price the rest of us pay for them to live so lavishly. Radden Keefe’s last book, Say Nothing, was another one of my favorites that is worth checking out as well.
Across the River, Kent Babb
Kent Babb’s second book, Across the River, is, just as the second half of the title says: the story of life, death, and football in an American city. The story takes place in New Orleans, centering on a neighborhood called Algiers — a place I’ve never heard of in part because few make it out. Head coach of of the Edna Karr High School Cougars Brice Brown is trying to keep his players alive and give them a fighting chance against the circumstances of their birth: gentrification, disinvestment, mental health crises, the War on Drugs, and gun violence. It reminds me of truly one of the great pieces of writing I’ve ever read by Natalie Weiner that I cannot recommend highly enough.
How the Word is Passed, Clint Smith
All the praise you heard for How the Word is Passed is true and more. It’s thoughtful, it’s personal, and it situates itself in history with care and rigor. Smith is such a brilliant writer and the degree to which he wields his talent to reveal his feelings and interrogate those feelings visiting these sites is a gift to all of us who seek to understand the scale racism and slavery in our history.
Journalism and other things
Statement of Congressman Jamie Raskin and Sarah Bloom Raskin on the Remarkable Life of Tommy Raskin, Rep. Jamie Raskin and Sarah Bloom Raskin, Medium
2021 has been a year in which I have become convinced Rep. Jamie Raskin is one of our greatest living Americans. This incredible, heart-wrenching story from Raskin and Sarah Bloom Raskin after losing their son Tommy was, quite literally, the best thing I read this year. This month, Caitlin Gibson wrote a piece on Raskin’s year for Washington Post Magazine that is well worth your time as well (maybe the second best thing I read this year!). For the unbelievable pain the Raskin family must’ve been feeling, the piece is… joyful. It is celebratory of all Tommy gave to them in his life and it is a call to action to live in a thoughtful, graceful, purpose-driven way.
What Bobby McIlvaine Left Behind, Jennifer Senior, The Atlantic
My dad worked in the World Trade Center for a brief time right before 9/11 and the 20th anniversary of the terrorist attacks on 9/11 really hit home in my community in New Jersey about an hour away from the city. Jennifer Senior tells this story in such a nuanced way; in a way that only someone who is close to the situation can. It really reminded me of the Leftovers (my favorite show) in that yes, there was an unspeakable tragedy, but the story the branches out from that moment for all those impacted is tangled, messy, and deeply human.
The Other Afghan Women, Anand Gopal, The New Yorker
The depth of reporting on this story, especially at a time when a really complex story of a 20 year war and a pull out of Afghanistan with a more or less pre-ordained outcome, is astonishing. The tremors of bombs exploded far away have farther still reach, often into places we don’t see. This piece is also a really helpful addendum to Spencer Ackerman’s Reign of Terror, a grueling and uncompromising look at how we how 9/11 destabilized America and scarred our politics.
The Only Strategy Left for Democrats, Rebecca Traister, The Cut
Written just one day after the insurrection on January 6th, I still have not read more air-tight case for why Democrats should govern like they have the White House, the Senate, and the House than this. And no other piece has done so with the moral clarity than Traister does here. A good rule of thumb is to always read what Rebecca Traister writes, and this piece is a great example of why.
On the Internet, We’re Always Famous, Chris Hayes, The New Yorker
The internet is crazy. Where is it? How is it? Why is it? Chris Hayes does a marvelous job in this piece in working through the internet we’ve created for ourselves and why, it seems, we have such a fraught relationship with it. Come for the story he tells in the intro about the fennec fox, stay for a really thoughtful breakdown of how the internet has broken our brains and our institutions.
San Francisco Giants outfielder Drew Robinson’s remarkable second act, Jeff Passan, ESPN
[CW: suicide] This piece is tough to read, as it details Robinson’s lowest moment, that lasted what seemed like an eternity, even on the page. His story of finding footing again just to live his life, let alone becoming a baseball player again is remarkable and Passan tells it with deft care.
The Bad Guys Are Winning, Anne Applebaum, The Atlantic
Anne Applebaum seems like she has a really stressful job. Her beat, so far as I can tell is “the unyielding forward march of fascism around the world” and I must say, that would stress me out and I think about guns and the downfall of American democracy all day. But the piece asks the question “if the 20th century was defined by the victory of liberal democracy around the world, will the 21st be defined by its downfall?” Not exactly uplifting, but puts our authoritarian moment into helpful historical context.
