Favourite Articles of 2022

January

For the third year running, the most interesting articles I read in 2022! Unfortunately, mid-year computer troubles wiped out most of my bookmarks, so the reading load will start off a bit lighter this time around, as I only have mobile bookmarks to work with for the first three quarters of the year.

February

Don't worry, it doesn't stay that way.

March

Politico [US]: Utah governor becomes latest to veto transgender sports ban

The Spinoff [NZ]: Sunday Essay: The chain across the river

April

If anybody has consistently interesting news sites without paywalls or with easy workarounds to recommend me, please shoot; liberate me from the 6/10 clutches of Politico.

May

Star Wars: Clones at 20 | R.A. Salvatore on Adapting Episode II - spoilers for Vector Prime (1999) and Attack of the Clones (2002)

The Democracy Project [NZ]: Bryce Edwards: How long until National wants Simon Bridges back?

Politico: How a Magazine Called ‘Amerika’ Helped Win the Cold War

Politico: The Plot to Out Ronald Reagan - astonishing levels of stupidity on display

June

Politico: Kari Lake’s Arizona campaign looks like nothing you’ve seen before

The Spinoff: We need to talk about how frogs used to be pregnancy tests

The Spinoff: The practical magic of Graci Kim - I met her several years ago and was hugely impressed; happy to see her pop off!

Politico: D.C. Power Players Are Paying Thousands of Dollars to Find Dates

The Onion [US]: Man Hopes Nicely Dug Grave Will Get Him Back In Captors’ Good Graces - I think about this headline at least once a week

July

Stuff [NZ]: Why British PM Boris Johnson is toxic and a menace to those around him

Stuff: Green plotters are wrong: James Shaw is a radical achieving as much as he can

August

The Spinoff: Do Facebook and Instagram even know what they want to be any more? - a great look at the goals and standings of social media platforms

The Spinoff: A terrifying tour of Auckland’s Sky Tower

The Spinoff: The Comedy Mixtape is not just another comedy show - a very persuasive argument for the importance of representation

The Spinoff: Meet the ‘outsider’ with plans to revolutionise rugby in New Zealand

The Spinoff: Channel Z was the little radio station that could – until it couldn’t

Politico: Trump Didn’t Kill Reaganism. These Guys Did.

The Spinoff: The Sunday Essay: An administrative revolution

The Spinoff: A deep dive into the public Spotify profiles of New Zealand’s MPs

September

The New Yorker [US]: The Rise and Fall of Vibes-Based Literacy

Stuff: From potential environmental activist to conspiracy theorist: What happened to Hannah Spierer?

Politico: Deflation — Not Inflation — Is the Real Concern - probably wrong, but an intriguing counterargument

Politico: They Voted to Overturn an Election. Did Their Obits Let Them Off the Hook?

Politico: The Struggling Arkansas Town That Helped Stop Russia in Its Tracks

Politico: ‘I Would Vote to Impeach Him Right Now’ - When Republicans tried to oust a Supreme Court justice, it didn’t go well.

Politico: ‘The God-Damnedest Thing’: The Antisemitic Plot to Thwart U.S. Aid to Europe’s Jews and the Man Who Exposed It

The Spinoff: Is it time to change your KiwiSaver?

October

The Guardian [UK]: ‘Omnifactional warfare’: the view from within the fractured Truss-era Tory party

The Spinoff: Leaving Alabama

NZ Herald: The Great Resignation: Aussie man quits $100k job to work at McDonald's

Al Jazeera [Qatar]: Lithuanians remain calm, but prepare for potential conflict

The Guardian: Jeremy Hunt has taken his scalpel to Liz Truss’s budget – now the real pain starts

Stuff: Max Rashbrooke: National's new social plan goes back to the future - but is that a bad thing?'

Stuff: The challenges, delights and duties of being an iwi's eldest member

Stuff: Brannavan Gnanalingam: The problem with ignoring political chaos overseas

BBC [UK]: Xi Jinping's party is just getting started - this great overview also led me to Murder in the Lucky Holiday Hotel; even though it’s half a decade old, I’m claiming it as my favourite article of the year, as an unbelievably sordid tale with potentially enormous implications for history

Stuff: Auckland mayor Wayne Brown wants less paperwork, more local control - the perfect example of how to write an article that subtly points out the inconsistent behaviour of a subject without heavy-handed editorialising

Politico: How Foreign Policy Amateurs Endanger the World

Reuters [US]: Abandoned Russian base holds secrets of retreat in Ukraine - shoutout to Peter Lang for this one

The Guardian: Sunak’s rise is thanks to the Tory Hindu revolution. Labour, look and learn

Politico: ‘I wanted to put myself in the story’: Viola Davis on making The Woman King - a beautifully positive and warm look at how to foster a supportive, productive environment

Politico: A Former WSJ Reporter Is Suing — Over the Email Hack That Got Him Fired

Slate [US]: What Is J.D. Vance Doing?

BBC: UK museums willing to return skulls to Zimbabwe

November

Politico: Open season on queers

Stuff: The hidden row over NZ's mission to Antarctica and the future of Scott Base - particularly notable due to Christchurch’s unique links to Antarctica

The Spinoff: Aotearoa and the threatscape today

Politico: ‘Emasculating Vance Is Actually Part of Tim’s Effectiveness’

The Spinoff: Why is Wellington so determined to paint everything grey?

Politico: Drinking Enemies: Two Cocktail Parties that Reveal the Schism in the Millennial Left - sometimes talking about talking about talking is amusing!

Politico: An Ex-Gang Leader’s Advice for Deescalating Violence in Politics

Politico: ‘Canary in the Coal Mine’: Is Elissa Slotkin’s Win a Warning for Political Extremists?

Politico: Rick Scott Was Prepared to Take On McConnell — Until Tuesday

Politico: They Told Him to Change His Name. Now Crowds Are Shouting It.

Al Jazeera: The UK now has an experienced king and a novice PM

Politico: Conservative states are blocking trans medical care. Families are fleeing.

Politik [NZ]: By-election gets ram-raided

Politico: China’s rebellious youth has forgotten Tiananmen - a different angle on public opinion in China

December

The Spinoff: Wayne Brown should sell the golf courses instead

NZ Herald: Get the cars out of our village: Canterbury town stuck on a highway still feels ignored

The Spinoff: A mayoral guide to celebrating and respecting all cultures and religions

Newsroom [NZ]: Retiring MPs do little to help Ardern’s reshuffle headache

BBC: Isfeng: a crispy doughnut from al-Andalus for Hanukkah

Vox [US]: How an obscure Christian right activist became one of the most powerful men in America

The Spinoff: Learning to understand the strangeness of my brain

Newshub [NZ]: Teen reveals frantic fight for mental health help - the heartrending reality of why it isn’t just as simple as seeking help

BBC: African, Arab or Amazigh? Morocco's identity crisis

Stuff: Te Pāti Māori wants to connect with Māori drawn to 'white supremacist' movements during the pandemic

Politico: ‘A sea change’: Biden reverses decades of Chinese trade policy

The Guardian: Critics mocked Sunak for asking a homeless man if he is in business. The critics are wrong - a bit off-base, but a worthwhile devil’s advocacy

BBC: Avatar 2: What is the future for visual effects?

Stuff: The caves of Christchurch that were once people's homes

" " " ": Top-performing minister, but you wouldn't know it - not very detailed, but a counterargument to my takedown of Jackson 17 months later

And to play us out for the year, Stuff columnist Joe Bennett delivers us If this is my last Christmas card, it's an iconic note to finish on.

Happy New Year!