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My Top 10 Reads of 2020
And what they say about 2021
Maybe you’ve had enough of annual Top Ten lists. Not me. I not only love reading them, I love making them. There’s no personal algorithm that helps me figure out what makes it on the list. But reflecting on why an article stuck with me is a clarifying exercise. First, it makes clear what my scattered mind is truly curious about (as you’ll see: business, tech, women, habits, meaning, work). Second, lining up the links in ascending order feels like I’m tidying the basement of my brain. When the new year begins, I can start stuffing new articles into it (and my reading app of choice, Pocket) as soon as possible.
And so, I humbly offer you my Top Ten Reads of 2020. Some are chosen for their beautifully crafted sentences, but the majority capture a moment for me, or feel prognostic of what we will be reading more about in the year to come. I hope you enjoy them, too.
10. Song Exploder and the inexhaustible hustle of Hrishikesh Hirway, by Reggie Ugwu (New York Times)
This profile of my Radiotopia colleague sums up the ambivalence many creative people wrestle with when they’re torn between being good at something they like that pays well… and pursuing the riskier, self-indulgent career they yearn for.
