The year in things

This year has deeply changed us — all at once , things were no longer as they were .
That was followed by the slowly dawning realization that the unfathomable was here to stay .
The country was rattled ; we became situated in the kind of chaos that hadn ’ t even ever occurred to us as a possibility .
We don ’ t quite have our footing yet ; we ’ re still gathering our bearings .
When you ’ re thrown for a loop this large , it is hard not to be angry and irritable and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , lonely .
We ’ re still looking for explanations : why us , why now , why like this — the world was so relentlessly disorienting every single day .
We ’ ve learned a lot , but we don ’ t know everything yet .
Somehow , we cobbled our way through .
Just as our lives and our selves changed , the stuff around us seemed to change , too .
Things that were once important — like work clothes and plane tickets — became virtually obsolete , while mundane @ @ @ @ @ @ @ valuable and precious .
The fear of scarcity and supply chain disruptions sent us spiraling in the grocery store .
The essentials , like masks and toilet paper , ruled our lives .
At home , many of us let off steam by shopping online .
Our simple impulses revealed what we were really in need of : new ways to move , live , and survive .
We had to fill the incredibly slow and fast passing of time with what we could control .
A year in review feels like a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ chosen instead to dissect the objects that defined 2020 and reflect on what they say about us .
What ’ s clear in this strange time capsule is that we were enamored of the ordinary .
The small joys of this year stitched together make a bizarre image , but I think in all of this we did find a way to be happy , too .
The fear that one day we were not going to be able to wipe upended our grocery store experiences .
I remember , in the First @ @ @ @ @ @ @ line that stretched and snaked around the parking lot .
Someone would dash to the front , where people were leaving , and ask desperately , “ Is there toilet paper inside ?
” But the fleeing customers would disappoint us every time — no , there was no toilet paper or paper towels or bleach or hand sanitizer or anything else we needed .
It was anxiety-inducing every single time .
It felt like nothing was ever going to be secure again .
It is very American to panic at the first @ @ @ @ @ @ @ angry — angry !
— when my local Costco put a restriction on how many frozen chickens we could buy .
One didn ’ t feel like enough .
When the world ended , I wanted to go out with at least two frozen chickens .
Nothing served as better shorthand for the disarming and seemingly random plight of not being able to have what we wanted when we wanted it than toilet paper .
As Terry Nguyen previously reported for Vox , Americans make up 4 percent of the world ’ s @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the world ’ s toilet paper consumption .
The pandemic disrupted the usual speed of our supply chains , and manufacturers had to scramble to keep up .
Although the product has little to do with coronavirus symptoms , on April 12 , 2020 , 73 percent of stores in the United States were out of toilet paper .
Production and shipping delays , plus record-high demand and a shift in the kind of TP we used , made what was once a simple household necessity feel precious .
My family tried to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ squares per sit-down , max , which is so funny in retrospect .
We should never take those little luxuries for granted again .
In the spring of 2020 , when we were perhaps at our most fearful , many Americans found refuge in the Nintendo Switch .
The gaming system was released back in 2017 , but its popularity skyrocketed when people found themselves trapped at home with nothing to do .
Everyone wanted to get their hands on one , so naturally , the console began to sell out everywhere .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ high markups , hoping to turn a profit and capitalize on everyone ’ s desperation .
Sales went up by 63 percent in March 2020 , according to the NPD Group , which tracks video game industry data .
The system ’ s year-to-date sales are only second to the 2008 year-to-date sales of the Nintendo Wii , a console that has been made obsolete but ruled the early aughts .
When the world ended , I wanted to go out with at least two frozen chickens On March 20 , Animal Crossing @ @ @ @ @ @ @ was ridiculously perfect timing .
The video game series had a cult following in the past , but the pandemic gave it a particular edge .
The plushy world of Animal Crossing allows players to escape the reality of the pandemic and focus on cuter concerns , like how much fake currency it would take to buy a virtual home decoration .
Building an island paradise of happy animals ( however indebted users may be to a raccoon real estate tycoon , Tom Nook ) was a welcome distraction to the isolation and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ is no good when the world is also falling apart .
Animal Crossing and the Nintendo Switch offer an alternative to wallowing : the ability to immerse yourself in a world where suffering does not exist .
Right now , many people are vying for the Sony Playstation 5 and the Microsoft Xbox Series X .
The console mania isn ’ t stopping anytime soon , and as long as we ’ re trapped indoors , we ’ ll need a virtual escape .
Overnight , the supermarket became a scary place , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ own sourdough at home made things a little bit easier ; the bread aisle was likely ransacked anyway , and flour and yeast can keep for a long time .
Like toilet paper , 2020 also saw flour and yeast shortages , making them like powdered gold .
Rob MacKie , the president and CEO of the American Bakers Association , told Slate that the pandemic blindsided the industry because demand typically coincides with the holiday season .
Our sudden interest in baking appeared about eight months ahead of schedule and at a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ recipes for no-knead bread , for banana bread , for pizza dough .
It was a communal experiment in taking care of ourselves and each other .
A warm piece of bread is even more comforting when you ’ ve made it yourself .
That feeling was something we could share .
Plus , many people had time to wait for dough to rise .
We worked from home , or maybe we ’ d been laid off or were taking care of a loved one or were waiting for an essential worker @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Emily VanDerWerff put it best for Vox : “ Bread baking is a thing we do in a crisis , perhaps because bread is one of the very foundations of human civilization .
...
The world is scary and uncertain .
Bread is just science .
Or it ’ s magic .
Or it ’ s both.
” It ’ s strange to think about how in the first few weeks of the pandemic , we weren ’ t even wearing masks .
They ’ ve become such a familiar sight , but @ @ @ @ @ @ @ even discouraged by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention , which was hoping to save scarce personal protective equipment for essential workers .
But as mask production ramped up and the curve failed to flatten , mask mandates because vital and common .
California ’ s mask mandate , for example , only kicked in on June 18 .
Our grandkids are going to ask us about masks , if climate change doesn ’ t get us first , and we ’ ll have to tell them we spent a lot of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ feel that mask mandates infringe on their rights and don ’ t see them as a kind of civic duty .
According to a study in Nature Medicine , 130,000 lives could potentially be saved by February 2021 if mask usage were universal .
This object isn ’ t as sentimental as others that defined 2020 .
They were a necessity — quite literally the difference between life and death .
People sewed their own masks , donated them to health care workers , shared them with friends and family .
Other people @ @ @ @ @ @ @ hoarded masks in order to then sell them for a fat profit .
N95 respirator masks , which provide a closer fit and more filtration , were key for health care workers but were also in short supply .
Nothing was more emblematic of 2020 than the mask , which helped us through but also showed us what was broken in the country .
Matters of public safety , like refraining from getting a haircut , became debates about freedom , and our most vulnerable and essential Americans were the least protected .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ over age 30 increased their alcohol consumption by 14 percent during the pandemic .
It seemed like the obvious thing to do , when thousands of people were dying every day and the sirens blared on and the news told us we were vulnerable , failing , and probably hopeless .
Restaurants and bars were failing , too .
The decline began around March 15 , when governments in many major cities closed down for the pandemic .
In New York , Gov .
Cuomo decided one way to bail out restaurants was @ @ @ @ @ @ @ sale of to-go alcohol .
This was unprecedented .
It has long been illegal to have open containers of alcohol on the street , a rule that feels prudish and outdated but has prevailed .
The thrill of a to-go beer was a small novelty , like suddenly living in a different city , and the morale booster we needed .
Plenty of restaurants did not survive the pandemic , but those that are still standing continue to offer to-go alcohol , now with state-mandated snacks .
In a state like Louisiana , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ go might not be a new thing , but in New York , it was a game changer .
It was just one of many rare freedoms this year gave us , like not wearing a bra all the time ; tiny joys to get us through .
As Jaya Saxena argued for Eater , hopefully this 2020 mainstay continues into the new year .
The pandemic put the United States Postal Service at risk .
As Adam Clark Estes reported for Recode , the whole thing was a mess due to a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ by Postmaster Louis DeJoy and President Trump , a need for government funding , an increase in mail , and political debates about the legitimacy of mail-in ballots .
As a reaction , people bought stamps ( and gear ) to support the USPS and wrote letters to pen pals .
Endless days and weeks are a little more tangible when letter-writing documents the mundane details of it all The latter was the result of quarantine boredom .
So many of us had been separated from each other for so long , and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ miss you , what ’ s up ” letter feels more purposeful than shooting out a dry text .
It ’ s also a good way to mark the time .
Endless days and weeks are a little more tangible when letter-writing documents the mundane details of it all .
In school growing up , teachers always talked about how historical artifacts taught us about what went on way back when .
Letters always fell into this category , and although there ’ s much that is preserved in the digital world , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ someone decades from now reading old letters that collected the unique sufferings and pleasures of this strange time .
At the beginning of June 2020 , New York City received 1,737 complaints about fireworks , a staggering 80 times more than the previous year , according to the New York Times .
All across the country , people also observed an uptick in firework noise in places like Milwaukee , Boston , and San Francisco .
Since this occurred directly after nationwide protests concerning George Floyd ’ s death and police brutality , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ entertained the idea that the fireworks might be a plot to disorient activists and Black communities .
This conspiracy theory was never proven , but the explosions rattled many in an especially fraught time .
As Matthew Yglesias reported for Vox , it ’ s hard to know the source of the fireworks — was it actually more noise than usual , or did it just feel that way ?
It may have been easier to hear the booms with fewer people out and about , or the lack of July Fourth activities @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that got sold to people who said , “ Hey , why not ?
” Fireworks are undeniably fun , especially when so many people were bored with nothing else to do .
They were gone as quickly as they appeared .
I ’ m not sure when the fireworks disappeared in my neighborhood , but they never occurred to me again until I started writing this story .
What even was that ?
It was a year of protests : BLM , anti-lockdown sentiment , and even demands from those who desperately @ @ @ @ @ @ @ June 23 , protesters blared their car horns outside Mayor Bill de Blasio ’ s home to urge him to take action on the fireworks use .
It was a sleepless , paranoid year of irritability .
After a spring spent mostly inside , summer demanded that we get outside .
Except there wasn ’ t always a place to go .
For those of us without big backyards or easy access to local parks and beaches , it was difficult to figure out how to get much-needed outdoor time while staying safe @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to a Home Improvement Research Institute survey , 8.4 percent said they planned to work on their pools or hot tubs in anticipation of the summer , but not all of us have the luxury of a backyard pool .
Public pools weren ’ t an option , either , but the kiddie pool was a solution to that .
It gave us a cheap , easy way to cool off and get outside after months cooped up .
The ability to turn off our brains this year was a luxury all on @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , are bourgeois .
A kiddie pool says : I am a person of the people , a person who is in quarantine and desperate for an oasis .
I impulsively bought one for my dog , a toy poodle who was mostly unappreciative of it , but the novelty the whole endeavor provided my family was worth it .
There ’ s something unavoidably joyous about a plastic pool .
Its flimsy , fun simplicity looks a lot like this year did , which is that a kiddie pool is a matter @ @ @ @ @ @ @ We had to be indoors , and by extension , we had to pour ourselves into strange purchases and fixations .
The ability to turn off our brains this year was a luxury all on its own .
The barrage of bad news , the sickness of this year and its stressors were innumerable .
As Kristen Arnett put it fondly for Vox , “ The pool was a momentary womb .
A place to float free .
The pool was important because of how my body fit inside it and how it @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a place where I could think , but most importantly , it became a place where I didn ’ t have to think at all .
I could just … exist.
” The stir-crazy energy of quarantine encouraged lots of people to start exercising at home .
TikTok convinced me to subscribe to the cult of Chloe Ting , a fitness instructor whose YouTube workout programs had rave reviews , but those who were interested in a bigger fitness investment may have purchased a Peloton exercise bike , which in its cheapest package @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 39 monthly membership fee .
Many gyms and fitness studios across the country closed ( and opened and closed again ) over the course of 2020 .
They ’ re uniquely complicated Covid-19 hot spots — basically petri dishes .
As Alex Abad-Santos wrote for The Goods , “ everything that makes group fitness and gyms great is exactly what makes working out with other people one of the riskiest things we can do.
” We ’ re finding that simulated group experiences aren ’ t half bad , and in fact feel @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
And the world seems to be all-in on Peloton , which launched in 2012 .
A share of the company ’ s stock ( PTON ) was around $ 35 at the start of December 2019 and is around $ 115 as of this writing .
This past decade was so focused on fitness as a public , moral undertaking , as proven by the athleisure trend and the countless group exercise startups and boutiques that are now empty .
Peloton allows us the opportunity to sweat like no one ’ s @ @ @ @ @ @ @ designers in isolation .
Suddenly , Home Depot looked like an oasis , and its sales have risen by 24 percent in the last year .
The pandemic allowed us time and space to reconsider our decor and embark on small adventures in DIY projects .
Enter peel-and-stick wallpaper , an easy solution to the lack of visual stimulation in your quarantine home .
If we were going to stare at the walls all day , they might as well look good .
As Rebecca Jennings reported in May , online searches for @ @ @ @ @ @ @ March when people began to get stir crazy .
Peel-and-stick wallpaper also worked for renters cooped up in apartments , without permanently altering the space .
We didn ’ t stop there , though .
TikTok was a daily showcase of quarantine DIY projects — tables and glassware and bedroom design and bathroom organizing and anything else you could think of to make your life more aesthetically pleasing .
Making something yourself for your home is a source of pride , a morale booster when we needed it most .
You can call @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that consumers are likely to be satisfied with products that they assemble themselves ) , but there was something special about trading DIY tips with friends and family .
It gives us a sense of control in an uncontrollable situation .
The objects that got us through were the psychic desires of a nation battered by ourselves and by our blind spots .
This year , all we had was what we could control , what we could share , and what we could hold on to .
We tried to be good @ @ @ @ @ @ @ tried to keep our lives feeling safe in the ways that we could .
These objects brought us together in weird ways , and for all our selfishness , 2020 has been a year of waiting , together , for something better on the other side .
The only thing we wanted to believe in more than these objects was a better 2021 .
We tirelessly repeated to ourselves , “ When this is all over , ” a mantra we couldn ’ t shake because we had to believe in an end @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and we might return to the mundane sometime soon , however unknowable “ all over ” is .
Either way , it would do us all good to remember that we survived this and that we should be grateful we got to see it through — and that we ’ ll never look at toilet paper quite the same way again .

This year has deeply changed us — all at once, things were no longer as they were. That was followed by the slowly dawning realization that the unfathomable was here to stay. The country was rattled; we became situated in the kind of chaos that hadn’t even ever occurred to us as a possibility.
We don’t quite have our footing yet; we’re still gathering our bearings. When you’re thrown for a loop this large, it is hard not to be angry and irritable and, as the circumstances demanded of us, lonely. We’re still looking for explanations: why us, why now, why like this — the world was so relentlessly disorienting every single day. We’ve learned a lot, but we don’t know everything yet.
Somehow, we cobbled our way through. Just as our lives and our selves changed, the stuff around us seemed to change, too. Things that were once important — like work clothes and plane tickets — became virtually obsolete, while mundane stuff like mail and yeast became incredibly valuable and precious. The fear of scarcity and supply chain disruptions sent us spiraling in the grocery store. The essentials, like masks and toilet paper, ruled our lives. At home, many of us let off steam by shopping online. Our simple impulses revealed what we were really in need of: new ways to move, live, and survive. We had to fill the incredibly slow and fast passing of time with what we could control.
A year in review feels like a bleak undertaking, so we’ve chosen instead to dissect the objects that defined 2020 and reflect on what they say about us. What’s clear in this strange time capsule is that we were enamored of the ordinary. The small joys of this year stitched together make a bizarre image, but I think in all of this we did find a way to be happy, too.
Toilet paper
The fear that one day we were not going to be able to wipe upended our grocery store experiences.
I remember, in the First Days, standing in a big-box store line that stretched and snaked around the parking lot. Someone would dash to the front, where people were leaving, and ask desperately, “Is there toilet paper inside?” But the fleeing customers would disappoint us every time — no, there was no toilet paper or paper towels or bleach or hand sanitizer or anything else we needed. It was anxiety-inducing every single time. It felt like nothing was ever going to be secure again.
It is very American to panic at the first sign of scarcity. I found myself angry — angry! — when my local Costco put a restriction on how many frozen chickens we could buy. One didn’t feel like enough. When the world ended, I wanted to go out with at least two frozen chickens.
Nothing served as better shorthand for the disarming and seemingly random plight of not being able to have what we wanted when we wanted it than toilet paper. As Terry Nguyen previously reported for Vox, Americans make up 4 percent of the world’s population yet account for 20 percent of the world’s toilet paper consumption. The pandemic disrupted the usual speed of our supply chains, and manufacturers had to scramble to keep up. Although the product has little to do with coronavirus symptoms, on April 12, 2020, 73 percent of stores in the United States were out of toilet paper. Production and shipping delays, plus record-high demand and a shift in the kind of TP we used, made what was once a simple household necessity feel precious.
My family tried to ration our toilet paper use — three squares per sit-down, max, which is so funny in retrospect. We should never take those little luxuries for granted again.
Nintendo Switch
In the spring of 2020, when we were perhaps at our most fearful, many Americans found refuge in the Nintendo Switch. The gaming system was released back in 2017, but its popularity skyrocketed when people found themselves trapped at home with nothing to do. Everyone wanted to get their hands on one, so naturally, the console began to sell out everywhere. Some people tried to sell Switches for high markups, hoping to turn a profit and capitalize on everyone’s desperation.
Sales went up by 63 percent in March 2020, according to the NPD Group, which tracks video game industry data. The system’s year-to-date sales are only second to the 2008 year-to-date sales of the Nintendo Wii, a console that has been made obsolete but ruled the early aughts.
When the world ended, I wanted to go out with at least two frozen chickens
On March 20, Animal Crossing: New Horizons came out. It was ridiculously perfect timing. The video game series had a cult following in the past, but the pandemic gave it a particular edge. The plushy world of Animal Crossing allows players to escape the reality of the pandemic and focus on cuter concerns, like how much fake currency it would take to buy a virtual home decoration. Building an island paradise of happy animals (however indebted users may be to a raccoon real estate tycoon, Tom Nook) was a welcome distraction to the isolation and confusion of our new reality. Boredom is no good when the world is also falling apart.
Animal Crossing and the Nintendo Switch offer an alternative to wallowing: the ability to immerse yourself in a world where suffering does not exist. Right now, many people are vying for the Sony Playstation 5 and the Microsoft Xbox Series X. The console mania isn’t stopping anytime soon, and as long as we’re trapped indoors, we’ll need a virtual escape.
Bread
Overnight, the supermarket became a scary place, so we became bakers. Making your own sourdough at home made things a little bit easier; the bread aisle was likely ransacked anyway, and flour and yeast can keep for a long time. Like toilet paper, 2020 also saw flour and yeast shortages, making them like powdered gold. Rob MacKie, the president and CEO of the American Bakers Association, told Slate that the pandemic blindsided the industry because demand typically coincides with the holiday season. Our sudden interest in baking appeared about eight months ahead of schedule and at a higher volume than ever.
People traded recipes for no-knead bread, for banana bread, for pizza dough. It was a communal experiment in taking care of ourselves and each other. A warm piece of bread is even more comforting when you’ve made it yourself. That feeling was something we could share.
Plus, many people had time to wait for dough to rise. We worked from home, or maybe we’d been laid off or were taking care of a loved one or were waiting for an essential worker to get home from a shift. Emily VanDerWerff put it best for Vox: “Bread baking is a thing we do in a crisis, perhaps because bread is one of the very foundations of human civilization. ... The world is scary and uncertain. Bread is just science. Or it’s magic. Or it’s both.”
Masks
It’s strange to think about how in the first few weeks of the pandemic, we weren’t even wearing masks. They’ve become such a familiar sight, but once upon a time, they were even discouraged by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which was hoping to save scarce personal protective equipment for essential workers. But as mask production ramped up and the curve failed to flatten, mask mandates because vital and common. California’s mask mandate, for example, only kicked in on June 18.
Our grandkids are going to ask us about masks, if climate change doesn’t get us first, and we’ll have to tell them we spent a lot of time fighting about them. Many Americans feel that mask mandates infringe on their rights and don’t see them as a kind of civic duty. According to a study in Nature Medicine, 130,000 lives could potentially be saved by February 2021 if mask usage were universal.
This object isn’t as sentimental as others that defined 2020. They were a necessity — quite literally the difference between life and death. People sewed their own masks, donated them to health care workers, shared them with friends and family. Other people tried to capitalize on the panic and hoarded masks in order to then sell them for a fat profit. N95 respirator masks, which provide a closer fit and more filtration, were key for health care workers but were also in short supply.
Nothing was more emblematic of 2020 than the mask, which helped us through but also showed us what was broken in the country. Matters of public safety, like refraining from getting a haircut, became debates about freedom, and our most vulnerable and essential Americans were the least protected.
To-go beers
According to a RAND study, adults over age 30 increased their alcohol consumption by 14 percent during the pandemic. It seemed like the obvious thing to do, when thousands of people were dying every day and the sirens blared on and the news told us we were vulnerable, failing, and probably hopeless. Restaurants and bars were failing, too. The decline began around March 15, when governments in many major cities closed down for the pandemic.
In New York, Gov. Cuomo decided one way to bail out restaurants was through an executive order that allowed the sale of to-go alcohol. This was unprecedented. It has long been illegal to have open containers of alcohol on the street, a rule that feels prudish and outdated but has prevailed. The thrill of a to-go beer was a small novelty, like suddenly living in a different city, and the morale booster we needed.
Plenty of restaurants did not survive the pandemic, but those that are still standing continue to offer to-go alcohol, now with state-mandated snacks. In a state like Louisiana, for example, getting alcoholic drinks to go might not be a new thing, but in New York, it was a game changer. It was just one of many rare freedoms this year gave us, like not wearing a bra all the time; tiny joys to get us through. As Jaya Saxena argued for Eater, hopefully this 2020 mainstay continues into the new year.
The mail
The pandemic put the United States Postal Service at risk. As Adam Clark Estes reported for Recode, the whole thing was a mess due to a variety of factors: policy changes headed by Postmaster Louis DeJoy and President Trump, a need for government funding, an increase in mail, and political debates about the legitimacy of mail-in ballots. As a reaction, people bought stamps (and gear) to support the USPS and wrote letters to pen pals.
Endless days and weeks are a little more tangible when letter-writing documents the mundane details of it all
The latter was the result of quarantine boredom. So many of us had been separated from each other for so long, and writing a big, fat “I miss you, what’s up” letter feels more purposeful than shooting out a dry text. It’s also a good way to mark the time.
Endless days and weeks are a little more tangible when letter-writing documents the mundane details of it all. In school growing up, teachers always talked about how historical artifacts taught us about what went on way back when. Letters always fell into this category, and although there’s much that is preserved in the digital world, it’s cool to think about someone decades from now reading old letters that collected the unique sufferings and pleasures of this strange time.
Fireworks
At the beginning of June 2020, New York City received 1,737 complaints about fireworks, a staggering 80 times more than the previous year, according to the New York Times. All across the country, people also observed an uptick in firework noise in places like Milwaukee, Boston, and San Francisco. Since this occurred directly after nationwide protests concerning George Floyd’s death and police brutality, and well before July Fourth, some entertained the idea that the fireworks might be a plot to disorient activists and Black communities.
This conspiracy theory was never proven, but the explosions rattled many in an especially fraught time. As Matthew Yglesias reported for Vox, it’s hard to know the source of the fireworks — was it actually more noise than usual, or did it just feel that way? It may have been easier to hear the booms with fewer people out and about, or the lack of July Fourth activities could have created a surplus of fireworks that got sold to people who said, “Hey, why not?” Fireworks are undeniably fun, especially when so many people were bored with nothing else to do.
They were gone as quickly as they appeared. I’m not sure when the fireworks disappeared in my neighborhood, but they never occurred to me again until I started writing this story. What even was that?
Hundreds are protesting outside Gracie Mansion in #Manhattan right now after @NYCMayor refuses to do anything about the insane fireworks the last few weeks plaguing NYC. Residents can't sleep, so they decided to not allow Deblasio to sleep tonight either. pic.twitter.com/Kom1X7PTPM — NYC Scanner (@NYScanner) June 23, 2020
It was a year of protests: BLM, anti-lockdown sentiment, and even demands from those who desperately wanted the fireworks to stop. On June 23, protesters blared their car horns outside Mayor Bill de Blasio’s home to urge him to take action on the fireworks use. It was a sleepless, paranoid year of irritability.
Kiddie pools
After a spring spent mostly inside, summer demanded that we get outside. Except there wasn’t always a place to go. For those of us without big backyards or easy access to local parks and beaches, it was difficult to figure out how to get much-needed outdoor time while staying safe. Of the 3,000 homeowners who responded to a Home Improvement Research Institute survey, 8.4 percent said they planned to work on their pools or hot tubs in anticipation of the summer, but not all of us have the luxury of a backyard pool. Public pools weren’t an option, either, but the kiddie pool was a solution to that. It gave us a cheap, easy way to cool off and get outside after months cooped up.
The ability to turn off our brains this year was a luxury all on its own
In-ground pools, by comparison, are bourgeois. A kiddie pool says: I am a person of the people, a person who is in quarantine and desperate for an oasis. I impulsively bought one for my dog, a toy poodle who was mostly unappreciative of it, but the novelty the whole endeavor provided my family was worth it. There’s something unavoidably joyous about a plastic pool. Its flimsy, fun simplicity looks a lot like this year did, which is that a kiddie pool is a matter of circumstance and deluded “necessity.”
We had to be indoors, and by extension, we had to pour ourselves into strange purchases and fixations. The ability to turn off our brains this year was a luxury all on its own. The barrage of bad news, the sickness of this year and its stressors were innumerable. As Kristen Arnett put it fondly for Vox, “The pool was a momentary womb. A place to float free. The pool was important because of how my body fit inside it and how it fit around me. The pool was a place where I could think, but most importantly, it became a place where I didn’t have to think at all. I could just … exist.”
Peloton bikes
The stir-crazy energy of quarantine encouraged lots of people to start exercising at home. TikTok convinced me to subscribe to the cult of Chloe Ting, a fitness instructor whose YouTube workout programs had rave reviews, but those who were interested in a bigger fitness investment may have purchased a Peloton exercise bike, which in its cheapest package option is $1,895 plus a $39 monthly membership fee.
A year ago this week we all laughed at her. What did she know and when? pic.twitter.com/xHreunAVoK — Parson Brown Anthony™ (@anthelonious) December 8, 2020
Many gyms and fitness studios across the country closed (and opened and closed again) over the course of 2020. They’re uniquely complicated Covid-19 hot spots — basically petri dishes. As Alex Abad-Santos wrote for The Goods, “everything that makes group fitness and gyms great is exactly what makes working out with other people one of the riskiest things we can do.”
We’re finding that simulated group experiences aren’t half bad, and in fact feel like more casual entry points to fitness. And the world seems to be all-in on Peloton, which launched in 2012. A share of the company’s stock (PTON) was around $35 at the start of December 2019 and is around $115 as of this writing.
This past decade was so focused on fitness as a public, moral undertaking, as proven by the athleisure trend and the countless group exercise startups and boutiques that are now empty. Peloton allows us the opportunity to sweat like no one’s watching.
Peel-and-stick wallpaper
Countless people became amateur interior designers in isolation. Suddenly, Home Depot looked like an oasis, and its sales have risen by 24 percent in the last year. The pandemic allowed us time and space to reconsider our decor and embark on small adventures in DIY projects.
Enter peel-and-stick wallpaper, an easy solution to the lack of visual stimulation in your quarantine home. If we were going to stare at the walls all day, they might as well look good. As Rebecca Jennings reported in May, online searches for wallpaper shot up at the end of March when people began to get stir crazy. Peel-and-stick wallpaper also worked for renters cooped up in apartments, without permanently altering the space.
We didn’t stop there, though. TikTok was a daily showcase of quarantine DIY projects — tables and glassware and bedroom design and bathroom organizing and anything else you could think of to make your life more aesthetically pleasing. Making something yourself for your home is a source of pride, a morale booster when we needed it most. You can call it the Ikea effect (the theory that consumers are likely to be satisfied with products that they assemble themselves), but there was something special about trading DIY tips with friends and family. It gives us a sense of control in an uncontrollable situation.
The objects that got us through were the psychic desires of a nation battered by ourselves and by our blind spots. This year, all we had was what we could control, what we could share, and what we could hold on to.
We tried to be good neighbors, tried to distract ourselves, tried to keep our lives feeling safe in the ways that we could. These objects brought us together in weird ways, and for all our selfishness, 2020 has been a year of waiting, together, for something better on the other side. The only thing we wanted to believe in more than these objects was a better 2021.
We tirelessly repeated to ourselves, “When this is all over,” a mantra we couldn’t shake because we had to believe in an end. We’re different now, and we might return to the mundane sometime soon, however unknowable “all over” is. Either way, it would do us all good to remember that we survived this and that we should be grateful we got to see it through — and that we’ll never look at toilet paper quite the same way again.


vox--2020-12-28--The Lost Year: A new baby who didn’t know your face for days because you were wearing a mask

This is The Lost Year , a series of stories about our lived experiences in 2020 , as told to Vox critic at large Emily VanDerWerff .
A handful of people I know have had babies during the pandemic , a typically joyous but stressful life event made 10 times more stressful , at least , by an accident of history .
The sheer isolation of quarantine has led to many new parents essentially having to cocoon even more than usual with their newborns .
But a particularly fraught story of pandemic birth comes from Jacinta , who lives in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Australia enacted incredibly stringent Covid-19 lockdowns — which seem to have mostly worked out , as the country is in the process of reopening — to the degree that the restrictions grew more strict while Jacinta was in labor .
But after her son was born , Jacinta found herself in a minor nightmare , after she was discharged from the hospital and he had to stay in the NICU due to an infection .
All is well now , but it led to a frantic , sleepless handful of days for Jacinta @ @ @ @ @ @ @ her story , as told to me .
Most of the start of lockdown for us happened in March .
I told people we were pregnant , but I wasn ’ t showing or anything .
Then I didn ’ t see anyone again until about two weeks ago , when I have a four-month-old baby now .
My husband and I joked it was like those 1950s pregnancies where they ’ d send you away to live with an aunt for the summer , and you ’ d come back with a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ people that I didn ’ t see regularly didn ’ t know I was pregnant , especially since we don ’ t use social media a lot .
In the lead-up to my due date , it had already been a bit of a nightmare with Covid .
We hadn ’ t yet in Melbourne entered the really hardcore level of restrictions , but they had been building for months .
All the prenatal classes were canceled .
All the birthing classes were canceled .
Everything was moved online .
The day that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ already rules in place about how far you could drive from your house without a permit or a valid excuse .
We were really scared we were going to get pulled over by the cops on the drive to the hospital , even though , obviously , giving birth would be considered a valid excuse .
About 10 minutes after I got admitted , I got handed a facemask very apologetically .
The nurses said that they were really sorry but just at that minute , the policy changed about masks in the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ them no matter what .
So I had to wear a face mask for what was a 10-hour labor , which was not great .
Toward the end , they took pity on me because my oxygen levels were dropping .
I couldn ’ t breathe super well in the mask when I was having contractions .
So they looked the other way and said , “ We ’ ll let you take it off .
Just don ’ t tell anyone.
” I put it straight back on again when my son @ @ @ @ @ @ @ new level of restrictions had come in while I was giving birth , and that meant no visitors , not just to the hospital but to your house .
You were only allowed to leave the house for essentials , and there was a whole raft of things you weren ’ t allowed to do .
So we stayed in the hospital .
My husband was allowed to stay during visiting hours in the day , thank God .
We thought that wasn ’ t gon na happen .
But he had to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Our son had an infection .
It wasn ’ t super serious in the end , thankfully , but he had to go into the NICU for the week .
So I got discharged , but he didn ’ t .
Because the hospital was under lockdown , you weren ’ t allowed to eat food in there or use the lounge area or sit down anywhere except in a chair next to his little crib thing .
So if we wanted to eat or do anything except stare at him , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ park and hide in our car and eat there .
I hadn ’ t slept in about 80 hours by the time we found out about the infection .
My husband was not able to stay over at the hospital , so I was always too scared to sleep properly because I had this little baby next to me .
I was worried the infection could have been a Covid thing at first because all they wrote on his chart was “ infection ” markers .
I didn ’ t know whether that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ The hospital was wonderful , but they were pushed to the limit .
Everything had gone upside-down and topsy-turvy , so it was hard to get time with people to have a chat about what was going on .
The whole thing seemed like a big , confusing fog .
Maybe that was a good thing , because I was so vague and out of it that I had to put my trust in what the doctors were doing and assume it was okay .
I had the mask on the whole time @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , it was sticking to my face .
It was a mess .
But the whole thing went by in a blur , and I didn ’ t really get any clarity about what had happened until probably weeks later .
I really felt the warmth of giving birth after I came home and looked back on it .
From a motherhood perspective , I felt very lost at first .
A lot of the things I was relying on to help me know what to do , like seeing my mother or @ @ @ @ @ @ @ group , none of them were there .
I called my mom all the time , but I really went on Reddit a lot to read advice .
I spent the first month or so after he came home from hospital convinced everything that was wrong with him was a big , serious deal .
And it never was .
It ’ s just because the internet makes you paranoid .
My husband and I have been together since we were 18 , so we ’ ve always had each other ’ s @ @ @ @ @ @ @ nice to have a little more space .
That sounds ungrateful , I suppose , but one thing that I didn ’ t anticipate is that because he ’ s home all the time , I sometimes feel like I ’ m under more pressure to do a good job .
I had it in my head that he ’ d be home maybe for the first week or two weeks after the baby was born , and then he ’ d go back to work , and I ’ d be home @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that he ’ s had all this time to spend with the baby .
But what was meant to be the baby ’ s room is now the office that he has to work from .
So the baby ’ s sleeping in our room .
If the baby is crying all day or I ’ m crying because the baby is crying , my husband is in the next room on conference calls or whatnot , and I always feel like I have to live up to some standard .
If your @ @ @ @ @ @ @ it ’ s just you and your baby in the house , at least you can say , “ Well , baby , let ’ s you and me work it out.
” But having another adult in the house — not that he would ever judge me !
— sometimes it ’ s easier to just go to the park and let my son cry there .
But it ’ s honestly been wonderful to have the support .
Without any other family , we ’ ve had to become each other @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ s been difficult , and it ’ s been rewarding , and it ’ s been weird .
I have thought about talking to my son in the future about the thing that really panicked me in the first few months of his life , when it didn ’ t look like Covid was ever going to go away , and people used phrases like “ the new normal ” or “ the way we live will change forever.
” It really upset me because I hated the idea of having to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ we used to be able to go out and hug and kiss and shake hands .
I was so wrapped up in him , and we ’ ve been able to give him so much love and attention in a way that probably would have been a bit more diluted if we ’ d been out and about .
He ’ s been the center .
He ’ s been the thing that ’ s got us through all of this .
There ’ s been days and weeks that go past where @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that Covid is happening because we ’ re just in our house with our baby , and he ’ s so wonderful .
When he ’ s old enough , I ’ ll thank him for coming along when he did because otherwise , it would have been sitting around , not going out , and sadness and awfulness .
I look forward to telling him that when he was born , he didn ’ t see a human face without a mask on it for the first four weeks of his life @ @ @ @ @ @ @ life when he came home with us and saw we had a nose and mouth and all kinds of things .
We ’ re just now allowed out , so he ’ s meeting his grandparents , and he ’ s meeting friends .
Our best friend had a baby not long before we did , and our babies just met each other .
That was the first time my son had seen another baby .
And I love just looking at his face when he sees there are other people in the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Covid-19 safe — when you ’ re an escort

This is The Lost Year, a series of stories about our lived experiences in 2020, as told to Vox critic at large Emily VanDerWerff.
A handful of people I know have had babies during the pandemic, a typically joyous but stressful life event made 10 times more stressful, at least, by an accident of history. The sheer isolation of quarantine has led to many new parents essentially having to cocoon even more than usual with their newborns.
But a particularly fraught story of pandemic birth comes from Jacinta, who lives in Melbourne and works in film distribution. Australia enacted incredibly stringent Covid-19 lockdowns — which seem to have mostly worked out, as the country is in the process of reopening — to the degree that the restrictions grew more strict while Jacinta was in labor.
But after her son was born, Jacinta found herself in a minor nightmare, after she was discharged from the hospital and he had to stay in the NICU due to an infection. All is well now, but it led to a frantic, sleepless handful of days for Jacinta and her husband.
Here’s her story, as told to me.
Most of the start of lockdown for us happened in March. I told people we were pregnant, but I wasn’t showing or anything. Then I didn’t see anyone again until about two weeks ago, when I have a four-month-old baby now. My husband and I joked it was like those 1950s pregnancies where they’d send you away to live with an aunt for the summer, and you’d come back with a “baby sister.” A lot of people that I didn’t see regularly didn’t know I was pregnant, especially since we don’t use social media a lot.
In the lead-up to my due date, it had already been a bit of a nightmare with Covid. We hadn’t yet in Melbourne entered the really hardcore level of restrictions, but they had been building for months. All the prenatal classes were canceled. All the birthing classes were canceled. Everything was moved online.
The day that I went into labor, there were already rules in place about how far you could drive from your house without a permit or a valid excuse. We were really scared we were going to get pulled over by the cops on the drive to the hospital, even though, obviously, giving birth would be considered a valid excuse.
About 10 minutes after I got admitted, I got handed a facemask very apologetically. The nurses said that they were really sorry but just at that minute, the policy changed about masks in the hospital, and patients had to wear them no matter what. So I had to wear a face mask for what was a 10-hour labor, which was not great. Toward the end, they took pity on me because my oxygen levels were dropping. I couldn’t breathe super well in the mask when I was having contractions. So they looked the other way and said, “We’ll let you take it off. Just don’t tell anyone.” I put it straight back on again when my son got put on my chest.
A new level of restrictions had come in while I was giving birth, and that meant no visitors, not just to the hospital but to your house. You were only allowed to leave the house for essentials, and there was a whole raft of things you weren’t allowed to do. So we stayed in the hospital. My husband was allowed to stay during visiting hours in the day, thank God. We thought that wasn’t gonna happen. But he had to leave every day and then come back.
Our son had an infection. It wasn’t super serious in the end, thankfully, but he had to go into the NICU for the week. So I got discharged, but he didn’t. Because the hospital was under lockdown, you weren’t allowed to eat food in there or use the lounge area or sit down anywhere except in a chair next to his little crib thing. So if we wanted to eat or do anything except stare at him, we had to go to the car park and hide in our car and eat there.
I hadn’t slept in about 80 hours by the time we found out about the infection. My husband was not able to stay over at the hospital, so I was always too scared to sleep properly because I had this little baby next to me. I was worried the infection could have been a Covid thing at first because all they wrote on his chart was “infection” markers. I didn’t know whether that was Covid or something more serious.
The hospital was wonderful, but they were pushed to the limit. Everything had gone upside-down and topsy-turvy, so it was hard to get time with people to have a chat about what was going on. The whole thing seemed like a big, confusing fog. Maybe that was a good thing, because I was so vague and out of it that I had to put my trust in what the doctors were doing and assume it was okay.
I had the mask on the whole time, so every time I was crying, it was sticking to my face. It was a mess. But the whole thing went by in a blur, and I didn’t really get any clarity about what had happened until probably weeks later. I really felt the warmth of giving birth after I came home and looked back on it.
From a motherhood perspective, I felt very lost at first. A lot of the things I was relying on to help me know what to do, like seeing my mother or going to birthing classes or parents’ group, none of them were there. I called my mom all the time, but I really went on Reddit a lot to read advice. I spent the first month or so after he came home from hospital convinced everything that was wrong with him was a big, serious deal. And it never was. It’s just because the internet makes you paranoid.
My husband and I have been together since we were 18 [both are 34 now], so we’ve always had each other’s backs, but sometimes it would be nice to have a little more space. That sounds ungrateful, I suppose, but one thing that I didn’t anticipate is that because he’s home all the time, I sometimes feel like I’m under more pressure to do a good job. I had it in my head that he’d be home maybe for the first week or two weeks after the baby was born, and then he’d go back to work, and I’d be home by myself.
It’s wonderful that he’s had all this time to spend with the baby. But what was meant to be the baby’s room is now the office that he has to work from. So the baby’s sleeping in our room. If the baby is crying all day or I’m crying because the baby is crying, my husband is in the next room on conference calls or whatnot, and I always feel like I have to live up to some standard. If your baby’s crying all day and it’s just you and your baby in the house, at least you can say, “Well, baby, let’s you and me work it out.” But having another adult in the house — not that he would ever judge me! — sometimes it’s easier to just go to the park and let my son cry there. But it’s honestly been wonderful to have the support. Without any other family, we’ve had to become each other’s everything, really. It’s been difficult, and it’s been rewarding, and it’s been weird.
I have thought about talking to my son in the future about the thing that really panicked me in the first few months of his life, when it didn’t look like Covid was ever going to go away, and people used phrases like “the new normal” or “the way we live will change forever.” It really upset me because I hated the idea of having to explain to my son one day that we used to be able to go out and hug and kiss and shake hands.
I was so wrapped up in him, and we’ve been able to give him so much love and attention in a way that probably would have been a bit more diluted if we’d been out and about. He’s been the center. He’s been the thing that’s got us through all of this. There’s been days and weeks that go past where we don’t even really remember that Covid is happening because we’re just in our house with our baby, and he’s so wonderful.
When he’s old enough, I’ll thank him for coming along when he did because otherwise, it would have been sitting around, not going out, and sadness and awfulness. I look forward to telling him that when he was born, he didn’t see a human face without a mask on it for the first four weeks of his life.
He got the shock of his life when he came home with us and saw we had a nose and mouth and all kinds of things. We’re just now allowed out, so he’s meeting his grandparents, and he’s meeting friends. Our best friend had a baby not long before we did, and our babies just met each other. That was the first time my son had seen another baby. And I love just looking at his face when he sees there are other people in the world!
Next: Making your workplace Covid-19 safe — when you’re an escort


vox--2020-12-28--The House just voted to override Trump’s veto of a $740 billion defense bill

The House voted on Monday to override President Donald Trump ’ s veto of a sweeping $ 740 billion defense bill that previously passed in both chambers of Congress with veto-proof majorities .
Though some Republicans sided with the president , the 322-87 vote marked a rare bipartisan rebuke of Trump ’ s agenda during his final days in office .
The House needed 288 votes to override the veto .
The Senate is expected to vote on the bill on Tuesday , where a two-thirds majority will also need to support overriding the veto in order to secure pay @ @ @ @ @ @ @ regimens can continue .
Trump had vetoed the bill , which is known as the National Defense Authorization Act ( NDAA ) , on the basis that it did not repeal Section 230 , a law that shields private internet companies from liability for what users post on their websites and allows them to take down or restrict content at their discretion .
In a public message to Congress last week , he said that the law “ facilitates the spread of foreign disinformation online , which is a serious threat to our @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Trump ’ s targeting of Section 230 appears to be personal in nature : He has recently sparred with Twitter about its decision to place warnings on and restrict engagement with his false tweets about widespread election fraud .
The company has also suggested that Trump could get banned from the platform once he is no longer in office .
Trump also took issue with provisions in the bill that require the military to rename facilities named after figures in Confederate history , limit the amount of defense funds that could be used @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and impose additional oversight on the withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan , Germany , and South Korea .
“ Unfortunately , ” Trump wrote , “ the Act fails to include critical national security measures , includes provisions that fail to respect our veterans and our military ’ s history , and contradicts efforts by my Administration to put America first in our national security and foreign policy actions .
It is a ‘ gift ’ to China and Russia.
” The NDAA , which sets the defense priorities for the nation and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ been passed every year for 59 years without fail .
The House had previously passed the bill 335-78 and the Senate had passed it 84-13 , both over the two-thirds threshold needed to override a veto .
Trump ’ s veto of the bill — one of nine over the course of his presidency — pitted members of his own party against each other .
Before Monday , Congress had not successfully overridden any of his vetoes .
House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy , who previously voted for the bill , and members @ @ @ @ @ @ @ announced their intentions to reject the veto override ahead of Monday ’ s vote .
But others , including Rep. Mac Thornberry , the top Republican on the House Armed Services Committee , signaled that they would override the veto .
Though he did not mention Trump directly , Thornberry told his GOP colleagues in a note obtained by Politico that they should ignore “ distortions or misrepresentations ” of the bill , and distributed fact sheets about the provisions of the bill with which the president took issue .
“ Your decision @ @ @ @ @ @ @ all took , which was to the Constitution rather than any person or organization , ” he reportedly said .

The House voted on Monday to override President Donald Trump’s veto of a sweeping $740 billion defense bill that previously passed in both chambers of Congress with veto-proof majorities.
Though some Republicans sided with the president, the 322-87 vote marked a rare bipartisan rebuke of Trump’s agenda during his final days in office. The House needed 288 votes to override the veto. The Senate is expected to vote on the bill on Tuesday, where a two-thirds majority will also need to support overriding the veto in order to secure pay increases for troops and ensure that training regimens can continue.
Trump had vetoed the bill, which is known as the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), on the basis that it did not repeal Section 230, a law that shields private internet companies from liability for what users post on their websites and allows them to take down or restrict content at their discretion. In a public message to Congress last week, he said that the law “facilitates the spread of foreign disinformation online, which is a serious threat to our national security and election integrity.”
But Trump’s targeting of Section 230 appears to be personal in nature: He has recently sparred with Twitter about its decision to place warnings on and restrict engagement with his false tweets about widespread election fraud. The company has also suggested that Trump could get banned from the platform once he is no longer in office.
Trump also took issue with provisions in the bill that require the military to rename facilities named after figures in Confederate history, limit the amount of defense funds that could be used to construct his US-Mexico border wall, and impose additional oversight on the withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan, Germany, and South Korea.
“Unfortunately,” Trump wrote, “the Act fails to include critical national security measures, includes provisions that fail to respect our veterans and our military’s history, and contradicts efforts by my Administration to put America first in our national security and foreign policy actions. It is a ‘gift’ to China and Russia.”
The NDAA, which sets the defense priorities for the nation and distributes resources to US troops, has been passed every year for 59 years without fail. The House had previously passed the bill 335-78 and the Senate had passed it 84-13, both over the two-thirds threshold needed to override a veto.
Trump’s veto of the bill — one of nine over the course of his presidency — pitted members of his own party against each other. Before Monday, Congress had not successfully overridden any of his vetoes.
House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, who previously voted for the bill, and members of the conservative House Freedom Caucus had announced their intentions to reject the veto override ahead of Monday’s vote. But others, including Rep. Mac Thornberry, the top Republican on the House Armed Services Committee, signaled that they would override the veto. Though he did not mention Trump directly, Thornberry told his GOP colleagues in a note obtained by Politico that they should ignore “distortions or misrepresentations” of the bill, and distributed fact sheets about the provisions of the bill with which the president took issue.
“Your decision should be based upon the oath we all took, which was to the Constitution rather than any person or organization,” he reportedly said.


vox--2020-12-28--Netflix’s Death to 2020 rehashes jokes we all spent the last 12 months making

In the opening moments of Netflix ’ s new comedy special Death to 2020 , Samuel L. Jackson , playing a jaded veteran reporter named Dash Bracket , asks the fictional filmmakers what their fictional documentary is for .
The offscreen interviewers never answer the question , and that lack of clarity sums up this hour-long parody .
A mockumentary “ year in review ” from Charlie Brooker , a.k.a .
the Black Mirror guy , Death to 2020 is an experiment that never justifies itself .
Star-studded and full of rote archival footage , Death to 2020 is aggressively @ @ @ @ @ @ @ defied Brooker ’ s attempts to parody it .
It ’ s not as if he doesn ’ t make the effort : The skit-filled satire boasts nearly 20 writers .
There aren ’ t 20 jokes to be found in this retrospective , however , and that ’ s not because the subject isn ’ t rife with absurdity .
But unlike Brooker ’ s more shrewd comedic efforts — for example , the acerbic satire of Black Mirror ’ s Gamergate-inspired season four episode “ USS Callister ” — this outing @ @ @ @ @ @ @ show ’ s 67 minutes just tell us what we already know , because we just lived through it .
The premise of Death to 2020 seems to be that the audience will enjoy reliving the year , much in the way that Rifftrax fans enjoy subjecting themselves to bad movies .
But the horrors of 2020 aren ’ t exactly A-list box office draws or must-watch material — and without quality commentary to enliven the trip down memory lane , the film is a tedious hour wasted .
From the beginning , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Hugh Grant dons a blond wig and plays a historian who snarks about politicians .
Tracey Ullman dons a blonde wig and plays the queen , who snarks about Meghan Markle .
There ’ s an Elon Musk parody named Bark Multiverse ( Kumail Nanjiani ) , who builds a survival bunker , because of course there is and of course he does .
A scientist named Pyrex Flask ( Samson Kayo ) drops the mildest humor imaginable about Covid-19 and the pandemic .
It ’ s all incredibly banal and deeply uninspired @ @ @ @ @ @ @ has to say about Republicans who support Trump is — wait for it — they ’ re creating their own reality .
The most stringent thing it can find to fling at Joe Biden is — wait for it — he ’ s really old .
I bet you can already guess exactly what the writers think of cancel culture .
That ’ s right : They ’ re not fans !
This type of paint-by-numbers humor doesn ’ t really lend itself to tackling deeper aspects of the culture war , such @ @ @ @ @ @ @ protests against police brutality , but Brooker and company have , of course , given themselves the assignment of raising those issues too .
It ’ s all in the service of painting the coronavirus as a four-in-one apocalyptic horseman , bearing down on us for our sin of spending too much time screaming at one another on Twitter .
Brooker does love skewering narcissistic , extremely online types for being too addicted to social media .
But if that sermon felt empty when it was dressed up in Black Mirror ’ s @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ s framed as the mockumentary ’ s main , threadbare takeaway , it just comes off as vapid and unoriginal .
Perhaps Death to 2020 ’ s absolute worst offense is that it wastes Stranger Things ’ resident teen dad , Joe Keery , on its dumb social media jokes , tarnishing his hitherto flawless track record .
We get it , Charlie Brooker : YouTubers and influencers are all shallow and clout-obsessed , and 2008 wants its punchlines back .
Thank u , next .
Brooker achieves something close to meaningful @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and the rest of the writers stop cracking tired jokes and allow the absurdity of the year ’ s images to speak for themselves .
For example , during a clip from an anti-Covid-19 protest , one would-be patriot holds a sign that proclaims , “ The vaccine is in the boxcar ” — an apparent reference to the Holocaust .
This moment goes unaddressed by the film , because it ’ s nearly unaddressable .
How do you respond to that level of disconnect from reality ?
Unfortunately for us , those @ @ @ @ @ @ @ rare .
Brooker and his army of writers cover every major beat from the last 14 months — if not exhaustively , then exhaustedly ( and exhaustingly ) .
The infamous US presidential debate ?
“ A rap battle in a senior home.
” As for Trump , perhaps he ’ d have been less susceptible to Covid “ if someone told him white hoods protect against the virus.
” I take it back .
The worst offense of Death to 2020 isn ’ t that it wastes so many of its star-studded @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Lisa Kudrow .
It ’ s that , for all it wants to paint social media as the enemy , every bit of its humor feels like a social media rehash .
It ’ s as if the humor writers searched Twitter for the algorithmically generated “ top ” tweets on every one of their assigned topics , scribbled down anything with more than 1,500 likes , and called it a day .
Maybe if you truly weren ’ t paying any attention to world news , or social media , during the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ something out of this hit parade .
But otherwise , Death to 2020 is ultimately just more of the same painfully humorless noise that ’ s made up most of the year .

In the opening moments of Netflix’s new comedy special Death to 2020, Samuel L. Jackson, playing a jaded veteran reporter named Dash Bracket, asks the fictional filmmakers what their fictional documentary is for.
The offscreen interviewers never answer the question, and that lack of clarity sums up this hour-long parody. A mockumentary “year in review” from Charlie Brooker, a.k.a. the Black Mirror guy, Death to 2020 is an experiment that never justifies itself.
Star-studded and full of rote archival footage, Death to 2020 is aggressively bland, as if something about 2020 defied Brooker’s attempts to parody it. It’s not as if he doesn’t make the effort: The skit-filled satire boasts nearly 20 writers. There aren’t 20 jokes to be found in this retrospective, however, and that’s not because the subject isn’t rife with absurdity.
But unlike Brooker’s more shrewd comedic efforts — for example, the acerbic satire of Black Mirror’s Gamergate-inspired season four episode “USS Callister” — this outing is completely toothless. Most of the show’s 67 minutes just tell us what we already know, because we just lived through it. The premise of Death to 2020 seems to be that the audience will enjoy reliving the year, much in the way that Rifftrax fans enjoy subjecting themselves to bad movies. But the horrors of 2020 aren’t exactly A-list box office draws or must-watch material — and without quality commentary to enliven the trip down memory lane, the film is a tedious hour wasted.
From the beginning, Death to 2020 is palpably unfunny. Hugh Grant dons a blond wig and plays a historian who snarks about politicians. Tracey Ullman dons a blonde wig and plays the queen, who snarks about Meghan Markle. There’s an Elon Musk parody named Bark Multiverse (Kumail Nanjiani), who builds a survival bunker, because of course there is and of course he does. A scientist named Pyrex Flask (Samson Kayo) drops the mildest humor imaginable about Covid-19 and the pandemic.
It’s all incredibly banal and deeply uninspired. The most stringent thing the documentary has to say about Republicans who support Trump is — wait for it — they’re creating their own reality. The most stringent thing it can find to fling at Joe Biden is — wait for it — he’s really old. I bet you can already guess exactly what the writers think of cancel culture. That’s right: They’re not fans!
This type of paint-by-numbers humor doesn’t really lend itself to tackling deeper aspects of the culture war, such as the ongoing epistemic crisis or the protests against police brutality, but Brooker and company have, of course, given themselves the assignment of raising those issues too. It’s all in the service of painting the coronavirus as a four-in-one apocalyptic horseman, bearing down on us for our sin of spending too much time screaming at one another on Twitter.
Brooker does love skewering narcissistic, extremely online types for being too addicted to social media. But if that sermon felt empty when it was dressed up in Black Mirror’s fancier clothing, here, where it’s framed as the mockumentary’s main, threadbare takeaway, it just comes off as vapid and unoriginal. Perhaps Death to 2020’s absolute worst offense is that it wastes Stranger Things’ resident teen dad, Joe Keery, on its dumb social media jokes, tarnishing his hitherto flawless track record. We get it, Charlie Brooker: YouTubers and influencers are all shallow and clout-obsessed, and 2008 wants its punchlines back. Thank u, next.
Brooker achieves something close to meaningful commentary on the year only when he and the rest of the writers stop cracking tired jokes and allow the absurdity of the year’s images to speak for themselves. For example, during a clip from an anti-Covid-19 protest, one would-be patriot holds a sign that proclaims, “The vaccine is in the boxcar” — an apparent reference to the Holocaust. This moment goes unaddressed by the film, because it’s nearly unaddressable. How do you respond to that level of disconnect from reality?
Unfortunately for us, those moments of silent commentary are much too rare. Brooker and his army of writers cover every major beat from the last 14 months — if not exhaustively, then exhaustedly (and exhaustingly). The infamous US presidential debate? “A rap battle in a senior home.” As for Trump, perhaps he’d have been less susceptible to Covid “if someone told him white hoods protect against the virus.”
I take it back. The worst offense of Death to 2020 isn’t that it wastes so many of its star-studded cast members, from Leslie Jones to Lisa Kudrow. It’s that, for all it wants to paint social media as the enemy, every bit of its humor feels like a social media rehash. It’s as if the humor writers searched Twitter for the algorithmically generated “top” tweets on every one of their assigned topics, scribbled down anything with more than 1,500 likes, and called it a day.
Maybe if you truly weren’t paying any attention to world news, or social media, during the last 12 months, you might get something out of this hit parade. But otherwise, Death to 2020 is ultimately just more of the same painfully humorless noise that’s made up most of the year.


vox--2020-12-28--The House has voted to increase stimulus checks to $2,000

The House of Representatives has voted to increase the latest round of Covid-19 stimulus checks from $ 600 to $ 2,000 .
Even though President Donald Trump supports the move , it is unlikely to get far in the Senate .
On Monday , House Speaker Nancy Pelosi held a recorded vote on a standalone bill to increase “ economic impact payments ” — in other words , stimulus checks — to $ 2,000 .
House Democrats attempted a vote by unanimous consent on the matter on Christmas Eve , but it was blocked by House Republicans .
This time @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 275-134 vote .
The $ 900 billion stimulus package passed by Congress last week and signed into law by President Trump on Sunday has in it stimulus checks for $ 600 for individuals who made up to $ 75,000 a year in 2019 , or $ 1,200 for couples who made up to $ 150,000 as well as an additional $ 600 per child .
Many politicians , activists , and experts have called for that number to be higher — under the CARES Act in the spring , stimulus checks were for @ @ @ @ @ @ @ on $ 600 , and the general belief was that Trump agreed with whatever Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin , who called the bill “ fabulous , ” agreed with .
But then after Congress passed the bill and went home , Trump released a video on Twitter slamming it as a “ disgrace ” and calling for checks to be bumped up to $ 2,000 .
Democrats were quick to act and tried to use the president ’ s support for bigger checks as leverage to get Republicans in Congress to budge on @ @ @ @ @ @ @ least highlight that they won ’ t .
Pelosi responded to Trump ’ s tweet saying that Republicans had “ repeatedly refused to say what amount ” the president wanted for checks and that “ at last ” he had agreed to $ 2,000 .
“ Let ’ s do it !
” she wrote .
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez ( D-NY ) echoed Pelosi ’ s sentiment , noting that she and Rep. Rashida Tlaib ( D-MI ) had co-written an amendment for $ 2,000 checks .
The House voted on the CASH @ @ @ @ @ @ @ was put forth by House Ways and Means Committee Chair Richard Neal ( D-MA ) on Christmas Eve .
After the president signed the stimulus bill on Sunday , Pelosi said in a statement that he “ must immediately call on Congressional Republicans to end their obstruction and to join him and Democrats in support of our stand-alone legislation to increase direct payment checks to $ 2,000 , ” to be brought to the floor on Monday .
“ Every Republican vote against this bill is a vote to deny the financial hardship @ @ @ @ @ @ @ American people the relief they need , ” she said .
Monday ’ s House vote was conducted under a “ suspension of rules , ” which required a two-thirds majority for it to pass .
Just because Trump is into $ 2,000 stimulus checks doesn ’ t mean the rest of his party is The big question after the vote on $ 2,000 stimulus checks passed the House on Monday is what happens next .
And the answer is probably not much .
Many Republicans have never been into the idea of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ( R-MO ) tried to advocate for $ 1,200 checks alongside Sen. Bernie Sanders ( I-VT ) and was blocked by a member of his own party .
As Vox ’ s Li Zhou explained , Republicans have chafed at a bigger relief bill because of concerns about the deficit , and one bipartisan proposal in the lead-up to the final deal didn ’ t have checks in it at all .
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said on Twitter that he will move to pass $ 2,000 checks in the Senate and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Will Senate Republicans ?
” he asked .
The answer is almost surely yes .
When asked by reporters whether $ 2,000 checks would get 60 votes in the Senate , Sen. Roy Blunt ( R-MO ) said they would not .
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has not weighed in on the matter .
His office did not respond to a request for comment on how he ’ s thinking about the issue , but he is unlikely to support it .
In a statement commending Trump for signing the $ 900 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ didn ’ t acknowledge the measure at all .
The president has complicated the matter further by tacking onto his $ 2,000 ask some unrelated items .
In a statement after signing the stimulus package , Trump said he wants the Senate to “ start the process ” for a vote on increasing checks , repealing Section 230 — an internet speech law — and commencing an investigation into ( unfounded ) claims of voter fraud .
Sen. Lindsey Graham ( R-SC ) has been calling for the Senate to increase checks at @ @ @ @ @ @ @ as well .
One thing does not have to do with the other — getting people much-needed help in a time of crisis and whether Twitter can slap a label onto the president ’ s false tweets are two different things .
Despite the House ’ s vote on Monday , it remains unlikely that $ 2,000 checks are on the way .

The House of Representatives has voted to increase the latest round of Covid-19 stimulus checks from $600 to $2,000. Even though President Donald Trump supports the move, it is unlikely to get far in the Senate.
On Monday, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi held a recorded vote on a standalone bill to increase “economic impact payments” — in other words, stimulus checks — to $2,000. House Democrats attempted a vote by unanimous consent on the matter on Christmas Eve, but it was blocked by House Republicans. This time, it passed the House by a 275-134 vote.
The $900 billion stimulus package passed by Congress last week and signed into law by President Trump on Sunday has in it stimulus checks for $600 for individuals who made up to $75,000 a year in 2019, or $1,200 for couples who made up to $150,000 as well as an additional $600 per child. Many politicians, activists, and experts have called for that number to be higher — under the CARES Act in the spring, stimulus checks were for $1,200 for individuals.
Negotiators settled on $600, and the general belief was that Trump agreed with whatever Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, who called the bill “fabulous,” agreed with. But then after Congress passed the bill and went home, Trump released a video on Twitter slamming it as a “disgrace” and calling for checks to be bumped up to $2,000.
Democrats were quick to act and tried to use the president’s support for bigger checks as leverage to get Republicans in Congress to budge on the issue — or at the very least highlight that they won’t. Pelosi responded to Trump’s tweet saying that Republicans had “repeatedly refused to say what amount” the president wanted for checks and that “at last” he had agreed to $2,000. “Let’s do it!” she wrote.
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) echoed Pelosi’s sentiment, noting that she and Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) had co-written an amendment for $2,000 checks. The House voted on the CASH Act to increase stimulus payments, which was put forth by House Ways and Means Committee Chair Richard Neal (D-MA) on Christmas Eve.
Me and @AOC have the amendment ready. Send the bill back, and we will put in the $2,000 we’ve been fighting for that your party has been blocking. pic.twitter.com/GGXtJt77D9 — Rashida Tlaib (@RashidaTlaib) December 23, 2020
After the president signed the stimulus bill on Sunday, Pelosi said in a statement that he “must immediately call on Congressional Republicans to end their obstruction and to join him and Democrats in support of our stand-alone legislation to increase direct payment checks to $2,000,” to be brought to the floor on Monday. “Every Republican vote against this bill is a vote to deny the financial hardship that families face and to deny the American people the relief they need,” she said.
Monday’s House vote was conducted under a “suspension of rules,” which required a two-thirds majority for it to pass.
Just because Trump is into $2,000 stimulus checks doesn’t mean the rest of his party is
The big question after the vote on $2,000 stimulus checks passed the House on Monday is what happens next. And the answer is probably not much.
Many Republicans have never been into the idea of bigger stimulus checks — Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) tried to advocate for $1,200 checks alongside Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and was blocked by a member of his own party. As Vox’s Li Zhou explained, Republicans have chafed at a bigger relief bill because of concerns about the deficit, and one bipartisan proposal in the lead-up to the final deal didn’t have checks in it at all.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said on Twitter that he will move to pass $2,000 checks in the Senate and that no Democrats will object. “Will Senate Republicans?” he asked. The answer is almost surely yes.
When asked by reporters whether $2,000 checks would get 60 votes in the Senate, Sen. Roy Blunt (R-MO) said they would not. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has not weighed in on the matter. His office did not respond to a request for comment on how he’s thinking about the issue, but he is unlikely to support it. In a statement commending Trump for signing the $900 billion relief bill on Sunday, he didn’t acknowledge the measure at all.
The president has complicated the matter further by tacking onto his $2,000 ask some unrelated items. In a statement after signing the stimulus package, Trump said he wants the Senate to “start the process” for a vote on increasing checks, repealing Section 230 — an internet speech law — and commencing an investigation into (unfounded) claims of voter fraud. Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) has been calling for the Senate to increase checks at the same time it scraps Section 230 as well.
One thing does not have to do with the other — getting people much-needed help in a time of crisis and whether Twitter can slap a label onto the president’s false tweets are two different things.
Despite the House’s vote on Monday, it remains unlikely that $2,000 checks are on the way.