2008 Year in Culture Thank You Note

Off the top of my head, in no particular order, and with some (but not total) regard for release dates, here is who I have to thank in 2008:

1. Tina Fey for creating an imitation that’s more true than the original
2. Simon Rich for telling animal jokes about human suffering
3. James Wood for making How Fiction Works both practical and idealistic
4. Wii Tennis for allowing me to play a sport I love, but with a giant cartoon head
5. Deadspin for making sports gossip strangely fascinating
6. Rhizome at the New Museum in New York for taking new media seriously, while also maintaining a sense of humor about its ridiculousness
7. MGMT for writing a song that somehow manages to be hippie, meta and danceable all at the same time
8. The Week for making the news easy to digest without making it dumb
9. Virginia Heffernan for thinking deep thoughts about the intersection of television and the internet
10. Nathan Bransford for fighting for better writing while never forgetting that people also like to watch The Hills
11. Moonrat for giving the world an inside look at New York publishing, plus indie rock moments, plus the inspiration for people to go out and save books
12. David Mitchell for writing Cloud Atlas and reviving my love of writing fiction

I know there’s more, but for now there’s not.

Next up: 2008 Year in DCWYTBMA Recap and Thank You

Cheers!

Tags: art, books, culture, fiction, internet, technology, writing