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Gift Guide: TechCrunch’s Favorite Things of 2020

It goes without saying, but 2020 was a bad year for a lot of people. For many, it was a year of stress, of sadness, and anxiety. It was a year of missing friends and family; of just getting to the next day, even as each day seemed to blur into the last…

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It goes without saying, but 2020 was a bad year for a lot of people.

For many, it was a year of stress, of sadness, and anxiety. It was a year of missing friends and family; of just getting to the next day, even as each day seemed to blur into the last.

As we’ve done at the end of each of the past few years, we invited our team to look back and highlight some of their “favorite things” — the things that, as we look back from the depths of December, put smiles on our faces, or helped us pass the time, or taught us some new skill. Most years this question feels like “What made your year better?” This year it felt more like “… What made your year suck less?”

Our definition of “things” on this list has always been incredibly fuzzy by design. “Things” can be whatever makes sense to the writer. “Things” can be podcasts, or songs, or movies, or people, or concepts. Some of these things are new to the world in 2020. Others are things that have been around for years (decades, even!), but popped back up in our lives this year. Whatever the case, we hope you find some inspiration; some new thread to pull, some new song to sing, or some new thing to love.

Zack Whittaker, Security Editor

WBGO 88.3FM

As a kid I used to fall asleep listening to the late-night talk show radio shows from my bedroom in England. These days I’m all about WBGO, a New Jersey public radio station broadcast from Times Square. It plays jazz all day, every day, and that’s about it. Jazz doesn’t want to talk about politics around the dinner table or post anti-vax conspiracy theories to Facebook. It’s perfect escapism from the news firehose. We have WBGO playing quietly on the radio in the kitchen throughout the day. And since it’s an easy listen, I often put it on as I work from my desk. I even bought a HomePod mini as an early Christmas treat so I can listen all day long.

Cross-stitching

Image Credits: Zack Whittaker

The TV dried up pretty early on and there wasn’t much else to do, so I took up cross-stitching. It’s easy to learn — similar to a Paint by Numbers but with sewing — and requires little skill so it’s ideal for me. It’s a fantastic way to wind down and forget about the actual dumpster fire of a year it’s been.

Natasha Mascarenhas, Reporter

Call Your Girlfriend (Podcast)

Image Credits: Call Your Girlfriend

In a year where every relationship is a long distance relationship, Call Your Girlfriend has been a must-listen podcast. It’s been running since 2014, but I only picked it up this year because I was looking for ways to think about adult friendships that are platonic. I think the topics put a lot of coronavirus fatigue into eloquent context, such as consent conversations when people have different risk tolerances, how to find joy in this time, the science behind friendship. The show, co-hosted by Aminatou Sow and Ann Friedman, describes itself as a “podcast for long-distance besties everywhere.” I’d add that it’s an exhale during a time where all of us are very, sometimes subconsciously, tense.

Graffeo coffee

San Francisco’s Graffeo Coffee is one of North Beach’s remaining treasures. The little coffee roaster was my bi-weekly stop during my quarantine sanity walks all throughout this year. And I still order the beans even though I’m not in SF anymore! Good people, small business, and get the beans whole and dark roasted.

Brian Heater, Hardware Editor

Waxahatchee Saint Cloud

Image Credits: Waxahatchee

Not to put too fine a point on it, but music might have saved my life this year. And thankfully there were some terrific albums this year — Lomelda, Thundercat, Denzel Curry, Open Mike Eagle and Death Valley Girls to name a few. But Waxahatchee’s latest was just a huge ray of country twang-infused pop-indie folk. Start with “Fire” and go from there.

Moby Dick by Herman Melville

Some things are worth revisiting throughout life. They’ll never change, but the lives we’ve led can’t help but profoundly impact our relationship to them. It’s been said that Moby Dick holds the secrets to the universe within its 135 chapters. But while Melville may have laid the groundwork for such revelation, it’s clear he couldn’t make heads or tails of the results. Moby Dick is a singular work in American literature. It’s profoundly strange and funny and disjoined and beautiful and sad. It’s also wildly, wildly weird. It’s a perfect quarantine companion.

Orba by Ariphon

Image Credits: Brian Heater

I’d been waiting to play with Artiphon’s Orba since meeting with the company back at CES 2020 (those weird and wild days when we used to jam humans into a room to look at products). The $99 gadget is probably the closest I’ve come so far to a device that can foster music creation among the non-musical. It’s also a terrific little time killer and great for blowing off a bit of steam between meetings.

Lodge 49

Maybe Lodge 49 is an uncynical critique of a deeply cynical time. It’s a goddamn ray of sunshine in a dark moment that was, naturally, too beautiful to live. Perhaps the (cancelled) AMC show is an inadvertent object lesson in appreciating what we had, rather than lamenting what we lost. Maybe some day it will return as a one-off Netflix season or a Kickstarter movie when everyone is on-board with the show three years from now and we’ll all be excited while bemoaning the fact that it just couldn’t capture the magic of the original.

Neesha A. Tambe, Startup Battlefield Editor and Head of Community

1-min dance parties

With very high risk parents and a doctor brother the COVID fear starts to settle in your bones. To keep the sad panda at bay, I started to do one minute dance parties in the morning. Just me and Spotify on random – no judgement, no expectations, just movement. If it feels hard to get started, start with your big toe and watch the good vibes start to flow :) A little free and crazy dancing to start the day makes for a bright and beautiful day.

Baking

With the privilege of working from home, I’ve gotten very much into baking and cooking. I love love gifting cooked and baked goods – fresh bread, brownies, pumpkin tarts, sauces, soups etc. to my friends. It’s amazing how a little gift of food always brings an immediate smile to the faces of the people we care about! (Esp. if they are vegan lol)

Digital Phone Banking

It’s clear that we need to remain actively engaged to keep our democracy strong. I’m extremely grateful for digital autodialers that allow me to advocate for those that most need the support without actually having to be in specific place or outside. Not only is it our duty, but it makes me feel good to know that I am making a difference in my small way helping folks make it to the polls. It’s so fun to talk to people all across the country and connect with them on the humanitarian issues that matter most. Yay democracy!

Devin Coldewey, Writer

Picross/Nonograms

In a year when seemingly nothing was as it should be, I discovered the puzzle genre that I’ve been looking for all my life — and apparently it has been around just as long. Filling in the rows and columns according to the provided numbers is simple and peaceful, yet occupies my mind almost completely, allowing a safe, mobile dissociation from the perils of real life. The best one I’ve found is Konami’s Pixel Puzzle collection, which is free, easy to use, and has fun pixel art from retro games.

Tenet

Image Credits: Warner Bros.

Christopher Nolan’s latest isn’t the best movie I saw this year, but as with Inception, no one even tries to make movies like this except him, and I marvel at the pure plate-spinning audacity of his filmmaking. Maybe you think it’s pseudo-intellectual wankery, but… well, perhaps it is. But it’s a prime example of the species.

Hyori’s Bed & Breakfast

Image Credits: Netflix

After the heartbreak and disillusionment of Terrace House’s tragic end, we needed another gentle reality show showcasing the ordinary (yet still strange to me) everday lives of people in another country. I found Hyori’s Bed & Breakfast very late and it has filled the gap (though another Korean entry, Three Meals a Day, is also worthy). Featuring a retired pop star and her husband as they attempt to convert their home to a B&B, it’s funny, weird, and full of dogs and genuine human moments.

Henry Pickavet, Editorial Director

GT’s Strawberry Serenity Kombucha

Image Credits: GT’s Kombucha

I cannot leave a grocery store without scouring the beverage section for kombucha. And not just any kombucha. The sweet red label of a GT’s Strawbery Serenity kombucha must be in stock and ready for pillaging or it would have been a wasted trip. I have a problem. Signed, The Kombucha Bandit of Sacramento.

Willow.tv

Image Credits: Robert Cianflone / Getty Images

When I left Australia in 2010 after having lived there for three years, I brought back with me a love of cricket. Time zones, as well as virtually no one in the States to discuss it with, made it hard for me to keep track of what was happening on pitches all over the world. My subscription to Willow.tv almost fixes all of that. I’m still facing some sleepless nights as Australia takes on India in the summer tour Down Under, but at least I can watch it live.

Natasha Lomas, Senior Reporter

Fitness Blender

Image Credits: Fitness Blender

With many months of 2020 spent confined almost entirely to a one-bed apartment, with all gyms closed and a total ban on going outdoors for exercise, staying fit has required some changing up of the usual routines. To wit: I’ve found Fitness Blender’s gimmick-free training videos a total god-send. Now I almost look forward to HIIT! Thanks so much guys. Plus one more (related) positive vibe this year: My favorite yoga teacher, who lives in another city, started doing Zoom classes remotely — truly a silver lining to 2020’s virtual everything. Thx Chloe!

UberTape

Image Credits: Natasha Lomas

No, not a surveillance camera for safely riding in Ubers — UberTape is a brand of kinesiology tape that’s been another saving grace in an injury-prone year when I also discovered some new and unfun skin sensitivities (happily this tape is “hypoallergenic and latex free”).

What actually is kinesiology tape? It’s support tape for joints and muscle. I was introduced to it by my physiotherapist and can confirm it has made the difference between being able to train pain-free or not. It’s miraculous stuff — so long as you position it correctly (with the right amount of stretching). So whether 2020 has hit you with achilles tendonitis, shin splints, plantar fasciitis, tennis elbow or runners knee — and this year has surely hit most of us with some new and unusual injury (and plenty more besides) — I’m happy to report a little stretchy tape goes a long way. So thanks, UberTape, for helping make 2020 a little less painful.

The Wire (again)

I first watched The Wire about ten years ago when it was first screened on UK terrestrial TV. I remember taking a while to sink into it at first — Baltimore gang slang was pretty exotic (to a Brit) back then — but after a few episodes we were hooked on McNulty, D’Angelo, Omar & crew just like McNulty is hooked on Jameson and cheap bar thrills. The full five seasons were duly consumed and judged an incomparable master work.

A decade on and our 24/7 connected world is now one gigantic phone-enabled wiretap. (Nor do any of the mega corporations surveilling our every blink have a proper legal base, much like Lester didn’t for that last wiretap. Tsk.) The show was also prescient in pointing out the fragile business of reporting truth vs the tacky lure of fake news. Truly ahead of its time — before you even start in on the marvelous cast of characters and intricate societal portrait, showing how corrupt, stupid, vindictive, self-interested decisions by a handful of people in positions of power trickle down, again and again, wreaking misery on the next generation and condemning the already vulnerable to yet more suffering.

Rewatching The Wire at the end of 2020 has, fittingly enough, kept me sane through a second lockdown and Europe’s second (or third) waves of COVID-19, now

Image Credits: Natasha Lomas

with an unfestive holiday season fast approaching. I’m just sad they only made five seasons. Can someone please call David Simon?

My DIY training wall (and other projects)

Staying sane in lockdown has definitely meant keeping busy. So when not hard at work reporting for TechCrunch (or training for climbing), I’ve made sure to have a few creative projects on the go — including a fun collaborative writing gig with my friend (and former TCer, John Biggs). But the project that’s delivered the most tangible results (so far) is my DIY training wall — which is part training tool, part artwork (I can’t take art credit but painting the wall was my idea). Planning and making the board kept me busy through the first lockdown. Being able to use it for training circuits has kept me going through the second wave of gym closures, so I think that’s a good result.

Greg Kumparak, Editor

Hunt for the Wilderpeople

Image Credits: Madman films

This one was released in 2016, but somehow flew under my radar until it was added to Netflix in late 2020. Directed by the WAY TOO DAMNED TALENTED Taika Waititi (who also directed What We Do In The Shadows, JoJo Rabbit, and the best episode of The Mandalorian), it tells the tale of Ricky Baker, a defiant teen who reluctantly finds himself under the guardianship of new foster parents in the New Zealand bush. I can’t say much more without spoiling it, but Waititi managed to cram a whole lot of movie (and emotional ups and downs) into an hour and forty minutes. Skip the trailer and just dive in.

Jackbox Party Pack Series

Image Credits: Jackbox Games

I miss friends. I miss board games. I miss board games with friends. The Jackbox series, streamed over Zoom, brings back a little bit of that energy without requiring too much setup or explanation. Pick a game, fire up a zoom screen share, play. Each “box” has a handful of different games, and everyone plays using the phones they already have as controllers. There are 7 different boxes, and you can often find the older ones on sale. My favorite boxes are the ones that include Quiplash, Drawful, Fibbage, and, with the right group of trivia loving weirdos, Trivia Murder Party.

Darrell Etherington, Science Editor

Beer delivery

Image Credits: People’s Pint Brewery

Once a week, I get beer delivered to my home and it’s great. I rotate between a few local breweries, including Bandit Brewery, Halo Brewery, Left Field Brewery and People’s Pint Brewing Company. If you’re located in Toronto or the surrounding area, look them up and enjoy.

Brilliant Smart Home Control

Image Credits: Brilliant

These panels that replace either one switch or a bank of switches are fantastic for any smart home using most of the popular products, including Ecobee, Hue and Switch. They also act as video intercoms, and can automatically provide live feeds from your Ring doorbell when someone’s at the door.

Freewrite Traveler

Image Credits: Darrell Etherington

Astrohaus’ second device is a travel-friendly version of their e-ink typewriter. It’s great even if you’re only traveling as far as the backyard, as a lap-friendly focused writing device that has no real competition anywhere. It’s the cure for doomscrolling.

Twelve South HiRise

Image Credits: TwelveSouth

If you’re used to working from a notebook computer at an office, you probably had some kind of rise or monitor. At home, a stand like the adjustable Twelve South HiRise is clutch for comfort and ergonomics.

Romain Dillet, Writer

Thelma & Louise

The best way to escape from COVID reality and fight patriarchal societal structure at the same time. A masterpiece that will leave you speechless and push you to blaze your own trail across the desert.

Megan Rose Dickey, Senior Reporter

Tony’s Chocolonely Milk Chocolate Caramel Sea Salt

Image Credits: Tony’s Chocolonely

Tony’s Chocolonely has been my saving grace this year, and last year. And the year before that.

I’ve been a chocolate addict since I was a wee one — back when a Hershey’s chocolate bar only cost $0.35 at my local corner store. Tony’s Chocolonely costs a pricey $5.95 per bar, but it is so worth it.

Alex Wilhelm, Senior Editor

Reading books in the bath

This isn’t something that you can buy, but it’s something I have spent inordinate amounts of time doing this year. Reading is good, baths are good, and together they provide the perfect place to read lots in a one sitting without winding up on Twitter by accident.

Stacey Cohen, Strategic Sales and Partnerships

Zoom Yoga

The number one way I stayed sane this year was with the amazing opportunities to practice yoga with my favorite SF teachers, like Janet Stone, Rusty Wells, Jeremy Falk, Peter Walters, and Melody Pfeiffer just to to name a few. This gave me something to focus on (especially during these winter months of lockdown). Janet Stone in particular created a platform that basically became group therapy and such an amazing support system. Outdooryogasf saved my life while living alone during a pandemic! The innovation around yoga and creating zoom classes, integrating music, creating community was bar none the best experience for me in 2020.

Friday night zoom movie nights

I can’t believe I am still doing this a year later. Every Friday, my friends log in to watch movies together. Most of the time I fall asleep, but we’ve watched so many movies and it’s a great way to stay connected.

Image Credits: Tony Sala

Tony Sala, Director of Sales

New Family

While it was difficult to be separated from friends and family, the smile from a little one can melt your heart. Aria Bella born in the middle of the pandemic, May 2020.

The Great Outdoors

No, not the movie. The actual physical real world outdoors. For me in 2020, the great outdoors was a great escape (no, not another movie reference). A good ol breath of fresh air goes a long way towards positive mental health.

Bryce Durbin, Illustrator

Duolingo

Image Credits: Duolingo

I started using this app on a whim in January and kept going after I realized it was free (albeit ad-supported). The courses, built around sample sentences that test reading, speaking and hearing, introduce vocabulary and grammar with fun animated characters. Nothing can take the place of practicing the language with native speakers, but this is a good place to start.

What Had Happened Was (Podcast)

Image Credits: What Had Happened Was

The best new podcast of the year is two dudes talking, but not just any dudes: polymath Open Mike Eagle interviews legendary producer Prince Paul over the course of 12 episodes about the many varied projects of his 30-plus-year career. Whether you are deeply familiar with groups such as De La Soul and Handsome Boy Modeling School or are ready to dive in, these stories are fascinating.

Local pub trivia (Online)

A pub in my town would host trivia every Thursday, pre-pandemic. The same week things shut down, clever organizers cobbled together an online version using a YouTube stream and Google forms, attracting dozens more teams than could ever attend in person. The pub has recently shut down but the game goes on, now in its fortieth week. (My small team has yet to win.)

Safa Aliabadi, Events Partnerships

Peloton

Image Credits: Peloton

Since all the fitness classes that I used to take are no longer availabe (OrangeTheory, Barry’s, SoulCycle), the Peloton has kept me active and sane. I love the variety of classes it offers, from yoga to bootcamp. Also, being able to take a class at my schedule and convenience makes it even more convenient. It’s going to be hard to go back to a studio once (if ever) we’re back to normal.

Catherine Shu, Writer

Audiobooks read by Juliet Stevenson

I’ve depended on audiobooks for a lot of my reading over the past months and realized how rare a narrator like Juliet Stevenson is. She subtly uncovers depths of meaning in sentences, especially dialogue, without overpowering them with her own intepretation. Each phrase feels like it’s been lit from within.

I’m not the only one person who relied on Stevenson’s narration to mentally escape this year. In a Lithub article, Scott Spencer, who has spent more than 300 hours listening to Stevenson reading, wrote, “Even a fatuous idea becomes interesting as she has enlarges and illuminates it with her voice—that voice which is the audible expression of her profundity and humanity.” Fortunately for Stevenson’s fans, she is a prolific narrator, with over 180 titles listed on Audible. Her work spans many genres, so if you’re looking for somewhere to start, I highly recommend “The Paying Guests” by Sarah Waters.

Lovecraft Country

Lovecraft Country

Image Credits: HBO

“Lovecraft Country” is a show that stays with you for a long time after you watch it. Honestly, I kind of regret binge watching it, because in hindsight it would have been better to let each episode marinate in my head for a couple days before plowing back into the narrative.

If you’re in the same place, I highly recommend reading Kinitra Brooks’ reviews on The Root to help you unpack the show. Dr. Brooks is a literary scholar who focuses on Black women and genre fiction, and her essays explore each episode’s treatment of horror themes and historical context (though “historical” feels like the wrong word to use here because even though the show takes place in 1955, all of its commentary on racism is still highly relevant today). HBO’s official podcast, hosted by Ashley C. Ford and “Lovecraft Country” writer Shannon Houston, is also wonderful.

Warrior

Andrew Koji in "Warrior"

Image Credits: David Bloomer / HBO (opens in a new window)

Now that Cinemax has stopped producing original content, the future of “Warrior,” based on a concept developed by Bruce Lee, is unclear. I’m really hoping that it gains enough new viewers on HBO Max to warrant another season and tie up loose ends, because I’ve become emotionally invested in many of the characters.

There’s Ah Sahm (the lead, played by Andrew Koji), of course, but I also want to see how Young Jun (Jason Tobin) copes with finally gaining real power, and learn more about the women characters, especially Mai Ling (Dianne Doan) and Ah Toy (Olivia Cheng), whose motivations were really only hinted at in the first two seasons. As someone who grew up when yellowface was still routinely broadcast on TV, it’s extremely meaningful to see a show where the majority of the cast is Asian. I love how the show plays with language and accents to depict how the Chinese characters appear to one another, versus how to appear to white characters, and also how it deftly switches between honoring and subverting martial arts movie tropes.

Steve O’hear, Writer

Virtual events

I actually feel slightly guilty about this one — hey, I’m British, it’s what we do best — but the move away from in-person to virtual events has been an amazing leveler for me and net positive overall.

I use a wheelchair and have other physical challenges that make traveling for work more difficult and energy-sapping, so historically I’d only get to do one or two events per year as a moderator or speaker. That all changed in 2020 and by my count I’ve done well over 10 events, including high profile conferences like our own Disrupt, CogX and Slush. Ceilings are often broken when and in ways you least expect them to be.

Endlesss

Image Credits: Endlesss

Launched on March 31st, just as the U.K. and many other countries around the world first entered lockdown, Endlesss is a collaborative music making app (iOS and Mac) that combines software recreations of drum machines, samplers, synths and FX, with a “tap to loop” workflow that should be familiar to anyone who has used a looper pedal or loop-based sequencer.

What makes Endlesss different and exciting is the way these loops or riffs can be shared or remixed by others participating in your jam — essentially sending musical messages back and forth as if it were a chatroom. Unsurprisingly, for many (myself included), the app has been a creative, and dare I say, therapeutic outlet during the pandemic.

Anthony Ha, Senior Writer

Beyond a Steel Sky

As someone who grew up loving classic adventure games, I found this Apple Arcade title to be a near-perfect update of the old-school formula.

You play as Robert Foster, a man whose search for a missing child draws him back to a seemingly utopian city after years in the wilderness. The game is filled with colorful characters and locations (designed by “Watchmen” artist Dave Gibbons), with puzzles that rely less on ridiculous combinations of inventory items and more on conversation and hacking the various bits of technology around the city. The game is a sequel to the 25-year-old “Beneath a Steel Sky,” but I didn’t have a problem jumping in fresh, and although it’s a bit prone to crashing on my iPad, I’ve happy to endure a few bugs while exploring the fascinating world.

Geek’s Guide to the Galaxy

David Barr Kirtley’s science fiction-focused podcast has been around for more than a decade, and it’s been my favorite podcast for most of that time. My appreciation only increased this year, when I frequently found myself desperate to think about things other than the pandemic and the election.

The show’s in-depth author interviews and panel discussions allowed me to lose myself in hours of conversation about bad video game movies, or “book club” discussions of science fiction classics like “Dune.” (Dave was kind enough to ask me to join for an episode about one of my favorite books, “Foundation,” and that conversation was one of the highlights of my year. But now I can’t listen to the episode without hearing my dumb voice!)

Image Credits: Robin Roy Julius

Robin Roy Julius, Lead Software Engineer

Time

Working from home has allowed me to gain back time with my family. This was the silver lining to 2020 for me. I was able to spend more time with my family. There wasn’t time taken to travel to work and home. I was at my workplace at home. I could spend time with my wife and kids within 3 steps of my work area. It was sometimes rambunctious, noisy, loud, chaotic or all of the above, but it was well worth being able to spend more time with them.

Lucas Matney, Reporter

Future subscription

I’ve been paying for Future’s exercise plan subscription since covering the company’s Series B raise back in October. The app pairs you with a personal trainer who communicates with you over text and makes guided workout plans for you. The service’s $150/mo is certainly nothing to balk at, but during a year when gyms have shuttered and the amount of time I’ve spent inside my apartment skyrocketed, it’s grown a lot harder to draw boundaries inside my day and the app has done wonders helping me mentally carve out time to get active.

The weakness of the program is a lack of live feedback especially when it comes to safely pulling off a new lift or routine, but the key to making the most of the platform is asking more of your trainer in between sessions and getting that guidance. Paying for Future has been a luxury but it’s been a game changer these past few months and I’m hoping I can keep this quarantine habit going.

Luxury sweatpants

Image Credits: Outdoor Voices

By about early-April of this year, it was clear that comfort was king but that getting dressed up for the work day was a radical act of self care. I’ll admit, I’ve gone through ebbs and flows, but I eventually landed on a solution that skewed heavily towards comfort. I doled out some cash on some very comfy, activewear sweatpants from Outdoor Voices. I opted for the Sunday sweatpants during a sale and stocked up on a couple pairs. Spending as much on sweatpants as I would on some dress pants required some mental gymnastics to justify, but surviving 2020 is an exercise in flexibility.

Daily Latte

I got real lazy with coffee this year. Last year, I was hipstered to the nines with a great pour-over coffee setup including a gooseneck kettle and a Chemex. In early quarantine after nearly everything had shut down in SF, an afternoon trip to the coffee shop became one of the few moments in the day to clear my head and refocus my brain. That got expensive over time as my latte addiction grew, I also gained like 15 pounds which I can attribute to several bad habits. Fast forward to present and I’ve boarded the Nespresso train again after a hiatus, this time using a new machine from their Vertuo line which boasts double espresso shot pods which have been a godsend. I’ve been teaming a double shot with some oat milk frothed in one of their Aeroccino machines. Yum.

Atoms Masks

Image Credits: Atoms

I love these masks, they’re comfy, easy to clean and were a great upgrade from other face-hugging solutions. Lots of sizes and fun colors have made these a great option to inject some personality into pandemic wear.

Travis Bernard, Senior Director of Membership

Barry’s At-Home

Exercising during the pandemic hasn’t been easy. Gyms are closed, and most don’t have exercise machines at home. I’ve always been a big fan of Barry’s Bootcamp for HIIT exercise classes, and now they’ve brought the experience into your living room with Barry’s At-Home. The 45-minute virtual classes will get your heart rate up and help shed the pounds you put on in 2020. I’ve done well over 100 Barry’s At-Home classes this year, and it’s been a wonderful way to keep my mind and body optimized for performance.

National Parks Annual Pass

Digital detox was much needed in 2020. My wife and I had a chance to visit three national parks this year, and it was one of the best ways to get away from our devices. It’s amazing what a day of hiking will do for your mindfulness. The National Parks Annual Pass will run you $80 and gets you access to all the National Parks and Federal Recreational Lands.

 

 

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‘Excess Mortality Skyrocketed’: Tucker Carlson and Dr. Pierre Kory Unpack ‘Criminal’ COVID Response

‘Excess Mortality Skyrocketed’: Tucker Carlson and Dr. Pierre Kory Unpack ‘Criminal’ COVID Response

As the global pandemic unfolded, government-funded…

Published

7 hours ago

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March 14, 2024

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'Excess Mortality Skyrocketed': Tucker Carlson and Dr. Pierre Kory Unpack 'Criminal' COVID Response

As the global pandemic unfolded, government-funded experimental vaccines were hastily developed for a virus which primarily killed the old and fat (and those with other obvious comorbidities), and an aggressive, global campaign to coerce billions into injecting them ensued.

Then there were the lockdowns - with some countries (New Zealand, for example) building internment camps for those who tested positive for Covid-19, and others such as China welding entire apartment buildings shut to trap people inside.

It was an egregious and unnecessary response to a virus that, while highly virulent, was survivable by the vast majority of the general population.

Oh, and the vaccines, which governments are still pushing, didn't work as advertised to the point where health officials changed the definition of "vaccine" multiple times.

Tucker Carlson recently sat down with Dr. Pierre Kory, a critical care specialist and vocal critic of vaccines. The two had a wide-ranging discussion, which included vaccine safety and efficacy, excess mortality, demographic impacts of the virus, big pharma, and the professional price Kory has paid for speaking out.

Keep reading below, or if you have roughly 50 minutes, watch it in its entirety for free on X:

"Do we have any real sense of what the cost, the physical cost to the country and world has been of those vaccines?" Carlson asked, kicking off the interview.

"I do think we have some understanding of the cost. I mean, I think, you know, you're aware of the work of of Ed Dowd, who's put together a team and looked, analytically at a lot of the epidemiologic data," Kory replied. "I mean, time with that vaccination rollout is when all of the numbers started going sideways, the excess mortality started to skyrocket."

When asked "what kind of death toll are we looking at?", Kory responded "...in 2023 alone, in the first nine months, we had what's called an excess mortality of 158,000 Americans," adding "But this is in 2023. I mean, we've  had Omicron now for two years, which is a mild variant. Not that many go to the hospital."

'Safe and Effective'

Tucker also asked Kory why the people who claimed the vaccine were "safe and effective" aren't being held criminally liable for abetting the "killing of all these Americans," to which Kory replied: "It’s my kind of belief, looking back, that [safe and effective] was a predetermined conclusion. There was no data to support that, but it was agreed upon that it would be presented as safe and effective."

Carlson and Kory then discussed the different segments of the population that experienced vaccine side effects, with Kory noting an "explosion in dying in the youngest and healthiest sectors of society," adding "And why did the employed fare far worse than those that weren't? And this particularly white collar, white collar, more than gray collar, more than blue collar."

Kory also said that Big Pharma is 'terrified' of Vitamin D because it "threatens the disease model." As journalist The Vigilant Fox notes on X, "Vitamin D showed about a 60% effectiveness against the incidence of COVID-19 in randomized control trials," and "showed about 40-50% effectiveness in reducing the incidence of COVID-19 in observational studies."

Professional costs

Kory - while risking professional suicide by speaking out, has undoubtedly helped save countless lives by advocating for alternate treatments such as Ivermectin.

Kory shared his own experiences of job loss and censorship, highlighting the challenges of advocating for a more nuanced understanding of vaccine safety in an environment often resistant to dissenting voices.

"I wrote a book called The War on Ivermectin and the the genesis of that book," he said, adding "Not only is my expertise on Ivermectin and my vast clinical experience, but and I tell the story before, but I got an email, during this journey from a guy named William B Grant, who's a professor out in California, and he wrote to me this email just one day, my life was going totally sideways because our protocols focused on Ivermectin. I was using a lot in my practice, as were tens of thousands of doctors around the world, to really good benefits. And I was getting attacked, hit jobs in the media, and he wrote me this email on and he said, Dear Dr. Kory, what they're doing to Ivermectin, they've been doing to vitamin D for decades..."

"And it's got five tactics. And these are the five tactics that all industries employ when science emerges, that's inconvenient to their interests. And so I'm just going to give you an example. Ivermectin science was extremely inconvenient to the interests of the pharmaceutical industrial complex. I mean, it threatened the vaccine campaign. It threatened vaccine hesitancy, which was public enemy number one. We know that, that everything, all the propaganda censorship was literally going after something called vaccine hesitancy."

Money makes the world go 'round

Carlson then hit on perhaps the most devious aspect of the relationship between drug companies and the medical establishment, and how special interests completely taint science to the point where public distrust of institutions has spiked in recent years.

"I think all of it starts at the level the medical journals," said Kory. "Because once you have something established in the medical journals as a, let's say, a proven fact or a generally accepted consensus, consensus comes out of the journals."

"I have dozens of rejection letters from investigators around the world who did good trials on ivermectin, tried to publish it. No thank you, no thank you, no thank you. And then the ones that do get in all purportedly prove that ivermectin didn't work," Kory continued.

"So and then when you look at the ones that actually got in and this is where like probably my biggest estrangement and why I don't recognize science and don't trust it anymore, is the trials that flew to publication in the top journals in the world were so brazenly manipulated and corrupted in the design and conduct in, many of us wrote about it. But they flew to publication, and then every time they were published, you saw these huge PR campaigns in the media. New York Times, Boston Globe, L.A. times, ivermectin doesn't work. Latest high quality, rigorous study says. I'm sitting here in my office watching these lies just ripple throughout the media sphere based on fraudulent studies published in the top journals. And that's that's that has changed. Now that's why I say I'm estranged and I don't know what to trust anymore."

Vaccine Injuries

Carlson asked Kory about his clinical experience with vaccine injuries.

"So how this is how I divide, this is just kind of my perception of vaccine injury is that when I use the term vaccine injury, I'm usually referring to what I call a single organ problem, like pericarditis, myocarditis, stroke, something like that. An autoimmune disease," he replied.

"What I specialize in my practice, is I treat patients with what we call a long Covid long vaxx. It's the same disease, just different triggers, right? One is triggered by Covid, the other one is triggered by the spike protein from the vaccine. Much more common is long vax. The only real differences between the two conditions is that the vaccinated are, on average, sicker and more disabled than the long Covids, with some pretty prominent exceptions to that."

Watch the entire interview above, and you can support Tucker Carlson's endeavors by joining the Tucker Carlson Network here...

Tyler Durden Thu, 03/14/2024 - 16:20

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International

Shakira’s net worth

After 12 albums, a tax evasion case, and now a towering bronze idol sculpted in her image, how much is Shakira worth more than 4 decades into her care…

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March 14, 2024

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Shakira’s considerable net worth is no surprise, given her massive popularity in Latin America, the U.S., and elsewhere. 

In fact, the belly-dancing contralto queen is the second-wealthiest Latin-America-born pop singer of all time after Gloria Estefan. (Interestingly, Estefan actually helped a young Shakira translate her breakout album “Laundry Service” into English, hugely propelling her stateside success.)

Since releasing her first record at age 13, Shakira has spent decades recording albums in both Spanish and English and performing all over the world. Over the course of her 40+ year career, she helped thrust Latin pop music into the American mainstream, paving the way for the subsequent success of massively popular modern acts like Karol G and Bad Bunny.

In late 2023, a 21-foot-tall bronze sculpture of Shakira, the barefoot belly dancer of Barranquilla, was unveiled at the city's waterfront. The statue was commissioned by the city's former mayor and other leadership.

Photo by STR/AFP via Getty Images

In December 2023, a 21-foot-tall beachside bronze statue of the “Hips Don’t Lie” singer was unveiled in her Colombian hometown of Barranquilla, making her a permanent fixture in the city’s skyline and cementing her legacy as one of Latin America’s most influential entertainers.

After 12 albums, a plethora of film and television appearances, a highly publicized tax evasion case, and now a towering bronze idol sculpted in her image, how much is Shakira worth? What does her income look like? And how does she spend her money?

Related: Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson's net worth: How the new TKO Board Member built his wealth from $7

How much is Shakira worth?

In late 2023, Spanish sports and lifestyle publication Marca reported Shakira’s net worth at $400 million, citing Forbes as the figure’s source (although Forbes’ profile page for Shakira does not list a net worth — and didn’t when that article was published).

Most other sources list the singer’s wealth at an estimated $300 million, and almost all of these point to Celebrity Net Worth — a popular but dubious celebrity wealth estimation site — as the source for the figure.

A $300 million net worth would make Shakira the third-richest Latina pop star after Gloria Estefan ($500 million) and Jennifer Lopez ($400 million), and the second-richest Latin-America-born pop singer after Estefan (JLo is Puerto Rican but was born in New York).

Shakira’s income: How much does she make annually?

Entertainers like Shakira don’t have predictable paychecks like ordinary salaried professionals. Instead, annual take-home earnings vary quite a bit depending on each year’s album sales, royalties, film and television appearances, streaming revenue, and other sources of income. As one might expect, Shakira’s earnings have fluctuated quite a bit over the years.

From June 2018 to June 2019, for instance, Shakira was the 10th highest-earning female musician, grossing $35 million, according to Forbes. This wasn’t her first time gracing the top 10, though — back in 2012, she also landed the #10 spot, bringing in $20 million, according to Billboard.

In 2023, Billboard listed Shakira as the 16th-highest-grossing Latin artist of all time.

Shakira performed alongside producer Bizarrap during the 2023 Latin Grammy Awards Gala in Seville.

Photo By Maria Jose Lopez/Europa Press via Getty Images

How much does Shakira make from her concerts and tours?

A large part of Shakira’s wealth comes from her world tours, during which she sometimes sells out massive stadiums and arenas full of passionate fans eager to see her dance and sing live.

According to a 2020 report by Pollstar, she sold over 2.7 million tickets across 190 shows that grossed over $189 million between 2000 and 2020. This landed her the 19th spot on a list of female musicians ranked by touring revenue during that period. In 2023, Billboard reported a more modest touring revenue figure of $108.1 million across 120 shows.

In 2003, Shakira reportedly generated over $4 million from a single show on Valentine’s Day at Foro Sol in Mexico City. 15 years later, in 2018, Shakira grossed around $76.5 million from her El Dorado World Tour, according to Touring Data.

Related: RuPaul's net worth: Everything to know about the cultural icon and force behind 'Drag Race'

How much has Shakira made from her album sales?

According to a 2023 profile in Variety, Shakira has sold over 100 million records throughout her career. “Laundry Service,” the pop icon’s fifth studio album, was her most successful, selling over 13 million copies worldwide, according to TheRichest.

Exactly how much money Shakira has taken home from her album sales is unclear, but in 2008, it was widely reported that she signed a 10-year contract with LiveNation to the tune of between $70 and $100 million to release her subsequent albums and manage her tours.

Shakira and JLo co-headlined the 2020 Super Bowl Halftime Show in Florida.

Photo by Kevin Winter/Getty Images)

How much did Shakira make from her Super Bowl and World Cup performances?

Shakira co-wrote one of her biggest hits, “Waka Waka (This Time for Africa),” after FIFA selected her to create the official anthem for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa. She performed the song, along with several of her existing fan-favorite tracks, during the event’s opening ceremonies. TheThings reported in 2023 that the song generated $1.4 million in revenue, citing Popnable for the figure.

A decade later, 2020’s Superbowl halftime show featured Shakira and Jennifer Lopez as co-headliners with guest performances by Bad Bunny and J Balvin. The 14-minute performance was widely praised as a high-energy celebration of Latin music and dance, but as is typical for Super Bowl shows, neither Shakira nor JLo was compensated beyond expenses and production costs.

The exposure value that comes with performing in the Super Bowl Halftime Show, though, is significant. It is typically the most-watched television event in the U.S. each year, and in 2020, a 30-second Super Bowl ad spot cost between $5 and $6 million.

How much did Shakira make as a coach on “The Voice?”

Shakira served as a team coach on the popular singing competition program “The Voice” during the show’s fourth and sixth seasons. On the show, celebrity musicians coach up-and-coming amateurs in a team-based competition that eventually results in a single winner. In 2012, The Hollywood Reporter wrote that Shakira’s salary as a coach on “The Voice” was $12 million.

Related: John Cena's net worth: The wrestler-turned-actor's investments, businesses, and more

How does Shakira spend her money?

Shakira doesn’t just make a lot of money — she spends it, too. Like many wealthy entertainers, she’s purchased her share of luxuries, but Barranquilla’s barefoot belly dancer is also a prolific philanthropist, having donated tens of millions to charitable causes throughout her career.

Private island

Back in 2006, she teamed up with Roger Waters of Pink Floyd fame and Spanish singer Alejandro Sanz to purchase Bonds Cay, a 550-acre island in the Bahamas, which was listed for $16 million at the time.

Along with her two partners in the purchase, Shakira planned to develop the island to feature housing, hotels, and an artists’ retreat designed to host a revolving cast of artists-in-residence. This plan didn’t come to fruition, though, and as of this article’s last update, the island was once again for sale on Vladi Private Islands.

Real estate and vehicles

Like most wealthy celebs, Shakira’s portfolio of high-end playthings also features an array of luxury properties and vehicles, including a home in Barcelona, a villa in Cyprus, a Miami mansion, and a rotating cast of Mercedes-Benz vehicles.

Philanthropy and charity

Shakira doesn’t just spend her massive wealth on herself; the “Queen of Latin Music” is also a dedicated philanthropist and regularly donates portions of her earnings to the Fundación Pies Descalzos, or “Barefoot Foundation,” a charity she founded in 1997 to “improve the education and social development of children in Colombia, which has suffered decades of conflict.” The foundation focuses on providing meals for children and building and improving educational infrastructure in Shakira’s hometown of Barranquilla as well as four other Colombian communities.

In addition to her efforts with the Fundación Pies Descalzos, Shakira has made a number of other notable donations over the years. In 2007, she diverted a whopping $40 million of her wealth to help rebuild community infrastructure in Peru and Nicaragua in the wake of a devastating 8.0 magnitude earthquake. Later, during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, Shakira donated a large supply of N95 masks for healthcare workers and ventilators for hospital patients to her hometown of Barranquilla.

Back in 2010, the UN honored Shakira with a medal to recognize her dedication to social justice, at which time the Director General of the International Labour Organization described her as a “true ambassador for children and young people.”

On November 20, 2023 (which was supposed to be her first day of trial), Shakira reached a deal with the prosecution that resulted in a three-year suspended sentence and around $8 million in fines.

Photo by Adria Puig/Anadolu via Getty Images

Shakira’s tax fraud scandal: How much did she pay?

In 2018, prosecutors in Spain initiated a tax evasion case against Shakira, alleging she lived primarily in Spain from 2012 to 2014 and therefore failed to pay around $14.4 million in taxes to the Spanish government. Spanish law requires anyone who is “domiciled” (i.e., living primarily) in Spain for more than half of the year to pay income taxes.

During the period in question, Shakira listed the Bahamas as her primary residence but did spend some time in Spain, as she was dating Gerard Piqué, a professional footballer and Spanish citizen. The couple’s first son, Milan, was also born in Barcelona during this period. 

Shakira maintained that she spent far fewer than 183 days per year in Spain during each of the years in question. In an interview with Elle Magazine, the pop star opined that “Spanish tax authorities saw that I was dating a Spanish citizen and started to salivate. It's clear they wanted to go after that money no matter what."

Prosecutors in the case sought a fine of almost $26 million and a possible eight-year prison stint, but in November of 2023, Shakira took a deal to close the case, accepting a fine of around $8 million and a three-year suspended sentence to avoid going to trial. In reference to her decision to take the deal, Shakira stated, "While I was determined to defend my innocence in a trial that my lawyers were confident would have ruled in my favour [had the trial proceeded], I have made the decision to finally resolve this matter with the best interest of my kids at heart who do not want to see their mom sacrifice her personal well-being in this fight."

How much did the Shakira statue in Barranquilla cost?

In late 2023, a 21-foot-tall bronze likeness of Shakira was unveiled on a waterfront promenade in Barranquilla. The city’s then-mayor, Jaime Pumarejo, commissioned Colombian sculptor Yino Márquez to create the statue of the city’s treasured pop icon, along with a sculpture of the city’s coat of arms.

According to the New York Times, the two sculptures cost the city the equivalent of around $180,000. A plaque at the statue’s base reads, “A heart that composes, hips that don’t lie, an unmatched talent, a voice that moves the masses and bare feet that march for the good of children and humanity.” 

Related: Taylor Swift net worth: The most successful entertainer joins the billionaire's club

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International

Delta Air Lines adds a new route travelers have been asking for

The new Delta seasonal flight to the popular destination will run daily on a Boeing 767-300.

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March 14, 2024

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Those who have tried to book a flight from North America to Europe in the summer of 2023 know just how high travel demand to the continent has spiked.

At 2.93 billion, visitors to the countries making up the European Union had finally reached pre-pandemic levels last year while North Americans in particular were booking trips to both large metropolises such as Paris and Milan as well as smaller cities growing increasingly popular among tourists.

Related: A popular European city is introducing the highest 'tourist tax' yet

As a result, U.S.-based airlines have been re-evaluating their networks to add more direct routes to smaller European destinations that most travelers would have previously needed to reach by train or transfer flight with a local airline.

The new flight will take place on a Boeing 767-300.

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Delta Air Lines: ‘Glad to offer customers increased choice…’

By the end of March, Delta Air Lines  (DAL)  will be restarting its route between New York’s JFK and Marco Polo International Airport in Venice as well as launching two new flights to Venice from Atlanta. One will start running this month while the other will be added during peak demand in the summer.

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“As one of the most beautiful cities in the world, Venice is hugely popular with U.S. travelers, and our flights bring valuable tourism and trade opportunities to the city and the region as well as unrivalled opportunities for Venetians looking to explore destinations across the Americas,” Delta’s SVP for Europe Matteo Curcio said in a statement. “We’re glad to offer customers increased choice this summer with flights from New York and additional service from Atlanta.”

The JFK-Venice flight will run on a Boeing 767-300  (BA)  and have 216 seats including higher classes such as Delta One, Delta Premium Select and Delta Comfort Plus.

Delta offers these features on the new flight

Both the New York and Atlanta flights are seasonal routes that will be pulled out of service in October. Both will run daily while the first route will depart New York at 8:55 p.m. and arrive in Venice at 10:15 a.m. local time on the way there, while leaving Venice at 12:15 p.m. to arrive at JFK at 5:05 p.m. on the way back.

According to Delta, this will bring its service to 17 flights from different U.S. cities to Venice during the peak summer period. As with most Delta flights at this point, passengers in all fare classes will have access to free Wi-Fi during the flight.

Those flying in Delta’s highest class or with access through airline status or a credit card will also be able to use the new Delta lounge that is part of the airline’s $12 billion terminal renovation and is slated to open to travelers in the coming months. The space will take up more than 40,000 square feet and have an outdoor terrace.

“Delta One customers can stretch out in a lie-flat seat and enjoy premium amenities like plush bedding made from recycled plastic bottles, more beverage options, and a seasonal chef-curated four-course meal,” Delta said of the new route. “[…] All customers can enjoy a wide selection of in-flight entertainment options and stay connected with Wi-Fi and enjoy free mobile messaging.”

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