The days are getting shorter and colder. If you’ve been looking for new media to add to your queue and keep you warm this holiday season, we’ve got you covered. Here are our staff picks of incredible projects that left us awestruck this past year–from film to TV to podcasts.
Podcasts to Tune Into The Webby Podcast: The podcast for those who want to hear directly from the great minds making the internet a wonderful place. Each week, host and Webbby CEO David-Michel Davies sits down with great digital thinkers to hear the stories behind their projects.
Normal Gossip: Host Kelsey McKinney takes listeners and her guests on wild journeys of completely harmless, hilarious, and anonymous gossip.
Wild Things: Siegfried & Roy: Emmy-winning journalist and filmmaker Steven Leckart details the last, mysterious chapters of the iconic illusionist duo Siegfried & Roy.
Object of Sound: Poet Hanif Abdurraqib explores the makings of the music shaping our culture and pushing it forward; a close study of the music and the artists behind them.
The Apology Line: The story of the phone number Manhattanites called for 15 years to confess and apologize for their wrongdoings, and the man behind it–Mr. Apology–who was ultimately consumed by his own creation.
Song Exploder: For the music lover, the podcast where artists take their songs apart piece by piece, describing the journey they took to make it.
Poetry Unbound: Host and poet Pádraig Ó Tuama thoughtfully explores poetry with the listener, lingering on each line and stanza, immersively dissecting their messages.
SuperMegaCast: YouTubers Matt Watson and Ryan Magee come together to talk and quip about everything, nothing, and all things in between. A hilarious conversation between two friends that just happens to be recorded and posted online.
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Movies to Watch The Swimmers: A touching tale of the journey two sisters took as they fled from Syria to Germany in pursuit of the Olympic swimmer track they’ve trained for their entire lives.
Aftersun: A loving father and daughter revel in their time together at a vacation resort, as young adulthood creeps around the corner and the father secretly struggles with balancing life.
Everything Everywhere All At Once: Starring the wonderful Michelle Yeoh and Stephanie Hsu, directors Daniel Kwan & Scheinert explore the multiverse that exists inside us and all around us.
The Menu: A satirical commentary on the fine dining scene, director Mark Mylod brings a story of a chef who’s pushing his menu and his diners a little too far.
Good Luck To You, Leo Grande: A retired teacher expresses and celebrates her sexuality–and her life–in a freeing relationship she enters with an escort she’s hired.
Turning Red: A coming-age story of embracing the awkwardness, unpredictability, and terrifying nature of turning 13–and turning into a panda thanks to her ancestor’s connection with them.
Bodies Bodies Bodies: Follow a group of teens through a bloodcurdling mystery when their night of playing a harmless whodunnit game goes horribly wrong.
Series to Binge Reservation Dogs: From the ingenious minds of Taika Waititi and Sterlin Harjo is an extraordinary series following the lives of four Indigenous teens who live on a reservation.
The Sandman: A modern twist to the classic tale of the sandman–known as Morpheus in this series–setting off on a journey to reclaim what was robbed from him–his own dreams.
Inside Man: Starring the talented Stanley Tucci and David Tennant is a narrative of a former criminology professor, who’s now an inmate on death row, helping solve the mystery of a missing woman from his prison cell.
Abbott Elementary: A group of passionate teachers hilariously navigate working in a school led by a principal who tends to be willfully ignorant and a school district whose last priority is education.
Chainsaw Man: When a teen drowning in debt is forced to hunt devils, he ends up facing a fatal end. Miraculously, his devil dog Pochita merges with his body and evolves to become the Chainsaw Man.
Trainwreck: Woodstock ‘99: A documentary series detailing the downfall of one of the most loved and successful music festivals to date–what exactly went wrong?
Spirit Rangers: Three Indigenous siblings, Kodi, Summer, and Eddy, are not your average kids–they are Spirit Rangers who secretly protect the national park they live in!
The Peripheral: Not everything is how it seems in this mind-bending sci-fi series. Follow Flynne Fisher as she plays around with a device that lets her see into an alternate, future reality.
Music to Add to Your Queue SAULT - 11: One of the five albums released and made available for free download before they hit streaming apps, this LP by the anonymous collective combines powerful instrumentals with their trademark narrative storytelling at the heart of each song.
Bacao Rhythm & Steel Band - Expansions: Hailing from Germany with the sounds of steel drums from Trinidad and Tobago, it’s a genre-bending collection of covers of songs both ultra-popular and niche.
YAZ - "Anymore": A refreshing hyperpop track featuring the North West London artist’s soft vocals and nostalgic lyrics.
Four Tet - "Mango Feedback": A bright and colorful track that’ll leave you bopping your head along to its upbeat sounds.
Wet Leg - Wet Leg: The debut album from the British indie rock band whose debut single Chaise Longue went viral because of their irreverent lyrics and lively energy seen across the LP.
Steve Lacy - Gemini Rights: The second studio album from the beloved The Internet guitarist is filled with his classic riffs and near-psychedelic sound.
Björk - Fossora: The return of the effervescent sounds of Bjork–Fossora is a new spin on her signature style with wonderful vocals and beats.
