Sunday Jan 02, 2022

Best of 2021 - A Call In Show

To close out 2021, I asked friends to send me voice memos about their favorite things in 2021. This clip show is made up of those voice memos covering all things personal, pop culture and professional. You've met most of the guests before and everyone is bringing a new favorite thing or an exciting update to their episode!

Act 1

Act 2

Act 3

Recommended stuff

Follow @findingfavspod on Instagram and Twitter. Rate and review on Apple Podcasts

Updates on Leah's CaringBridge

Transcript follows

Jocelyn  0:00  
Am I saying this like --

Leah Jones  0:03  
So, you'll introduce yourself -- 

Jocelyn  0:04  
Okay --

Leah Jones  0:04  
 So, you're Jocelyn Geboy, you're the co-host of Candy Chat Chicago. You don't have to --

Jocelyn  0:14  
Do I want to say why -- what episode?

Leah Jones  0:18  
No, like, what are *your* favorite things for 2021?

Jocelyn  0:21  
No, but do I have to like -- so people know what episode --

Leah Jones  0:24  
No, I'll say that -- I'll do intros. 

Jocelyn  0:25  
Got it. Okay!

Announcer  0:30  
Welcome to the Finding Favorites podcast where we explore your favorite things without using an algorithm. Here's your host, Leah Jones.

Leah Jones  0:44  
Hello, and welcome to Finding Favorites. I am your host, Leah Jones. And this is the podcast where we get recommendations from people without using an algorithm. This episode is very different than any I've ever done before. It is the final episode of 2021, but really the first episode of 2022, because I'm recording this on January 1st, 2022. I put out a call on social media and asked people to send me voicemails about their favorite things from the year and I got a lot of great answers, so this is a clip show. 

Leah Jones  1:25  
Not one where I go and pull clips from old episodes of mine, but one where people sent in new clips, up to five minutes, of their favorite things from 2021. It's a really wide range of answers from some past guests, some people who have never been guests before. Some people who listen, friends and family, Chicago media folks. This is a very, very fun episode. I will be taking January off, but the podcast won't. I think I mentioned last week that Amy Guth and Shai Korman each agreed to take on two episodes in January, as I get into the final month of chemo. The effects of Taxol are cumulative, and I need more and more naps, which means I have less and less time to do interviews and edit. And, that I'm less coherent in those interviews. 

Leah Jones  1:57  
So I thought, "Let's take a month off, ask some friends to support me with their tremendous interviewing skills." I know that they've got great people lined up. So starting next week, you'll hear from -- every other week -- from Shai, from Amy. And I'm really grateful to them for that. On the breast cancer front, I've now done eight weeks of my 12 weeks of Taxol. That means the next week when I go in, I will start my final -- no, I'll have four weeks left. So, I'll end cycle three next week, and then I'll have my final cycle. Each cycle is three weeks. Then hopefully I'll be celebrating by going to a Doughboys live show. Although, they've just had to start canceling some of their West Coast dates, because Omicron is not playing [around]. And ultimately, despite it having been my emotional carrot to get me through chemo, the safest bet might be to postpone those shows, or stay home. So we'll see. 

Leah Jones  3:48  
As we get into people sharing their favorite things of the year -- some of my favorite things in 2021 -- learning how to accept help from friends and family. That's just been a big life lesson I had to learn after my diagnosis -- which is that you can't super-independent your way through a major diagnosis, even an easy one, even a stage one. I'm still going to be under treatment for a whole year, which is wild. I have had a lot of fun improving my podcast skills and starting my second podcast, Candy Chat Chicago.

Leah Jones  4:28  
This summer, my nephew moved to Chicago. And I really, really enjoyed getting to know him better and having him and his two cats in my house for the summer. Now he's in a new neighborhood, but we're trying to see each other a couple times a month. We continue to listen to a lot of podcasts, "Friday Night Movie" podcast with the Korman siblings. "The Doughboys" and the Doughboy fan community has been a lot of fun for me the "Armchair Expert" fan community. I listen to a lot of Nicole Byer, a lot of Jon Gabrus. A lot of "How Did This Get Made?," a lot, a lot of comedy podcasts. "The Bagel Report," with my friend Esther, and Erin BenMoshe, gosh, there's just a lot of downloads every week, because we're still in this pandemic. I think the other thing that will carry through that I really learned during the pandemic, not just in 2021, is just how good a fire pit is for socializing. Fire pits have been at the center of everything. 

Leah Jones  5:44  
So, let's get into Act One. Act One, we've got Shai and Lily from the Friday Night Movie podcast. Act One is kind of people with pop culture favorites from 2021 to share. We've got Shai and Lily from Friday Night Movie podcast. Monica Reida, who joined me originally to talk about the "Murdoch Mysteries" -- she is back with some more recommendations. Steve Higgins, who originally joined me to talk about "Doctor Who," is back with an introduction to "Encanto," the new movie from Disney, and Max Pacheco has returned with highlights from his quest to have the most complete Disney collection in the world. So, here we go with Act One.

Shai  6:47  
I'm Shai.

Lily  6:48  
I'm Lily.

Shai  6:49  
And we're from the "Friday Night Movie" podcast; we are huge fans of Finding Favorites. And our favorite things of 2021 were ... Lily, why don't you take it away?

Lily  6:59  
Well, I sent Leah some candy, and my favorite thing was her episode from Candy Chat podcast about ripping my candy apart. To be fair, I never actually have eaten the candy I sent her. And when her mom said on the podcast, "Oh, you can use this as chapstick," for one of the candies, possibly I've never been more offended and more elated in my life.

Shai  7:27  
I'll just pile on and say Candy Chat has been one of my favorite things in 2021. And the moment in the same episode, when Jocelyn just starts cursing at me as if *I* was the one who sent the candy. 

Lily  7:39  
I know -- she kept blaming you. 

Shai  7:41  
That's perfection. 

Lily  7:42  
But, I have to redeem myself. I brought this time, from Spain, a delicious candy that I think is really good, and I'm going to send it to Leah and I want to redeem myself.

Shai  7:53  
Good luck. Other favorite things of this year, other than trying the Pearson's Salted Nut Roll, which was absolutely amazing, other favorite things of this year I would say --because we were just talking about this on Friday Night Movie -- I just watched "Dopesick." I think that was one of the most amazing TV anything's I've ever seen. The acting, the storytelling is incredible. I think that "Reservation Dogs" was an amazing show. And I really loved "Ghostbusters Afterlife." "Ghostbusters Afterlife" made me so happy because Ghostbusters -- I really wanted it to be good and I had low expectations, and it made me so happy in my heart.

Lily  8:34  
 I'm glad you really enjoyed it.

Shai  8:36  
I'm really enjoying getting into "Succession." Oh, and you know what? Because I know Finding Favorites has had the great Adam Salzer on, I will say another favorite of mine this year --  AEW wrestling [All Elite Wrestling] has been off the hook --  absolutely incredible. I don't miss it, every week -- I mean, I never miss it, not I don't miss it. I never miss it. And that is a big thing -- people should listen to the Adam Salzer episode of Finding Favorites and then go watch some AW wrestling. Lily, what about you?

Lily  9:04  
l'll be quick --

Shai  9:05  
AEW wrestling? 

Lily  9:08  
I didn't know they made A and W wrestling.

Shai  9:09  
Not A and W -- AEW. 

Lily  9:11  
Do they have hot dogs? [laughter]

Shai  9:13  
I feel like they should do a root beer promotion.

Lily  9:16  
I feel like this year, I wasn't my most productive in TV and movie watching, but I did like "Maid" on Netflix, the mini-series or whatever, with Margaret Qualley and Andi McDowell. I thought that was really well done, and I love "Working Moms." I think that Catherine Reitman's hilarious --

Shai  9:41  
So, we went double Reitman today --

Lily  9:42  
Yeah, double Reitman. I think they're killing it, those two. Highly enjoying "Succession," I really enjoyed Andrea Savage's "I'm Sorry."

Shai  9:50  
That's true, even though it's over. 

Lily  9:51  
Even though it's over, I thought that was delightful, just so fun. I know I enjoyed, and I love listening to you talk about "The Other Two."

Shai  9:59  
"The Other Two" -- oh, that's the new --

Lily  10:01  
That was a gift --

Shai  10:02  
I'm just saying that's the new "Schitt's Creek." For anyone who's looking for "Schitt's Creek," it's "The Other Two," for sure.

Lily  10:07  
Yeah. And then I'm loving watching "Succession" and "The Witcher" with you guys.

Shai  10:12  
So Leah, we love your show, we love you. We wish you an amazing, happy and healthy New Year, and lots of great things to come in 2022.

Lily  10:22  
Lots of love!! Bye!

Monica  10:43  
Hi, my name is Monica Reida, I am a journalist and writer, and in 2021, some of the things that I really enjoyed were -- starting with the "Owl House" on Disney Channel, which can be viewed on Disney Plus. It is a show about Luz, a young woman who goes through a portal and ends up in the demon realm. As a result of her desire to be a witch, she ends up falling in with Itta, the owl lady, an outlaw witch in the demon realm, who also lives in a house that has the spirit of an owl in it named Hootie, and a demon named King. 

Monica  11:26  
"Owl House" is absolutely delightful. It plays with a lot of the things that we have kind of seen as tropes, particularly with Harry Potter. But "Owl House" also has a very dark sensibility. Despite being a show ostensibly for children -- it is on Disney Channel, after all -- it also has an unapologetically Latina protagonist, and it is very, very queer in season 2-A of the show. Luz does get a girlfriend and it does portray that relationship in very cute sort of way. So the Owl House is certainly one, it kind of became a bit of a balm, but also made me cry quite a bit. 

Monica  12:18  
I also was a huge fan of the album "Impossible a' Aimer" by Coeur de Pirate. Coeur de Pirate is the performing name of Béatrice Martin, from Quebec. It's an album that's her response to a lot of French language tabloid speculation about her personal life in positive. "Aimer" is French for "impossible to love." And it's in French, so if you don't speak French, that might seem a little intimidating, but I will say that of the songs on the album, "On s'aimera toujours," and "Dans l'obscurité" are just kind of absolute bangers. So "Impossible a' Aimer" by Coeur de Pirate.

Monica  13:06  
In 2021, I also kind of got back into things I loved or discovered things that I had always had a bit of an interest in, but never took the plunge to really explore. One of those is Formula One racing. I have memories of watching Formula One, and I finally found someone else who was enthusiastic about it, qnd I have gone all-in on Formula One. This was a very interesting season. Lots of drama, particularly between Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton, in terms of who would be the world champion. Once you start to dive into Formula One, you'll find that you end up loving a lot of the drivers. Especially when you look at their social media, which, again, social media is kind of curated, they're giving off a sense of who they are, but you just kind of can't help but love a lot of these drivers. They're so wonderful. And a lot of the relationships between them, it's honestly a little wholesome. So, Formula One is another thing that I really loved this year. 

Monica  14:16  
I also ended up getting into Magic the Gathering. So, we'll end it off on a little bit of a very potentially nerdy note, and ended up discovering that I really, really love that game. And particularly with some of the sets that came out, it was, "Oh, this is great. This is exciting." And finding ways to try to play it in the pandemic has been fun. If you're still being responsible, if you're still staying home quite a bit, there are plenty of ways you can play it remotely. You can play it on Magic the Gathering arena. That's sometimes what I do when I just want to blow off steam at the end of the day. Or you can possibly play it with a good webcam, if you have cards. Those are some of the things that I really loved in 2021.

Steve  15:26  
Hello, my name is Steve Higgins. I am a professor of English at Lewis and Clark Community College. And my favorite thing of 2021 was the Disney film "Encanto." This movie that came out in November; I saw it in theaters when it came out, and I absolutely loved it from the get-go. It kind of disappointed me that a lot of people weren't talking about how phenomenal the movie was, now that it's available on Disney Plus streaming as of Christmas Eve. I'm hopeful that more people seek it out. But I think it's flying under a lot of people's radar, and that's doing the movie a great disservice. It's a really powerful film, phenomenal music; Lin Manuel Miranda wrote the songs for it. And they highlight the themes and the characters so well. 

Steve  16:23  
The film is about a family in Colombia, who due to strife within their village, had to leave their home and try to find a safer place to live. The maternal figure of who is known in the film is Abuela. She's the grandmother of our main character. She and her husband were leading the group of people away from their old village and they were being chased by some bad people. We never really know exactly why these people were being persecuted, but he sacrifices his life in order to save the family and all the others that are traveling with them. When Abuela finds out, when she witnesses this, she's heartbroken, as you can imagine. And in that moment, a miracle occurs. The area that they've reached is separated by mountains magically, all of a sudden, and a house builds itself from the ground up. It's a magic house that can interact with them and her three triplets, children. When they come of age, they all get magical gifts. One of them can see the future, one of them can control the weather, one of them can heal people with food. 

Steve  18:05  
Now our main character, Mirabelle, is in the third generation. She has two cousins, she has two older siblings, three cousins, sorry, three cousins, two older siblings, and herself. Now, the premise of the movie is that Mirabelle is the only one of the family members that was not given a gift. Everyone else has a gift and is using that gift to help the village and help the people in this time that has passed. Abuela has impressed on them the need to earn their gifts that they have received by helping others. 

Steve  18:48  
So, it's a movie that is about family. It's a movie that's about expectations that people place on us and how difficult it is to live up to those expectations. It's a movie that is about the expectations we put on ourselves to be perfect to be useful to be good, and how much harm those things can do. It's a Disney film without a real villain either and because of that, I think it's highly relatable. I think it's just a phenomenal, phenomenal movie. It's funny, it's moving. It's well worth your time to check it out. "Encanto," that's my favorite thing of 2021

Max  19:49  
Hey, this is Movie Hunter, Max Pacheco, giving you an update of what I've found for lost or forgotten Disney films, this past year. So my big, BIG FIND, was getting a copy of "Spies" from 1993. I emailed every cast and crew member whose email I could find. And sure enough, the director of 1993 "Spies," emailed me back. And he said he had *one* copy of it. It was a DVD made from a VHS  -- it was his only copy of this film he directed -- and he said that he would send it to me if I promised very kindly and sincerely to send it back to him. So, I got a nice little package from Hollywood, California, and I got the movie. And I may or may not have made a personal copy for myself, and sent it back to him very carefully, very kindly and thanked him profusely. I also had one of the actors from the 1995, the Barefoot Executive remake, share his copy with me. So I've got that. 

Max  21:10  
Finally, just today, I was able to buy from Australia -- at a bit of a high international cost -- a VHS of the pilot that never became a series that instead became a made for TV movie -- "The Line of Duty," aka US Marshals, Waco, and Ryan Hart. And I think I've got a few cast and crew members who said, "If you ever find a copy of that, I would love to see it," to email back with that. So now, I am down to just eight missing films. And if anyone wants to help out with that, feel free. My eight missing films as of right now are, "Track of the African Bongo," "Trail of Danger," "Shadow of Fear," "The sScret of Lost Valley," "Strange Companions,"  "Meet the Muncies," "Just Perfect," and "Ladies and the Champ." Happy New Year, everyone.

Leah Jones  22:27  
Rolling right away into Act Two, I guess. Act Two is usually when I would say to someone, "And what are we here to talk about?" So, for this one, I've got Terry Gant from Third Coast Comics. My brother Ryan Jones, sent in a little clip, my dear friend Rachel, who is a listener and not a podcaster at all, but she took some time in-between packing and getting to the airport to send in a quick little voicemail. Rocco Cataldo from Potenza productions, who is talking about a number of professional highlights and also a personal joy. 

Leah Jones  23:14  
And Veronica Arriola rounds out Act Two. Veronica is about to start the ninth year of #365FeministSelfie, which I find shocking that it's been nine years because I remember the New Year's Day when she started it. It was just a few people, and it's a whole big thing. So look up #365FeministSelfie on Instagram. She is also the host of the podcast "Feminist Agenda."

Leah Jones  23:45  
Rounding out Act Two, is Amy Guth. Amy is the host of "Crain's Daily," she has a weekly newsletter, she's got daily writing prompts on Substack. She is the programming director of 5959 in Chicago, a dear friend, part of the crew that helped host my latke party, so she also has a great collection of personal and professional highlights from 2021. 

Terry  24:33  
Hey there, it's Terry Gant from Third Coast Comics, and I'm going to give you my sort of my reasoning for what I think is so awesome about the Finding Favorites podcast. The thing that sticks in my mind is that Leah Jones started this podcast right when the pandemic began, and sort of schooled yourself -- learned, just jumped in with both feet figuring out how to do this whole podcast and shit. The goal of the podcast was for Leah to find out, not just what everyone's favorite thing is, but also to get us gushing about what really made us tick and what was really rolling around in our heads with one of our favorite things were. 

Terry  25:14  
Now, here we are at the end of 2021, and the thing that sticks out to me the most is that we were all fighting against all kinds of things that made a lot of us not really even want to be here, by the time we got to the beginning of this pandemic. And what Leah may have inadvertently done was find a way, through this podcast and make us all connect with our favorite shit, which gives us a reason every day to look forward to something, whether we're doing it on purpose, of doing it accidentally. Where Leah did it on purpose, or accidentally, it doesn't even matter anymore. But this podcast and Leah's connection to people and ability to connect to people, really did get to the heart of what makes us all tick. What we're really jazzed about, we're really pumped about -- no matter how esoteric and out there it is, no matter how weird, no matter how academic, no matter how hands-on, no matter like how Saturday morning childhood-ish it might be, no matter how PhD it might be ,no matter how pie in the sky -- what is it that makes you tick? What makes what pumps your blood; what gets you up in the morning -- Finding Favorites is about that thing.

Terry  26:20  
And it's okay, not really exactly okay, but while the glacier and Antarctica might be melting, while there's an invisible enemy out there attacking your lungs and your brain and your spine --who knows, there could be swamp people tomorrow, we don't really know. But what we do know, is what gets us going. And Leah taps into that thing, and chose to do it at our lowest possible moment to pull us up. Finding Favorites did that; Leah Jones did that. That's why I love this podcast, and I love Leah Jones. She's my friend,she's my sister, she's brilliant. And I think that like a podcast like this came at just the right time, because nobody knew how dark it was gonna get between the beginning of this podcast and now, the end of 2021. But we all do know that thanks to podcasts like this, content like this, and creators like Leah Jones, we can keep pushing forward. Thank you.

Ry  26:39  
Hi, my name is Ry, I am Leah's brother. And I'm very grateful for 2021. But easily my favorite part of 2021 is that the world kept turning. There were a lot of doom and gloom the last couple years. And it was a really hard time for a lot of people, but the world has been turning. And that is by far and away the best part of 2021;that there will be a 2022. We're going to come out the other side of this a better planet. My favorite thing about 2021 was being able to watch my kids thrive again. Playing sports, going to school, being with their friends, and just living life as children should live their lives. It gave me so much joy and I hope that it can continue or we can get back to that in 2022.

Rocco  28:57  
This is Rocco Cataldo with Potenza Productions, and my favorite things about 2021. Early in the year when it was cold in Chicago, I was in a rented mansion on the beach in Miami, surrounded by a whole bunch of supermodels as I'm directing a live fashion shoot for Yves Saint Laurent. I mean, not bad -- there are worse fates. On top of that, we had the opportunity last year to film Wyclef over at the Apollo -- the legendary Apollo Theater in Harlem -- while he was performing his "Carnival" album live. And completely out of the blue, we got nominated for an Emmy this year for it. It was a team effort all the way around, but that's kind of awesome. Then I got to film Jimmy Fallon at 30 Rock -- we all know 30 Rock, SNL -- but to actually be there in the hallowed halls of such a legendary building. I mean, it was pretty damn cool. Unreal. But my favorite part of 2021, hands down, was that I became an uncle for the first time. And every time I see that little girl, she just makes my heart melt.

Veronica  30:12  
Hi, I'm Veronica Arriola, and my favorite things in 2021 were women's sports. We finally got the 2020 Olympics, and from Simone Biles, to well, Simone Biles,the [Olympic] Games are always a showcase for bad-ass women athletes. We saw the return of softball to the games. U.S. Women's Basketball won their seventh consecutive gold medal. I made a lot of early morning coffee those weeks. Back in Chicago, the Red Stars went to their third straight championship match, and for the third time, lost. It was sad to see that loss in-person in Louisville, but it was fantastic to be at the stadium with over 10,000 soccer fans. 

Veronica  30:53  
And lastly, thanks to past me for buying season tickets to the Chicago Sky. This meant I went to way more games than I usually do, and I was rewarded with the championship. Oh my god, that championship round was spectacular. I love better suit. And of course, Candice Parker was named APs "2021 Woman Athlete of the Year." So thanks to all the kick-ass women who gave me something good to scream about this year.

Amy  31:31  
It's Amy Guth and my favorite things about 2021 -- gosh, there's a lot of them. I joined the board of Bitch Media, which is -- I've read that magazine for 25 years. 25 years ago, I was given a copy of "Bitch" magazine, and I realized, "Oh, there are other people that are concerned about the issues I'm concerned about -- other people are thinking about feminism, too." So, it feels really exciting to me to be part of that board. Also this past year, a screenplay that I co-wrote, called "Open Road," did really well at some film festivals. It got an honorable mention at the Tokyo International Film Festival and the Rome Prisma Festival, and a handful of others, but it also won Best Screenplay at the Los Angeles Television Script and Film Festival, which was really exciting. It felt very special to see that. Also "Crain's Daily Gist" podcast, which I do for "Crain's Chicago Business," surpassed a million downloads this year, which was a cool milestone. 5959 Chicago launched in 2021, and I began hosting events and author conversations for 5959. 

Amy  32:36  
In August of 2021, I had been kind of feeling like I wanted to do something wild, and really, very real and meaningful, and I got the opportunity to pose naked for a photograph in the woods. It was part of this art project that photographer Lenny Gilmore is doing, or was doing, about bodies of all shapes and sizes in natural environments, as if we were just part of the natural landscape. And I confronted some fear around spiders and jumped in the water, and it was weirdly empowering. Once I got past the like, "Oh my gosh, I'm standing here naked in front of a friend," it was weirdly empowering. And of course, he was a total professional, and it was fine. But I left going, "I want everybody to pose naked in the woods," because it felt like such an important and empowering thing to do. 

Amy  33:29  
But all of those things said, I think one of my favorite things about 2021, is that I had not seen my brother in quite a while due to the pandemic and busy travel schedules before the pandemic. And the stars just kind of aligned and we were about two hours apart at one point in 2021. I was traveling for work, he was traveling for work, and it was just for a brief time, but he made the drive two hours just to come have dinner with me and we closed the restaurant down and just talked and talked and talked and it was so special and meaningful. So, despite all kinds of things happening in 2021, those are some real highlights, but that time with my brother was so very special.

Leah Jones  34:21  
Here we are already Act Three, Act Three sometimes when we go into tangents -- Cowboy, please don't step on the computer right now -- but we're going to continue with these great Chicago media folks, independent Media folks. We've got Scott Smith, host of the "Frunchroom." You know him as "Our Man in Chicago," with a few recommendations. Jocelyn Geboy, the co-host of "Candy Chat Chicago," you know her online as smussyolay. Get over to her TikTok, and you can see a time lapse of her shaving her head in solidarity with my chemo hair loss. lt's a really good little video. Keidra Cheney is back -- Keidra, you will remember her from last summer, when we talked about K-pop dollstagram, all those great K-pop plushies that you can find as avatars on Instagram. Keidra is back with everything she's learned about making mocktails. My friend Dave in Atlanta, the trumpet player and podcast producer is back, as well. And closing out the podcast, is my upstairs neighbor, Ezra, with personal, with his hobbies, things he's trying. And then a few --he called in four times to make sure he got everything that he wanted to say. So, with that, wear your masks, wash your hands, get your boosters, and keep enjoying your favorite things.

scott  36:17  
Thank you, Leah, for asking me to do this. This is Scott Smith, I am the host of a before-times live storytelling event called "The Frunchroom." So, I'm always excited to come and talk to you about storytelling and things that are interesting. The idea that we give a little bit of ourselves to someone else when we talk about things that are important to them. So, I'm very grateful in 2021, that you put this together and gave people an opportunity to talk about things that are fun. So, thank you for that -- you are obviously one of my favorites in 2021, and in any other year.  A couple of things that I became enamored with that became my favorites in 2021 -- the first is a book called "Old Style" by Dimitri Samarov. Dimitri is a Chicago author, a Chicago artist. He has written several books about his time driving a cab, and he's also a painter. He's a fantastic artist using the medium of charcoal as well. 

scott  37:31  
I definitely recommend people Google Dmitry Samarov. He wrote this fantastic book based on his time as a bartender, called "Old Style," just like the beer. And the cover is a rendering of the Old Style logo, with the title of the book and his name in it. It is one of the most gorgeous books that I read in 2021, in part because of the way that it feels in your hand, which is one of the reasons why I love books so much. But also just the rendering of people who feel true-to-life, and feel like they are real people. I imagine a lot of the characters he talks about are based on real people. Some of the bars that he talks about are based on real places. It renders bar fly culture in a way that is just electric, in some ways, and very sad in others, but it's a wonderful book. If you need something that isn't about the real world, but feels like the real world, I would definitely recommend it. He's selling copies at dmitrysamarov.com. 

scott  38:41  
So love to that, recommend that. As people are headed into February, and Black History Month, I want to make two recommendations from books that I read in 2021. The first is "The Radical King," which is a collection of Martin Luther King's speeches that focus on real systemic change. Too often, we get caught up with the happy, sunshine-y, acceptable to white people, Martin Luther King. And *this* is the Martin Luther King that was talking about tearing down oppressive systems, like capitalism and the military-industrial complex. Ad all the things that, in the latter period of his life, became very controversial. It is wonderful to kind of get re-grounded in that and maybe discover some parts of his legacy that other people haven't. 

scott  39:37  
The other thing I want to recommend is a book called "Family Properties," by Beryl Satter. She writes about her family's history, essentially as slumlords in Chicago, and creating all kinds of housing contracts for Black people in Lawndale, that took advantage of them, robbed them of wealth, and she places it in this larger historical context, about race in real estate, in Chicago, and in the country. I think it's a really important reading February. 

scott  40:10  
Then, the last thing I want to recommend is something that's very light. It's called "Eight out of Ten Cats Does Countdown." I'll say it again, "Eight out of Ten Cats Does Countdown." If you Google it, and look on YouTube, you will find many clips of it. What it is, is a British game show-slash-comedy panel. It is a mashup of two other British shows, "Eight out of 10 Cats," and "Countdown." Basically, you have a bunch of people sitting around, trying to solve anagrams of words, and also trying to solve math problems. But that's really just the structure of something that is intended to be just an opportunity for people to crack jokes, often at each other's expense. It is vulgar, it is silly, it is ridiculous. It has been my late Season Two pandemic comfort food, and I really recommend people check it out

scott  41:04  
 You can look at clips online, "Eight out of Ten Cats Does Countdown," they're all -- a lot of them are on YouTube, they do a lot of compilations. It's a BBC show from Channel Four. And then if you want to, you can also check out some of the different long forum episodes; they have full episodes on there. Something that shows up once or twice a year, but they're all on YouTube. "Eight out of Ten Cats Does Countdown" was my big found favorite in 2021.

Jocelyn  41:48  
Hey, it's Jocelyn Geboy. I'm co-host of "Candy Chat Chicago." Thinking about some of my favorite things from 2021, I will say that more than ever, this year was the Year of the Bonfire. I'm a little bit of a pyro anyway, but it was a really nice opportunity to be able to be outside and still have community and burn shit. There was a hot moment -- the very, very small window -- where I was able to see one of my favorite artists, Langhorne Slim, perform at Thalia Hall. Still masks, sitting down --that wasn't as fun -- but it was really great to be able to hear some live music -- that's definitely been missing in my life. 

Jocelyn  42:28  
And one of the best, weirdest things that happened -- things tend to have a silver lining --was coming on Finding Favorites a second time and talking about candy, and finding out that my theory holds true -- it *is* in fact, an amazing conversation starter and people have all sorts of things and memories and activities associated with it. So, starting Candy Chat Chicago with Leah has been super fun. And I can't wait to see where we go in the candy aisles in 2022.

Keidra  43:17  
Hi, Leah, this is Keidra. So, things that I am excited about, or enjoyed or loved, this year that made me happy. One of the things that really made me happy this year was  -- so, I like booze, I'm a booze person, I drink cocktails and alcohol. I am somebody who over the years, developed a discerning taste for cocktails, but I really become a fan of non-alcoholic cocktails and mocktails. I really spent the past year or so, really refining my own palate for mocktails. I feel like in the past I would just get -- I don't know, just like a Spindrift and some juice and call it a day, and call that a "mocktail." 

Keidra  44:21  
But, that's not what I normally like for for cocktails --  I like more complex flavors that are kind of earthier and more herbal, and I discovered a whole world of mocktails that -- it's not just fake alcohol -- using tea, and using bitters, and using different types of vinegar shrubs -- just different flavor sources. As somebody who likes to cook, and somebody who likes to have a good cocktail with the food that I make, it's just really a fun, exciting way to expand my own flavor palette. And it really challenged me, too, and also made me kind of re-examine my own relationship with alcohol, especially during the pandemic. 

Keidra  45:15  
I feel like a lot of us maybe drank a little bit more than we usually do, just to kind of get through what was a really crappy couple years. And I find myself not wanting to do that as much.That a lot of it is really about the flavor and the experience and the specialness; of having something to drink that just kind of makes you feel fancy, especially if you're stuck in your apartment all day. So it was really learning how to make cocktails, mocktails, and I'm sharing it with people that I think might be interested in it. My friends who might not be able to have alcohol for whatever reason -- they are sober or they're pregnant, or they just don't want to have alcohol -- they want to have a good drink, despite not wanting to have an alcoholic cocktail. It's been really fun for me to kind of discover that there's this whole world of mocktail bartending that I think is really exciting, and I think might be the future. It's made me super excited. So yeah, I think that is the thing that really made me happy this year. Thanks again, bye.

Dave  46:40  
Hi, Leah. Hi, Finding Favorites. This is Dave Couston in Atlanta, Georgia. I was on the show earlier this year talking about trumpet as one of my favorite things, and also about my career shift into podcasting. My favorite things of 2021--  I have two. First, is friendships. I think I made more new friendships this year than last year, for sure. And made a lot of new meaningful friendships and also benefited from a lot of great friends that I've had for a long time. And some that I've had recently, friends, in any way you can imagine, in every way you can imagine, came up big for me this year and enriched my life. Hopefully, some of that was mutual. I think that especially in the era of mostly Zoom and very little face-to-face communications, that's very rare. So, that was big for me this year. And I want to say thank you to old friends and new. 

Dave  47:38  
My second favorite thing of 2021, a woman named Sarah Dodge bakes bread and delivers it in my area in Atlanta. And it is phenomenal; it is so good. Her thing is called "Bread is Good," and you sign up -- there are very limited slots -- and then, you get one piping hot loaf of bread a week for three weeks. And you have a choice of, I think it's the middle one. And they are oh my God, I just, I can't tell you. It seems like she must have made a deal with the devil, they're that good. Some days, I will get by on just bread and olive oil, and it's delicious. I think her website is sedodge.com. Again, Sarah Dodge, "Bread is Good." Easy to find online, on Instagram, or on the web. But, this is only for Atlanta folks. That's all I've got. Thank you and best wishes for a awesome and much better 2022

Ezra  48:48  
Hi, this is Ezra Butler. I am Leah's upstairs neighbor, one of her many hospital husbands. I'm artist, a consultant, and some other random things that I do on the side. Um, 2021 has been an interesting year. It's been filled with highs and lows, Covid freakouts, and more Covid freakouts. A lot of staying at home. But my favorite things have been -- I started a garden this year; the first time I ever gardened in my life. I bought a Mini Cooper this year -- first car I've ever owned. I bought a coffee machine and conical burr grinder and I just got new coffee today from a trade coffee. And it was from Anodyne Roastery in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, from Colombia, originally, and it was the most delicious coffee I've had in a while. What else are my favorite things? These are a few of my favorite things. The functional art tote bag that I created is one of my favorite things; I use it almost every day. What else? I think that those are basically most of my favorite things from this year.

Ezra  50:25  
Basically, that's it. Yep, that's it. This is really hard to do, Leah. To talk to no screen, like no person there and have this kind of conversation with no one. Is there anything else that I'm that are my favorite things? I really like my club and my gym, but I wouldn't call them my favorite things. My friendship with you -- it's one of my favorite things. Yeah, I'm gonna end this now--  Happy New Year Leah, and to everyone else listening. Oh, and how could I forget? This is Ezra again, in case you didn't realize -- How can I forgetTaylor Swift's "All Too Well" (10 minute version). Oh God, that's such a good song, that is one of my favorite things from 2021.

Announcer  51:24  
Thank you for listening to Finding Favorites with Leah

Ezra  51:28  
And how can I forget? Tennis has been one of my favorite things of 2021. Well, I keep on just adding more things, apparently this has been a pretty good year. Okay, I'm done again. And probably, this time, for real.

Announcer  51:50  
Thank you for listening to Finding favorites with Leah Jones. Please make sure to subscribe and drop us a five-star review on iTunes. Now go out, and enjoy your favorite things.

Transcribed by https://otter.ai

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