Favourite media of 2017

Books

I didn’t read as many books this year as usual. I would say that there were only two books I really loved, which I would confidently recommend to any curious friend:

• Algorithms to Live By, by Brian Christian and Tom Griffiths
  • It’s rare that I read a book that touches on so many foundational concepts in an academic discipline (in this case, computer science) and also relates to so much of daily life. I finished this book in early October, and I’ve thought about it almost every week since.
• The Happiness Hypothesis, by Jonathan Haidt
  • The Happiness Hypothesis is to psychology as Algorithms to Live By is to computer science. Haidt is an incredible writer, and I’ve thought about ideas in this book many times since I finished it.

There were several others that I liked quite a bit, but which I would recommend more tentatively. Alphabetically by author’s last name:

• How to Fail at Everything and Still Win Big, by Scott Adams
• Superintelligence, by Nick Bostrom
• Sapiens, by Yuval Noah Harrari
• Homo Deus, by Yuval Noah Harrari
• The Nurture Assumption, by Judith Rich Harris
• Chaos, by James Gleick
• Never Let Me Go, by Kazuo Ishiguro
• Houston, We Have a Narrative, by Randy Olson
• Everybody Lies, by Seth Stevens-Davidowitz
• Inadequate Equilibria, by Eliezer Yudkowsky

I don’t often reread books, but this year I reread two. That fact alone should recommend them:

• The Sense of Style, by Steven Pinker
• Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality, by Eliezer Yudkowsky

I also read An Introduction to Statistical Learning from start to finish, which felt like quite an accomplishment. I think this was the first time I’ve ever read an entire textbook. For anyone who aspires to do this sort of thing, I highly recommend forming a reading group with two to three others. Two of my friends and I read a chapter or two each week, and met for a few hours to talk through the practice problems.

Articles

Alphabetical by author’s last name.

• A Modern Myth, by Scott Alexander
• Advice for New and Junior Data Scientists, by Robert Chang
• A taxonomy of ways books change your worldview, by Julia Galef
• Are pop lyrics getting more repetitive?, by Colin Morris
• Three wild speculations from amateur quantitative macrohistory, by Luke Muelhauser
• Research Debt, by Chris Olah and Shan Carter
• Don’t teach students the hard way first, by David Robinson

Podcasts

Alphabetical by title.

• Ben Sasses on the Space between Nebraska and Neverland – Conversations with Tyler
• Biology and Culture – A Conversation with Bret Weinstein – Waking Up with Sam Harris
• Dylan Matthews on “The science and ethics of kidney donation” – Rationally Speaking
• Gettier Goggles – Very Bad Wizards
• Lecturing=Bloodletting, so why are we still doing it? – Ben, Ben and Blue

Videos

Alphabetical by creator’s last name.

• Passengers, Rearranged, by Evan Puschak
• Neural networks (playlist), by Grant Sanderson
• Science Youtubers attempting a graph theory puzzle, by Grant Sanderson
• Mr. Rogers and the Power of Persuasion, by Will Schoder

Music

Where to begin! I listened to so much new music this year that I’m going to break this down by genre.

Albums

Alphabetical by artist.

Hip Hip / Rap

Loved

• Saturation, Saturation II, and Saturation III, by BROCKHAMPTON
• SYRE, by Jaden Smith
• Back in Business, by Lack of Afro
• Big Fish Theory, by Vince Staples

Liked

• 4:44, by Jay-Z
• DAMN, by Kendrick Lamar
• The Darkest Hour, by Madchild
• Flower Boy, by Tyler, The Creator

Rock/Alternative

Loved

• Little Fictions, by Elbow
• Life Will See You Now, by Jens Lekman
• The Search For Everything, by John Mayer
• american dream, by LCD Soundsystem
• Mother Lion, by May Erlewine
• After Laughter, by Paramore
• Heartbreak Hits, by Theo Katzman

Liked

• I like it when you sleep, for you are so beautiful yet so unaware of it, by The 1975
• Dont Smile At Me, by Billie Eilish
• Thanks for Listening, by Chris Thile
• Something To Tell You, by HAIM
• From the Outside, by Hey Violet
• All the Light Above it Too, by Jack Johnson
• Peace & Information, by Jenny O.
• Nervous Systems, by Julia Michaels
• Semper Femina, by Laura Marling
• Notos, by The Oh Hellos
• Planetarium, by Sufjan Stevens, Bryce Dessner, Nico Muhly, and James McAlister

Funk / R&B / Jazz

Loved

• Funk Wav Bounces Vol. 1, by Calvin Harris
• Freudian, by Daniel Caesar
• Voyager, by Moonchild
• Scary Pockets, by Scary Pockets
• Mr Finish Line, by Vulfpeck

Liked

• Cory Wong and the Green Screen Band, by Cory Wong
• War & Leisure, by Miguel
• Ctrl, by SZA
• Sounds of Crenshaw, Vol. 1, by Terrace Martin Presents the Pollyseeds
• Drunk, by Thundercat

Electronic

Loved

• New Energy, by Four Tet
• Onism, by Photay

Liked

• Process, by Sampha

Pre-2017 favourites that I listened to obsessively this year

• Hard Candy, by Counting Crows
• The La’s, by The La’s

Songs

Below are the 25 songs I listened to most in 2017, ordered from most to least. There’s obviously a bias toward songs that were released earlier in the year, but there you go. You’ll notice that there’s also a bias toward songs from After Laughter, by Paramore, because I really really liked that album.

1. Hard Times, by Paramore
2. Want You Back, by HAIM
3. oh baby, by LCD Soundsystem
4. Attention, by Charlie Puth
5. Rose-Colored Boy, by Paramore
6. Go With It (feat. Chromeo), by Oliver
7. The Last Mall, by Steely Dan
8. Mr. Big Stuff, by Jean Knight
9. Caught In the Middle, by Paramore
10. Mr. Finish Line (feat. Christine Hucal & Theo Katzman), by Vulfpeck
11. Feels (feat. Pharrell Williams, Katy Perry & Big Sean)
12. Screens, by Photay
13. HEAT, by BROCKHAMPTON
14. GUMMY, by BROCKHAMPTON
15. Nikes, by Frank Ocean
16. other voices, by LCD Soundsystem
17. Forgiveness, by Paramore
18. Heart Don’t Stand a Chance, by Anderson .Paak
19. Told You So, by Paramore
20. Get You (feat. Kali Uchis), by Daniel Caesar
21. Son of a Gun, by The La’s
22. Back in Business (feat. Wax & Herbal T), by Lack of Afro
23. Voyager (Intro), by Moonchild
24. Fake Happy, by Paramore
25. Things I Miss the Most, by Steely Dan

TV and Movies

I didn’t watch too many new movies or shows this year, so if your favourite isn’t included here, it’s more likely that I didn’t see it than that I saw it but didn’t like it.

Alphabetical by title.

Movies

Loved

• Get Out
• Logan
• Star Wars: The Last Jedi

Liked

• Blade Runner 2049
• Dunkirk

TV Shows

Loved

• Stranger Things

Liked

• Atlanta
• Black Mirror
• The Crown