year in review

20 Stories

5 Things That Will Forever Remind Us of 2021
5 Items That
Were Peak 2021

5 Items That Were Peak 2021

Bernie Sanders' inauguration mittens make the list

(Newser) - If 2020 was a dumpster fire, 2021 was ... perhaps hard to sum up in a word or two. But at Fast Company , Rob Walker defines the year by cherry-picking the objects that defined it best. "The products, material goods, consumer culture artifacts, and other stuff that defined or left...

Big Name Is Missing From List of Top 10 Workplaces

Facebook is facing increased scrutiny, drops from No. 7 to No. 23

(Newser) - Facebook has held the top spot on Glassdoor's list of the best places to work three times; last year, it was No. 7. This year? No. 23. That's the lowest it's been since first making the list in 2011, Fortune reports. Reuters blames "heightened regulatory scrutiny"...

This Is What We Googled Most in 2019
The 10 Most-Googled
Terms of the Year

The 10 Most-Googled Terms of the Year

Disney Plus tops the list, and yes, 'Baby Yoda' makes an appearance on a sub-list

(Newser) - What did Americans want to know about this year? Google is letting us know via its annual list of the most-searched-for terms in the US:
  1. Disney Plus : Disney's addition to the ever-growing list of streaming services tops the list for 2019.
  2. Cameron Boyce : The Disney Channel star was found
...

The Weirdest News of 2016
The Weirdest News of 2016

The Weirdest News of 2016

Kangaroo terror and falling catfish

(Newser) - Strange days, indeed: Every year has its oddities and 2016—a year in which it snowed in the Sahara , the Chicago Cubs won the World Series , and Donald Trump was elected president —was certainly no exception. Some of the year's weirdest stories:
  • This was an unlucky year for
...

For Some, Facebook's 'Year in Review' Is Just Cruel

One bereft dad would really rather not be reminded of his dead daughter

(Newser) - Facebook's "Year in Review" videos have clogged newsfeeds for what seems like eons now, but for some people they're more than annoying: They're a stinging reminder of a year we'd rather close the lid on. Such is the case of Eric Meyer, who lost his...

Obama Wins 'Worst Year in Washington'


 Obama Wins 
 'Worst Year in 
 Washington' 
OPINION

Obama Wins 'Worst Year in Washington'

Scandals, ObamaCare steamrolled high hopes: Chris Cillizza

(Newser) - It's been a tough year for plenty of Beltway insiders—even Sunny the dog . But in Chris Cillizza's estimation, one figure stands above—or perhaps below—the rest: the president himself, who had 2013's "Worst Year in Washington." "When historians write the story of...

The Weirdest News of 2011
 The Weirdest News of 2011 

The Weirdest News of 2011

From caffeinated meat to the Frozen Dead Guys festival

(Newser) - As the weirdness of 2012 begins, it's time to take a look back at the bizarre year behind us. Some of the year's oddest stories:
  • In Florida, an 8-foot-tall Lego man washed up on a beach —apparently the work of a Dutch artist, not the Lego company.
...

News Fail: The Year's Most Misunderstood Stories

Time to stop blaming Jay

(Newser) - This year, we hated Jay, pitied Mark Zuckerberg, and were sure the Tea Partiers were insane. But we were wrong, says Cracked . Some accepted myths, followed by the truth:
  • Jay Leno stole Conan's job. Actually, “Leno had nearly nothing to do with Conan getting fired.” It all came
...

The Most Pirated Movies of 2010
The Most Pirated
Movies of 2010

The Most Pirated Movies of 2010

'Avatar' still managed to make out OK

(Newser) - Avatar made more than $2.5 billion dollars worldwide—despite the fact that it was the most pirated movie of 2010. The details:
  1. Avatar (16.6 million illegal downloads)Avatar also holds the record for most illegal downloads in a year. Last year's most pirated movie, Star Trek, was downloaded
...

Which Politicians Had the Best—and Worst—Year?

Hint: The guy in the picture wasn't in the winners' circle

(Newser) - Who had the best year in Washington? Probably Mr. John Boehner, the Washington Post decides. Nobody else believed in Boehner’s vision of a GOP House takeover, but the speaker-elect made it happen. But that’s not the fun question. The fun question is: Who had the worst year? Barack...

The Worst Prognostications of 2010
Worst Prognostications
of the Year
2010 in review

Worst Prognostications of the Year

Joe Biden and Meghan McCain make the list

(Newser) - A roundup of the year's worst predictions from Joshua Keating at Foreign Policy .
  • Recovery summer: Joe Biden's statement in June that "more people are going to be put to work this summer" puts him atop Keating's list of of know-it-all pundits and pols who ended up with egg on
...

Twitter Picks Year's 'Most Powerful Tweets'
Twitter Picks Year's
'Most Powerful Tweets'
2010 In Review

Twitter Picks Year's 'Most Powerful Tweets'

Microblogging site has come a long way

(Newser) - Twitter is celebrating the end of the year by crowning 2010’s “most powerful tweets.” What constitutes a powerful tweet? Well, here’s the list, with context in italics.
  1. AnnCurry @ usairforce find a way to let Doctors without Borders planes land in Haiti: http://bit.ly/8hYZOK THE
...

2010's Least Amazing Big Deals
 2010's Least Amazing Big Deals

2010's Least Amazing Big Deals

10 most overrated things of the year

(Newser) - We're officially in that always-fun time of year: The season for "best of" lists. And while Newser is sure to present plenty of lists that round up the best of 2010 , we can't help but slip in a few that focus on the worst. Courtesy of Mark Juddery, author...

The Best Books of 2010
 The Best Books of 2010 
Year in Review

The Best Books of 2010

The New York Times Book Review picks out its favorites

(Newser) - The year's coming to a close and you know what that means: Best-of lists! The New York Times Book Review kicks things off with a list of the year's top books. Including: Fiction
  • Freedom, Jonathan Franzen—“Even richer and deeper” than The Corrections, this Bush-era Midwestern family saga perfectly
...

Politics' Silliest Moments of '09
 Politics' Silliest Moments of '09 
Year in Review

Politics' Silliest Moments of '09

From Dancin' DeLay to Roberts' inaugural flub, 'twas a weird year

(Newser) - Politics isn’t always a deadly serious game of statesmanship. Sometimes it’s goofy. Politico recalls the most bizarre moments of 2009:
  • Barack Obama sworn in—twice: Obama joked that they’d done it because “we decided it was so much fun.”
  • Sarah Palin resigns: Even her aides
...

The Year's Worst Commercials
 The Year's Worst 
 Commercials 
2009 in Review

The Year's Worst Commercials

From crapping bears to creepy wind-up dolls, these ads flopped

(Newser) - If Hollywood makes a successor to Mad Men is set in this decade, some ads are going to seem really strange. For example, our prescription medicine spots, which already seem comical, will absolutely dumbfound people of the future, writes Seth Stevenson for Slate . And that’s before we get into...

The Year's Best Albums
 The Year's Best Albums 
Year in Review

The Year's Best Albums

U2's 'No Line on the Horizon' tops the list

(Newser) - Who says the album's dead? This year saw some fine ones, with veterans like U2 and Bruce Springsteen setting the bar. Rolling Stone rates the cream of the crop:
  1. U2, No Line on the Horizon: Bono & Co. explored “dark places” and came away “with a sense of
...

A List of the Best Lists of 2009

Who could forget classics like 'Things that look like Joe Jackson'?

(Newser) - This is almost too meta to handle but yes, what follows is an Internet list of the best Internet lists of 2009. Here are Nerve's favorites:
  • 5 Cats That Look Like Wilford Brimley : Comparing felines to the Cocoon star is pure genius.
  • 11 Predictions that Back to the Future II
...

Writers Pick Best Books of '09
 Writers Pick Best Books of '09 
Year in Review

Writers Pick Best Books of '09

Nick Hornby, Judy Blume, and more weigh in

(Newser) - What was the best book of the year? Salon asked Nick Hornby, Junot Diaz, Curtis Sittenfeld, and other people with better literary credentials than ours what they enjoyed in 2009. Their responses are in the photo gallery.

Overexposed in 2009
 Overexposed in 2009 
LOOKING AT YOU, KARDASHIANS

Overexposed in 2009

We'd like to see less of these people in 2010

(Newser) - Some of these people are great, some of them are scumbags, but all of them have one thing in common: we saw way too much of them this year. Michael Arceneaux of The Root thinks all of them should take a break in 2010.

20 Stories