Articles of the Year: 2022
Articles of the Year: 2022
Some of my favorite pieces from the last year
Below are some of my favorite articles that were published in 2022. If you have some time over the holidays, grab your computer or phone and give them a read. Some of them may be behind a paywall. If so, copy the URL and visit the website in your browser’s Incognito/Private/etc. mode. You can also try the Internet Archive to find the ungated article.
“Megalopolis: how coastal west Africa will shape the coming century” by Howard W. French
In the next 30 years, demographers predict that Africa will add an astonishing billion people. That’s more than the rest of the world combined. This billion will reshape economics, geopolitics, and everything else we view at a global level. While I’m sure entire books will (and probably already have) been written about the 21st century from the African perspective, this article does a great job focusing on one area that will likely become one of the largest urban agglomerations in the world.
“‘The Most Interesting Man Alive’: Stories About Mike Leach Paint His Life Picture” by Ross Dellenger
In a group of already colorful characters, Mike Leach was one of the most fascinating coaches in the NCAA. He approached college football differently from everyone else, with his air raid offense setting records and his quirky behavior making news off the field. He has to be one of the only coaches to notch winning records in three of the five power conferences (Big 12, Pac-12, and SEC). This article is a great list of anecdotes and stories of someone that left us far too soon. RIP.
Side note: you absolutely must watch the below video, which is Leach’s extraordinary answer to a reporter asking the question, “I’m getting married in nine days, do you have any advice for me?”
“The Making of Vladimir Putin” by Roger Cohen
I think everyone is familiar with Vladimir Putin by now. He’s led Russia for the last 20-some years, and isn’t showing any signs of stopping. The question being asked about Putin today is whether power corrupts or reveals. That is, has he become more nationalistic and demagogic during his decades in power, or was he always an authoritarian who bided his time until his control of Russia was unquestioned and he could rule as he saw it. Read Roger Cohen’s wonderful profile to make a decision.
“20 days in Mariupol” by Mstyslav Chernov
After the failed offensive on Kyiv in February 2022, the world’s eyes turned to the city of Mariupol as the flashpoint of the Russo-Ukraine War. The city was cut off from the rest of Ukraine, and a ragged band of somewhat-irregular soldiers held of the Russians for weeks. Chernov paints a bleak picture of what the citizens of Mariupol went through, and if nothing else, the courage of this journalist deserves to be recognized and admired. The photos alone are haunting.
“MBS: despot in the desert” by Nicolas Pelham
I’ve always been a fan of the view that authoritarian autocracies are stable until they aren’t. Just look at Robert Mugabe, Hosni Mubarak, and Muammar Gaddafi. They were all members of the select 10,000 days club, having ruled Zimbabwe, Egypt, and Libya respectively, for at least that long. Each looked to be untouchable, until the first resigned, the second was imprisoned, and the third was killed in a ditch. That said, Mohammed bin Salman, often called MBS, would be my pick to someday join the 10,000 days club, even though he has only ruled Saudi Arabia for five years, and unofficially at that. The House of Saud has a firm grip on their eponymous nation that has never wavered. Nicolas Pelham does a great job explaining MBS, a man the United States will likely be dealing with for years, if not decades, to come.
“Why Sri Lanka is having an economic crisis” by Noah Smith
When Sri Lanka disintegrated last summer, I was surprised. Over the last 15 years or so, Sri Lanka has been an economic success story. The Sri Lankan civil war ended in 2009, the government was relatively stable, the economy was growing at a decent clip, and it was becoming a hot spot for Millennial tourists. Then, chaos happened. I spent a lot of time reading articles explaining how things went from bad to worse, but could not find anything on what made them bad. In steps Noah Smith, who writes one of the best economic articles of all time and explains how things went wrong for a country that had so much potential.
“Why Men Are Hard to Help” by Richard V. Reeves
Young men are falling behind. This might come as a surprise to many, considering that men still dominate the top of corporate American and many other institutions. Looking beyond the top, however, the situation is far different. As a college professor, I’ve noticed that there is an increasingly wide gap between men and women. Women tend to be more focused and engaged across the board. They skip class less often and apply for scholarships more frequently. They come to office hours and turn in their work. Data from around the country echoes my personal experience. Reeves’s piece does a great job of exploring and quantifying the problem that is only going to become more obvious as time progresses.
“The Sordid Saga of Hunter Biden’s Laptop” by Andrew Rice and Olivia Nuzzi
The Hunter Biden Laptop story is the latest American political scandals that might be a nothingburger or the biggest thing since Watergate. What began as one story in the New York Post now has enveloped Russia, Twitter, and the entire mainstream media. There’s been a lot written about the Hunter Biden Laptop and a lot more is sure to follow, but Andrew Rice and Olivia Nuzzi tell the story in a factual manner and explain all aspects of the story in no-nonsense manner I appreciated. Haven’t made up your mind yet? Read this article before any others.
“The Story of VaccinateCA” by Patrick McKenzie
I’ve read countless stories about Covid over the last ~3 years. Overall, I’ve found articles discussing small aspects of Covid to be better than those trying to “explain the pandemic”. A notable example of this was “The Plague Year” by Lawrence Wright, whose pieces are generally brilliant but even he couldn’t condense all of Covid into 30,000 words. “The Story of VaccinateCA” is the best article I’ve read that examines the Covid from a wide-angle, in this case the distribution of the Covid vaccine. It is written from an even-handed perspective, and talks extensively about the gross failings and large successes of vaccine distribution in clear language. I would love to hear from some public health people about their take on this (very long) article.