2021: The year of ____
All the ways we tried to summarize 2021
We said 2020 was the longest year ever, but 2021 somehow felt even longer. One year ago today, most of America was still in the grips of a grim, pre-vaccination winter; the Capitol had not yet been stormed, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) had not yet pulled on his little mittens, and no one could have predicted a container ship would become the main character for a week.
But with the U.S. shattering the daily record for COVID-19 cases in the last week of 2021, it also feels a bit like we're back where we began. Here's how we've tried to sum up this rollercoaster of a year.
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Year of sweet, sweet delayed gratification
Year of the rainbow after a storm
Year of resilience and uncertainty
Year of surviving and thriving
Year of Britney Spears' freedom
Year of excessive celebrity PDA
Year of dubious characters and dark drama
Year of dress-down, sex-up, jeans, and jewelry
Year of the 'haves and have-nots'
Year of stimulus checks and Let's Go Brandon
Year of the 'cucks box,' MAGA anthrax attacks, and a dubious Biden-hating falconer
Year of garbage internet trends
Year of consent for digital media
Year of the electrified trucks
Year of baseball's first bitcoin team
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Film reviews: ‘Send Help’ and ‘Private Life’Feature An office doormat is stranded alone with her awful boss and a frazzled therapist turns amateur murder investigator
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Movies to watch in Februarythe week recommends Time travelers, multiverse hoppers and an Iraqi parable highlight this month’s offerings during the depths of winter
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ICE’s facial scanning is the tip of the surveillance icebergIN THE SPOTLIGHT Federal troops are increasingly turning to high-tech tracking tools that push the boundaries of personal privacy
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Israel retrieves final hostage’s body from GazaSpeed Read The 24-year-old police officer was killed during the initial Hamas attack
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China’s Xi targets top general in growing purgeSpeed Read Zhang Youxia is being investigated over ‘grave violations’ of the law
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Panama and Canada are negotiating over a crucial copper mineIn the Spotlight Panama is set to make a final decision on the mine this summer
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Why Greenland’s natural resources are nearly impossible to mineThe Explainer The country’s natural landscape makes the task extremely difficult
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Iran cuts internet as protests escalateSpeed Reada Government buildings across the country have been set on fire
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US nabs ‘shadow’ tanker claimed by RussiaSpeed Read The ship was one of two vessels seized by the US military
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How Bulgaria’s government fell amid mass protestsThe Explainer The country’s prime minister resigned as part of the fallout
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Femicide: Italy’s newest crimeThe Explainer Landmark law to criminalise murder of a woman as an ‘act of hatred’ or ‘subjugation’ but critics say Italy is still deeply patriarchal
