Last year was, in a word, wild. We experienced the hottest climate ever, with smoke from Canadian wildfires pouring across the U.S. border. It was a hot labor summer, too, as workers went on strike from Hollywood to Detroit. We witnessed the brutal Hamas attack, the overwhelming Israeli response, and the ripple effects from Washington to our own workplaces. It was a year of severe anti-abortion movement crackdowns—and a powerful backlash. We read Donald Trump’s name on courtroom dockets across the country, and tried not to read his terrifying, authoritarian rants on Truth Social. We saw an explosion of A.I. and the attempted implosion of D.E.I. 

Looking back on 2023, I almost forgot this was the year we shot down that Chinese spy balloon, and the year that Kevin McCarthy became Speaker of the House and un-became speaker, a truly remarkable achievement. For me, it was also the year I shared the stage with Barack Obama, Jay-Z, Kerry Washington, and Dwyane Wade (if I don’t brag about it, who will?); made my first-ever second season of a television series; and admitted that my body is, in fact, aging.