Vox, Time, and WatchMojo look back at 2022

It's nearing the end of the year, so it's time, pun intended, for me to post the 2022 version of Vox, TODAY, and ABC News look back at 2021. I begin, as I did last year, with Vox recapping 2022, in 7 minutes.

Running up that hill with 8 billion people.
...
In 2022, the world population crossed 8 billion people — and we felt the scale of this monumental milestone in hundreds of ways. After over two years of lockdowns and quarantines, people eagerly restarted their lives, but there were certainly growing pains. Weddings and travel skyrocketed, but so did lost luggage and global inflation rates. Taylor Swift broke Ticketmaster. Cryptocurrency was headed toward a great year until it really, really wasn’t. 2022 tested the world population as we tested out life in a new phase of the pandemic.

Russia invaded Ukraine, and aid relief flooded into the war-torn country. Refugees were welcomed into surrounding countries, and those who stayed behind inspired people around the world. Global protests cried out for justice in Iran. Football teams stood up for migrant workers and the LGBTQ+ community at the World Cup. Cuba legalized same-sex marriage. The world froze for a moment when England’s longest-reigning monarch, Queen Elizabeth II, died. And we all watched a lot of TikTok.

As we head into 2023, take a moment to look back at the events that defined this year.

The other year in review videos I watched did not even mention the human population passing 8 billion, yet Vox made it the first and organizing story. This is yet another reason I subscribe to Vox on YouTube and why it's one of my favorite sources for news and analysis.

Time Magazine had a more conventional take in 2022: A Year In Review.

Following years of uncertainty—and a global pandemic that has proven to be one of the most challenging events in history—we forged on, prepared to tackle what lay ahead. And as we continued to extract the possible from the impossible, this year taught us, above all, that our voices—no matter how big or small—can change the world.

That's a much more conventional year in review than Vox's, as is WatchMojo's Top 10 Breaking News Stories of 2022.

These events were the most significant, culture-shifting, and/or shocking moments from 2022. For this list, we’ll be looking at the most impactful news items from the year. Our countdown includes Elon Musk Acquires Twitter, Johnny Depp & Amber Heard Trial, The Death of Queen Elizabeth II, and more!

I have three comments on this video. First, it did a good job of selecting and explaining its top ten stories. Second, that gave me more insight into the Depp and Heard civil trial, which I dismissed by writing "'SNL' also has 'I can't be all DOOM all the time' moods and needed some escapism" in Weekend Update compares this week's headlines to 'Mad Max' on last night's 'SNL'. It turned out to be a more significant story than I thought at the time and yet another example of a future blogging topic. Finally, this is yet another example of WatchMojo producing "high-quality, well-researched clickbait" that is worth sharing.

I close by returning to Time telling its viewers to Watch: A Tribute to Those We’ve Lost in 2022.

As 2022 comes to a close, we take a moment to reflect on Sidney Poitier, Olivia Newton-John, Queen Elizabeth II, and many more who left us in the past year.

R.I.P.

Stay tuned for one final retrospective on New Year's Eve.