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culture crash - radio segments

Culture Crash: A Look Back At What Got Us Through 2020

There’s no doubt it’s been a long and frankly, weird year. We highlight some of the books, shows and movies that kept us entertained in 2020.

You are here: Home / Archive / Culture Crash / Culture Crash: A Look Back At What Got Us Through 2020
Published: January 3, 2021 by VPR Producer

Welcome to Culture Crash, where we examine American culture – what’s new and old in entertainment…

It’s no secret that 2020 was a year none of us are ever likely to forget. From the pandemic and Black Lives Matters protests to the election and the beginning of vaccination campaigns, it was a year in which very little happened for many of us on a personal scale, but so much happened on the national and international stages.

Yes, I watched and read more news than I probably ever have before in 2020, but a seemingly never-ending lockdown thanks to the pandemic meant I also had more time than ever before to dive into music, movies, books, TV and video games. Thanks to the dire circumstances of the world outside my apartment, in 2020, I frequently found myself wanting to escape into fiction or dive into a book to learn my history and gain perspective on the essential topics of the day.

For all of those reasons, the media of 2020 are likely to hold an odd place in my heart. High-quality movies like The Trial of the Chicago 7 simply popped up on my Netflix page, and great shows like The Queen’s Gambit took the culture by storm. But we also all spent about a month obsessing over Tiger King and my social media pages were often strange Saturday Night Live bits that were sometimes funny but often failed to capture the true oddity happening all around us.

Music often transports me to a time in my life. I can’t hear Kid Cudi’s Man on the Moon album without recalling my days in high school driving around with that CD in my car. Every time I hear Genesis, I think of my dad doing chores around the house when I was a kid, and I’m sure I’ll never be able to hear Taylor Swift’s Folklore or Evermore without recalling 2020.

2021 is upon us and hopefully, things will look a lot better over the coming months, but as it stand, I’m grateful for the books, movies and more that kept me company in 2020, and I hope that when they do transport me back to last year, I can remember the refuge these cultural works offered me in such a trying time.

I’m Evan Rook.


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Culture Crash 21-01: A Look At What Got Us Through 2020

It’s no secret that 2020 was a year none of us are ever likely to forget. From the pandemic and Black Lives Matters protests to the election and the beginning of vaccination campaigns, it was a year in which very little happened for many of us on a personal scale, but so much happened on the national and international stages.

Yes, I watched and read more news than I probably ever have before in 2020, but a seemingly never-ending lockdown thanks to the pandemic meant I also had more time than ever before to dive into music, movies, books, TV and video games. Thanks to the dire circumstances of the world outside my apartment, in 2020, I frequently found myself wanting to escape into fiction or dive into a book to learn my history and gain perspective on the essential topics of the day.

For all of those reasons, the media of 2020 are likely to hold an odd place in my heart. High-quality movies like The Trial of the Chicago 7 simply popped up on my Netflix page, and great shows like The Queen’s Gambit took the culture by storm. But we also all spent about a month obsessing over Tiger King and my social media pages were often strange Saturday Night Live bits that were sometimes funny but often failed to capture the true oddity happening all around us.

Music often transports me to a time in my life. I can’t hear Kid Cudi’s Man on the Moon album without recalling my days in high school driving around with that CD in my car. Every time I hear Genesis, I think of my dad doing chores around the house when I was a kid, and I’m sure I’ll never be able to hear Taylor Swift’s Folklore or Evermore without recalling 2020.

2021 is upon us and hopefully, things will look a lot better over the coming months, but as it stand, I’m grateful for the books, movies and more that kept me company in 2020, and I hope that when they do transport me back to last year, I can remember the refuge these cultural works offered me in such a trying time.

I'm Evan Rook.

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Show Transcript

Program #: 21-01segment type: Culture CrashTopics - COVID-19 Pandemic| Hobbies| Literature and Writing| Media and Entertainment| Movies| Music| Netflix| Pop Culture| TV Series| Vaccination| Video GamesBooks & Publications - FolkloreMovies, TV & Digital Media - Saturday Night Live| The Queen's Gambit| The Trial of the Chicago 7| Tiger KingNotable Names - Kid Cudi| Taylor Swifttagged with - 2020| Evan Rook| Jason Dickey| virus
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About VPR Producer

Since 2000, Viewpoints Radio has been bringing listeners the relevant information they crave in current events, literature, entertainment and more. Both Viewpoints Radio and sister show Radio Health Journal are productions of AURN.

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