Hi party people! Me again. Long time no see.
I miss doing this! It was fun while it lasted, but I bit off more than I could chew by trying to write a log every week. Maybe I’ll bring this back next year, quarterly. Now that I’ve pushed past the inertia of starting, I’m feeling the itch to experiment with cadence, formats, content…
One of the best things that came from this season of TibsLog was my self-assurance that I have good taste. It felt nice to prove to myself that (after years of saying it into thin air) I could learn how to write on (and defend!) my favorite pockets of culture - confronting the fear of failure and all that. Not a value judgment on quality, just giving myself something tangible to hold as evidence. I really do love the things I love, and I love going to bat for them!
Here’s a special edition TibsLog to wrap up the year! Some are standout pieces of content from 2024, some are seasonal. All had some kind of impact on me, and I returned to them many times. Enjoy, keep warm, eat well, see you next year! Mwah! Thanks for being here!
Yashvi’s 2024 Holiday Content Guide
Podcast: Standouts of the year
Song Exploder: Troye Sivan, One of Those Girls
Really good storytelling in this interview. 2 people come into the music studio after having separate, hollowing experiences over the same weekend... one’s experience becomes the foundation of the sound, the other’s, the story. Beautifully told, beautifully edited, one of my favorite episodes of this podcast. Take my Dad’s word for it.
Perfect Person: Revenge Banging My Crush’s Dad
I’ve been loving call-in advice podcasts - this episode is one I return to, and the one I recommend to put anyone onto Perfect Person. Miles’ chemistry with Rainie and Will is something special, and was met with the perfect ridiculous caller, who slept with their frenemies Dad. Miles’ trajectory this year has been incredible to watch, and I’m excited to see where he takes his project next year. I recommend the video version if that’s your thing - you’ll catch their shared looks.
The Comment Section: All Stars (Hosted by Drew Afualo, guested by Caleb Hearon and Brittany Broski)
Drew’s pod is a breath of fresh air in a landscape saturated by right-wing white-guy podcasters. This episode is just a non-stop hysterical good time with 3 comedian besties in a room. Caleb Hearon is a generation talent, and it’s nice to see him in an environment with his friends... if you’ve seen the viral clip on TikTok of him telling the story of Cooper from middle school… that’s from this episode.
The Lonely Island & Seth Myers Podcast: HotRod, and HotRod (again)
This pod was one of the strike-born rewatch podcasts that I didn’t really need, until the Hot Rod episodes. I was hanging on to every word. I loved listening to them talk about being given a way-too-big-budget for a dumb comedy movie. They believed they could make the movie they wanted to without it all, but they were forced to use the budget - so they used the budget to make it feel smaller. Maybe that’s why I loved Hot Rod itself - I think good stories feel so sincere with a low budget feel, it almost makes me love them more. The big studio marketing politics vs the artistic vision… I learned a lot about making a movie listening to this.
The Internet: Interview edition
Jake Johnson on Last Meals
This one moved me deeply. The best interviews are made when the host and the guest have common ground that brings out interesting conversation - Jake Johnson and Josh talk about their complicated relationships with their Dad’s in this interview, with honesty, sincerity and lightness… it was wonderful to watch, and made me really reflective about my own relationships. Bonus: they surprise Jake with a (formerly) anonymous caller from his call-in-advice-podcast, who is on the staff for this video. This interview has it all dude.
Amelia Dimoldenberg on Colin & Samir
Technically this came out last year, but I listened to it twice this year. Amelia has a really strong vision for herself and her work, that stands out in the digital media industry. Her story building Chicken Shop Date is so antithetical to the usual social-media grind of posting every week… it’s almost a fresh take on how things could be, a ray of hope in a world of algorithms, and a lovely way to think about your creative work.
Quinta Brunson on PaleyLive
Golden insight on how Quinta thinks about character and story… It’s like being back in school and learning how good TV is made. Just excellent interviewing by the host!
Ilona Maher on Royal Court
For being an Olympic medal-winning rugby player, Ilona Maher is seriously funny. Seriously funny. It’s terrifying and delightful.
BONUS:
Caleb Hearon on Ziwe, making Ziwe laugh harder than i’ve ever seen her laugh on her own show.
Obviously Andrew Garfield on Chicken Shop Date was the most ridiculous thing that has ever happened. POV you’re in the group chat the day this came out:
Movies: Holiday season special
Sweethearts
A romcom led by Kiernan Shipka and Nico Hiraga - two besties realize during their freshman year of college, that they need to break up with their high school sweethearts over Thanksgiving break. On Max.
While the primary plot is the exact kind of wonderful romp you want in a romcom, the secondary plotline surprised me with its sincerity and heart. Caleb Hearon plays Palmer, the third bestie, who plans to officially come out to their rural Ohio town at his petit soiree. Obviously, it doesn’t go as planned. In the antics that follow, he learns about what queerness can look like in the Midwest and… I won’t spoil anymore. It’s worth the watch.
Sidelined: The QB and Me
The Noah Beck led romance movie that’s a Wattpad adaptation: rich cocky high school quarterback meets orphaned headstrong cheerleader during their senior year. On Tubi.
Listen… you hate to hear me say it, but this was good. This is the perfect watch for when you want a cheesy, corny, unoriginal, reliable romance. Kind of a bootleg To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before vibe - Noah Beck played a similar lead to Noah Centineo’s Peter Kavinsky… Flavors of HSM3 with the going-to-college-soon angle… It’s so cheesy and predictable it’s almost an homage to the tropes of the romance genre.
A Nonsense Christmas
Sabrina Carpenter’s comedy musical Christmas special ft. special guests. On Netflix.
Good old-fashioned sing-along fun. The 1-hour high-production version of that one Nonsense Christmas Tiktok she made in 2022.
When Harry Met Sally
Harry meets Sally, over and over through the years…. you know how this one goes.
I famously watched this movie for the first time last December, when I was making my way through a book about the history of romcoms. I expected it to feel stale to someone watching it for the first time in 2023 - wouldn’t I have seen the best parts of it remixed into contemporary movies I already love? WRONG. LOL. WRONG! In every way possible, this movie is where it all started. If you’re late to the party like I was, this is the year to watch it.
BONUS
Special mention to movies I watched this season but can’t recommend in good faith… fantastic background movies to watch with friends though: Hot Frosty on Netflix (sexy snowman comes to life), Dear Santa on Paramount+ (kid accidentally writes a letter to Satan instead of Santa. Also Satan is Jack Black.), Our Little Secret on Netflix (Lindsey Lohan and Ezra from Pretty Little Liars are exes that run into each other on a holiday trip because their new partners are siblings.)
If you made it to the end and wanna see Rebecca Black in SF with me next year, let me know lol <3 Tell me your iconic hits from the year, I’m looking for reccs to watch during the holidays!
ok bye love u thank u have a good holiday season
finally got on the comment section / so true train bc of this and the caleb/drew/brittany vibe is so immaculate. I am breaking out in laughter at my day job
my movie rec: piece by piece (pharrell williams biopic in lego format)