My Favorites of 2023

BY JOSHUA FRANK

Christian Friedel in The Zone of Interest. PHOTO: A24

I’m not a big fan of these “best of” lists, but of all the new(ish) arts entertainment (or edutainment, as KRS-One would say) I consumed this past year, here’s what helped me most in surviving (and contemplating) the relentless horrors of 2023.

FILMS

The Zone of Interest, written and directed by Jonathan Glazer (A24)

https://youtube.com/watch?v=r-vfg3KkV54%3Fsi%3D4NZ3gQTolZ-X5YZN

Anatomy of a Fall, directed by Justine Triet (Le Pacte)

https://youtube.com/watch?v=fTrsp5BMloA%3Fsi%3DpAZUr3Yo809jjrz3

How to Blow up a Pipeline, directed by Daniel Goldhaber (Neon)

https://youtube.com/watch?v=bSb585bGYmQ%3Fsi%3DQhjzxgGFZ6zWYqvT

Israelism, directed by Erin Axelman and Sam Eilertsen (Independent)

https://youtube.com/watch?v=LkH-9rc4ltM%3Fsi%3DmTWqZx2WzMhv9x-u

Tantura, directed by Alon Schwarz (Reel Peak Films)

https://youtube.com/watch?v=HNtrUjUNkJw%3Fsi%3DPwfSnAdVoRtpYIVt

Empty Orchestra, directed by Nicole Hawkins (Independent)

Radioactive: The Women of Three Mile Island, directed by Heidi Hunter (Independent)

https://youtube.com/watch?v=iotD7_cKWfc%3Fsi%3DyWzVqa2RKR4ca5I6

SERIES

The Last of Us, created by Neil Druckmann and Bruce Straley (HBO)

https://youtube.com/watch?v=uLtkt8BonwM%3Fsi%3DEZhANgpg3zFodXOs

Succession, created by Jesse Armstrong (HBO)

https://youtube.com/watch?v=0CzK3t1DeQQ%3Fsi%3DL12-kK18Cnh1DVjU

Dear Mama: The Saga of Afeni & Tupac Shakur, directed by Allen Hughes (FX)

https://youtube.com/watch?v=2K6h4OMGtKA%3Fsi%3Dsn8uQV9spDs-MgMe

White House Plumbers, directed by David Mandel (HBO)

https://youtube.com/watch?v=-xoCCmjkxKQ%3Fsi%3DfvZ9wIJsUsyY-yYk

Tiny, Beautful Things, created by Liz Tigelaar (Hulu)

https://youtube.com/watch?v=v2H16EV2sIQ%3Fsi%3D_LmDEE4ZZNLVa44h

Bill Russell: Legend, directed by Sam Pollard (Paramount+)

https://youtube.com/watch?v=48rvcYv0ohA%3Fsi%3Dr3vjf3CnL85xJytX

MUSIC

Sam Blasucci, Off My Stars (Innovative Leisure)

https://youtube.com/watch?v=kbzHkAU2Y7U%3Fsi%3DNdh4PqPWuz7uHg3i

André 3000, New Blue Sun (Epic)

https://youtube.com/watch?v=0JYqz9yEn78%3Fsi%3D7fjiAPtCet-0K0N7

Jenny Lewis, Joy’All (Blue Note Records)

https://youtube.com/watch?v=vlNVtA6Lgu4%3Fsi%3Dat52y_T1pAEVW_HS

Julie Byrne, The Greater Wings, (Ghostly International)

https://youtube.com/watch?v=KB0jyFCzKSc%3Fsi%3DoQJj8GamEdOx38Nw

Yo La Tengo, The Stupid World, (Matador Records)

https://youtube.com/watch?v=R9XGb-C0JEo%3Fsi%3D-mkAVkvfL70zB3jI

BOOKS

The Future Is Degrowth: A Guide to a World Beyond Capitalism, by Andrea Vetter, Aaron Vansintjan, Matthias Schmelzer (Verso Books)

Cobalt Red: How the Blood of the Congo Powers Our Lives by Siddharth Kara (St. Martin’s Press)

The Hundred Years’ War on Palestine: A History of Settler Colonialism and Resistance, 1917–2017, by Rashid Khalidi (Picador Paper)

From the River to the Sea: Essays for a Free Palestine, edited by Sai Englert, Michal Schatz, et al. (Haymarket Books, Verso Books)

Doppelganger: A Trip into the Mirror World by Naomi Klein (Farrar, Straus and Giroux)

PODCASTS

Disillusioned with Yahav Erez (Independent)

The Dig with Daniel Denvir (Jacobin Magzine)

Green & Red with Scott Parkin and Robert Buzzanco (Independent)

On the Nose with Arielle Angel et al. (Jewish Currents)

Parallax Views with J.G. Michael (Independent)

JOSHUA FRANK is the managing editor of CounterPunch. He is the author of the new book, Atomic Days: The Untold Story of the Most Toxic Place in America, published by Haymarket Books. He can be reached at joshua@counterpunch.org. You can troll him on Twitter @joshua__frank.