Very Fine Day: 2021 Year in Review
The most read, the most loved, and what to expect next year.
VERY FINE DAY features weekly interviews with writers, creators, reporters, and internet explorers. Learn more about the people who keep the internet humming – and check out previous editions here. Follow us on Instagram and Twitter, or just follow Brad. Subscribe now and never miss an edition.
The year is over. As I write this, I’m waiting on two of my housemates to hopefully return negative COVID tests. I came back negative this morning; but it doesn’t really matter. If either of them gets popped we’re in for an interesting few weeks.
It’s just as well we wrapped up editions of VFD for the year last week. I’m feeling anxious. I don’t know.
Anyway – the purpose of this final email of the year is to fill you all in on progress and future planning. We’ll start with a few greatest hits, before saying goodbye to our non-paid members and diving into financial plans for next year, format changes, and new ideas.
I’ll also be saying farewell to the “subscribe” button for this wrap up. If you love VFD, or just what you’re reading, I’d really appreciate you sharing it. Even privately in a group chat! I understand the aesthetics of keeping up appearances. Some of us have digital personas to keep up.
Let’s get going.
Most Read
Our most-read editions this year were all women. In fact, the entire Top 5. Some of you may have started subscribing before a few of these, so it’s worth checking them out – if only to notice how the construction of the weekly edition has changed over the year.
Very Fine Day #2: Taylor Lorenz
I guess it’s no surprise that this one tops the year. Still, it was the second edition of VFD ever. So we started with a bang. Almost 10,000 people read this interview with Taylor, diving into her process, her career, and how she managed to build out her role from nothing. I particularly found it interesting to see how Taylor started off learning platforms, in social media roles, before finding her way to where she wanted to be. It was a killer conversation, and might also be the longest in VFD history. I think I could do it again and again and not get bored. Maybe next year.
Very Fine Day #7: Brandy Zadrozny
Show me a year filled with chaos and I will show you the person sitting in the middle of it all, documenting it. That’s Brandy. A reporter and former librarian, Brandy is now known all over for her terrific reporting on disinformation, politics, and conspiracies. But I don’t think that’s why this interview did so well. Really, I think this was one of the most honest interviews I have done. Brandy really did just tell me everything – didn’t shy from conversations, didn’t say no to any questions, and opened up about how hard it can be to write about some pretty heavy shit. Even now, I occasionally see people sharing this one focusing on how much they relate to Brandy’s struggle between her work and feeling good.
Very Fine Day #22: Maya Kosoff
Another example of honesty bringing out the best interviews. I spoke to Maya as we both had stepped away from the media, and what followed was a conversation between two rather disillusioned people. It’s not that either of us disliked media, or journalism, or reporting. Rather, we both had realised it was broken, and talked about whether it could be fixed. Or, even, if we needed to be apart of that repair. Anyway, I have since jumped back into the saddle at VICE. One day, I hope to see Maya back at it also – if she’d like.
The Top 20
No blurbs here, but some may tickle your fancy. If I had to pick one edition I think more people should read, it’d be VFD #6 w/ Andrew Kimmel, a pioneer of early online live-streaming at social movements across the United States. #MeToo, George Floyd, Charlottesville, Portland… in a chaotic few years of American history, Andrew was there.
That said, here’s the full list. Shout out, too, to #3 with Rusty Foster – creator of Today in Tabs. Worth a read, and worth subscribing to Tabs if you don’t already!
Top 20:
Observations
Won’t go into too much depth here, but there are a few problems I need to solve for next year’s VFD. Most notably – publishing once a week ain’t it! Which is kind of obvious when you think about it for a second. When you only publish once a week you limit your opportunity for promotion and distribution to… once a week. And while my publishing schedule was made initially to create a platform I could actually maintain, I’ll go into how I think we can evolve this later on.
Socials were also a weak point for me. Go figure; man whose job is all about making stuff go brrrr on the internet doesn’t really have the brainpower to get his own project working in that way. But really that’s just an excuse – I will be making a real effort to up the quality + momentum here in the new year.
Finally, the guests this year were mostly media-related. I’d love to explore what VFD looks like when talking to people outside of these space.
Future Planning – Become a VFD Member
This is the part of the Year in Review where we dive into the major changes I want to make next year, how I plan on spending subscriber dollars, and open up the floor for any ideas or criticism. Love it. This sort of intel is reserved for paid subscribers, who should be able to just keep on scrolling to read the rest. If that’s not you, consider signing up! 50% off for the month of December (and then you get 50% forever!). I’d be immensely grateful and would talk to you on the street or online and thank you profusely.
If you’re not in a position to do that, it’s totally cool. Please keep on reading next year and let me know what you think! Also, if you’re feeling wild, get a friend to subscribe for free :)
Anyway, here we go then.