The crew at WUNC Music and friends from WUNC look back on 2022 and list their favorite music, movies, podcasts, memories, and more! Check out the list below:
Alan Thompson aka DJ Who4theCru, WUNC Music Host
Top 5 Albums (No Order)
- Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers (Kendrick Lamar)
- Dream Lobby Vol. III (Devin Morrison)
- Not Tight (DOMi & JD BECK)
- Quality Over Opinion (Louis Cole)
- Motherland Journey (Blue Lab Beats)
Top 5 Songs (No Order)
- TAKE A CHANCE (DOMi & JD BECK)
- Therapy pt. 2 (Robert Glasper feat. Mac Miller)
- Yamz (Masego feat. Devin Morrison)
- Tongo Barra (Vieux Farka Touré Feat. Khruangbin
- Bad Habit (Steve Lacy)
My Top Restaurant
- Dashi Ramen
My favorite Kombucha
- GT’s Synergy Blood Orange
Most Frequent Hang
- Hayti District Bar in Durham (Tuesday Night Open Mic)
Favorite TV Show
- Atlanta
Newest Addition to the Family
- Sir Johnson Thompson
Brian Burns, WUNC Music Director
35 Albums!
- Alabaster DePlume - Gold
- Anteloper - Pink Dolphins
- Billy Woods - Aethiopes
- Charles Stepney - Step on Step
- Denzel Curry - Melt My Eyez See Your Future
- Danger Mouse & Black Thought - Cheat Codes
- Danielle Ponder - Some Of Us Are Brave
- DOMi & JD Beck - NOT TiGHT
- Duval Timothy - Meeting With A Judas Tree
- Earl Sweatshirt - SICK!
- Ezra Collective - Where I’m Meant To Be
- Horace Andy - Midnight Rocker/Midnight Scorchers
- Kendrick Lamar - Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers
- Kenny Beats - Louie
- Lady Wray - Piece of Me
- Lambchop - The Bible
- Lil Silva - Yesterday Is Heavy
- Lucretia Dalt - Ay!
- Makaya McCraven - In These Times
- MAVI - Laughing So Hard, It Hurts
- Misha Panfilov - The Sea Will Outlive Us All
- MJ Lenderman - Boat Songs
- Obongjayar - Some Nights I Dream Of Doors
- Panda Bear & Sonic Boom - Reset
- Rosalia - Motomami
- Sault - everything!
- Say She She - Prism
- Sessa - Estrela Acesa
- Sharon Van Etten - We’ve Been Going About This All Wrong
- Steve Lacy - Gemini Rights
- Sudan Archives - Natural Brown Prom Queen
- The Smile - A Light For Attracting Attention
- Thee Sacred Souls - s/t
- Tim Bernardes - Mil Coisas Invisiveis
- Weyes Blood - And In The Darkness, Hearts Aglow
Cindy Howes, WUNC Music Host
Albums:
1. Ondara - Spanish Villager No. 3
2. Anais Mitchell - Anais Mitchell
3. Lizzo - Special
4. The A's - Fruit
5. Sampa The Great - As Above, So Below
6. beabadoobee - Beatopia
7. Kevin Morby - This is a Photograph
8. Smino - Luv 4 Rent
9. S.G. Goodman - Teeth Marks
10. Tegan & Sara - Crybaby
11. King Princess - Hold on Baby
12. Babe Rainbow - The Organic Band
13. Rubblebucket - Earth Worship
14. Soccer Mommy - Sometimes, Forever
15. First Aid Kit - Palomino
Songs:
1. Flock of Dimes, Pure Love
2. Ethan Gruska & Bon Iver, So Unimportant
3. H.C. McEntire, Soft Crook
4. Lizzie No & Ben Pirani, Sweeter Than Strychnine
5. Hallelujah The Hills, Superglued to You
6. Danger Mouse & Black Thought, Aquamarine (feat. Michael Kiwanuka)
7. DOMi & JD Beck, TAKE A CHANCE (feat. Anderson .Paak)
8. Beyoncé, Cuff It
9. U.S. Girls, So Typically Now
10. Julia Jacklin, I Was Neon
11. Pearla, Effort
12. Muna, Silk Chiffon
13. Ezra Collective, Life Goes On (feat. Sampa The Great)
14. Jamila Woods, Boundaries
15. Harry Styles, As It Was
- Favorite Movie: Everything Everywhere All at Once
- Favorite TV show: Derry Girls
- Favorite podcast: My Favorite Murder
- Favorite Seltzer: Waterloo Watermelon
- Instagram Funny Lady: https://www.instagram.com/suzibear4/
- Favorite puppy: Puddles
Anita Rao, Host, "Embodied" / Managing Editor, On-Demand Content
- Favorite Book of 2022: Tomorrow, Tomorrow & Tomorrow! - Gabrielle Zevin
- Favorite Music: A curated playlist that refreshes weekly that spans genres and constantly introduces me to new music I love! It's called SOMSIREN.
- One particular song for a playlist: DESPECHÁ
by Rosalía - Favorite recipe of the year: https://www.tasteofhome.com/recipes/za-atar-chicken/
- Favorite experience: Throwing my mom a surprise 60th birthday party by flying her two sisters across the country and planning a mountain getaway with them and our family!
- Favorite Podcast: I most regularly listened to Vox's Today Explained! And it became my favorite source of daily news!
Bob Kastl, Corporate Support Manager
The end of (what I think is an all timer) Better Call Saul got me thinking about the top TV shows of the last 25 years or so, and when I would call up lists from IMDB or by ratings, I realized I had not seen that many! 2022 was a time to catch up on good TV that I either just missed out on when it came out, or didn’t have the access I do now via streaming. And I LOVE binging things — I swear it’s a better experience; you don’t have any lost continuity.
Things I watched in 2022: (in no particular order)
- The Sopranos
- Better Call Saul (at least the last season counts)
- Avatar: The Last Airbender
- Arrested Development
- Six Feet Under
- Mad Men
- The Wire
- Ted Lasso
- Stranger Things
- Friday Night Lights
- The Queen’s Gambit
Good lord, looking at this list reminds me: I need to crack a book once in a while!
Celeste Gracia, Environment Reporter
Best Music Albums of 2022
- BTS: Proof
- Adele: 30
- Beyoncé: Renaissance
Best Movie of 2022
- Everything Everywhere All At Once
Eric Hodge, Host of "Morning Edition"
Top Songs of 2022
- Story of Blood – John Cale, Weyes Blood
- What They Call Us – Fever Ray
- Lonely – Beth Orton
- So Long – Danielle Ponder
- Pro Freak (with Doechii, Fatman Scoop) – Smino
- Frenzy – Iggy Pop
- King - Florence + The Machine
- Mark On You – The Mountain Goats
- Anna Calls From The Arctic - Dry Cleaning
- Black Superhero - Robert Glasper
- Spitting Off The Edge of the World - Yeah Yeah Yeahs
- Let’s Go To Hell - Tai Verdes
- Cheap Idols Dressed In Expensive Garbage – John Moreland
- All That You Want – Ibibio Sound Machine
- All Talk – Brian Jackson
- Fear Of Flying – Dissimilar South
- Echo Party – Sylvan Esso
Josh Sullivan, Social Media Producer
Songs
- The Highs & The Lows - Chance the Rapper and Joey Bada$$
- Cold Damn Vampires - Zach Bryan
- Money - JID
- Growing Sideways - Noah Kahan
- Anywhere With You - Maggie Rogers
Books
- The Nickel Boys - Colson Whitehead
- Corrections in Ink - Keri Blakinger
- Powder Days - Heather Hansman
- Crying In H-Mart - Michelle Zauner
- 11/22/63 - Stephen King
Places in North Carolina
- Raleigh Golf Association
- Rise Biscuits
- Tobacco Wood Brewing
- Umstead State Park
Podcasts
- Running Smoke
- The Bomb Hole
- Criminal
- Great Grief
- Into It with Sam Sanders
Kaia Findlay, Producer, "Embodied"
- Album: Tout Peut Arriver by Romeo Elvis
- Song: Calm Down by Rema
- Podcast: Sweet Bobby by Tortoise Media
- Movie: The Lost Daughter (Directed by Maggie Gyllenhaal)
- Fiction Book: Oryx & Crake by Margaret Atwood
- Nonfiction book: When in French by Lauren Collins
- Graphic Novel: Good Talk by Mira Jacob
- New recipe: Butter Tofu
- Restaurant: Tesoro
- Coffee shop: Gray Squirrel
- Tea: Wild Sweet Orange
- Beer: Funk the Flying Dragon by Haw River Ales
- New experience: White water rafting on the Nantahala River
- Place visited: Chattanooga, TN
- Memory: Helping my sister pick out her wedding dress!
Mitchell Northam, Digital News Producer
ALBUMS
- “Digital Roses Don’t Die” – Big KRIT
(song: “Rhode Clean”) - “Welcome 2 Club XIII” – Drive-By Truckers
(song: “Every Single Storied Flameout”)
MOVIES
- Banshees of Inisherin
- Devotion
- Tony Hawk: Until the Wheels Fall Off
- Emily the Criminal
BOOKS
- “City on Fire” by Don Winslow
- “Heat 2” by Michael Mann
- “Across the River” by Kent Babb
- “Flipped: How Georgia Turned Purple” by Greg Bluestein
TV
- “We Own This City” (HBO)
- “The Staircase” (HBO)
- “Andor” (Disney+)
HONORABLE MENTIONS
- “The Highs & The Lows” – Chance The Rapper
- “Blackbird” (AppleTV+)
- “Star Wars: Crimson Reign” by Charles Soule
PODCASTS
- “Split Zone Duo”
- “The Big Picture”
Naomi Brown, Midday News Host
Music
- Three Dimensions Deep by Amber Mark,
- Arkhon by Zola Jesus
- Harry’s House by Harry Styles
- Tomorrow’s Yesterday by Little Boots
- Space Island by Broods
Books
- The Woman in Valencia by Annie Perreault
- Plum Bun by Jessie Redmon Fauset
- Passed On by Karla FC Holloway
- Salaam Love by Ayesha Mattuu.
Favorite experiences: Returning to Italy for a weeklong solo trip... and getting married!
Paul Hunton, WUNC President and General Manager
Top 3 books
- Cinema Speculation – Quentin Tarantino
- Hidden Pictures – Jason Rekulak
- Think Again- Adam Grant
Top 3 films
- The Novelist’s Film - Hong Sang Soo
- Tár – Todd Fields
- Descendant – Margaret Brown
Honorable mention(s):
- Nope – Jordan Peele
- Everything, Everywhere, All at Once – The Daniels
Top 3 Albums
- It’s Almost Dry - Pusha T
- Americana Vol 2. – JD Allen
- Laurel Hell – Mitski
Honorable mention:
Big Tex, Here We Come- Andrew Weathers and Hayden Pedigo
Top Song
Put in the Work - David Ramirez
Sharryse Piggott, American Homefront Project Veterans Reporting Fellow
These were the best experiences I had during 2022:
- I was offered a permanent position as the PM producer at WUNC.
- I met Alicia Keys and had a chance to chat with her personally.
- I went to the Military Veterans in Journalism Conference for the first time.
- Vacationed in Aruba and scratched it off my bucket list.
- I turned 30 on January 30th and had an epic birthday party.
Whitney Baker, Digital Platforms Manager
ALBUMS
- THE UNRAVELING OF PUPTHEBAND - Pup (Song “Totally Fine”)
- Expert in a Dying Field - The Beths (Song “Silence is Golden”)
- Asphalt Meadows - Death Cab for Cutie (Song “Roman candles”)
All these albums are 2022 releases but shout out to an older song from The Beths that I am totally fixated on, called “Little Death”
MOVIE
BOOKS
- James SA Corey - The Expanse (series) (the final book in the series published right before or right at the beginning of 2022)
- NK Jemisin - The City We Became/The World We Make (duology) (The World We Make just published recently.)
- Robin Wall Kimmerer - Braiding Sweetgrass (nonfiction! Also she’s in the new MacArthur genius cohort. Book is a bit older)
TV
- The Rehearsal (HBO Max/Nathan Fielder)
- Severance (Apple TV)
- Abbott Elementary (Hulu)
HONORABLE MENTION
- YouTube - Seonkyoung Longest (Vegan asian recipes, particularly this rosé tteokbokki )
- No Rolls Barred (particularly when they play Blood on the Clocktower), extremely long video essays on esoteric subjects (particularly Jenny Nicholson on Evermore theme park and Sarah Z on Homestuck)
There’s also an Expanse TV show on Amazon Prime that is very good.
For TV binging you don’t have to pay TOO much attention to, I’ve gotten on the Masterchef train (did all of Top Chef in 2020/2021) and also all of Frasier is on Hulu.
I’m also a fan of Ted Lasso, but who isn’t? Shout out to this scene in particular. And to Brandon Hunt doing an in-character performance of Bad Romance for charity.
