49 Reasons Why 2016 Wasn’t as Bad as You Think

It’s easy to look back on 2016 and see only one thing —the November 8 election. Well, maybe if you saw “Hamilton,” which swept the Tonys 6 months and what seems like an era ago, you remember two things about this year. But to dwell only on the election (and, admittedly, it’s hard not to do that) would do a disservice to a year that, at times, was pretty magical, even inspiring from an artistic point of view. [Read more]

No doubt, 2016 will be seen as traumatic by many, including the editor of these pages — not only did we witness the twilight of the presidency of Barack Obama, but we also lost some of the greatest artists of our time —David Bowie, Prince, Leonard Cohen. This was the year we lost Muhammad Ali, John Glenn and Gene Wilder. But here in the Forward’s culture section, we wanted to take a look back at more than just a year of loss and heartache.

As it turned out, 2016 was a pretty terrific year for literature, art, film, theater, television, podcasting. So, we invited our staff members and contributors to tell us about the things that moved them most in this year. We gave them only two rules: Let’s not talk about “Hamilton,” and, please, just this once, let’s try not to discuss Hillary Clinton, Bernie Sanders or Donald Trump. And, with a few exceptions, they were able to do just that.

In the years to come, we will spend more than enough time rehashing and second-guessing what happened on the second Tuesday in November. But for just these moments, let’s take the time to remember and to celebrate all that was wonderful about 2016.

—Adam Langer