Diet Austin's Five Favorites of 2022
some have called us Oprahs of the Ozarks
Greetings from Diet Austin! The season of reflection is upon us now that Spotify Wrapped has fulfilled its annual duty of exposing you and your chosen form of coping for what y’all really are (perennial Norah Jones fans). Yes, the graphics were horrible, but the combo of categories was reliable and refreshing! A big THANK YOU to all who shared on their socials—an important and brave act amidst a waning democracy. I, for one, desperately want to know your morning vibes in three words (mine were happy, fun, and silly, and I will not reveal my secrets!!) and if miss algorithm deemed you a “ maverick” or “time-traveler.” Your Top 5 artists, song, and album dataset might as well be an annual supplement to our census. The things we could learn by visualizing the density and geographic distribution of Bad Bunny listeners in Northwest Arkansas! I digress.
Seeing my year’s soundtrack and other’s seasonal superlatives helps me reverse-engineer the past twelve months and collect the themes, characters, motifs, and cadences that comprised it. I encouraged the staff of Diet Austin to take a sec and reflect on their favorite things of this year. Their wide range of responses speaks duly to each contributor’s field of expertise and the amount of delight to be found in the memories of 2022!
your editor and bff,
clio
Five Favorite Female Artists of NWA (in No Particular Order)
by Diet Austin (Co-Editor + Chief Culture Critic)
Last week, my good friend and colleague, John Paul Gairhan, visited the Yale University Art Gallery and left me with this post-visit review**:
Not to fear John Paul! In a year of explosive, if not unchecked, arts expansion in Northwest Arkansas there is an abundance of non-dude artists doing incredibly interesting things. It's been a joy to observe! I am most taken by each of these women’s exploration of play, comfort, and material in their respective mediums, all to interesting and WONDERFUL effects. I follow them on insta and so should you!
Danielle Hatch, @daniellehatchstudio, A multi-medium, textile-based artist that above all else, seeks and produces softness, delight, and pink in our built world. An ally of tassels and connoisseur of joy!
Sarah Turner, @st.bends, A neon-bending gal who showed up in white to an all-black party; Her work amazes me and her vibes are immaculate. Sarah Turner, if you read this, plz be friends w me :)
Linda Lopez, @linda__lopez, A ceramicist who is first, a delightful human, and second, a colorist. She has a dreamy studio in the woods of Washington county, and I am *quite literally* BEGGING her to make a barn quilt for it !!!
Jan Murray Brown, @janbrown360, the elusive and humble Springdale quilt lady who answers the question: what if my great-grandmother had an insta for her quilts?
Chloe Jones, @chloeleajones, NY in irl, Ozarks in Our Hearts– the photographer formerly known as chromachloe is equal parts cerebral and chic and brings a wonderful perspective of NWA back to NYC and vice versa; she is in grad school now and I encourage you to follow her promising practice. Chloe, if you read this, plz drop your bibliography
**If you send me questions or thoughts on art, I will respond to them here!
Top 5 Tiny Quilts of 2022, a photo essay curated by Virginia Paschal ( Youth Consultant + Craft Correspondent). Clockwise order starting in top left: @lynncarsonharris, @tessa_layzelle, @my_messy_quilts, @zakfoster.quilts, National Quilt Museum @ Paducah, Kentucky.
Top 5 Books I Read This Year About People + Environment
by J.P. Gairhan (Greater Delta and Kalahari Desert Correspondent)
Entangled Life: How Fungi Make Our Worlds, Change Our Minds & Shape Our Futures by Merlin Sheldrake
Beneath your very feet, all around the planet, a complex mycorrhizal network composed of hyphae and fungi is busy at work. Sheldrake’s philosophy of Radical Mycology is a guide for a more sustainable and connected future. The scientific community has devalued mushrooms for too long. Fungi have a profound capability to teach humans more about not only the natural world but ourselves too.
The Grail Bird: Hot on the Trail of the Ivory-billed Woodpecker by Tim Gallagher
I Believe Tim Gallagher. In 2004 Tim Gallagher and Bobby Harrison identified an Ivory-billed Woodpecker in the Bayou de View area of the White River National Wildlife Refuge. Their find sparked the imagination of birders across the world who had accepted that the Lord God Bird had been extinct for decades. Gallagher takes you on a journey across the American South’s bayous, sloughs, thickets, and wetlands in search of North America’s most elusive creature.
Warmth: Coming of Age at the End of Our World by Daniel Sherrell
It was my Diet Austin colleague, Wesley T. Prewett, who first brought Daniel Sherrell and his memoir to my attention. Sherrell was an October 2021 guest on the Know Your Enemy Pod (great interview btw) and he has been a leader in the U.S. climate movement for over a decade. Warmth addresses the larger social and personal crises that our changing climate spurs. This is the read for your ongoing climate anxiety. For better or worse, we have to understand our reality and face it with courage.
Small Is Beautiful: Economics as if People Mattered by Ernst F. Schumacher
Written in the 1970s, this environmental classic champions the concept of degrowth economics. Consumerism requires our economy to pursue relentless growth often at the expense of people and their environment. Communities and nations must prepare for a future without the fossil fuels that power our world. We can do our best to embrace systems that value people, ensure prosperity, and promote sustainable futures.
The Shepherd’s Life: A People’s History of the Lake District by James Rebanks
The life of a shepherd is worth fighting for. James Rebanks takes readers to the rural northeast of England and its famous Lake District. English pastoral in every sense of the word. In the cold, pouring rain, the sheep still require tending and there’s always a patch of stone wall in desperate need of repair. Life is about balance and nobody understands that more than shepherds. Tend to your flock, be kind to others, and have faith in the cycle of creation.
Top 5 Arkansas Bird Sightings
by Jerry Wofford (River Valley Correspondent + VP of Dept. for Avian Appreciation)
2022 was a year of the tropics. The northward movement of typically tropical birds this summer provided a spectacle for birders of Arkansas. Also, Fayetteville was aflutter with sparrow controversy, red-breasted nuthatches invaded, and a raptor on the river round out 2022 in birding.
White Ibis: A small flock of six white ibis left the coastal latitudes and flew north to dine in the shallows of Lake Sequoyah this summer.
Red-breasted nuthatches: An elusive bird for your correspondent no more thanks to a particularly large invasion year. Listen for their squeaks in mixed forests this winter.
Nelson’s sparrow: A hidden gem of birding in western Fayetteville, the Woolsey Wet Prairie, was a stopover for this elusive sparrow in October. Wait, or was it a LeConte’s sparrow? The listserve is still discussing.
Swainson’s Hawk: The first reported sighting in Sebastian County since 1965, spotted and confirmed by your correspondent flying along the Arkansas River.
TIE: Neotropic Cormorant and Limpkin: Two more tropical birds who made Northwest Arkansas their summer home in 2022. Gorgeous? Definitely. An ominous sign of collapsing ecosystems forcing adaptation due to global anthropomorphic climate change? Probably.
Top 5 SNL Skits of 2022 (until Steve Martin and Martin Short host this weekend)
by Davis Trice ( Coastal Elite contributor, East Region + Chief Dog Dad)
At the Thanksgiving table your cousins from Jonesboro probably told you that SNL isn’t funny anymore. Well guess what “Walker,” SNL isn’t made for you! Barstool TikTok is!
Despite the recent departures of legends Kate McKinnon, Pete Davidson and Leslie Jones, the homie Lorne has brought on some real big guns, while celebrating the past all at the same time:
Weekend Update: Sarah Sherman Roasts Colin Jost Again, Season 47 Episode 11, Will Forte: While Chloe was the hottest addition to the 2021 season, Sarah has really come into form in 2022. We all know Colin Jost is a freak behind the scenes in Studio 8H, and Sarah’s recurring Colin roasts are bringing that fact to light in the funniest, most ridiculous ways possible. Sarah Sherman roasting Colin Jost is the best thing on SNL in 2022.
Please Don’t Destroy - Martin’s Friend, Season 47 Episode 12, Willem Dafoe: Yes, these dudes got SNL gigs because their dads are writers. Still funny!
Five Timers Club, Season 47 Episode 13, John Mulaney: John Mulaney has had a tough pandemic, but seeing him up there next to the legends was a warm welcome back to the scene.
Hotel Ad, Season 47 Episode 8, Billie Eilish: The best SNL skits are when the characters can’t hold it in.
Inventing Chloe, Season 47 Episode 14, Oscar Isaac: Oscar Isaac is really only known for two things: 1) getting some serious fits off and 2) his cameo in Chloe Fineman’s greatest skit ever. What even is Dune?
Top Five Insults of 2022
by Marlee (Co-Editor + Interim Masshole-in-Chief)
As all normal people do, I keep a note on my phone dedicated to the good insults I hear from others. I’ve diligently maintained this list since 2017. If you need to get in a verbal fight, I suggest you call me.
The Rodney Dangerfield of presidents: The Queen of Mean and populist political commentator of yesteryear, Molly Ivins, is a foremother of honing a well-sharpened tongue. In this particular instance, one William Jefferson Clinton drew ire. Treat yourself to Molly Ivins Can’t Say That, Can She? or You Got to Dance with Them What Brung You for a bounty of good insults.
Jesus-using, fuck face liar: From the family group chat about She Who Shall Not Be Named during election season in Arkansas. A JUFFL, if you will.
That white refrigerator of a man: My recordkeeping abilities are shoddy at best. I can’t recall the origins of this one, but I like to think it’s from RHOA’s Nene Leakes, notable enemy of white refrigerators.
Looks like a computer-generated image of what a kidnapped child looks like as an adult: Remember JD Vance? Yes, I try not to as well. From one of my favorite 2022 Election Night tweets.
Living embodiment of a bog witch’s curse: Once again, exactly zero idea what the origin of this one was, but I love my children equally nonetheless.
In sum:
