A note on the issue: A mind map of the year
Our stories this week are analyses of how culture moved forward in 2024 and which trends could grow into foundational principles for the year ahead
Year-enders could seem like a rite of passage, a ritual of listmaking to close out the year when most people are drinking mulled wine and taking sunshiny holidays, which journalists on a daily publishing schedule really can’t do. In reality, to look back on our year of reporting, writing, reading and listening is to create a mind map for ourselves—of our stories, of our thoughts, of our priorities, of what we could have done better—and for our readers. After all, as Annie Dillard wrote, “How we spend our days is, of course, how we spend our lives.” And the days of culture writers are spent cultivating habits of tracking, observing and understanding to fit together the pieces of people’s behaviour, likes and dislikes in order to foresee cultural shifts, larger trends or societal debates and flashpoints.
Also read: Moments in Hindi cinema: 2024
The stories you see all year in Lounge aren’t handed to us by sources; they are defined by each writer’s interests and their understanding of a particular aspect of culture, journalism and human psychology. So, our year-end lists aren’t just about picking the “best of”; they’re a contemplation of the shifts we observed, up close, in arts, cinema, sports, style, books and living our best life. This pause is all the more important now, when culture journalism is increasingly “newsified”. Our stories this week are analyses of how culture moved forward in 2024 and which trends could grow into foundational principles for the year ahead.
On our site (livemint.com/mint-lounge) is a compilation of our best stories of the year, a list that is neither exhaustive nor objective. We started the year with our Arts Special, which predicted the rise of the artist-designer, a trend that only strengthened during the year. We tracked the new gender divide, or young men’s inclination towards an aggressive kind of masculinity. The lives of baby influencers, the growth of an ecosystem around positive ageing, Bollywood’s tilt as we moved into election season, what chefs eat when they’re off the clock, India’s new astrologers…our eclectic stories of the last 51 weekends have range, depth and a sense of fun. If you’ve missed them, it’s time to catch up.
Write to the editor at shalini.umachandran@htlive.com
@shalinimb
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First Published:28 Dec 2024, 08:00 AM IST
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