Thread by @MotherJones

1/ This was a difficult, inspiring, hell of a year. We’re looking back on some of 2020’s heroes and monsters. Here’s a thread of our picks. bit.ly/38J4STq

2/ Hero: Nathan Apodaca, aka @doggface208, aka the cranberry juice guy.

Thanks for the good vibes. bit.ly/2JxscLA

3/ Hero: Our cats.

As @jamilahking writes, “I wouldn't have remained sane this year without my cat—my personal hero of 2020.” bit.ly/34TuXya

4/ Monster: The US Senate.

“Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell,” @nhbaptiste writes, “seems completely unbothered by the widespread misery engulfing the country.” bit.ly/3htu8RN

5/ Hero: @wikiHow.

“wikiHow is the ultimate pandemic hero,” @laura_thomp writes, “because it’s utilitarian, earnest, and even willing to laugh at itself…wikiHow is my online safe-harbor.” bit.ly/3hzyiaU

6/ Hero & Monster: Gerald the Turkey.

This year, a wild turkey in Oakland began attacking locals, chasing some into trees. Officials were going to execute Gerald—until 10,000 people signed a petition to save him.

Stay free, Gerald. bit.ly/2WUUfru

7/ Hero: Jacques Pépin’s eggs.

You haven’t tried deviled eggs until you’ve tried the 85-year-old master French chef’s Eggs Jeannette: bit.ly/2L1H1q1

8/ Hero: Netflix’s “Floor Is Lava”

“It’s far from the best show I watched in 2020” @eenayo writes, but the dumb game show “came as such a balm against the cascade of despair and horror emanating from outside.” bit.ly/38J7HnM

9/ Monster: Netflix’s “The Queen’s Gambit”

We know: This may not be a popular opinion. But just read @alibreland’s nuanced take on the show and get back to us. bit.ly/3aX3D5X

10/ Hero: local political reporters.

In a time of unprecedented confusion and disinformation, it’s impossible to overstate the public service that these journalists have provided. bit.ly/3aVADeM

11/ Monster: Miles Taylor, the former Trump official who says he wrote the anonymous op-ed “I Am Part of the Resistance Inside the Trump Administration.”

Taylor could have left Capitol Hill for any number of lucrative gigs. Instead, he went back to DHS. bit.ly/3pzvb5m

12/ Monster: Sonny Perdue.

Perdue spent his 2020 like he spent the other years of his Washington stint: flattering his boss at every opportunity, and lavishing largesse on political allies while undercutting poor people and food-system workers. bit.ly/3pymYyy

13/ Monster: Roger Ailes and Fred Trump

“They each helped Trump become who and what he is: a president whose reckless, self-centered, and irresponsible actions have contributed to the deaths of a great many Americans,” @DavidCornDC writes. bit.ly/38OSWjb

14/ Hero: The people who told their bosses to shove it.

This year, we talked to several people who quit their jobs in the middle of a plague. Read their stories: bit.ly/3mYiT4P

15/ Hero: Christian Cooper.

In addition to being one of New York’s best-known birding enthusiasts, Cooper is a pioneering comics editor who created the first queer characters in the Star Trek and Marvel fictional universes. bit.ly/3husdfQ

16/ Hero: Andrew Callaghan’s YouTube channel, “All Gas No Brakes.”

If you haven’t heard of “All Gas No Brakes,” let @alibreland take you on this journey: bit.ly/34W6KqR

17/ Hero: The Atlantic’s @edyong209.

“As much of the media clumsily figured out how to report on the ever-moving target that is the coronavirus,” @jackiefmogensen writes, “Yong delivered sharp and potentially life-saving information and analysis.” bit.ly/3n7yQGc

18/ Monster: Your damn sourdough starter.

“You made sourdough starter! Congratulations! People have been doing this exact thing for thousands of years!”

Read @jamilahking’s hilarious mini-rant: bit.ly/3aXB7RR

19/ Hero: the women of pop.

This year, women ruled the charts. Here are some of @samvantheman’s favorites. bit.ly/2KGMSkX

20/ Monster: the ghouls who gutted minor league baseball.

There will be a raft of minor league teams killed this year. And it’s ruining baseball, @timothypmurphy writes: bit.ly/3aTZv6S

21/ Hero & Monster: TikTok.

TikTok got the world through this pandemic, @lil_kalish writes, but at whose expense? “Many of TikTok’s most popular sounds and dance trends are created by Black people. And then appropriated widely.” bit.ly/380l0kn

22/ Hero: Bandcamp.

In March, when the pandemic suddenly cut off the income for millions of musicians, Bandcamp—a music streaming site dedicated to an artist-friendly business model—stepped up. bit.ly/3hwOQ3a

23/ Monster: celebrity Substack.

“If you thought your journalism had value beyond entertainment, would you really be making it available to fewer people, unedited, mid-pandemic-depression? And only to people who can pay? Eat shit.” —@danielmoattar bit.ly/2JzcIGN

24/ Monster: Trump’s fist pump.

“Like much of Trump’s flirtation with autocracy,” @daudig writes, “the gesture hides its darkest intentions behind plausible deniability.” bit.ly/3o8a7Th

25/ And last but not least…

Hero: Parks!

Fresh air! Sunshine! Nature! Here’s to the great outdoors. bit.ly/2L4rxl7

26/26 Here’s a landing page with all of our heroes and monsters. Happy New Year! bit.ly/38J4STq