What a year & party pics!
A few thoughts and shoutouts for 2022...
Hi there,
This is a special entry just for full subscribers — so thank you for being one! I appreciate your interest and support for my work…
Happy New Year!
For the nation and the news, 2022 felt like another big year.
Yes, I guess we say that a lot these days… Consider at just some of the major developments in the past, say, five years, and it’s a ton of undeniably important stuff (Trump’s election and presidency; his aides’ crime spree; resurgent hate and political violence; four new Supreme Court Justices; Covid; a Covid vaccine; mass protests; the insurrection; Biden’s election; the fall of Roe; and that leaves out a ton).
One tradition I do like about the end of the year is stepping back, taking stock, be it professionally, personally, or otherwise.
We know the calendar is “arbitrary” — we could do this in June, too — but it’s a way to pause, absorb, and maybe grow. If you’re doing any of that in your life, or with your loved ones, I wish you the best with it!
Taking stock as The Beat goes on…
At MSNBC this year, we marked the five year anniversary of The Beat. I don’t know how “birthdays” are supposed to work for a news show, we didn’t do a ton about it on air. But we did throw an event to mark it, celebrate, and thank the team — and many great guests — who’ve contributed to the program.
So in case it’s of interest, I wanted to share some of the pictures and memories from that night in New York.
Naturally, Fat Joe was there and he performed. Here he was with me and MSNBC President Rashida Jones:
And here are some of our “legal eagles,” Elie Mystal and Melissa Murray:
Another fun part of the night was seeing people from different walks of life come together. P-Funk’s George Clinton also performed, and then afterward, he was cold chilling with Neil deGrasse Tyson. You can see how much fun they had:
And here’s Dave East, who’s been on the show multiple times and also gave me a (thankfully kind) shoutout in one of his one of his new songs:
Last Night a DJ Saved My Life…
We also had DJs from the New York rap station HOT 97, whom you can see on stage below, and they kept the playlist spanning many genres (hip hop, soul, disco, pop and some rock and jazz). This was the moment I came out on stage, to give a thank you speech… though maybe it also looks a tad like a local city council candidate on Election Night? (lol)
Now, when the MSNBC President came out, we played “Moving On Up” by Curtis Mayfield (classic!).
My song was a Jay-Z song with the refrain, “allow me to reintroduce myself.” Felt right.
So that’s how the celebration went, which I wanted to share with you. There are some videos from that night as well, all from inside a Basquiat art exhibit… we haven’t aired most of it, though here’s a short clip if you want to get more of the flavor on video (around 14 minutes in)… Fat Joe reflects on that night, and about the “natural love” we share for music.
On to the next one…
So that’s some of the positive, uplifting side of all this — bringing people together, sharing culture we care about, meeting or learning about people you might not otherwise know. We love doing that through The Beat, and it can be rejuvenating.
Same goes for “meeting” or hearing from many of you, from this job and even this newsletter, where I read your comments, questions and ideas. So thank you for that, and I hope you get the chance to see some family and friends who bring joy into your life this holiday season!
P.S. Photo credits: MSNBC; Rob Kim.
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An extended Fat Joe interview, including party footage at the end:
Glad to see you take time out for fun! Ari, over these past five years, you have given of yourself-shared interviews of your parents and brother (both phenomenal), and educated us on political and social issues. Along the way, we listened to music, outside our genres and grew past our individual culture and limited experiences. For this, I thank you! I look forward to the new year and those to come, as I continue to grow and learn from your wealth of legal knowledge and fun facts.🎉🍾❤️
Thank you for sharing. It’s a nostalgic time of year. Great to reflect on the past and also think of what we want in our future. No resolutions, just vows to try harder, do more, love better, and appreciate the little things. The photos are great, wish there were more! Wishing you a year of continued success, good health, and good times.