In between videos of young men attending the Minions movie in suits, your TikTok feed this summer was probably flooded with hot takes on “quiet quitting.” The phrase that launched 1,000 think pieces simply means not going above and beyond at work, or performing the responsibilities laid out in your job description and nothing more. Quiet quitting is essentially a way to slightly disengage from your day job and eventually, some HR experts say, leave it.

Quiet quitting is nothing new. The percentage of US workers who said they were “actively disengaged” at their jobs hovered around 20% from 2007–2015, before dropping to 13% in 2018, according to Gallup. But between 2020 and 2022 (the pandemic years), the share of actively disengaged employees has increased four percentage points to 18%. At the same time, the share of employees who say they were engaged at work has dropped four percentage points in the last two years, to just 32% now.

So why did quiet quitting hit a nerve in 2022? After two years in a global pandemic, constant rumors of an upcoming recession, and yogurt costing more than it ever has, it makes sense that people might be rejecting “hustle culture” and are now just a little less focused on replying to emails.

While some business execs (and probably your parents) were quick to jump into their “lazy millennials” spiel to explain quiet quitting, it may not be wise to blame workers when they start to turn off Slack notifications earlier in the day: A bad boss can burn out employees faster than anything, according to the Harvard Business Review.

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Runner-up: “Gaslighting”

The phrase describes a kind of manipulation that makes the victim question their sanity, and it was Merriam-Webster’s Word of the Year after it recorded a 1,740% increase in searches on the site in 2022. From everyone telling us how good oat milk is to seeing famous people we love hawk NFTs, we were all a little gaslit this year.

Runner-up: “I got this wrong” (coming from a tech CEO)

After watching other executives fail miserably in announcing layoffs (looking at you, Better.com guy), this year CEOs began to appreciate that they needed to take ownership when announcing tough job cuts. One of the premier examples was Stripe CEO Patrick Collison, who offered a detailed explanation of his errors and miscalculations during the pandemic, saying, “We overhired for the world we’re in.” Even Mark Zuckerberg, when announcing Meta’s biggest layoffs in history, told employees, “I want to take accountability for these decisions and for how we got here.”—MM

Elon Musk’s attempt to moonlight as an international diplomat did not last long. On October 3, Musk floated a plan on Twitter for how Russia and Ukraine could negotiate peace. His four-part proposal included holding elections in four illegally annexed parts of Ukraine to see if residents there wanted to be part of Russia—days after the US, Europe, and Ukraine denounced Russia’s brazen land grab. Musk’s plan also included classic pro-Kremlin talking points, like permanently ceding Crimea to Vladimir Putin, who illegally annexed the region in 2014.

It didn’t go over well. The plan was immediately roasted by Ukrainian officials and politicians around the world. The official Twitter account of Ukraine’s Parliament replied, “No.” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky tweeted a poll asking which Elon Musk people liked more: one who supports Ukraine or one who supports Russia. Musk insisted he was pro-Ukraine and pointed to his donated Starlink satellite dishes that provide critical internet access for the war-torn country.

But the drama didn’t end there. A few days after Musk tried to do diplomacy, geopolitics expert Ian Bremmer claimed in his newsletter that Musk told him he spoke to Putin before he tweeted the plan. Musk denied the claim and said he hadn’t spoken to Putin in 18 months—and that conversation had been about space. Then Musk added, “Nobody should trust Bremmer.”

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Runner-up: Chess anal-bead cheating conspiracy

In a tournament in September, the 19-year-old American bad boy of chess Hans Niemann defeated world champion Magnus Carlsen. It was a huge upset that had some in the sport, including Carlsen, suggesting that Niemann was cheating—and had been for some time.

So how does one cheat in a live chess match? A number of theories were proposed, but certainly the wildest was that Niemann had a computer alert him of correct movies via vibrations from wireless anal beads. Niemann has denied the cheating allegations and even offered to play naked. Weirdly, no one took him up on his offer.

Where are they now? In an effort to clear his name, Niemann filed a lawsuit against Carlsen, Chess.com, and other high-ranking chess world officials for $100 million in damages.

Runner-up: Tom Brady and other celebs named in FTX lawsuit

After the meteor-killing-the-dinosaurs level collapse of Sam Bankman-Fried’s crypto exchange FTX, a number of celebs who had acted as ambassadors for the company were named as defendants in a class-action suit against it. Comedian and Seinfeld creator Larry David, Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Tom Brady, and basketball stars Shaquille O’Neal and Stephen Curry were likely trading lawyer recs in the A-lister group chat.—MM

It’s been called “the slap heard around the world,” “the slapping incident,” “slapgate,” and simply “the slap.”

At the Academy Awards in March, comedian Chris Rock made a jape about Will Smith’s wife, Jada Pinkett Smith. Smith promptly got up from his seat in the audience, walked on stage, and slapped Chris Rock across the face in less time than you can say “I’d like to thank the Academy.”

The altercation resulted in a viral two seconds of live video that’s been reposted, remixed, and reimagined in roughly a gazillion ways. And the uncensored clip has over 104 million views on YouTube. What Smith yelled after the slap (“Keep my wife’s name out your f***ing mouth”) also became meme fodder, a TikTok trend, and a plaything for DJs.

The moment’s ability to command attention long after Oscar night stemmed in part from how controversial the action itself was: The internet was divided over whether or not physical violence is ever warranted. Smith himself has since expressed how “deeply remorseful” he is on multiple platforms, including The Daily Show, where he recently said, “That was a rage that had been bottled for a really long time,” while acknowledging that his behavior wasn’t justified.

Looking ahead…despite winning an Oscar that night, Smith is banned from all Academy events for 10 years. Rock was invited to host next year’s awards ceremony, but he declined, saying it would be like returning to the scene of a crime.

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Runner-up: Johnny Depp v. Amber Heard

This viral moment was also dripping in ethical controversy. In case you somehow managed to miss it, Depp and Heard, who divorced in 2017, had a messy defamation trial this summer in which each actor accused the other of abuse. Depp mostly prevailed at trial, and the pair eventually settled. But as it dragged on, the whole ordeal was publicly viewable on Court TV. TikTokers suddenly became legal experts as they analyzed every piece of evidence, facial expression, and out-of-place hair on the celebrity duo’s heads.

Runner-up: Corn Kid

Finally, a wholesome viral moment for the year. There’s not much to say about this one except that “everything changed” for this seven-year-old who really likes corn when an interview with him about his favorite veggie racked up over 26 million views—and that’s just the original Instagram clip.—JW

You may not remember it, but in our Q3 recap newsletter in late September we gave you five questions about the final quarter of the year and asked you to choose between two possible outcomes. Now that the fourth quarter is mostly done and dusted, let’s see how you did.

1. Which party will gain control of the Senate in the midterm elections?

54% of readers predicted that the Republicans would take control of the Senate, but in a surprise, the Democrats held on to the chamber (they did lose a majority in the House, though).

2. Will Elon Musk be forced to buy Twitter?

64% of readers said that Elon Musk would not be forced to buy Twitter, and…they’re half correct? Musk wasn’t technically forced to by a judge, but he did agree to buy Twitter before the Oct. 17 trial date. And nothing interesting has happened since...

3. The S&P 500 began Q4 down 24.1% on the year. Will it close worse or better than –20%?

This is going to be a close one: 52% of readers predicted that the S&P 500 would close worse than –20%, and it’s currently at –21.1% with just a few trading days to go in 2022.

4. Which film will have the better opening weekend at the domestic box office, Avatar: The Way of Water or Black Panther: Wakanda Forever?

54% of readers thought the long-awaited Avatar sequel would have the stronger debut, and they were proven wrong. James Cameron’s epic earned a disappointing  $134 million at the domestic box office, while Wakanda Forever earned $180 million—good for the best November release in history.

5. Which country will win the World Cup?

An overwhelming number of readers predicted that Brazil would win the World Cup. But in the end it was Argentina—led by its star, Lionel Messi—that won the title in classic fashion over France.

This week, we’re resurfacing the most-clicked “Brew’s Bets” from the entire year…

Smart buys: Here are 31 small gadgets to make your life a little bit better.

We don’t care how you pronounce it: These are the most popular GIFs of the year.

When should you exercise? A study shows it might be different for men and women.

What’s your company’s competitive edge heading into 2023? CFO Brew investigated what the topics finance professionals should be considering for their businesses now and during a recession.

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Word Search: Do you like looking at cute, wintry animals? Then you’ll enjoy today’s Word Search.

Trivia animalia

On this day in 1973, President Nixon signed the Endangered Species Act, requiring federal and state governments to protect species that are at risk of extinction within US borders.

In this quiz, we’ll give you an animal species, and you have to determine whether it is considered “endangered” by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature.

1. Giant Panda
2. Blue Whale
3. Orangutan
4. Plains Bison
5. Monarch Butterfly
6. Polar Bear

Here’s a look back at three emerging technologies that hit an inflection point in 2022.

Alex Lieberman, Jesse Pujji, and Sophia Amoruso know what it’s like to be a founder. On The Crazy Ones, they dole out unfiltered advice on how to build businesses.

Have you heard? The third-party cookie is on its way out. Marketing Brew explored the future of targeting innovations so you don’t have to. Check it out.