Today, we're looking back on a year of Morning Brew content that was mostly written atop converted BP tables or stacks of cookbooks. Since the rest of this newsletter is basically Morning Brew folks gassing up other Morning Brew folks, we'll start off by doing a sincere: 

Thank you so much for reading this year. We wish you and your loved ones a happy holiday and very precedented 2021.

LIFESTYLE

Turning Lemons Into a Newsletter

The unexpected star of our editorial lineup this year: a new lifestyle vertical. Here's how Sidekick, our recommendations newsletter, was born.

Early March: We threw together a "Morning Brew's Guide to Living Your Best Quarantined Life" that broke Google Docs. 

March 16: The Google Docs guide graduated to a website story that remains, by far, our most-viewed article of 2020.

March 23: We started to include a "Daily Quarantine Planner" section at the bottom of this newsletter to give you all ideas of things to do when your calendars were wiped out by Covid.

April 6: The first issue of The Essentials, a newsletter that built off the original guide and the planner, was sent to readers looking for quarantine recommendations.

November 23: After 80+ issues of The Essentials, the newsletter got a makeover to become Sidekick, with writer Rachel Cantor at the helm.

Some of the most popular recommendations from Sidekick's evolution:

• Level up: Use Baller ToDo, the Eisenhower Matrix, and the Pomodoro Technique for productivity.
• Listen: A Soft Murmur for ambient noise and Big Desk Energy for work beats.
• Get lost in a hole: A really long list of icebreakers; ASCII, emoji, and text meme templates; and movie recs from the Brew crew.

QUARANTINE

Home, but Not Alone

When the world shut down and pajamas became acceptable workplace attire, we looked to readers to share uplifting stories. Here are some of our favorite responses to those polls.

1. Any funny/bizarre stories about working from home?

"Left NYC to go to my parents' house—I was presenting to 100+ people and my dad walked through at 9:30am yelling, 'Is it too early for a drink?'"—Anonymous

"I'm on a video call with my company and the next thing I notice is a bird on one of the participants' heads. The bird stayed in place the remainder of the call and even chimed in with a hello. The participant didn't even pause."—Chaz in Brookings, SD

2. Tell us about your local heroes

"My elderly neighbor loves to sit on his front porch when the weather is nice. On Sunday afternoon, a younger man who I believe is his son pulled into his driveway. He pulled a lawn chair and a cooler out of his trunk and sat down in the yard in front of the porch to maintain distance while they talked and drank a few beers."—Jackson in Kansas City, MO

"I've been stranded in the U.S. because I'm a student on financial aid and all international flights to Nepal have been canceled. My American roommate and her family offered me housing and food for as long as I need to wait out this storm together."—Suraj in Las Vegas, NV 

3. How about your dating life? 

"Did a virtual date for the first time. When the girl turned on her camera, I saw for a quick glance what was at least 50 crushed up Mountain Dew cans on the floor by her bed. I tried not to think anything of it until the conversation turned to what our favorite drinks were. To spice things up I said my favorite drink was Mountain Dew...she didn't bat an eye and proceeded to tell me she doesn't really drink soda. The call ended about five minutes later when I told her I can't date a liar."—Anonymous

"I literally haven't touched another human being in over eight months."—A very lonely anonymous

+ You can find more WFH horror stories here. And for more heartwarming stories, here are two roundups we put together. 

GRAPHIC DESIGN

The Man, the Myth, the..

Graphic designer. Francis Scialabba's name is in almost every Morning Brew newsletter, and for good reason: He makes really cool images. Here are three of our favorite Frank creations from the year:

1. A story about the British dining subsidy expiring

Francis Scialabba

2. When Robinhood raised a new round of funding 

Francis Scialabba

3. Facebook getting sued by the FTC and dozens of states

Francis Scialabba

For more Frank images beyond the Brew, follow his Instagram. 

SPONSORED BY BRIGHTCOVE

Over-the-top Video, Tippity-top Moolah

Maybe you’ve never heard of “over-the-top”, or OTT, video. But as readers of the greatest business newsletter ever composed, we’re willing to bet you’ve heard of “moolah.”

“Bucks.” “Benjamins.” “Bread.” “Big ones.” CASH MONEY.

Brightcove is an unrivaled leader in OTT video—a streaming service that delivers video over the internet, like [insert binge watching website]—and they use the power of OTT to expand your revenue.

MEANING THEY CAN HELP YOU MAKE LOTS OF MONEY WITH THEIR OTT VIDEO TECH.

Brightcove’s OTT grows your audience and keeps you a step ahead of the competition by allowing you to reach anyone anywhere on any connected device. Their advanced, reliable platform is a great way to monetize content, whether you want to go for an ad-based model, subscription, or both.

You can never have TOO much OTT—or money. Get both with Brightcove.

SOCIAL MEDIA

More Than a Newsletter

Morning Brew has been posting way, way more on social media this year. And it's not just because we had nothing else to do. 

The good information: A thread on why so many late-October headlines reported that Q3 GDP was growing at a record pace. 

Our favorite meme:

P.S. Members of the Brew Crew have also gotten active on their personal Twitters this year, especially when it comes to the "informative thread" game. Here are a few that broke the challenging 20-like barrier:

1. Toby Howell explains how he runs our Twitter account smoother than Skippy peanut butter.
2. Cofounder Austin Rief on how Morning Brew got its first 10,000 subscribers.
3. Jamie Wilde on DoorDash's IPO. 

GUIDES

Fye-nance or Fih-nahnce

No matter how you pronounce it, we made a 101 guide to help you understand it. Throughout the year, we've been hacking through a jungle with a machete—err, clicking through the internet with a magic trackpad—to find the best beginners' resources for a few different business-related industries:

1. Finance
2. Marketing
3. Sales
4. Cookie recipes. Okay, not biz-related but Doubletree's not-so-secret recipe is top-notch.

Which should we tackle next? Let us know here. 

SPONSORED BY BRIGHTCOVE

The world’s first global streaming service for the LGBTQ+ community, Revry, is powered by Brightcove Beacon, aka the one OTT platform to rule them all. Brightcove’s tech allows Revry to reach 130 countries and 250 million people, bringing important messages to places where they need to be heard. Brightcove empowers community and inclusion; see what they can power for you.

LONG READS

  Top 10

DYK Morning Brew has content that exists a click away from this newsletter? We've been diving into special features and wanted to share this year's most popular articles.

1. A Guide to the Big Tech Antitrust Cases
2. How Diverse Is the Federal Reserve?
3. Microsoft's xCloud, Big Tech, and the Other Streaming Wars
4. How to Cold Email Your Way into Your Dream Job
5. How Vaccines Are Made and Distributed
6. Markets 101: How to Read Stock Indexes and Securities
7. Is JCPenney Dead? The Brew Unpacks Bankruptcy
8. The Big Business of Bringing Japanese Anime to Western Viewers
9. Is Remote Work Our Destiny?
10. Morning Brew Style Blog, No. 6: How to Purge Clichés From Your Vocabulary

PODCAST

  Top 5

Not to brag, but our Business Casual podcast had some guests on it that we'll be fangirling over well into 2021. To brag, here's a roundup of five listener favorites:

1. Michael Lombardi on the NFL's financial situation
2. Dana Thomas: Your clothes have a dirty secret
3. The Fat Jewish on 2020, social media, and rosé
4. Arianna Huffington: Maybe we shouldn't follow the leader?
5. Mark Cuban on Covid responses: Perfection is the enemy of progress

BOOKSHELF

Looky Looky, I Got Booky

That's exactly what Hook's Rufio would have said if he knew about Brew's Bookshelf, our bimonthly roundup of great reads. Explore all of our book recs from throughout 2020 here, using the dropdown on the right to browse different months and topics.

NEW YEAR

Cheers to 2021

In February, we ran a Photoshop challenge where we supplied a picture of two clinking Morning Brew mugs and let readers cut and crop away. See more of the results here.