Last year, when we published our Pop Culture issue, the pandemic has just really started and we were just getting used to being home. I don't even think Tiger King was a thing yet! And I also don't think that any of us anticipated just how long we would be stuck indoors for the most part, and therefore absorbing a lot more media then we're probably used to. Movies, TV, podcasts, books... we all used something to get away from the reality of what was happening in the world. I have never consumed this much Pop Culture in my life than I have in the last year.

It started with a Mad Men rewatch. We went through True Blood, I went through 30 Rock twice, and now we're in the middle of the Sopranos. I too was captivated by WandaVision in the way most others were, and I rekindled my love for movies, something I had largely ignored over the past few years. Of course we all know I love Promising Young Woman, and I won't shut up about it, but other high points included Psycho Goreman, The Rental, Block Island Sound, and the dozens of double features I attended at Mission Tiki with my friend Brian. Even revisiting old favorites like the Fly and Silence of the Lambs seemed exciting, and sitting in a car almost seemed taboo considering the scariness of just being around other people in general. 

I had anticipated, and we did get, an increase in submissions for this issue. Honestly, the Pop Culture issue is our most favorite issue, and we're always talking about it and, the minute it's published, looking forward to the next year. However, you all exceeded my expectations for submissions in both quantity and quality. We had so many. In our 24 hour turnaround portal, where most of these accepted pieces came from, we had a record-breaking amount of submissions. And most things were excellent. I would say probably 90% of what we got were excellent. Some stuff we had to pass on, and I hope that anyone we had to decline will submit again when we reopen for Pop Culture next January. Thank you to everyone who submitted to this issue, because it is one of our most spectacular issues to date. Every year our Pop Culture issue gets better and better, and I could not be more psyched.

I need to give a shout out to our staff. This issue was always such an undertaking, between reading and voting on the submissions, to actually building the issue. It takes weeks for us to get ready for publication, and we're all juggling real lives on top of Drunk Monkeys stuff. So definitely thank you to Matt, Chris, Sean, Joey, Jeanne, Ashley, Ramona, and especially thank you to Matt Mitchell, a talented poet that we've showcase before, who made our incredible cover photo. As we've said multiple times, we are huge fan of Vanderpump Rules, and we're very sad to know that Giggy the dog passed away over the last year. We had the privilege of seeing Giggy in person (along with Lisa and Ken) when we went to Tom Tom for Chris's birthday last year, the last thing we all did together as a group before shut down happened. Long live Giggy! Even queen Lisa herself appreciates the cover, so thank you so much again, Matt.

In all, I hope this issue finds you well and in good health. As were all starting to get vaccinated it's starting to feel a little bit like there's hope in the air again. It's going to be a long time before things go back to the way they were, if at all, and we've all gone through a collective trauma together. I'm glad that we had Pop Culture to get us through and provide an outlet, even if it was just to shut off our minds for an hour or two. 

And I'm grateful to you all for writing about it.

Best,

KCH