Every Friday, I use this section to share books, documentaries, music, and other things I think are worth checking out. Since this is the final NextDraft edition of the year, allow me to present… The 2017 Smart Binge, Doc, Music, Pod, Book and Geek Guide. (This should keep you busy over the holidays.)

+ Missed some excellent articles over the course of the year? Check out Longform’s Best of 2017, the top picks from Longreads, Bloomberg’s Jealousy List, and Pocket’s Year in Review.

+ We lost artists, we experienced extreme weather, Bitcoin went nuts, gun violence continued, and stranger things were everywhere, on TV and off. This is the story of our year as told through what we searched for. Google Trends Year in Search 2017.