The days between Christmas and New Year’s Day feel somehow removed from the rest of the year. This is time for reflection, an opportunity to take a deep breath before plunging into the new year. Here at TNT, we are looking back and sharing some of our highlights and a glimpse of things to come in the new year. Please join us for the final issue of 2023! Photo by Breana Panaguiton on Unsplash. Cover concept and design by Urs Baur.
For last year’s words belong to last year’s language
And next year’s words await another voice.
And to make an end is to make a beginning.
― T.S. Eliot, Four Quartets
There shouldn’t be a difference between December 31 and January 1, but there is. That new, untouched year stretches before us, full of promise. For those who faced sorrows and challenges in the old year, that change is welcome, but there were good things, too, although sometimes it can be hard to tell the blessings from the challenges—at least until we have the chance to look back at them as they recede in the rear view mirror of life.
Here at TNT we are celebrating the new year with a backward glance. This issue is devoted to the best of the past year, the stories that were too good to archive without a second look, the things that touched our hearts and that we hope have also moved our readers.
We have a lot to be grateful for at TNT as we enter our fifth year of publication. Our first issue launched in May of 2020, during the height of the Coronavirus pandemic. Our initial goal was to provide information and inspiration for our community during one of the most challenging times in modern history. As the world reopened and COVID-19 began to shift from pandemic to endemic, TNT evolved into a magazine focused on life in the Santa Monica Mountains.
In 2023, we debuted our first live salon series events and launched NTR—New Times Radio—with podcasts of some of our most popular columns and features, and original content like “Framed!”, TNT historian Jimmy P. Morgan’s popular podcast on the Constitution. We also introduced our old-school, family friendly fiction serial, The Coastwatchers, set in Malibu in WWII, and then turned it into a professionally produced audiobook serial, wonderfully read by TNT contributor Claire Chapman.
We couldn’t have done any of these things without our wonderful contributors, advertisers, and most especially, without you, dear reader. As we enter our fifth year of publication, we look forward to new projects, new events, and a whole new year of our signature mix of stories, columns, features, podcasts and more. Thank you for joining us on this adventure!
Stay safe, be well. Happy New Year!
