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That Happened This Year? 2023's Forgotten Headlines

Passengers read newspapers in English and Chinese on the subway in Manhattan.

As the news and conversation around the Israel-Hamas war have been front and center for the last couple of months of the year, listeners call in to share some headlines from 2023 that may have slipped our collective minds.

Brian Lehrer: Brian Lehrer on WNYC. Now, we will end the show with a call-in for all the news stories of 2023, or let's say any news story of 2023 other than the war in the Middle East that you think will be important to remember this year for. Got that? Any news story other than the war in the Middle East, which has obviously, and for good reason and obvious reasons, dominated the news in the last quarter of the year. Any news story from 2023 other than the war in the Middle East that should be remembered after this year. 212-433-WNYC, 212-433-9692. This can be from any category. This can be a good news story, this can be another bad news story, this can be a story that's just weird that stands out in your memory from this year. It could be local, national, or global, good, bad, or just weird. 212-433-WNYC. What's a news story of 2023 other than the war in the Middle East that should be remembered after this year comes to a close? 212-433-9692.

I'll give you a little sample if you need a little nudge here. Some of the good news in the United States, the FDA, the Food and Drug Administration, approved a number of potentially life-changing drugs this year. One was the first-of-its-kind pill to treat postpartum depression, which affects up to one in five women. The FDA also gave full approval to a drug that "modestly slows Alzheimer's disease," and maybe the biggest medical story of the year, they approved two therapies for sickle cell disease. Anybody got any medical good news stories that you followed other than those, or any kind of good news stories? 212-433-WNYC.

On politics in New Jersey, while there's been so much focus in New York on George Santos, how about Senator Bob Menendez standing accused of bribery charges? According to prosecutors, Menendez used his position as Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee to benefit Egypt and for personal gain. 2023 might be remembered as the year of the strikes, right? For sure, from Hollywood writers, to actors, to Detroit's Big Three, UPS, others as well. You can do sports on this if you want. 2023 will go down as a bit of a dud if you're a Yankees, or Mets, or Giants, or Jets fan, but one New York team became the hottest ticket in town this year, and definitely deserves to be remembered for it, and that is the New York Liberty, the freshly assembled team that headed all the way to the WNBA final.

You get the idea, call up with your news story of the year that deserves to be remembered as a news story of the year, other than the war in the Middle East. 212-433-WNYC, 212-433-9692, call or text those stories of the year, and we'll take your calls and read some of your texts right after this.

[MUSIC - Marden Hill: Hijack]

Brian Lehrer on WNYC. Now to your stories of 2023 that deserve to be remembered as stories of the year, even if they may have gotten drowned out, at least in the last quarter, by all the relentless focus that of course has needed to be done on the war in the Middle East. We're going to start with Ernest in Flatbush, you're on WNYC. Hi, Ernest.

Ernest: Hi, Brian. We should pay attention to what is happening in South America, in which Venezuela is attempting to seize an area that is half the size of Guyana in the Essequibo, which could lead to war.

Brian Lehrer: They're seizing territory in Guyana?

Ernest: Yes. Half of the territory in Guyana is in a region called Essequibo, and it's been before the International Court for many years. Venezuela is attempting to seize that region, mainly because of the great amount of oil and gold in that area.

Brian Lehrer: Thank you very much for saying that one out loud. Sounds worthy of much more coverage. Gareen in Bergen County has another international one. Gareen, you're on WNYC. Hello.

Gareen: Hi, Brian. Thanks for taking my call. I wanted to make sure that we remember the loss of Artsakh or Karabakh that was Armenian territory, and the displacement of all the Armenians from that region, the loss to Azerbaijan.

Brian Lehrer: Thank you very much. Laura in Warren, New Jersey, you're on WNYC. Hello, Laura.

Laura: Hi. Can you hear me?

Brian Lehrer: I can hear you just fine.

Laura: Okay, great. Yes, I've been disappointed that the war in Ukraine has essentially dropped off the map, it seems like, for many news organizations. The combination of, these are countries that export an enormous amount of food and fuel and other minerals to the world, and the fact that, at least in my opinion, Putin is an existential threat to democracy across the world, it's a hugely important issue which seems to have disappeared.

Brian Lehrer: It's so true. We did a segment on the show just, I guess, last week, or maybe it was the week before last, that had that premise. We've been talking so much about the war in the Middle East, which of course needs to be done, but the war in Ukraine is going on and matters a lot, and is incredibly intense, and people have kind of stopped talking about it. Yes, it's like there needs to be a carve-out in the news for the war in Ukraine, considering the intensity of what's going on in Gaza. Laura, thank you for that one. How about Tom in Manhattan remembering somebody's passing in 2023? Hi, Tom.

Tom: Hi, how are you doing?

Brian Lehrer: Good.

Tom: Sandra Day O'Connor died and we're-- Of course, first woman on the Supreme Court, great figure in history, but we really have to remember her decision in 2000, Bush v. Gore, which anywhere outside the United States, people accept and view as a historic judicial coup d'etat that brought in a losing candidate to rule America, which led directly to our invasion of Iraq and much of our recent history. That really should be remembered in her passing about her great effect on American history.

Brian Lehrer: Tom, thank you very much. Alan in Brooklyn, you're on WNYC. Hi, Alan.

Alan: Hi, Brian. I would look at June 7th, when the sky over New York was turned opaque yellow by the Canadian forest fires. It seemed that any climate deniers no longer had anything to hide behind, let's say, because the sky was so opaque, but the answer, what's happening is transparent.

Brian Lehrer: Absolutely. A number of people are writing in with that one on text message to cite that as a story of the year in 2023. Another one, let's see, who writes about that-- Let's see if I can find it. "Air quality becoming a real health and environmental issue in New York City following the Canadian fire smoke we experienced in June. I think we have all felt largely unaffected by this huge global issue, but no more," writes Anna in Brooklyn. How about Anne on Staten Island? You're on WNYC. Hi, Anne. You have a story of the year?

Anne: Yes. I find myself rather saddened, and yet at the same time happy for the two women, the Georgia workers, those election workers who were defamed by Mayor Giuliani, or former Mayor Giuliani. Last week, Rudy Giuliani declared bankruptcy, and I think to myself of Shakespeare's quote, "How the mighty have fallen." Yes, there is justice, but there is a very sad-- I really feel very sad as a lifelong New Yorker that Giuliani has fallen. That's my story.

Brian Lehrer: Anne, thank you very much. A few more on text message. One listener writes, "The horrible earthquake in Turkey, 40,000 dead. How terrible, and yet forgotten." Another one, "The civil war in Sudan, the faction accused of genocide in Darfur is the anti-army faction and is at it again." Beth in Riverdale, you're on WNYC. Hi, Beth.

Beth: Hi. It's George Santos, I nominate him for fraud of the year or fool of the year.

Brian Lehrer: I think voted in by acclamation. Beth, thank you very much. Wendy in New Rochelle has an interesting thing from Minnesota that I didn't know about. Wendy, you're on WNYC. Hello.

Wendy: Hi, thanks for taking my call. The State of Minnesota, the local Democrats finally passed, after many many years, a program for universal free breakfast and lunch for all schoolchildren in the state with no income requirements, no red tape, so all of the children can sit down and be fed well and have good meals, and it was a hard-won victory after many years.

Brian Lehrer: Thank you for mentioning it. Back to the texts, a listener writes, "Clarence Thomas and corruption at the Supreme Court." Another listener writes, "The publishing of Liz Cheney's book. It reveals a real patriot who may even be our next president." Another listener writes, "Hi, my name is Em, and I live in Jersey City. I think 2023 is the year to remember that local elected representatives, including the Jersey City Mayor, City Council, and state reps joined with environmental and transportation advocates to ask Governor Murphy to cancel the $11 billion New Jersey Turnpike widening through Jersey City and Bayonne."

Let's see, do we get to end with a good one here? Okay, we're going to take Frank first. Tom in Astoria, standby, because you're going to get the last word. Frank on Staten Island, hi there.

Frank: Hello. Do you hear me?

Brian Lehrer: I hear you. Your story of the year is?

Frank: Okay. I will mention two very quickly. The Chinese balloon was a great story, and when the submersible went down near the Titanic with the rich people who were able to afford that, that sense of adventure, and then it imploded. Then on social media, people were actually happy, happy that these rich people had died because they wanted to go near the Titanic.

Brian Lehrer: Yes. Frank, thank you very much. Two more quickies from text message. One says, "The summer of Barbenheimer," and another one is just one word, "Ozempic." Tom in Astoria gets the last word with a good news story from Upstate. Tom, you're on WNYC. Hello.

Tom: Oh, well. It's not such a great story from some perspectives. It's the --

Brian Lehrer: Oh, I'm sorry. Go ahead.

Tom: You want to end with something else?

Brian Lehrer: No, no--

Tom: [crosstalk] actually selling-- It's the deaccession of great artwork from our museums. In Buffalo, they reopened with a grand opening, their new building, but it was based on the sale of ancient masterpieces going back to ancient Mesopotamia.

Brian Lehrer: Oh, I get you on the conflict. I thought you were just going to shout-out the reopening of that museum, but yes, like a lot of other things, it's complicated. Thanks for all your stories of the year.

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