{"id":144299,"date":"2021-12-23T11:46:38","date_gmt":"2021-12-23T17:46:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.artofmanliness.com\/?p=144299"},"modified":"2026-02-18T10:20:56","modified_gmt":"2026-02-18T16:20:56","slug":"the-best-of-the-art-of-manliness-2021","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/beta.artofmanliness.com\/blog\/best-of\/the-best-of-the-art-of-manliness-2021\/","title":{"rendered":"The Best of the Art of Manliness: 2021"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-144300\" src=\"https:\/\/content.artofmanliness.com\/uploads\/2021\/12\/best-iof.jpeg\" alt=\"\" width=\"500\" height=\"472\" srcset=\"https:\/\/content.artofmanliness.com\/uploads\/2021\/12\/best-iof.jpeg 468w, https:\/\/content.artofmanliness.com\/uploads\/2021\/12\/best-iof-320x302.jpeg 320w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>As another year draws to a close, we&#8217;ll be taking the next week off from publishing new content to enjoy the holidays and catch up on all the behind-the-scenes tasks that go into running a website and podcast. While we&#8217;re away, check out some of our best and most popular content of the year.<\/p>\n<h2><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">Articles<\/span><\/h2>\n<h2>Most Popular Articles of the Year Based on Traffic<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.artofmanliness.com\/health-fitness\/health\/the-groundhog-day-diet-why-i-eat-the-same-thing-every-day\/\">The Groundhog Day Diet: Why I Eat the Same Thing Every Day<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.artofmanliness.com\/style\/facial-hair\/your-no-nonsense-guide-to-choosing-the-right-beard-style\/\">Your No-Nonsense Guide to Choosing the Right Beard Style<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.artofmanliness.com\/health-fitness\/fitness\/the-steve-mcqueen-workout\/\">The Steve McQueen Workout<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.artofmanliness.com\/health-fitness\/fitness\/how-long-does-it-take-to-put-on-muscle\/\">How Long Does It Take to Put on Muscle?<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.artofmanliness.com\/living\/entertainment\/the-10-best-war-movies-of-all-time\/\">The 10 Best War Movies of All-time<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.artofmanliness.com\/living\/food-drink\/why-every-man-should-have-3-signature-dishes\/\">Why Every Man Should Have 3 Signature Dishes<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.artofmanliness.com\/character\/the-least-interesting-generation\/\">The Least Interesting Generation<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.artofmanliness.com\/skills\/outdoor-survival\/how-to-pack-backpacking\/\">How to Pack a Backpack for Backpacking<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.artofmanliness.com\/health-fitness\/health\/soft-suburban-dad-syndrome\/\">Are You Suffering From Soft Suburban Dad Syndrome? 50 Questions for Self-Examination<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.artofmanliness.com\/skills\/tape-measure-guide\/\">Everything You Didn\u2019t Know About the Trusty Tape Measure<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.artofmanliness.com\/skills\/outdoor-survival\/the-6-fire-lays-every-man-should-know\/\">The 6 Fire Lays Every Man Should Know<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.artofmanliness.com\/people\/social-skills\/3-things-no-one-ever-told-you-about-making-friends-in-adulthood\/\">3 Things No One Ever Told You About Making Friends in Adulthood<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.artofmanliness.com\/style\/hair\/how-to-grow-your-hair-long-for-men\/\">How to Grow Your Hair Out Long (For Dudes)<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Our Personal Picks<\/h2>\n<p>(Some of the most popular above would be included in this list as well):<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.artofmanliness.com\/living\/entertainment\/how-to-create-a-soundtrack-for-your-life\/\">How to Create a Soundtrack for Your Life<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.artofmanliness.com\/character\/advice\/your-three-selves-and-how-not-to-fall-into-despair\/\">Your Three Selves and How Not to Fall Into Despair<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.artofmanliness.com\/character\/advice\/4-key-insights-from-the-bhagavad-gita\/\">4 Key Insights From the Bhagavad Gita<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.artofmanliness.com\/character\/behavior\/are-you-disciplined-or-just-self-disciplined\/\">Are You Disciplined or Just Self-Disciplined?<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.artofmanliness.com\/living\/leisure\/curbside-pickup-and-the-end-of-peak-consumerism\/\">Curbside Pickup and the End of Peak Consumerism<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.artofmanliness.com\/living\/reading\/3-essential-books-for-understanding-our-disorienting-modern-world\/\">3 Essential Books for Understanding Our Disorienting Modern World<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.artofmanliness.com\/character\/habits\/how-to-make-unbreakable-resolutions\/\">What Gandhi and a 19th-Century Prussian Prince Can Teach You About Making Unbreakable Resolutions<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.artofmanliness.com\/living\/reading\/the-10-best-biographies-of-american-presidents\/\">The 10 Best Biographies of American Presidents<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.artofmanliness.com\/health-fitness\/health\/how-saunas-can-help-save-your-body-mind-and-spirit\/\">How Saunas Can Help Save Your Body, Mind, and Spirit<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.artofmanliness.com\/character\/advice\/looking-for-a-daddy-in-all-the-wrong-places\/\">Looking for a Daddy, in All the Wrong Places<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.artofmanliness.com\/people\/family\/nietzsches-surprisingly-sound-advice-on-choosing-a-spouse\/\">Nietzsche\u2019s (Surprisingly Sound) Advice on Choosing a Spouse<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.artofmanliness.com\/character\/advice\/are-you-prepared-for-the-coming-existential-crisis\/\">Are You Prepared for the Coming Existential Crisis?<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Sunday Firesides Favorites<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.artofmanliness.com\/character\/advice\/sunday-firesides-dont-adopt-ideas-based-on-trends\/\">Don\u2019t Adopt Ideas Based on Trends<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.artofmanliness.com\/character\/advice\/sunday-firesides-die-red\/\">Die Red<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.artofmanliness.com\/character\/advice\/sunday-firesides-there-are-no-second-chances\/\">There Are No Second Chances<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.artofmanliness.com\/character\/behavior\/sunday-firesides-the-cult-of-personality-in-a-small-minded-soceity\/\">The Cult of Personality in a Small-Minded Society<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.artofmanliness.com\/character\/behavior\/sunday-firesides-whats-happening-is\/\">What&#8217;s Happening Is . . .<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.artofmanliness.com\/character\/advice\/sunday-firesides-be-not-a-consumer-of-life\/\">Be Not a Consumer of Life<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.artofmanliness.com\/sunday-firesides\/sunday-firesides-permission-to-be-wholesome-granted\/\">Permission to Be Wholesome, Granted<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.artofmanliness.com\/character\/advice\/sunday-firesides-despise-not-the-thing-that-would-save-you\/\">Despise Not the Thing That Would Save You<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.artofmanliness.com\/people\/social-skills\/sunday-firesides-want-to-solve-your-social-problems-get-over-your-self\/\">Want to Solve Your Social Problems? Get Over Your Self<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.artofmanliness.com\/character\/advice\/sunday-firesides-the-cost-of-a-thing\/\">The Cost of a Thing<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.artofmanliness.com\/character\/advice\/sunday-firesides-disappointment-the-emotion-of-children\/\">Disappointment, The Emotion of Children<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.artofmanliness.com\/character\/advice\/sunday-firesides-a-long-obedience-in-the-same-direction\/\">A Long Obedience in the Same Direction<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">Podcast<\/span><\/h2>\n<h2>Most Popular Podcasts of the Year Based on Listens<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.artofmanliness.com\/health-fitness\/fitness\/physical-benchmarks-for-men\/\">Physical Benchmarks Every Man Should Meet, At Every Age<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.artofmanliness.com\/character\/behavior\/podcast-685-how-to-decide\/\">How to Decide<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.artofmanliness.com\/career-wealth\/career\/podcast-689-email-is-making-us-miserable-heres-what-to-do-about-it\/\">Email Is Making Us Miserable \u2014 Here\u2019s What to Do About It<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.artofmanliness.com\/character\/advice\/simplifying-every-aspect-of-your-life\/\">The No-Nonsense Guide to Simplifying Every Aspect of Your Life<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.artofmanliness.com\/health-fitness\/health\/podcast-708-overcoming-the-comfort-crisis\/\">Overcoming the Comfort Crisis<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.artofmanliness.com\/character\/habits\/podcast-716-how-to-make-your-life-more-effortless\/\">How to Make Your Life More Effortless<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.artofmanliness.com\/health-fitness\/health\/podcast-721-the-psychology-of-effective-weight-loss\/\">The Psychology of Effective Weight Loss<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.artofmanliness.com\/living\/reading\/lifetime-learners-guide-to-reading-learning\/\">What a Man With 60,000 Books Can Teach You About Lifelong Learning and Building Your Home Library<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.artofmanliness.com\/career-wealth\/leadership\/attributes-that-drive-optimal-performance\/\">The Character Traits That Drive Optimal Performance<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.artofmanliness.com\/health-fitness\/health\/podcast-754-a-surprising-theory-on-why-we-get-fat\/\">A Surprising Theory on Why We Get Fat<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.artofmanliness.com\/character\/behavior\/rise-of-the-religious-nones\/\">The Rise of the Religious \u201cNones\u201d (And What It Means for Society)<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.artofmanliness.com\/health-fitness\/health\/how-testosterone-makes-men-men\/\">How Testosterone Makes Men, Men<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Our Personal Picks&nbsp;<\/h2>\n<p>(Some of the most popular above would be included in this list as well):<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.artofmanliness.com\/living\/reading\/podcast-760-cormac-mccarthy-the-road-and-carrying-the-fire\/\">Cormac McCarthy, The Road, and Carrying the Fire<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.artofmanliness.com\/health-fitness\/health\/podcast-insulin-resistance\/\">Why We Get Sick<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.artofmanliness.com\/skills\/outdoor-survival\/podcast-739-rewild-your-life\/\">Rewild Your Life<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.artofmanliness.com\/character\/military\/wwiis-filthy-thirteen-podcast\/\">The Hell-Raising Leader of WWII\u2019s Filthy Thirteen<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.artofmanliness.com\/character\/knowledge-of-men\/podcast-723-men-without-chests\/\">Men Without Chests<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.artofmanliness.com\/living\/leisure\/podcast-706-the-non-cliche-life-lessons-of-fly-fishing\/\">The (Non-Cliche) Life Lessons of Fly Fishing<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.artofmanliness.com\/character\/behavior\/podcast-705-the-best-tools-for-personal-change\/\">The Best Tools for Personal Change<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.artofmanliness.com\/health-fitness\/fitness\/how-to-stay-fit-as-you-age\/\">How to Keep Your Edge as You Get Older<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.artofmanliness.com\/character\/knowledge-of-men\/podcast-696-theodore-roosevelt-the-last-romantic\/\">Theodore Roosevelt, The Last Romantic<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.artofmanliness.com\/character\/behavior\/take-responsibility-for-your-life\/\">Stop Living on Autopilot and Take Responsibility for Your Life<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.artofmanliness.com\/character\/knowledge-of-men\/steve-mcqueen\/\">The Complex Coolness of Steve McQueen<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>If you haven\u2019t already,&nbsp;be sure to subscribe to the Art of Manliness podcast.&nbsp;It\u2019s a great way to get your AoM fix while commuting or working out:<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/podcasts.apple.com\/us\/podcast\/the-art-of-manliness\/id332516054?mt=2\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"external noopener noreferrer\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-49206 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/content.artofmanliness.com\/uploads\/2019\/12\/Listen-on-Apple-Podcasts-badge-1024x262-640x164.jpg\" alt=\"Apple Podcast.\" width=\"250\" height=\"92\" data-pin-nopin=\"true\"\/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/podcasts.google.com\/feed\/aHR0cHM6Ly9yc3MuYXJ0MTkuY29tL2FydC1vZi1tYW5saW5lc3M=\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"external noopener noreferrer\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-99556\" src=\"https:\/\/content.artofmanliness.com\/uploads\/2018\/11\/googlepodcast.png\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 271px) 100vw, 271px\" srcset=\"https:\/\/content.artofmanliness.com\/uploads\/2018\/11\/googlepodcast.png 444w, https:\/\/content.artofmanliness.com\/uploads\/2018\/11\/googlepodcast-320x81.png 320w, https:\/\/content.artofmanliness.com\/uploads\/2018\/11\/googlepodcast-400x102.png 400w\" alt=\"Google Podcast.\" width=\"271\" height=\"69\"\/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.stitcher.com\/show\/the-art-of-manliness\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"external noopener noreferrer\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-49207 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/content.artofmanliness.com\/uploads\/2015\/07\/available-on-stitcher.png\" alt=\"Available-on-stitcher.\" width=\"250\" height=\"92\" data-pin-nopin=\"true\"\/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/soundcloud.com\/artofmanliness\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"external noopener noreferrer\" data-wpel-link=\"external\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-49208 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/content.artofmanliness.com\/uploads\/2015\/07\/soundcloud-logo.png\" alt=\"Soundcloud-logo.\" width=\"250\" height=\"127\"\/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/pcasts.in:443\/NwCI\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener external noreferrer\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-49655\" src=\"https:\/\/content.artofmanliness.com\/uploads\/2015\/08\/pocketcasts.png\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 225px) 100vw, 225px\" srcset=\"\" alt=\"Pocketcasts logo.\" width=\"225\" height=\"225\"\/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/open.spotify.com\/show\/2vJHmWhhcMQRXtTruuFWTJ\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"external noopener noreferrer\" data-wpel-link=\"external\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-81682\" src=\"https:\/\/content.artofmanliness.com\/uploads\/2018\/01\/open-graph-default.png\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 248px) 100vw, 248px\" srcset=\"https:\/\/content.artofmanliness.com\/uploads\/2018\/01\/open-graph-default.png 400w, https:\/\/content.artofmanliness.com\/uploads\/2018\/01\/open-graph-default-320x168.png 320w\" alt=\"Spotify.\" width=\"248\" height=\"130\"\/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Also, <strong>we\u2019d really appreciate if you\u2019d give the podcast a review in iTunes, Stitcher, or Spotify<\/strong>. It\u2019s a big help in getting more people to discover the show!<\/p>\n<p>To never miss an article or episode of the podcast, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.artofmanliness.com\/newsletter\/\"><strong>be sure to subscribe to our email newsletter<\/strong>.<\/a> You can choose the daily or weekly option.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Thank you to everyone who <a href=\"https:\/\/donorbox.org\/support-the-art-of-manliness\">donated to the Art of Manliness<\/a>, sent us a kind letter, left a heartening comment on our posts, shared our content with friends and family, or left us a review this year. The support and encouragement truly means a lot. See you in 2022!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>As another year draws to a close, we&#8217;ll be taking the next week off from publishing new content to enjoy the holidays and catch up on all the behind-the-scenes tasks that go into running a website and podcast. While we&#8217;re away, check out some of our best and most popular content of the year. Articles [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":144301,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[42296,4],"tags":[],"yst_prominent_words":[],"class_list":["post-144299","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-best-of","category-blog"],"featured_image_urls":{"large":"https:\/\/content.artofmanliness.com\/uploads\/2021\/12\/year-feat-471x280.jpg","aom":"https:\/\/content.artofmanliness.com\/uploads\/2021\/12\/year-feat-372x230.jpg","reactor-320":"https:\/\/content.artofmanliness.com\/uploads\/2021\/12\/year-feat-320x204.jpg"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/beta.artofmanliness.com\/app-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/144299","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/beta.artofmanliness.com\/app-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/beta.artofmanliness.com\/app-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/beta.artofmanliness.com\/app-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/beta.artofmanliness.com\/app-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=144299"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/beta.artofmanliness.com\/app-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/144299\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":144306,"href":"https:\/\/beta.artofmanliness.com\/app-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/144299\/revisions\/144306"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/beta.artofmanliness.com\/app-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/144301"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/beta.artofmanliness.com\/app-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=144299"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/beta.artofmanliness.com\/app-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=144299"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/beta.artofmanliness.com\/app-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=144299"},{"taxonomy":"yst_prominent_words","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/beta.artofmanliness.com\/app-json\/wp\/v2\/yst_prominent_words?post=144299"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}