Pig, PinkPantheress, and Seattle's Spice Box. 2021 pop culture picks

As 2021 comes to a close, and 2022 emerges, let's look back at some arts and culture highlights over the past 12 months.

KUOW’s Paige Browning got some pop culture picks for a favorite movie, album, and restaurant of 2021 from Jas Keimig, a staff writer at The Stranger.

Don’t mess with Nicholas Cage’s Pig

I love how Nicholas Cage really commits to whatever role he’s in. In Pig, he plays a reclusive former chef who posts up in the Oregon wilderness with his beloved pig and hunts truffles. When she's stolen, he enlists his truffle dealer to help him find this beloved pig in Portland. I think it's a great and very weird story, honestly, about life not turning out how you expect it to, and grief, and trauma, but also it has a sense of humor about it.

TikTok sensation @pinkpantheress releases to hell with it

If you were on TikTok at all this year, you've definitely heard some of PinkPanteress’ songs. She’s a 20-year-old UK musician. She got huge on the platform for pop tunes like Just for Me and Pain that went super-viral. She has these emo, very angsty lyrics that are on top of these jungle, drum and bass breakbeats. I think she's going to be really big in the next year.

The takeout that got Jas through 2021: Spice Box

I live on Capitol Hill and have been really a huge fan of Spice Box, which is an Indian restaurant on Broadway right between Pike and Pine. Some dishes that I really love are their vindaloo their tikka masala. They also have a really big vegetarian offering, and their naan is huge. It’s like the size of a small Chihuahua.

Listen to the interview by clicking the play button above.