This is not an April Fool's joke. Basil is missing from Bon Appetit's list of 20 Essential Spices. It doesn't even hit the honorary mentions at bottom, where rosemary sneaks in.

Beyond my not being a big fan at all of allspice, fennel or nutmeg, the list has other problems. Yes, it lists paprika separately from "chili [misspelled by them] powder," but really, one should have a milder and a hotter red Chile Powder and a green, like, Hatch green chile powder. It does, eventually, get into red chiles, but doesn't discuss greens, let alone Hatches, at all. Beyond that, another smoked chile, like chipotle, can be substituted for hotter varieties of paprika.

Sage doesn't even hit the honorable mentions list. Nor does either summer or winter savory. All of those are big in soups and stews.

It does mention mustard (seed) as an essential, and riffs on horseradish and wasabi in talking about it, but doesn't list either of them as essential.

And, while there are a number of East Asian spices, where's nori?

Also, no spice blends, nor the role that mentioned individual spices may play in such blends, are mentioned.

Pass.

Not just on its list, but pass on a frou-frou cooking mag.

Beyond that, to use proper culinary definitions, many of the items listed, as well as the biggest item missed, are herbs, not spices. So, if we're really talking about, say, essential kitchen seasonings? Let's add spicy condiments like Worchestershire, or kind of similar modern recreations of Roman garum, or liquid smoke, or miso.