Your humble Weekender recommended many things to read, watch, and listen to this year. We know you probably didn’t take every suggestion. But this time around, we implore you to heed our word, as these 2025 releases were the cream of the pop cultural crop. Drumroll, please.
BOOK OF THE YEAR: Breakneck by Dan Wang. Canadian writer and analyst Dan Wang breathed new life into the study of the rise of modern-day China and what lessons its “society of engineers” may hold for Western countries (which he argues are dominated by lawyers). Aside from being a vitally insightful look at a rising global hegemon, the unique mix of history, economics, and philosophy makes it an essential contribution to perhaps the most important topic of the decade.
MOVIE OF THE YEAR: Eephus. Not much happens in Eephus — a film about two amateur baseball teams playing one last game at a diamond that’s being closed down — aside from swings, misses, idle chatter, and the turning of day into night. But over the course of 99 slow-burn minutes, you’ll be intensely moved by this wistful treatise on the passage of time.
TV SHOW OF THE YEAR: The Rehearsal. The season two finale of Canadian madman Nathan Fielder’s HBO reality(?) show features, by our estimation, the most shocking reveal in television history. This alone would have made it our pick for show of the year; the hilarity of cloned dogs, Einstein pick-up lines, and Chesley Sullenberger cosplay was just gravy.
ALBUM OF THE YEAR: Fancy That by PinkPantheress. The U.K. superstar was able to cram more indelible hooks and strokes of eccentric dancefloor brilliance in 21 rollicking, sample-heavy minutes than most pop musicians muster up in their whole careers. It was so easy to just hit play and let it keep going on repeat — a tonic to all of 2025’s dourness.