Intro

Year end lists, in addition to being a great way to have content during a busy time, raise interesting questions. What do you include? What counts as a year? Discord told me how much I DMed with a friend of mine (Over 27,000 messages on my part, you’re welcome, buddy!) but that doesn’t include December. Does it include last December? Must celebrating things in life come with existential questions about the nature of time itself???

For me there’s also the issue that I don’t see and do everything. A lot of people like KPop Demon Hunters. I don’t have a Netflix account. Doesn’t mean KPop Demon Hunters is bad. It means I’m poor and can’t vouch for the quality of a movie I haven’t seen.

Of course when it’s your list you can do what you want. So this year I thought about it. I decided that the goal of my lists is to talk about things I think are quality, things that spark joy, things that help, and things people should be aware of. Yes, some of these things might be new to 2025 but others might be already existing things that brought me joy in 2025, regardless of their origin.

So here we are! It’s the end of the year, there’s so much in the world that sucks, let’s talk about things that don’t.

Movies, Shows, Books, and People Who Made 2025 Better

Sinners

Ryan Coogler will go down in history as one of the greatest directors of all time. I have zero doubt or question about this. We’re lucky to be able to watch him work in our own lifetimes.

As with most of his projects, Sinners is a masterpiece from top to bottom. Not only is Ryan himself a genius (you will learn more about movies listening to him speak for 8 minutes off the cuff while picking his favorite Criterion movies than you will in an entire semester of many classes) but he hires geniuses. Ludwig Göransson, Autumn Durald Arkapaw, Michael P. Shawver, Hannah Beachler, Ruth E. Carter - the list goes on and on and on of people who are not only good at what they do but god tier at what they do.

There’s many movies which use the genre of horror to talk about racial issues. The level of skill and brilliance working on Sinners means it tells that story deftly, managing to show the multiple facets of oppression across countries and centuries, and how there can be understanding and commonality yet those who have been oppressed can still go on to oppress others in turn.

There isn’t a single frame of Sinners that doesn’t include multiple layers of storytelling. The thoughtfulness of the work is built into everything from the writing to the acting to hand sewn stitches in the clothes to a sign in the background telling you a ham and eggs breakfast costs twenty five cents, so now you know everything you need to know about every reference to money that’s ever spoken in the movie.

Ryan Coogler’s not done yet - thank goodness - but Sinners will forever be on the list of one of the greatest movies ever, not just movies made by him.

The Pitt

I know, I know. By this point either you’re already a die hard fan of The Pitt or you’re sick of hearing about it. Believe me, I get it (sorry, Severance fans! I’m too poor for Apple TV too!)

Still, The Pitt earns its hype. Most people already know the conceit that it’s 15 hours of a shift in an emergency department played out in real time (including those trips to the bathroom that everyone wondered about on 24). It also has all of the expected trappings of a hospital show, up to and including shots of blood and body parts that make for a good time to wonder if the walls in your living room are in need of a fresh coat of paint.

However, in the trappings of the obvious hook is a well told story about America’s healthcare system. The steady theme of The Pitt isn’t who is having sex with whom in the supply closet (not that there’s anything wrong with shows that do that!) but of how even the best medical professionals are limited by time and budget in a system that isn’t inclined to supply them with either. Sometimes they can do well, sometimes people fall through the cracks, the only constant is the clock keeps moving and so do they.

The stories and the characters are enough reason to keep watching. But for me personally there’s been the “you gotta laugh or else you’ll cry” bonus feature of watching any online discussion of the show when someone outside of the US says “Hey, I’ve been watching and what they show about insurance and stuff seems really bad. Is that what it’s really like?” and the Americans have to explain that no, actually, the reality is much, much worse.

A Closer Look - Late Night With Seth Meyers

Late Night with Seth Meyers feels like one of those under the radar shows, even though it’s on NBC and produced by Lorne Michaels and airs in the slot David Letterman used to have. In spite of all that, in a world where Trump attacks late night hosts by name, Jimmy Kimmel and Stephen Colbert get an “Of course” while Seth Meyers tends to get a “Wait, who?”

Which is a shame because Seth Meyers and his Late Night team are the best in the business right now when it comes to calling out Trump and all the other horrors of the current political environment. Jon Oliver on Last Week Tonight comes in second. But Seth and his writers do not back down in speaking plainly, pulling receipts, and managing to do it all while somehow making it funny.

Late Night With Seth Meyers also comes with the knowledge that you can sit through a monologue without having to listen to the host go for the lowest bottom tier of humor with jokes rooted in sexism, racism, ableism, homophobia, or more. The show punches up, never down. With A Closer Look you can relax knowing you'll laugh at the state of things while not being the only person who is also highly tempted to cry.

(Of course I’d be remiss if I didn’t also mention the web only Corrections, where Seth responds to oh so helpful viewers who point out things he got wrong. Because you’re not truly a fan of Late Night until you can call yourself a Jackal.)

Josh Johnson

Josh Johnson’s not new to the comedy scene, but in the past year his YouTube channel, to which he posts a brand new, topical set lasting from 30-60 minutes every Tuesday, has grown by leaps and bounds. Even his fellow comedians don’t know how he manages to make that much new material every week, let alone with such quick turnaround given how current some of the events are that he’s talking about.

Josh’s humor stands out not only because it’s funny without punching down, but because it has thoughtfulness and heart as well. A set about a viral TikTok prank turns into Josh ruminating on the nature of men’s relationships and what we mean to one another. Talking about Kendrick’s Super Bowl performance becomes nearly an hour on race relations in America - again without sacrificing that key aspect of comedy, which is laughs.

On top of all that, as part of his Flowers Tour, Josh coordinates with local charities to solicit donations from his audience, supporting everyone from animal shelters to schools.

It’s no surprise that Josh’s stint as a rotating host on The Daily Show turned out to be a ratings bonanza. And look: I want Josh to have the success he wants for himself in life. And I make a point of never saying anything negative in these year end “Best of” articles because they’re all about the positivity. So I’m just gonna say if Josh both wants and was given the full time Daily Show hosting gig because, say, a certain someone retired again, I would have no complaints.

Ruth E. Carter - AFROFUTURE IN COSTUME DESIGN

Is it cheating to technically mention Ruth E Carter twice? I don’t care. This year Ruth started regularly updating her YouTube channel. She offers behind the scenes glimpses of her at work and talks about the thought process and effort that went into things she’s done before.

Much like Ryan Coogler, Ruth is a god tier creator who we are blessed to see at work in our lifetimes. The fact that she’s willing to take time to share her knowledge with rest of us is amazing. Run, don’t walk, to subscribe to her channel.

What the Fuck Just Happened Today?

Is the political news of the day overwhelming you but you still want to stay on top of things? Try WTFJHT. A newsletter sent out Monday through Thursday, WTFJHT covers the things you need to know first in a handy dandy summary paragraph, then with more information and links to multiple news sources if you want and/or feel up to digging deeper.

The newsletter is free, though of course financial support is appreciated (Huh, that sounds familiar.) Regardless of level, it’s a great way to feel like you’re aware of what’s going on without drowning in it.

Able To Play Games

As someone who enjoys video games but has difficulty playing them due to disability, Able to Play Games was a welcome addition to my personal gaming references.

A free service, Able to Play lets you set up a profile for yourself based on your needs, covering everything from issues with vision, hearing, mobility, cognition, mental health, and more. You’re then able to look up games in their database and find out if they are something you can play. As someone who can’t deal with flashing lights, danger to animals, or minigames that require quickly remembering a sequence of information, Able to Play is a godsend.

My personal tip is when you get started is to set up your needs, then look up games you’re already aware of, particularly games you know you can play, and see how Able to Play ranks them. For example, I found that things that as a concept I would rate as a hard requirement were in practice more flexible. Taking down an enemy Jeff the Land Shark in Marvel Rivals isn’t the same kind of animal danger as deciding how to handle guard dogs in The Last of Us Part 2, for instance.

But once you’ve got your needs and preferences adjusted for how the database tracks them, you’re golden. Worth checking out.

Jeremy Carrasco

Spot a video online that seems too good to be true? As we sadly know now, it probably is. The proliferation of AI means that we can no longer trust anything from cute animal clips to viral videos about ICE activity.

How can you tell the good from the bad? Enter Jeremy Carrasco. He does breakdowns of videos showing how to tell if they’re AI or not. He’s human (…or so he SAYS) so he’s not infallible. But he acknowledges his mistakes when he makes them.

Besides, the name of the game is helping to develop a critical eye. The good news is that even as the technology evolves and improves, one of the key things you need to detect fakes is good old common sense. For starters, people who make AI videos tend to brag that they’re AI. All you need to do is either look at the title or click the link to the original account and see that they self-describe as AI users.

But there is more to that and luckily Jeremy is here to help. Handy for yourself and that relative on Facebook who keeps sharing videos that make you give a tired sigh.

Outro

And that’s it! It was an interesting year but here we are! We made it! Hopefully some of these things will help you out and bring you joy like they did for me. Thanks for reading, and here’s to getting through 2026!