What I Loved in 2025
Some of the media that contributed to how and what I think about
Books
Bird by Bird Anne Lamott
The Garden Within by Dr. Anita Phillips
Legendborn by Tracy Deonn
How to Say Babylon by Safiya Sinclair
Sky Full of Elephants by Cebo Campbell
I Should Be Smarter By Now by Issa Rae
Matriarch by Tina Knowles
Podcasts
BEMA
What Now? With Trevor Noah
The Telepathy Tapes
Think Fast, Talk Smart
IMO with Michelle Obama and Craig Robinson
Crissle’s Couch
Shows & Movies
Sinners (HBO Max)
Paradise (Hulu)
Travel with Tracee Ellis Ross (Roku)
Abbott Elementary (ABC/Hulu)
High Potential (Hulu)
Forever (Netflix)
9-1-1 (Hulu)
Music
The only new (to me) artists I listened to last year were Leon Thomas and Olivia Dean (I’m still listening to The Art of Loving on repeat). I also enjoyed the projects that were released from Wale, Chance the Rapper, Cardi B, Summer Walker, Mariah Carey, Lizzo, Teyanna Taylor, Kaytranada, Tyler the Creator, Giveon, and Coco Jones. But as in most years, I mostly listened to Beyoncé last year. “Ya Ya” from Cowboy Carter was my most-played song according to Apple Music Replay. Followed by the rest of the album, which I’m not surprised by since she was on tour for that album. There was also a lot of Kendrick Lamar and Sza since I went to their tour too, but the overall breakdown would probably be about 80% Beyoncé and 20% everything else. Don’t be surprised if this is the same result at the end of 2026!