This Year in Culture
How to live, laugh, and love when the world's on fire!!!
I don’t think I’m out of line or breaking any news when I say that it has truly been a stupid fucking year.
Past the stupidity of what is left of our government trying and failing to present itself as legitimate on the world’s stage (we’ve had no fewer than three Watergate-level incidents happen in a single calendar year, but sure, everything is fine), we have literally gotten dumber: a study conducted by MIT’s Media Lab this year
divided 54 subjects—18 to 39 year-olds from the Boston area—into three groups, and asked them to write several SAT essays using OpenAI’s ChatGPT, Google’s search engine, and nothing at all, respectively. Researchers used an EEG to record the writers’ brain activity across 32 regions, and found that of the three groups, ChatGPT users had the lowest brain engagement and “consistently underperformed at neural, linguistic, and behavioral levels.” Over the course of several months, ChatGPT users got lazier with each subsequent essay, often resorting to copy-and-paste by the end of the study (X).
More to it, an article published by the New York Times earlier this month looked at how students are struggling to read full-length books in their English classes and discussed how “twelfth-grade reading scores are at historic lows, and college professors, even at elite schools, are increasingly reporting difficulties in getting students to engage with lengthy or complex texts” (X).
As we’ve talked about repeatedly this year, it behooves an authoritarian government to dumb down its people, especially while they inundate us with a shock-and-awe style bombardment of bad news. I’ve been thinking about that a lot as I’ve reflected on how we’ve survived this long, asinine year. In reflecting, I’ve arrived at both a further question and something of an answer.
The question: Have we survived this year? Are we okay, as the TikTok sale has gone through, and users on the app (myself included) have noticed algorithmic changes and information suppression take place in real time? As we bomb sovereign nations based on press tours led by Nicki Minaj (Nicki Minaj!!!)? As we detain and disappear US citizens because our government is now run by racist grifters with no critical thinking skills? Is this it?
The answer: I was texting with one of my best friends about headcanons the other day. My best friend, who didn’t know me at the time in my life when headcanon was a word in my daily vernacular. I’m creating again, coming up with stories and soundtracking them with niche playlists. There is joy and whimsy in my texts and DMs and voice messages, and I earnestly believe this coming year is the one that will change my life for the better.
Art is essential to resistance movements, which is what it feels like to be anything but MAGA right now. Art makes sense of things, gives purpose, fosters hope. It challenges us, shapes our culture, and sometimes, if we’re really lucky, it gives us Connor Storrie and Hudson Williams’ bare asses.
I know E4P has been, in so many words, missing in action for a lot of this year, but I, Emily, have not. I have been watching and consuming and living within so much culture (books, movies, TV shows, TikTok trends, memes, etc., etc., etc.). And I think this immersion is the only thing that has kept me remotely sane. It’s allowed me to escape, make sense of, or mock the current world order, which is why today, for the last E4P of the year, I asked a handful of guests about their favorite cultural moments of 2025 and what they’re looking forward to in 2026.
Because we will still get a new year by the end of this week. We have to. We have to.
What was your favorite cultural moment (piece of art, event, phenomenon, image, sound bite, etc.) from 2025?
Hallie: The light of my 2025 was the Las Culturistas Culture Awards. *Stefon voice, hands over mouth* The Las Culch Awards had everything: Jamie Lee Curtis participating in fake beef with Matt Rogers on the red carpet; Ben Platt delivering a gold medal version of “Diet Pepsi”; Patti Harrison as Miss Culturista.
In the words of our heavenly fathers, Matt and Bowen, culture is when a woman does something seriously, a gay guy does something as a joke, or a straight guy does something good by accident.
In the spirit of the Culture Awards, my other nominees for favourite cultural moment of the year were: Cynthia Erivo, Jesus; Stupid comedy renaissance, Various; Bad Bunny, DTmF Puerto Rican Residency; and The SNL 50-verse.
Anon: Am I allowed to say Charlie Kirk getting shot? (Probably not a good idea, but that’s my answer.)
Dylan: The Kirkification of America has been pretty breathtaking. I don’t think I’ve seen such an onslaught of memes since Harambe was killed. I guess it takes an assassination.
Riley: Love it or hate it, but “Gnarly” was generational.
Blair: Possible recency bias, but I haven’t kicked my feet and enjoyed myself as much as I did with Heated Rivalry this year. When the news cycle is constantly negative, and every TV show has some divisiveness, it was nice that we all came together to celebrate these two sexy gay men banging.
I also think Lily Allen’s new album!!!! When men aren’t being held accountable for their shit decisions, we need more women absolutely blasting their poor choices and making $$$ off of it. Who’s Madeline?!??!
Anon: The story of Onijah Robinson.
Sara: Zohran Mamdani.
Danielle: Watching The End of an Era.
Skylar: This might be recency bias, but it’s gotta be Heated Rivalry. It’s been so fun to experience mass fandom psychosis with my best friends.
Follow up: why that one moment?
Hallie: In a year full of chaos, the Culture Awards were a moment of pure joy and stupidity. I spent a lot of time driving, flying, and on the Amtrak this year (don’t cancel me, Greenpeace!!!), and I listened to Las Culturistas for a solid percentage of it.
I try to avoid parasocial relationships, but I just know if Bowen and Matt and I were in a room, we would be friends (c u guys at Animal soon?). It felt like my friends were leveling up, even though they’ve been top shelf for a while now. Also! The Culture Awards aired during my taxpayer-funded adult summer break while I was visiting my friend Brady for the first time since we graduated, so I got to share it with someone who has a similar sense of humor and also loves gay guys :-)
Anon: It’s just really funny that it happened while he was talking shit.
Riley: Incoherent lyrics from a hot girl group is all one can ask for. And it got so many people talking about it, and I still haven’t stopped singing/dancing to it in December.
Anon: She really set the tone of 2025 for me. I was so inspired by her use of free will and ability to drag out a plot for months. I was hooked on her story from start to finish. A true icon.
Sara: I always envied elder Millennials who got to vote for Obama. It took 13 elections in Georgia to finally feel that kind of hope going into a voting booth.
Danielle: I think Taylor Swift is a cultural icon, and watching this documentary gave a glimpse into the phenomenon that was her Eras Tour. Financially, emotionally, and spiritually, the number of people this tour affected is astronomical.
Skylar: This year has been such a shit show. It’s been lovely to experience something joyful and hopeful alongside a community.
Separate from your favorite thing, what was the one moment you think defined this year culturally?
Hallie: This isn’t exactly one moment, and I’m not just saying this because he’s now a *tucks hair behind ear* close personal friend (joke), but something about the Luigi Trial really sums up the year for me.
First of all, when I was talking with my friends about including this as my answer, everybody forgot when exactly the UHC CEO was assassinated, how long it took them to name a suspect, and how many days passed before they picked up Luigi in Pennsylvania, which…pretty much explains the way that “TiMe iS a SoCiAL cOnStRuCt” became less and less of a joke every moment of every day this year. But also, in a strange way and to varying degrees, it has united a lot of people who don’t often come together on the internet—and at a time when keyboard warrioring has become way too many people’s full-time jobs.
When the American healthcare crisis is in the news, people from all sides of the political and cultural spectrum have stories to share about loved ones who have been victims of the health insurance industrial complex. As horrible as all of those stories are, hearing about them from people whom I might otherwise disagree with has been a weird but necessary reminder that our humanity is more important than our hatred.
Dylan: The backslide from the same people demanding the release of the Epstein Files who now don’t think they’re such a big deal.
Riley: The women who went to space…The space divas…Why did it happen? Like I get it, but I don’t.
Anon: Charlie Kirk’s assassination.
Blair: Deep cut—TikTok shutdown, and Trump “saving” it. It encapsulated the instability of American freedom, the problematic addiction to social media, the savior fallacy of the far right, and the instability of our day-to-day life under Trump.
ALSO, Mamdani win!! It had been a long time since there was hope, and it panned out. People stood up against what was happening and wasn’t working and rejected the strong fear of change coming from conservative leaders who masquerade as liberal.
Sara: I’m in a cross between the Vatican electing Pope Bob from Chicago and the Charlie Kirk shooting.
Danielle: The current administration, but in a bad way.
Skylar: Trump falling asleep at a presidential health briefing.
If you had to describe 2025 culture in one word, what would it be?
Hallie: My word for 2025 is bangarang, which means an uproar or disturbance.
The meaning of the word obviously applies, but I also really feel like living through this year has felt like existing in an 8,760-hour loop version of the eponymous Skrillex song.
Anon: Vapid.
Dylan: Discouraging.
Riley: Whiplash.
Anon: Catalyst.
Blair: Hahahhelp..!!!?
Sara: Atrophy.
Danielle: Censored.
Skylar: Intense.
Do you have any thoughts on the relationship between this year’s cultural developments and the current world order?
Anon: Yeah, the current world order is also vapid.
Dylan: Actually, Amy Sedaris is supposed to do a remake of the schlocky 1950s horror movie Wasp Woman, which sounds pretty awesome.
Riley: Hopecore is so back, but why it’s back is another thing :/
Anon: What’s happening in today’s world has definitely impacted the type of cultural developments I’ve seen this year. There’s a recurring sense of interregnum where we really don’t know what’s going on, but one thing is for sure—existing structures no longer feel stable, and a new social order hasn’t fully emerged yet.
The world is actively shifting and adjusting in response to society being changed in real time. A clear cultural indicator of this shift is the way younger generations are increasingly pulling away from traditional bipartisan ideals.
Blair: We are desperate to find joy, so we’ve made all this BS into a meme. We are laughing so we don’t cry. Culture is being fueled by this deep emotional desire to feel something besides dread, fear, and burnout.
Sara: No thoughts, just a lot of questions, the main one being, “Are we at war?”
Skylar: I think the art is finally catching up to the state of politics and the world. We’ve got an interesting mix of unapologetic optimism and also dark nihilism. Perhaps the only good part about the bleak outlook right now is that good art will increasingly reflect those circumstances.
Is there anything specific you’re looking forward to in 2026? Any debuts, releases, premieres?
Hallie: (Golden birth year? Golden year? The year I join the cast of the Golden Bachelor?) But it will also be my first full year living in New York! I literally just found out about the Museum of the Moving Image in Astoria, and I already feel like I’ll be spending a loooot of time there next year.
One of my gripes with NYC is that it feels deeply unknowable to me, and I’m genuinely looking forward to chipping away at that feeling every day in some small way.
Dylan: I kind of feel like I’m about to live in some real dark ages, like The Matrix-style post-apocalyptic.
Riley: I have a feeling 2026 is gonna be a great year for horror. The docket is looking juicy (Werewulf, Hokum, Backrooms, new Evil Dead, etc.).
Anon: The next season of Tell Me Lies.
Blair: New season of The Traitors, Survivor 50, and whatever Bowen Yang does next.
Sara: Honestly, no.
Danielle: American Fantasy by Emma Straub.
Skylar: The rumored but entirely unconfirmed Phoebe Bridgers album that I’ve decided is happening.
Do you have any specific hopes for 2026? Culturally or otherwise?
Hallie: I hope that certain government employees continue to know no peace and that Kneecap can tour in the U.S.
Anon: I hope a certain someone dies.
Dylan: Downfall and/or death of Donald Trump…
Riley: Everyone gets more romantic now!
Anon: I hope that we continue to publicly denounce and hold corporations accountable for aligning with the Trump Administration!!
Blair: Let’s see more wins like Mamdani. Let’s shake up the status quo. Let’s hold people accountable. Let’s embrace joy where we can find it :)
Sara: I mean, the midterms? I’m excited to see how this country shows up to vote after a horrific first year. Excited to watch how Meadow Lane lists things on sale. Timothée Chalamet gets an Oscar for Marty Supreme. And then of course, the day it happens.
Danielle: The return of democracy, rule of law, freedom of speech, civil rights, etc., etc., etc.
Skylar: That we all get weirder and more fun. It’s all we’ve got.
This has been a big year for me offline, but I am indebted to the people who still showed up for me here to make E4P function as normally as it could—as much as I have been indebted to all of you who read and encourage it each week. What a gift it is at this moment in history to have a platform for conversation and community like this; what a gift it is to have all of you.
I don’t know what 2026 has in store for Emily For President just yet, but I’m hopeful that it’s going to be good.