As we inch closer to America’s 250th birthday, 2025 brought us a mix of powerful history, unforgettable music, and binge-worthy TV. If you’re looking to reflect, escape, learn, or just be entertained, this year delivered. Let’s dive into some of the standout highlights.
Every year brings massive news events, emotional moments, and global challenges—but pop culture is where we get to breathe, laugh, cry, escape, and reconnect with storytelling. And 2025 really came through.
So queue up a playlist, grab a book, and binge something great. This year gave us really good stuff—go enjoy it.
📚 Top 5 Books of 2025 About American History
1. American Grammar — Jarvis R. Givens
Written by Harvard professor Jarvis R. Givens, this deeply researched book explores how the U.S. education system shaped (and often harmed) Native Americans and enslaved people. It’s insightful, honest, and essential reading for understanding the foundations of American society.2. History Matters — David McCullough
David McCullough delivers a warm, engaging collection of essays that reflects on American history and the people who shaped it. It’s not overly academic—just thoughtful, human, and beautifully observant.3. Last Seen — Judith Giesberg
Inspired by the “Last Seen” website launched in 2017, this book dives into ads placed by formerly enslaved people searching for lost family members. Covering experiences from the 1830s through the 1920s, it offers a heartbreaking and deeply moving window into lives fractured by slavery.4. Medicine River — Mary Annette Pember
Ojibwe author Mary Annette Pember explores her mother’s experience in federally funded Indian boarding schools and the erasure of Native culture. It is reflective, emotional, and incredibly important.5. Mother Emanuel — Kevin Sack
Telling the story of Charleston’s Emanuel AME Church, this book chronicles two centuries of faith, resilience, resistance, and forgiveness—culminating in the tragic white supremacist attack that took nine lives. Painful yet inspiring, it’s meticulously researched and profoundly moving.🎵 Top 5 Songs of 2025
1. “Pussy Palace” — Lily Allen
From her album West End Girl, this track is raw, unfiltered, emotional, and impossible to ignore. It’s messy, honest, catchy, and one of the most unforgettable pop songs of the year.2. “Luther” — SZA ft. Kendrick Lamar
A smooth fusion of hip-hop and R&B with big millennial-era pop energy, this track feels nostalgic yet fresh—universally listenable and wildly loved.3. “Golden” — Huntr/X (K-Pop Demon Hunters)
If you have kids, you already know it. Golden is the giant pop anthem of 2025—irresistible, energetic, and everywhere. Even if you try to resist, your foot will end up tapping.4. “Vanish Into You” — Lady Gaga
Ballad. Anthem. Dance-floor scream-along. Gaga tells a cinematic love story that feels timeless and emotional—proof once again that she’s simply on another level.5. “Manchild” — Sabrina Carpenter
Sabrina dominated 2025, and Manchild sealed it. Sharp, funny, satirical, bold, and feminist at its core, it sparks conversation and delivers a pop punch.📺 Top TV Shows of 2025
1. The Pitt
Bloody, intense, emotional, political, and impossible to look away from. Following ER doctors navigating the brutal realities of post-COVID hospital life, it’s gripping and far deeper than expected.2. Adolescence
Dark, haunting, and unflinching. Centered around the death of a teenage girl, it explores social media, incel culture, and the terrifying pressures of growing up online.3. The Bear — Season 4
Still nearly perfect. Still anxiety-inducing. Still brilliant. Season 4 continues to capture the chaos, heartbreak, obsession, and strange beauty of restaurant life with stellar writing and acting.4. Stranger Things — Season 5
We’ve grown up with this cast, and Season 5 delivers again with nostalgia, heart, and high-stakes adventure. It’s cinematic, emotional, and everything fans hoped for.5. The White Lotus — Season 3
Set in Thailand, this season is dramatic, chaotic, bizarre, glamorous, and deliciously dark. A twisted blend of mystery, privilege, questionable choices, and what-on-earth-are-they-doing? energy—in the best possible way.Every year brings massive news events, emotional moments, and global challenges—but pop culture is where we get to breathe, laugh, cry, escape, and reconnect with storytelling. And 2025 really came through.
So queue up a playlist, grab a book, and binge something great. This year gave us really good stuff—go enjoy it.
