It’s time for a big old groan. Next week’s newsletter will be a recap of our favorite culture picks of the year, a bit of the annual guide tradition so far, and something that was a lot of fun to put together.
But do you know what’s even more fun? Complaining about things. So, this week’s guide is dedicated to the little-known cultural holdovers of 2025. Here’s what we saw this year.
Very scary to buy tickets in 2025
Good news! Your favorite band, who last performed live more than a decade ago, has just announced a UK tour. Now it’s just a small matter of getting the ticket.
You’ve already missed out on the presale by not being on the right mobile phone network, so you’re stuck in the usual 10am presale battle with everyone else. A mad scramble to get a seat – any seat – begins, as entire blocks turn from welcoming blue to forbidding gun-metal grey. You manage to add a ticket to your basket, but you can only get one as part of the Platinum Superfan VIP package (yes, it costs as much as a flight to Timbuktu, but there Is A limited edition tote bag was inserted). As you contemplate whether or not to take hundreds of pounds more than you’ve budgeted, the blood red timer in the upper right corner ticks down to zero, and by the time you get back to the main room it’s too late: sold out.
You’ll either have to brave the secondary market (which may require you to get a second job), or miss out entirely. Wait though, they’re rumored to be playing Glastonbury in 2027… fancy another ticket battle royale next November?
‘Did he kill the au pair’ drama
The streaming age seems to be promising a lot for television: even more than the great giant dramas that came from the “Golden Age” that preceded it. Hmm yes, not so much. Instead of the next Mad Men , a constant slog like “did he kill the au pair” could be put on streamer TV: glossy, small-screen versions of the mid-budget movie thrillers that people complain they don’t make anymore.
the only difference? Here they’re stretched to breaking point over 8-10 episodes, with key details of the plot rehashed for the benefit of half-witted viewers, and dealt with in some kind of unsatisfying mess at the end, if it’s successful enough for a series two. The Guest, The Girlfriend, Little Disasters, The Better Sister, The Stolen Girl… the list goes on and on. just please!
AI (essentially)
This was the year that AI overcame whatever minimal barriers we had erected to protect it: Go to your social media feed of choice and it won’t take long to be greeted with some weird, wonderful, and completely made-up videos (in my case Stephen Hawking fighting Einstein in a “Hell in the Cell” wrestling match).
Artificially groomed alt-country bands, or down-on-their-luck talent show contestants, haunt the digital corridors of Spotify and YouTube, while A-listers, or at least people pretending to be them, lie in wait, ready to separate you from your money. Real Hollywood stars are also looking over their shoulders – while AI actor Tilly Norwood’s name was greeted with grateful derision, better, more believable versions of her are definitely on the way. And screenwriters won’t be thrilled with the deals being signed between studios and AI companies to train models for the latter. Lovely dystopia we’ve created for ourselves, huh!
secret podcast ad
When it comes to podcast advertising, there’s a kind of eternal shadowboxing contest going on between producers and listeners: They put a McDonald’s spot at the beginning of the show to fund the (largely) free media they’re providing; We run right after good things to reach them. However, it is clear that this will not be the case, so advertisements are now beginning to be placed at points when listeners least expect, and thus least prepared to pass them. Just as a conversation is about to begin about Paul Thomas Anderson’s new movie or the history of a theme park ride, along comes a loud and jarring advertisement, often in the middle of a sentence.
Podcast-creator: If we agree to start listening to ads at the top of the pod, will you promise to stop bombarding us with these randomly distributed stealth ads?
merger mania
“The Gripe” might seem like a trivial term for a looming existential fear about the complete death of cinema, but Netflix’s proposed purchase of Warner Bros. Discovery seems to indicate exactly that. Although this is far from a sure thing: perhaps a hostile bid from Trump’s more friendly Paramount Skydance (the two companies merged together just a few months ago) could best it.
Either way, there’s something truly baffling about these endless mergers: as well as the obvious monopolistic threats these companies constantly pose to each other, at a more basic level it makes things confusing for us consumers. You were halfway through that series on platform x Due to the merger of D, E, F and G companies, streaming is now happening on Platform Y. Sorry about that!
irregular band punctuation
It is published by subeditors of music magazines everywhere. Please, can bands and artists stop messing with the caps lock button. Having song titles in all caps might have sounded cute and cool about a decade ago, when everyone started doing it, but now it’s just become cliché and it’s hard to read, even more so when you start randomly inserting ting spaces between words, and – worst of all – switching between upper and lower case without thinking. Oh, and stop putting your surname in all lowercase – bell hooks were allowed to do that, you don’t have to!
Join in – End of Year Special Edition!
As we always want to hear You About this your favorite culture of the yearon TV, film, music, books and podcasts for a special installment of the newsletter (here’s last year’s report to give you a taste). This could be anything from the biggest blockbuster to the most overlooked indie album.
you have until 16th December Contact me at gwilym.mumford@theguardian.com to send your favourites.
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