What Next | Daily News and Analysis

2025 might not have been a great year —but the music sure was stellar.

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Podcast production by Elena Schwartz, Paige Osburn, Anna Phillips, Madeline Ducharme and Rob Gunther. 


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With rising authoritarianism, terrifying speech crackdowns, and violence in the streets, this year we found ourselves turning to our friends over at How To for advice on  finding peace and excitement in our lives.

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If you were to sum up 2025 in a film, which would you pick? The question that nearly wrecked the brain of Slate’s chief movie critic.

Guest: Dana Stevens, Slate’s movie critic.

Dana’s ten best movies of 2025.

Her review of Sinners.

And her review of One Battle After Another.

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Podcast production by Elena Schwartz, Paige Osburn, Anna Phillips, Madeline Ducharme, and Rob Gunther.
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Canada and the United States usually have a pretty good-natured sports rivalry—but from hockey to baseball, that was not the case in 2025. 

Guest:  Alex Kirshner, contributing writer at Slate, co-host of Hang Up and Listen and the Split Zone Duo podcasts. 

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Podcast production by Elena Schwartz, Paige Osburn, Anna Phillips, Madeline Ducharme, and Rob Gunther.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

With so much online content, it can be hard for a meme to stay in the collective consciousness for more than a few days. But one meme this year managed to capture seemingly everyone’s attention - and challenge the definition of a meme altogether. 

Guest: Kate Lindsay, host of Slate’s ICYMI podcast. 

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