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Scene from the Apple TV+ show ‘Severance’


The weather outside is frightful, but the bingeing options inside are delightful. This year was full of new media as industries from Hollywood to gaming seemed to finally get projects out post-pandemic.
Music

Before Bad Bunny hops onto the Super Bowl Halftime Show stage in 2026, he became Spotify’s most-listened-to artist of the year for the fourth time. Joining him in the 2025 global rankings are Taylor Swift, The Weeknd, Drake, and Billie Eilish.Spotify’s top artists, songs, and more
Pitchfork’s 50 Best Albums of 2025
NPR’s 125 Best Songs of the Year
The New York Times’s Best Songs
The Guardian’s Best Music of 2025
TV

It was a satisfying year for long-awaited second seasons, with Season 2 of Severance remaining mysterious and important, The Last of Us once again scaring the world with fungus-zombies, and The Rehearsal showing Nathan Fielder trying to solve air safety.The New York Times’s Best TV Shows
Rolling Stone’s Top 10
The best shows according to industry insiders at Variety and The Hollywood Reporter
AV Club’s Top 25 TV Series
Movies

Paul Thomas Anderson stans will notice that One Battle After Another seemed to make every top-movie ranking. But 2025 was also the year of slaying scary creatures, with KPop Demon Hunters and Sinners both earning acclaim.The New York Times’s Best Movies
The Rotten Tomatoes Awards Leaderboard
The Washington Post’s Top 10
Rolling Stone’s 10 Best Horror Movies
Podcasts

The Rest is History got everyone chatting about historical events like they just happened yesterday. At the same time, millions of people continued to listen to grisly true-crime pods while shopping at Trader Joe’s.Vulture’s Best Podcasts
The New Yorker’s Top 10
The top shows on Apple and Spotify
LitHub’s favorite literary podcasts
Video games

Indie games dominated a year with few blockbuster releases (still waiting on Grand Theft Auto VI), featuring quirky heroes like a bug that battles with a needle and a daughter of Hades and Persephone.GameSpot’s Best Reviewed Games
RTE’s 10 Best Video Games
The Washington Post’s Top 10 Video Games
Metacritic’s top-scored games
Winners of the annual Game Awards                —JW

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