The Best of 2025

The highlights of what I read, listened to, and played with in 2025. See also: 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, and 2014.

Great articles and blog posts

The Who Cares Era
– This post gives a name to the depressing feeling I get on those days when I accidentally find myself logged in to Facebook, or viewing the YouTube home page while logged out:404 made from food In late 2022 I had Dall-E generate “food arranged to form the number 404.” Squint and it looks right, but go ahead and try to identify any one specific piece of food in the image. “It’s so emblematic of the moment we’re in, the Who Cares Era, where completely disposable things are shoddily produced for people to mostly ignore.”

The hidden time bomb in the tax code that’s fueling mass tech layoffs
– The popular belief has been that layoffs in the tech industry have been caused by the expansion of the use of AI. But a little-reported tax change in the United States had suddenly made R&D salaries there cost companies 15% more.

The sound of inevitability
– This post introduced me to the idea of framing in a debate: “[T]he only trick in the book, once you boil it all down, is to make sure the conversation is framed in your terms.”404 made by Nano Banana 2 For comparison, here’s what Nano Banana does with the same prompt in early 2026. Once you know the trick, you’ll see it everywhere from people trying to force the discussion on their terms.

The McPhee method
– James Somers defines the systematic method for journalism that he has followed throughout his career. But with a little creativity, I think this system could apply to any creative project where the artist might find themself staring at a blank canvas, wondering where to begin.

No Graphics API
– For the computer graphics nerds only; though I’m sure you’ve already read it. Sebastian Aaltonen walks through the history of GPU programming and comes out the other side with a clean prototype for the next generation of computer graphics.

Favourite books read

Chip War
– A thorough retelling of the history of semiconductors, told from the perspective of manufacturability and economics. ICs have always been linked with war, largely due to their importance to the defense industry, so understanding the history provides useful context around current global instability.

Supercommunicators
– If you were to ask a high school English teacher about communication, I think they would say that the most effective communicators focus on presenting a thesis and supporting it with evidence. But Charles Duhigg’s characterization of a supercommunicator spends most of their effort instead on listening and asking questions.

Favourite games played

Favourite new musicians

Thrice
– Thrice has been around since the late 90s’, but somehow I never even heard of them until their Horizons/West album. Previously a post-hardcore band, they’re now hard to capture with a single genre, with songs like Albatross blending elements of prog, blues, and rock.

Larkin Poe
– Winners of the 2024 Grammy for best contemporary blues album, Larkin Poe came onto my radar with their 2025 release Bloom. While their blues playing seems to be what’s getting attention now, at their 2025 show in Toronto they also pulled out some old bluegrass tracks and played around a single microphone.

Favourite podcasts discovered

Philosophize This!
– I wouldn’t say that Stephen West is my favourite presenter (at least in his early days), but he has assembled a thorough history of philosophy though his podcast that’s approachable for anyone.

Sean Carroll’s Mindscape
– In an effort to drown out some of the noise of 2025, I’ve been searching for intelligent and high quality voices to hear from. Sean Carroll is a theoretical physicist who uses his podcast to discuss big ideas in the philosophy of science.