Leonardo DiCaprio, left, and Benicio Del Toro in “One Battle After Another.” Warner Bros.
I’m not a big fan of these “best of” lists (I didn’t watch, listen or read everything out there), but of all the new(ish) arts entertainment (or edutainment, as KRS-One would say) I consumed this past year, here’s what helped me most in surviving (and contemplating) the relentless horrors of 2025.
FILMS
The Voice of Hind Rajab, created by Kaouther Ben Hania (Madman Films, Watermelon Pictures)
One Battle After Another, created by Paul Thomas Anderson (Warner Bros. Pictures)
Palestine 36, created by Annemarie Jacir (Watermelon Pictures)
Sinners, created by Ryan Coogler (Warner Bros. Pictures)
Earth’s Greatest Enemy, created by Abby Martin & Mike Prysner (Empire Files)
It Was Just an Accident, created by Jafar Panahi (NEON)
Bugonia, created by Yorgos Lanthimos (Focus Features)
Decibel, created by Zac Locke (Pejeco Films, The Straits, dawgFish)
The Encampments, created by Breakthrough News (Watermelon Pictures)
Pee-Wee as Himself, created by Matt Wolf (HBO Max)
SERIES
The Low Down, created by Sterlin Harjo (FX)
The Studio, created by Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg (Apple TV)
Pluribus, created by Vince Gilligan (Apple TV)
The White Lotus, created by Mike White (HBO Max)
Adolescence, written by Stephen Graham, Jack Thorne (Netflix)
The Pitt, created by R. Scott Gemmill (HBO Max)
MUSIC
Cate Le Bon, Michelangelo Dying (Mexican Summer)
De La Soul, Cabin in the Sky (Mass Appeal)
Stereolab, Instant Holograms on Metal Film (Duophonic UHF Disks, Warp Records)
Mia Wilson, Mia Wilson (Royal Oakie)
Massage, Coaster, (Bobo Integral, Prefect Records)
Dean Wareham, That’s The Price of Loving Me (Car Park Records)
Chaparelle, Western Pleasure (Mom + Pop Music)
Sam Blasucci, All Blue (Amateur Circus)
Earl Sweatshirt, Live Laugh Love (Tan Cressida, Warner)
BOOKS
Perfect Victims: And the Politics of Appeal by Mohammed el-Kurd (Haymarket Books)
The Long Heat: Climate Politics When It’s Too Late by Wim Carton and Andreas Malm (Verso)
The Burning Heart of the World by Nancy Kricorian (Red Hen Press)
The Uncool (A Memoir) by Cameron Crowe (Simon & Schuster)
Fire in Every Direction (A Memoir) by Tareq Baconi (Washington Square Press)
Undammed: Freeing Rivers and Bringing Communities to Life by Tara Lohan (Island Press)
Extraction: The Frontiers of Green Capitalism by Thea Riofrancos (W. W. Norton & Company)
Genocide Bad: Notes on Palestine, Jewish History, and Collective Liberation by Sim Kern (Interlink Books)
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This content originally appeared on CounterPunch.org and was authored by Joshua Frank.