My Favorite TV Shows and Music of 2025... Plus One Must-See Movie
In case you missed it, I have a new novel called Lessons in Magic and Disaster about a woman who reconnects with her mother — by teaching her mother how to be a witch! You can get it anywhere, but you can also get a signed, personalized copy from Green Apple Books.
Also, I’m gonna be on the East Coast for two weeks. On Monday, I’ll be at the Franklin Park Reading Series in NYC. On 11/17 I’ll be at Parentheses Books in Harrisonburg, VA. On 11/19 I’ll be hosted by Little District Books in Washington, DC, at As You Are. And then I’ll be at the Miami Book Fair! Please come see me!
And now, here is my list of my favorite TV shows and music of 2025, plus one movie you shouldn’t sleep on!
TV
Deli Boys
This is probably my new favorite show of 2025, and I'm a bit scandalized by how little attention it has received. Not every dang article needs to be about the White Lotus or The Bear, people! In any case this is a show about two brothers whose rich entrepreneur father dies and leaves them in charge of his empire of convenience stores and achar. They soon discover that the family's wealth came, in fact from organized crime — and it's up to these two failsons to step up and take their father's place and keep the drug money flowing. Poorna Jagannathan, who played the mom in Never Have I Ever, is the MVP of this show as a ruthless criminal who loves these boys in spite of their complete incompetence.
The Second Best Hospital in the Galaxy
This, meanwhile, was my favorite new show of whatever year the first season came out. Season 2 is now out, and it's utterly incredible. The Second Best Hospital in the Galaxy is about two doctors at a space hospital, dealing with all sorts of alien diseases and parasites — and sometimes their job is to save the parasite rather than the host. Produced by Natasha Lyonne and featuring the voices of Stephanie Hsu and Keke Palmer, this show is wickedly funny but also has a deep emotional core and a lot of psychological insights. In particular, it's a great show about toxic mother daughter relationships and the beauty of female friendship. We interviewed creator Cirocco Dunlap for an episode of Our Opinions Are Correct.
Hacks
And now for a show that has gotten a lot of love. I don't care, I love Hacks. The most recent season, in which Deborah Vance finally gets her dream job of late night host, hits even harder now than it did when it aired some months ago. And speaking of female friendship, this is one of the best depictions of it I've seen in years. Utterly gorgeous and hilarious.
Dark Winds
This show about indigenous American cops in the 1970s continues to be one of the best things on television. The latest season went all in on torturing Joe Leaphorn, who's facing the consequences of, uh… a tough decision at the end of the previous season. But there's also a new criminal empire to take down, and Bernadette, Joe's right hand, is off serving on the Border Patrol. (Come to think of it, the stuff about the border patrol also hits quite a bit harder over time.) It's a bloody fantastic historical crime drama with a hint of the supernatural.
Washington Black
I'm legit mad that this show hasn't gotten a ton more acclaim. An adaptation of a award-winning book, it's the story of an enslaved scientific genius who escapes in the company of a an eccentric adventure and travels around the world, ending up in Halifax, Canada. But slave catchers are on George Washington Black’s tail, and the woman he loves is betrothed to a scoundrel. The show manages to confront some horrific aspects of chattel slavery and the failings of self-appointed white saviors, while mostly sticking to a an upbeat, optimistic tone rooted in loving science and exploration.
Abbott Elementary
I don't have much to say here — I still love this show, which has remained remarkably great after years on the air. I'm kind of glad the golf course storyline appears to be over, even though it had a lot of fun moments.
The Residence
This show deserved several more seasons. I want to see Uzo Aduba's bird-watching sleuth tear apart a ton of other fancy mansions and institutions while uncovering overly convoluted murder plots. Do I understand everything that happened in this twisty whodunnit? Absolutely not. Did I adore every minute of it, especially watching Aduba run rings around a bunch of smug Washington tools? Hell yes.
Murderbot
I feel like this show has been justly praised by everyone I know — so chances are you've already seen it. The best thing I can say is that it is a worthy adaptation of Martha Wells's award-winning, best selling books about an antisocial security bot. And a while ago I was at a dinner where several people excitedly discussed in great detail all the smart choices they saw the show making in adapting the first book into a season of TV. You don't have to love the books to love this show, at all — but if you do love the books you will be astounded how well they have been realized on screen.
The Gilded Age
Here's another one I don't have too much to say about. This is the season where this show really hit its stride, though I've always enjoyed it a lot. As long as you don't expect this show to have anything profound to say about wealth, privilege, or inequality, it is a sheer soapy delight.
I Love L.A.
I’ve only seen the first episode thus far, but I am really digging this comedy from Rachel Sennott (Bottoms) about a frazzled Hollywood assistant manager whose former best friend suddenly arrives from New York. I can’t wait to see the rest of the season.
(I’m also very excited about Pluribus, which comes out tomorrow, and Riot Women, which has been delayed in the USA but is already out in the UK.)
Music
420 Funk Mob, The Emperor Has No Clones
Listen, you don’t understand how long I’ve waited for a studio album from the 420 Funk Mob, who’ve been performing live (and releasing the occasional live album) since 1997. ALMOST THIRTY FUCKING YEARS. The 420 Funk Mob is an offshoot of George Clinton’s P-Funk All Stars (or Parliament-Funkadelic) headlined by Michael “Clip” Payne, and their live performances have a heavy emphasis on the grungy Funkadelic sound. The good news? This album was absolutely worth the wait. You coulda told me this was a lost P-Funk classic from the old days, and I would absolutely believe you. Every song brings the funk, and then some.
Fishbone, Stockholm Syndrome
Speaking of long-awaited… Fishbone’s first solo album in nearly twenty years is also one of their all-time best albums. And it feels utterly relevant to 2025, thanks to songs like “Racist Piece of Shit” and “Last Call in America.” Warning: There are some earworms here that have been stuck in my head for MONTHS. But I’m not complaining!
clipping, Dead Channel Sky
And while we’re talking about bands releasing their best work — work that speaks to this moment with clinical precision — holy shit, y’all. This electronic hip-hop trio released a cyberpunk album that somehow pays tribute to William Gibson and friends while also making cyberpunk feel brand new. I was fortunate to see clipping perform this album live, and it was utterly life-changing.
Tune-Yards, Better Dreaming and Tell the Future With Your Body
Tune-Yards are amazing, and I’ve been lucky enough to hear them play live a couple of times. (And you’ve heard them in the score to Boots Riley’s Sorry To Bother You.) This duo’s album sketchy. was one of my favorite albums of 2021, and now they’ve released an album and an EP in the same year! I’m still listening to these and soaking them in, which is why I haven’t yet mentioned them in my newsletter. But holy cow, it’s incredible stuff. Full of anger and joy and wisdom and whimsy. The dense layered vocal harmonies are stronger than ever backed by dense synth and percussion. These songs feel like huge anthems but are also incredibly personal and introspective, which is a neat trick.
The Big Ol’ Nasty Getdown, Volume 3
I’m gonna write about this one in an upcoming newsletter. For now, let’s say this impromptu jam band, comprised of dozens of musicians from various beloved groups including Parliament-Funkadelic, is still slamming.
Keziah Jones, Alive and Kicking
Nigerian musician Keziah Jones has been incredible for over three decades, and this killer live album is a great way to get caught up with his “blufunk” style of music. Also highly recommend Captain Rugged.
Galactic and Irma Thomas, Audience with the Queen
Rootsy, bluesy, and above all funky. This collaboration between two great New Orleans artists continues to rock my world. Irma Thomas has been around for decades and her voice seems to have only gotten better. “Lady Liberty” could be mistaken for a long lost Allen Toussaint song.
9m88, This Temporary Ensemble, Vol. 2
I’ve been a fan of 9m88 (pronounced like “Joanne Baba”) since before she was putting out any solo music. Her bell-like jazzy voice was a standout when she was a guest artist with Taiwanese hip-hop and dance artists like Leo Wang, 0ZI and Outlander. Starting with 2019’s Beyond Mediocrity, she’s consistently kicked butt, but I especially adored her 2021 jazz EP This Temporary Ensemble. And now there’s a sequel! Just like last time, she takes some of her recent pop songs and fucks them up, adding a lot more improvisation. She slides from English to Mandarin, from formal melodies to atonal departures, and the live band keeps you guessing as well. Amazing.
Also, here’s her latest song, “Somnium Chamber”:
Estelle, Stay Alta
This beautiful collection of upbeat, discofied anthems has been keeping me dancing and remembering to breathe during some truly soul-crushing months. The voice of Garnet from Steven Universe, Estelle has never been as positive and uplifting as she is here.
Nik West, Little Big Beat Studio Live Session
Nik West is a phenomenal bass player and vocalist, and her talents and personality shine through extra bright on this live album. This was my introduction to her work, and now I’m freaking obsessed.
One Movie You Gotta Watch
I confess I haven’t seen enough movies this year — I’m about to get inundated with screeners as part of the year-end awards blitz, so I’ll catch up soon. Like everyone on the planet, I adored Sinners, One Battle After Another, Superman and K-Pop Demon Hunters.
But one movie you might not be aware of is the incredible Freaky Tales — an anthology of interlinked stories that all take place on the same weird night in Oakland in the 1980s. I’m increasingly obsessed with this film because of the way it straddles different genres and tones while feeling utterly cohesive. There are punks fighting Nazis, a guy trying to walk away from his association with gangsters, and two female rappers trying to get their big break by rapping onstage with Too $hort. It’s thrilling and weird and funny and ultimately an uplifting film about why Nazis suck and Oakland rules.