Media highlights 2025 (Jan to June)
Published 2 July 2025 ⋅ Comment on Substack
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Books and music I enjoyed from the first half of 2025. Previous lists:
- 2024 (second half)
- 2024 (first half)
- 2023 (second half)
- 2023 (first half)
- 2022 (second half)
- 2022 (first half)
- 2021 (full year)
Ordering remains arbitrary. Let me know if you find something from this list that you end up enjoying.
Books
(Or skip to music →)
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Show notes →✕ Close notes
Big tome on “world music” history across half a dozen regions and traditions; favourite book of the year so far. Boyd's' interview with Marc Maron is a great entry (review).
- Engines of Creation — Eric Drexler
Show notes →✕ Close notes
Way more readable and fun than expected. Most chapters read like they were written five years ago by some blogger from the LessWrong-sphere (review).
- The Creation of the American Republic, 1776-1787 — Gordon Wood
Show notes →✕ Close notes
What were the formative debates in American political thought from independence through to the Constitution being ratified? I was surprised by how weirdly (if only subtly) unfamiliar they were; these people were figuring out the questions along with the answers.
- Legal Systems Very Different From Ours — David Friedman
Show notes →✕ Close notes
Describes a bunch of unfamiliar legal systems, like medieval Icelandic law, or present-day Amish law, etc., and attempts to explain how they make total sense in the language of classical economics. Here's my review, but read Scott Alexander's.
- The Spy and the Traitor — Ben Macintyre
Show notes →✕ Close notes
Oleg Gordievsky was Russia's Kim Philby, a KGB agent turned by MI6. In 1985 he was recalled from London to Moscow, his secret allegiances having been sniffed out by a KGB mole inside the CIA, and Gordievsky must escape to Finland to save his life. Thrilling stuff and I'm surprised I didn't know the story before reading.
And three books by Charles C. Mann; I read the first one and quickly became a Mann fan:
- 1491: New Revelations of the Americas Before Columbus — Charles C. Mann
Show notes →✕ Close notes
What was going on in the Americas, pre-Columbus? Contra prevailing (and convenient, for the settlers) narrative, the indigenous peoples of the Americas were more numerous, had a deeper past, and were more culturally complex and sophisticated than thought. Just as interesting, these civilisations actively shaped the natural landscape far more than you might guess, through irrigation systems, terracing, building giant defensive mounds, and especially slash and burn agriculture.
- 1493: Uncovering the New World Columbus Created — Charles C. Mann
Show notes →✕ Close notes
In the 1400s, world civilisations were not connected (other than through slow patterns of migration and trade). But around the time of Columbus, the entire world was becoming connected through trade for the first time, a process that completed around 1600. It is the story of the exchange of new crops, livestock, diseases, and people, and all the upheavals and destruction and creation that ensued: the yellow fever and malaria of the Columbian Exchange, potatoes and tubers and tobacco swapped for gold in China, guano from the Andes shipped to Europe as fertiliser. The modern world is built on “invasive” species, they are everywhere and we need them.
- The Wizard and the Prophet: Two Remarkable Scientists and Their Dueling Visions to Shape Tomorrow’s World — Charles C. Mann
Show notes →✕ Close notes
Nominally the story of Norman Borlaug and William Vogt. Borlaug was an agronomist who “led the introduction of these high-yielding varieties combined with modern agricultural production techniques to Mexico, Pakistan, and India.” Vogt was an ecologist who was highly influential in shaping ideas about environmentalism and conservation, especially through his 1948 book Road to Survival. More generally The Wizard and the Prophet is about (i) the ‘green Revolution’, and (ii) the intellectual history of the environmentalist movement. Ultimately, it is about two worldviews: one which emphasises technological fixes and human ingenuity (see ‘ecomodernism’ and ‘progress studies’); another which emphasises the sins of modernity and capitalist excess. It is not very polemical but it doesn't need to be.
I keep track of what I read on Goodreads (written reviews also live here).
Music
I log most things on rateyourmusic.com. I also have a Spotify with some playlists.
Jazz
- (sidenote:
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- Her show in Camden was a live music highlight of the year so far, totally amazing.
- Coltrane - Live at Birdland (1964)
- Oliver Nelson - The Blues and the Abstract Truth (1961)
- Fela Ransome Kuti & The Afrika 70 - Gentleman (1973)
- Clifford Jordan Quartet - Night of the Mark VII (1975)
- (sidenote:
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- Weird nu jazz with notably crazy textures.
- Wayne Shorter - Speak No Evil (1966)
- I stumbled on this very interesting recording of Shorter talking about the record, which was recorded on Christmas eve!
- Tony Williams - Civilization (1987)
- Yosvany Terry - New Throned King (2014)
Electronic
- Floating Points - Lazarus (2025)
- Maâlem Mahmoud Guinia / Floating Points / James Holden - Marhaba (2015)
- Kaito - Special Life (2002)
- Howie Lee - At the Drolma Wesel-Ling Monastery (2024)
- Yousuke Yukimatsu Tokyo Boiler Room
- “Originally employed in construction, Yukimatsu was diagnosed with a malignant brain tumor in 2016, leading him to leave his job. After undergoing treatment and two surgeries, he shifted his focus entirely to DJing”
Singers and guitars
Singer-songwriter:
- Japanese Breakfast - Jubilee (2021)
- Lianne La Havas - Lianne La Havas (2020)
- George Harrison - All Things Must Pass (1970)
Some rock:
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(sidenote:
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- Didn’t realise how many absolute home runs are packed into the ~40 minute runtime.
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The Derek Trucks Band - Songlines (2006)
- H/t Daniel Frank!
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Goose - Everything Must Go (2025)
- Phish protégés? Successors?
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Billy Strings and Trey Anastasio - Back on the Train
- See above!
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Speaking of Phish, here is Trey and Page playing ‘Waste’ from ‘The Barn’, their recording studio, it’s heartwarming!
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(sidenote:
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- Doesn’t black midi’s album art take after Max Ernst? And the music makes me feel a similar way. Watch them perform bmbmbm at this awards show, you can hate it but you can’t say they weren’t brave.
- And (sidenote:
) for a mad performance in April with 10-piece backing band. Even odds he ends up in the same conversations as David Byrne, Frank Zappa, Captain Beefheart?
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[法兹] FAZI - Oriental 101 w Future Praire (2024)
- It is punk music from Shaanxi, China. It rocks. H/t Gavin Leech!
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(sidenote: I caught the second half of a matinee at the beginning of their tour and they played ‘For the Cold Country’ with a harpsichord and a mandolin.
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- With Isaac leaving they are a new and centreless band. It is not Ants From Up There but it is very lovely. ‘Two Horses’ is a highlight.
- If you like BC,NR you should also watch this — Basketball Shoes- Live at YES 02/10/19
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Various Artists - Nouakchott Wedding Songs (2015)
Soul:
- I got into St Paul & The Broken Bones.
- They are better performers than writers so their best songs are covers, and Otis covers in particular. Here they are playing ‘A Change Is Gonna Come’; and another version with Lizzo.
- Here they are playing ‘I’ve Been Loving You Too Long’ in a pizza shop in Nashville and it’s jaw-dropping. And same song without an audience, and another on stage.
- Cymande - Cymande (1972)
- Donny Hathaway - Live (1972)
A seminal dancehall album, from the Joe Boyd book:
- Sister Nancy - One Two (1982)
And some latin music:
- Ivan Lins - Somos todos iguais nesta noite (1977)
- Eva - Eva (1974)
- Gal Costa - Gal Costa (1969)
- João Gilberto - Amoroso (1977)
- Flávio Venturini - Nascente (1981)
- And the amazing Strong Songs podcast on Antônio Carlos Jobim & Elis Regina’s “Águas de Março”!
Orchestral & classical
- Shanghai Film Orchestra / Wang Yongji - In C / Music of a Thousand Springs; Zen (Ch’an) of Water (1992)
- János Sebestyén - Italian Concerto / Chromatic Fantasia and Fugue / 12 Little Preludes (1993)
- Glenn Gould - The Well-Tempered Clavier: Book I - Preludes and Fugues 1-8 (1963) and Two-Part Inventions & Three-Part Sinfonias Toccatas (2012)
- Ali Akbar Khan & Nikhil Banerjee - [Rag manj khammaj; Rag misra mand Signature Series Vol. 4] (1973)
- Paco de Lucía - Concierto de Aranjuez (1991)
- Grisha - Homenaje a Sabicas (2007)
- “[As a child he] appeared regularly on Soviet television and radio […] Following a tour of Spain, Goryachev was invited to play for flamenco legend, Paco de Lucía, who soon after personally intervened in support of his application for an American visa […] Grisha strives to keep alive older flamenco masterpieces that now exist only on records, by performing them in concerts.”
Folk
- Doc & Merle Watson - Ballads From Deep Gap (1971)
- And since this got me into bluegrass…
- A fantastic video of Doc Watson and Earl Scruggs playing together, and another
- One Foggy mountain breakdown’ video, and another
- Steve Martin and Earl Scruggs (sidenote: Yes, that Steve Martin! He is so good at playing the banjo that he considered dropping comedy and going pro.)
- Nora Brown - Long Time to Be Gone (2022)
- Covers of old Appalachian folk songs, mostly on the banjo. It’s so great.
- Mississippi John Hurt plays Lonesome Valley
- So sweet, go listen. I didn’t realise how interesting is the story of how he was “discovered” and brought into the studio — “In 1952, musicologist Harry Smith included [a recording of MJH] in his seminal collection The Anthology of American Folk Music which generated considerable interest in locating him. When a copy of his “Avalon Blues” was discovered in 1963, it led musicologist Dick Spottswood to locate Avalon, Mississippi on a map and ask his friend, Tom Hoskins, who was traveling that way, to enquire after Hurt.”
- Taj Mahal & Toumani Diabaté - Kulanjan (1999)
- “A beautiful melding of traditional blues and music from Mali by two great masters”
Films and videos
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(sidenote:
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- A movie fan in Tehran decides to impersonate the popular director Mohsen Makhmalbaf while visiting the home of a wealthy family. He is found out, arrested, and tried. The director of Close-Up, Abbas Kiarostami, learns of the trial and obtains permission to film it. Then — somehow — he persuaded everyone involved to play themselves in a reenactment of the entire case. The result is so strange and beautiful and you should watch it.
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Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (2011)
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Some economics content I enjoyed: Greg Clark, Tyler Cowen, Brad DeLong, “A Farewell to Alms” Discussion, and Greg Clark on social status in England
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‘Would I Lie to You’ is a UK quiz show, with the premise that minor celebrities and comedians essentially play a drawn-out ‘two truths and a lie’. It’s the best comfort watching. Here are two classics: did Kevin Bridges accidentally buy a horse, and does the one and only Bob Mortimer perform his own dentistry?
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Sully Sullenberger: Airport Pilot (and here is some context, which makes it even funnier)
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Engineer Bill Hammack on plastic injection moulding and duct tape
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Two mathsy puzzles:
- Consider a three player game where each player chooses a positive integer at the same time, and the smallest unique positive integer wins. What’s the equilibrium strategy?
- 100 coins are lying flat on a table, 10 of them are heads up and 90 are tails up. Without seeing which one is which, is there a way to split the coins into two piles, to guarantee both piles have the same number of heads and tails? Yes!
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Dua Lipa has a podcast where she interviews authors and it’s really very good, here she is speaking to George Saunders
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Defeating a Virus That Killed Half a Billion People – The Plea
- Very proud to have played a tiny role in helping shape this doc about the eradication of smallpox! It is one of the most inspiring stories of the 20th century.
Please let me know if you find something from this list which you end up enjoying! And please do send me recs of your own!
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