The Assignment with Audie Cornish

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The Year in Pop Culture: AI, Gay Hockey, and Rage Bait

12/11/2025 • 20 min

What was this year in pop culture like? A scrappy Canadian gay hockey romance becomes the internet’s obsession while big-budget, star-packed shows are dwindling. AI rage-bait memes (some from government accounts) keep hijacking the national conversation. These are just some of the pop culture moments that defined 2025. Audie and New York Magazine staff writer Re… Play episode

Spirituality in America, from AI Jesus to Wicca
Putting the 'Giving' Back in Thanksgiving
Is the Economy OK? Why It Might Not Feel Like It to You
Former New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern’s Next Act
“Love is Blind” Is About More Than Dating
Horror Used to Be Escapism. Now It’s a Mirror
What Zohran Mamdani’s Rise Says About the Future of the Left
Why Everyone Started Paying Attention to the WNBA
Why Orwell's '1984' is having a moment in 2025
Uncovering the Story of Police Torture in Chicago
How MAGA and Billionaires Are Reshaping What Media You Consume
How to Break the Cycle of Political Violence
How Algorithms Are Rewiring the Way We Talk
Why Are Shows Like ‘Hunting Wives' and ‘Yellowstone’ So Popular Now?
The Generation That Inherited Hurricane Katrina
Dating Apps and the Demise of American Romance
The Offline Rebellion of the Most Online Generation
Are Respectability Politics Over?
What the Recent Obsession with Yachts Says About Class in America
How Early 2000s Pop Culture Pitted Women Against Each Other
What ICE’s Rapid Expansion Could Mean for Your Community
Will Tariffs Bring Trouble to Toyland?
George Takei’s Journey Through Fear, Silence, and Activism
Alaska’s Senator: 'You’re Roadkill in the Middle’
Can Weight Loss Drugs and Body Positivity Coexist?
Can Protestors Manufacture a Tipping Point?
Is OpenAI Building an Empire or a Religion?
Klarna's CEO On Why You Should Buy Now, Pay Later
Explaining Diddy’s Domination and Downfall
Why We Believe Crazy S**t —And What We Can Do About It
Catholicism Is So Hot Right Now. Why?
Why Does Dating Feel So Hard Right Now?
Who’s Laughing in Trump’s Second Term?
A Wonk-Free Conversation About Tariffs
Can We Trust AI, or the People Building It?
College Arrests: “A Kind of Policy That Ends Democracies”
Is the Windy City Charting a Course for the Left?
Are College Athletes Cashing In and Killing the Game?
How DOGE Cuts May Affect Your Summer Vacation
Where Did #MeToo Go?
Why Elon Musk Wants You to Have More Kids
And the Oscar Goes to… the Best Campaign?
Why Crunchy Conservatives Love RFK Jr.
The United States of Elon
A Pastor's Stand on Trump's ICE Raids
The ‘Sober Curious’ Revolution
Meet the Man Who Saw the LA Fires Coming
How Political Divides Are Destroying Families
Samantha Bee Is Done with Democrats (For Now)

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