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As we close out 2025, I wanted to wrap up the stories that mattered to me this year.
Before I start, a quick disclaimer. These are not the “most important” stories of 2025. News organizations and real journalists can handle that list. This is simply what I found interesting, frustrating, revealing, or worth thinking about. And yes, my interests go beyond politics. Movies, cars, baseball, and science fiction all matter to me. But this list is going to focus primarily on politics, with one exception at the end.
Another thing worth saying up front. This is a long list. If I added full nuance to every topic, this would turn into a year’s worth of articles. So consider this a guided tour, not a deep dive. I’ll have predictions for 2026 coming soon.
I’m breaking this down into international stories, national stories, local stories, political winners and losers, and then ending on something lighter.
Let’s get into it.
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International Stories That I Couldn’t Let Go
Gaza and the Hostage Release
Gaza dominated headlines again this year, almost daily. Horrifying images of children, families, and total destruction.
2025 briefly gave us hope when hostages were released. It felt like maybe, finally, this would come to an end. That hope didn’t last. As we head into 2026, it continues, unresolved, entrenched, and seemingly immune to international pressure.
The emotions of these moments stuck with me more than any single headline.
China and the AI Economic War
One of the most underappreciated stories of the year was the China AI race. I have an unpublished draft on China’s DeepSeek AI for a reason. This wasn’t just about technology. It was a lesson in modern economic warfare.
We spend so much time worrying about Nvidia chips, IP theft, and American dominance. What 2025 showed us is that in a digital economy, value can be wiped out instantly. Tens of billions of dollars gone with a mouse click.
Music, software, programs, IP. When value exists digitally, copying and open-sourcing something can obliterate markets overnight. China showed that democratizing access can also be a weapon.
There is a new kind of economic war happening, and almost nobody is paying attention to it.
Stablecoins and the Quiet Privatization of the Dollar [ [link removed] ]
This flew under the radar for most people, but it mattered a lot.
In 2025, companies like Tether and Circle, along with newer players including Trump’s World Liberty Financial, pushed stablecoins further into legitimacy. These are digital tokens pegged one-to-one with the U.S. dollar, backed by treasuries or cash equivalents.
What this actually represents is the privatization of the U.S. dollar.
Once money is issued and moved through private infrastructure, it becomes gated behind terms of service, proprietary systems, and corporate control. Most people have no idea this is happening, let alone what it means long-term.
National Stories That I Couldn’t Let Go Of
The Epstein Files
I wrote about this repeatedly because it became a perfect litmus test for Congress.
After months of dragging their feet, Congress nearly unanimously voted to release the Epstein files. And then what happened? Redactions. Shrugs. Silence.
If it weren’t for people like Thomas Massie and Ro Khanna continuing to push for unredacted releases, we would have no expectation of transparency at all.
This wasn’t an accident. It was a choice. And it revealed exactly how willing Congress is to ignore overwhelming public demand when powerful interests are implicated.
Charlie Kirk’s Assassination and the Post-Truth Spiral
The assassination of Charlie Kirk was horrifying, and the reactions to it were even more revealing.
Political violence is not something to beat a partisan drum over. If you think this is the path forward, you are deeply mistaken. The snowball effect of cheering this kind of chaos is far bigger than anyone imagines, and most people are not prepared for where it leads.
The hypocrisy from both sides was immediate and grotesque.
And then came the aftermath. Turning Point USA’s response. Erica Kirk. Candace Owens. Endless conspiracy theories. The internet, myself included, trying to make sense of what was real in a post-truth environment that no longer has guardrails.
Adding to the ugliness was the brutal murder of Rob Reiner by his own son. A reminder that cruelty, instability, and violence are not partisan traits.
It was all sad. All disturbing. And completely indicative of where we are.
Trump’s White House Ballroom
This one is going to annoy some Democrats, but it shouldn’t.
The ballroom itself is a nothing burger. The White House has been rebuilt, torn down, and modified repeatedly throughout history. I don’t care about a ballroom. Frankly, it probably makes sense to have one.
The warning sign is who’s paying for it.
When corporations are “donating” to build parts of the White House, we are blurring lines that should not be blurred. I don’t want corporate sponsorship stamped into pillars, plates, and policy access.
That part should concern everyone.
Local Stories That Mattered Close to Home
Marijuana Reform in Ohio
Ohio’s legislature moved to restrict and clarify parts of marijuana legalization. This included bans on intoxicating hemp outside dispensaries, THC caps, restrictions on imports, and packaging rules.
If you actually read the bill, most of it is reasonable. The truly insane part is banning marijuana brought in from other states.
I wrote a full breakdown elsewhere, but the outrage around this bill was largely disconnected from what it actually did.
Browns Stadium and Public Money
The Browns stadium saga was exhausting, revealing, and completely on brand for how Ohio handles public money.
From Mayor Justin Bibb to County Executive Chris Ronayne to city councils, suburban mayors, and Brook Park officials, everyone had a microphone and an opinion. Everyone wanted to look like they were fighting for taxpayers. Everyone wanted credit. Very few wanted responsibility.
It now appears the Cleveland Browns are moving to Brook Park.
In theory, this could be a once-in-a-generation opportunity. Brook Park sits in a corridor hollowed out by deindustrialization, right next to the airport, with massive infrastructure needs. If done correctly, this could mean real investment in roads, transit, utilities, housing, and long-term economic activity. Not just a stadium, but an actual redevelopment plan.
That is the optimistic case.
Meanwhile, the state legislature stepped in and made the ugliest move of all.
They handed six hundred million dollars in unclaimed funds to a billionaire team owner. (shout out to Jeff Crossman and his team for fighting this) [ [link removed] ]
That money did not belong to the Browns. It did not belong to the Haslam family. It belonged to Ohioans.
If the state has unclaimed funds, the first obligation is to return them to the people. Build an easily searchable database ( I know they have one, but it isn’t really easy). Run public notices. Spend the time and effort to get that money back where it belongs.
If that fails, invest it in public infrastructure. Fix roads. Fund transit. Schools. Replace lead pipes. Hell, send direct checks.
What you do not do is quietly redirect it to subsidize a private stadium deal and pretend that is economic development.
That move told everyone exactly who the system is designed to serve.
This entire episode was a reminder that Ohio lacks political courage and clarity.
Redistricting and Democratic Capitulation
Watching redistricting play out this year was personal for me. I ran twice in Ohio’s 7th Congressional District. I have seen firsthand how maps are used not just to reflect power, but to lock it in.
Once again, Democrats chose capitulation.
The argument was the same one we hear every cycle. Do we compromise to save one seat, or do we fight and risk losing more? Presented that way, compromise always sounds pragmatic. Responsible. Adult.
But that framing ignores the long-term cost.
What actually happened is what always happens. Democratic leadership accepted a bad map in exchange for marginal short-term protection, and then tried to sell that as a win. It wasn’t. It was an admission that they did not believe public outrage was worth mobilizing.
Leaders like Senator Nickie Antonio were in a position to draw a harder line. To say no. To force the issue into the open. To make voters angry enough to pay attention to how power is being rigged against them.
Instead, the party chose damage control.
Here’s the part that frustrates me the most. Losing seats while fighting unfair maps can actually build momentum. It can radicalize voters. It can create a clear villain. Capitulation does the opposite. It breeds cynicism...apathy.
People stop paying attention not because they are apathetic by nature, but because they are trained to believe nothing will change.
I understand the math. I understand the pressure to protect incumbents. But at some point, the party has to decide whether it wants to manage decline or actually confront structural corruption.
I genuinely want to hear where people land on that, because this choice is not going away.
Political Winners of 2025
Zohran Mamdani and the DSA
Zohran Mamdani’s New York mayoral win mattered, whether people want to admit it or not.
This wasn’t about whether you agree with his politics. It was about what the campaign proved. For years, I’ve been saying that young people have something to say politically. The problem hasn’t been apathy. It’s been access. It’s been a system that talks at younger voters instead of letting them participate meaningfully.
Mamdani showed what happens when you actually give that energy a lane.
His campaign was disciplined, modern, and intentional. It didn’t feel like a bunch of consultants stapling slogans together.
I don’t say this lightly. It was one of the most impressive campaigns I’ve watched since Barack Obama. Not because of ideology, but because of execution.
Whether Democrats like the Democratic Socialists of America or not is beside the point. Mamdani’s win sent a clear signal that new voices can break through if they are taken seriously and allowed to compete.
Marjorie Taylor Greene’s Pivot
This one surprised a lot of people, including me.
Marjorie Taylor Greene’s shift away from parts of her base showed something we rarely see in modern politics: a willingness to break pattern. In an environment where incentives reward doubling down, purity tests, and constant escalation, she chose to move instead of dig in.
Whether that move is opportunism, genuine evolution, or a new grift is almost beside the point. Motive matters, but behavior matters more. Most politicians, on both sides, are terrified of upsetting their most vocal supporters. In this case Trump. Greene did it anyway.
That takes a certain kind of political courage, even if you fundamentally disagree with her on policy.
More importantly, it disrupted expectations. It reminded people that political identities are not always fixed, and that breaking with your own coalition can sometimes be more consequential than attacking the other side.
In a year defined by stagnation and scripted behavior, Greene did something unexpected. And in American politics right now, that alone makes her noteworthy.
Political Losers of 2025
Establishment Democrats
Chuck Schumer. Andrew Cuomo. The entire establishment wing of the Democratic Party.
What we saw in 2025 was the same strategy replayed again, paired with the same expectation of loyalty without offering real change. That approach keeps failing, and leadership seems determined to ignore the evidence.
Schumer, in particular, became a symbol of the problem. Watching him try to rebrand himself as relatable and in touch in his late seventies would be funny if it weren’t tragic. It felt performative, not corrective.
Cuomo’s mayoral campaign followed the same pattern. No real reckoning, just an assumption that time and name recognition would smooth things over.
Worse, the Democratic National Committee still has not offered an honest public reckoning with the 2024 loss. No accountability. No clear course correction.
When a party refuses to examine its failures, it is not regrouping. It is protecting itself. And that is how decline becomes permanent.
MAGA
MAGA is losing, not electorally, yet, but psychologically. And that matters more in the long run.
The movement was built on promises that felt simple and concrete. End the wars. Drain the swamp. Expose corruption. Put regular people first. For a while, that clarity held the coalition together.
2025 chipped away at that foundation.
The wars did not end. They were rebranded, delayed, or pushed out of the spotlight, but they did not stop. The Epstein files stayed buried despite overwhelming public demand for transparency. Instead of accountability, there were redactions and silence.
Meanwhile, wealth was flaunted openly. Lavish dinners. Exclusive events. Ballrooms. The aesthetic of populism gave way to the reality of elite comfort.
The MAGA base noticed.
More and more supporters are asking the same thing, sometimes out loud, sometimes privately.
Is this actually what we voted for?
Once that question takes hold, it is very hard to put back in the box.
Local Political Winners and Losers of 2025
This is where things get more uncomfortable, because local politics strips away the abstraction. You can’t hide behind cable news narratives or national branding. People know who you are. They see what you do. And they remember how power actually gets exercised.
Local Political Winner: Dr. Amy Acton
The biggest local political winner of 2025, in my opinion, was [ [link removed] ]Amy Acton [ [link removed] ]. [ [link removed] ]
And this surprises people when I say it.
She didn’t come into 2025 as a dominant political force. Everyone knew her name, but her campaign barely existed at the beginning of the year. By the end of the year, she had permeated almost every serious conversation about Ohio politics.
Whatever she is doing, it is working.
I hear more people talking about Amy Acton, on both the left and the right, than I hear them talking about their own preferred candidates, including Vivek Ramaswamy.
That matters.
Now, fundraising numbers will ultimately tell a clearer story. But politics is not just money. It is attention, narrative gravity, and credibility. Right now, she has all three.
That makes her the local political winner of the year.
Local Political Loser: The Primary Process Itself
The biggest local political loser of 2025 was not a person. It was the primary process, on both sides.
And no, this does not contradict Amy Acton being a winner. Both things can be true.
On the Republican side, what happened was indefensible.
The Ohio Republican Party endorsed Vivek Ramaswamy for governor before the filing deadline, before a real primary, before voters had a choice. The field cleared out almost immediately.
That is fucking insane.
The people who dropped out without a fight proved they had no business running in the first place. If you can’t even stand up for your own campaign, you are not qualified to run the state.
The real loser here is trust. Trust in the party. Trust in the process. Trust that voters actually get a say.
If Republicans lose because of this, they will have earned it.
On the Democratic side, things were messier, but not cleaner.
The Democratic Party did not officially endorse Amy Acton before the primary. That matters. But functionally, the pressure campaign made it nearly impossible for anyone else to enter the race.
The hostility toward alternatives was immediate and intense.
The Tim Ryan situation captured this perfectly. To be fair, Ryan handled it badly. He teased a run, delayed, teased again, and strung people along. That part was on him.
But the reaction to the idea of him running at all was also disgraceful.
Primaries exist for a reason. They are not inconveniences. They are not threats. They are the mechanism by which legitimacy is built. Telling someone not to run before voters even get a choice undermines the entire point.
So yes, Amy Acton is the biggest local political winner of 2025.
And yes, the Democratic Party’s thumb-on-the-scale behavior is still a problem.
Those things are not mutually exclusive.
This is the same structural failure I wrote about in the Kamala Harris 2024 campaign assessment. Parties keep confusing control with strength. They are not the same thing.
And until both parties learn that lesson, Ohio voters will keep feeling like decisions are being made around them instead of by them.
Movie of the Year
2025 was a weak year for movies overall but these two stuck out in my mind.
My movie of the year was Train Dreams.
It was patient. Quiet. Confident enough to let scenes breathe instead of filling every second with dialogue or spectacle. The pacing mattered. The restraint mattered. It reminded me that storytelling does not always need to shout to be powerful.
In a year obsessed with scale, Train Dreams understood that silence can carry as much weight as action. That alone put it in a different category.
The runner-up was Sinners.
It was a fresh take on a genre that has been beaten to death. It looked amazing. The soundtrack was amazing.
Neither of these films tried to be everything for everyone. They knew what they were. They trusted the audience.
In Closing
I know this was long. I know I missed things. I know there wasn’t nuance everywhere.
That’s the point.
These were the stories I thought about the most. The ones that stuck. The ones that revealed something about where we are heading.
Next keep and eye out for 2026 predictions.
Have a happy New Year and stay angry.

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