02 Jan 2026 6 min read what's good

What's Good: 2025 Megamix, Stuff I Wrote, and a copy of Mercy for you

Want to find out how my retail therapy mistakes can be your gain? Read to the end.

While a proper Year-In-Review breakdown still alludes me, I didn't want to not give y'all something to reflect on the massive amount of music we covered these last twelve months on What's Good. So, how about a playlist? Or a couple of playlists.

YouTube

Tidal

Direct Link - What's Good: 2025 Megamix

I went through every What's Good post from this year, and for ones that had featured albums of the week (the ones with the album artwork as the post image) I picked two tracks–one from the featured album, and another standout. For Bandcamp Friday editions, or others where an album release wasn't the focus, I picked three joints. That adds up with more than 5 hours of dope shit from 2025, and it doesn't even cover everything, so I'll likely tinker with it over the weekend to add even more. But if you want a reminder of how good we had it music wise, throw this on shuffle and let it rock.

Also, I did a little bit of writing that I shared on the blog. Unfortunately because of The Horrors™ most of it was about our current problems, but I'm proud I felt confident enough to let y'all see it.

I started the year by writing to my representatives about Elon Musk and DOGE's takeover of the Office of Personnel Management. They followed up (kinda), and I responded.

The playbook for what is happening to the federal government is nakedly identical to what has been the modus operandi at tech companies for years, down to the methods. Many people have already pointed out that the "fork in the road" letter to Twitter employees is of a piece (if not the same) with what was sent to federal workers via the OPM. Workers at Google were sent a similar letter within a day, offering them a buyout to leave. Calls to adjust language to remove references to "DEI," climate change, or other initiatives that would get in the way of unfettered greed are happening internally at these companies almost in parallel with Trump and his administration's use of them as invective. Even petty things like referring to the Gulf of Mexico as the Gulf of America were embraced by these companies. This is not an industry that is adjusting to appease a hostile new regime. It is an industry that has been dying for cultural acceptance to treat the most vulnerable among us as disposable, and everyone else as alternately a money tap, or grist for the mill. We've seen where this leads with the tech industry–the days of Silicon Valley as a leader of innovation are long gone. We're currently in a multi-year slog where the supposed titans of the tech industry have all collectively thrown all their efforts into generative AI, a technology that no one wants, that cannot exist without stealing (i.e. being "trained" by) the labor and intellectual property of human beings. The notion that these supposed great minds constantly want to benefit from the fruit of someone else's labor while simultaneously denying them any payment is consistent, if nothing else.

None of these were written this year, but unless you're a buddy of mine (or you've bought the Comrade playtest available on itch.io), this was the first year I've made these Cold Opens available to the public. Hopefully in the new year I'll have some more TTRPG writing of substance to share with you, as I've been working on a new game that I hope to get into playtests soon (you can see the cover for it in this 'Get To Know Me' post).

To return to politics and The Horrors™, I wrote about someone that no one gives a shit about anymore, and how the reaction to his violent death is a pretty good signpost of the death of the Fourth Estate as we know it.

The death of Charlie Kirk's as a cause célèbre is absurd. Debates over political violence, respect for the dead, and the potential for the Trump administration to use this as an excuse for authoritarian action (ignoring the metric ton of authoritarian action we're currently swimming in), it's all been in the air almost immediately since his death was confirmed. All in honor of a man who had none, and whose career was the amplified equivalent of the shifty Nazi at the back of the flea market. I'm not too surprised that the Trump administration and its most ardent sycophants jumped at the chance to crown a new martyr, as they've tried to manufacture several others to energize their base, with no lasting success. What concerns me is the willingness of so many to play along, either knowingly in an effort to signal their class solidarity (see: Newsom, Klein) or unwittingly in misguided dedication to civility.

That's my 2025 for the most part. There's ugly and sad bits I'll refrain from sharing, and a proper Year-In-Review post for What's Good isn't entirely out of the question, but don't wait up for it. Thank you for riding with me throughout 2025, and hope you'll continue to do so in the new year.

To address the third part of my post, I've got an extra copy of Mercy by Armand Hammer & The Alchemist on vinyl, and rather than sell it or just pass it off to a friend, I've decided to let it go to one of y'all, with a push toward donating to a couple of worthy causes. If you want to get in on it, subscribe to the blog and watch your inbox tomorrow for a special Email Only message with the details. I've already sent out one to my current subscribers, so this is the re-up.

(Edit 1/6/26: Since I haven't gotten any new sign-ups since the original email went out, I'll send out a new email as soon as more folks sign up.)

And not for nothing, if you sign up now you'll be locked in for when the regularly scheduled What's Good post continue next week. Lots of good stuff coming up and I'd be absolutely stoked to have you along for the ride.

See you next Friday (or tomorrow if you subscribe), and as always, make good choices.