A dream come true. I’m honored and thrilled that my book Brilliance is All We Have is the recipient of a Whiting Creative Nonfiction Grant, a distinction shared by so many of my favorite books and writers. Thank you to the Whiting Foundation for this beautiful gift. Link + more info in bio. ✨
Sue me for earnest posting but the thing I’m most proud of this year by far is building and nurturing friendships with many of you. I’m grateful that it feels like my life keeps getting bigger.
On to the music! My annual Top 10 songs — in alphabetical order, with capsule reviews — above. A sequenced playlist with these tracks is in my bio. This is one of my favorite things I make every year.
For more, I also linked to a shuffle-ready, super-mega-long list with every song I loved in 2025.
Keep your antenna up ✌🏾
Reggie Ugwu is a fantastic culture reporter for the @nytimes and has written some really great stuff over the last few years.
We had to know his AOTY and he delivered!
@jim_legxacy is a Lewisham grime goat who also traverses the landscapes of rap, Afrobeat and emo. He put out an absolute heater of an album back in July on @xlrecordings called black british music and it’s dearly beloved for good reason. It’s an explosive piece of art.
“I’ve always struggled with religion,” he said in a @rollingstone interview in March. “But I feel like whenever I make a song where I’m connecting to how I feel, it genuinely feels like God is in the room.”
Facts.
Thanks, Reggie!
#reggieugwu
#nytimes
#jimlegxacy
#aoty
In August, I got a notification that @malala had followed me. I thought it was a glitch. “She must be really interested in the adventures of a single, thirtysomething journalist living in the Big City,” I texted my friends.
The next day, I received a very thoughtful email from a member of her staff. She’d been following my work and had suggested to Malala that I might be someone who could capture her story. After checking me out for herself, Malala had agreed.
It’s a gift to be able to practice your craft on an extraordinary subject. I’m grateful to Malala for sharing so much of her time with me, to my editor, Scott Heller, and to @ taylorroyle, the Tree Paine to Malala’s T. Swift.
🔗 in bio
📸 by @ye.fan
