As 2025 draws to a close, former US president Barack Obama has once again shared his annual tradition of recommending the books, movies, and music that shaped his year. The practice began during his time in the White House and has since become a closely watched cultural moment.
In sharing the lists, Obama encouraged people to discover something new and to send him recommendations of their own. The selections span continents, genres, and generations, reflecting a wide-ranging curiosity rather than a single cultural lane.
🎵 Favorite Music of 2025
- Nice to Each Other – Olivia Dean
- Abracadabra – Lady Gaga
- Never Felt Better – Everything Is Recorded ft. Sampha & Florence Welch
- Luther – Kendrick Lamar & SZA
- Just Say Dat – Gunna
- Tatata – Burna Boy ft. Travis Scott
- The Giver – Chappell Roan
- In the Name of Love – Victoria Noelle
- Jump – BLACKPINK
- Aurora – Mora & De La Rose
- Ancient Light – I’m With Her
- Faithless – Bruce Springsteen
- Silver Lining – Laufey
- Vitamina – Jombriel, DFZM & Jøtta
- Pasayadan – Ganavya
- No More Old Men – Chance the Rapper & Jamila Woods
- Float – Jay Som ft. Jim Adkins
- 99 – Olamidé ft. Daecolm, Seyi Vibez, Asake & Young Jonn
- Bury Me – Jason Isbell
- Ordinary – Alex Warren
- Pending – Lil Naay & Myke Towers
- I Wish I Could Go Travelling Again – Stacey Kent
- Sycamore Tree – Khamari
- Sexo, Violencia y Llantas – Rosalía
- Please Don’t Cry – Kacy Hill
- Nokia – Drake
- Metal – The Beths
- Stay – ROE
- En Privado – Xavi & Manuel Turizo
- Not in Surrender – Obongjayar
The complete playlist can be explored via Obama’s official curator pages on Spotify and Apple Music.
🎬 Favorite Movies of 2025
- One Battle After Another
- Sinners
- It Was Just an Accident
- Hamnet
- Sentimental Value
- No Other Choice
- The Secret Agent
- Train Dreams
- Jay Kelly
- Good Fortune
- Orwell: 2+2=5
Several of the films lean toward literary and historical storytelling, including Hamnet, which adapts Maggie O’Farrell’s acclaimed novel.
📚 Favorite Books of 2025
Summer Recommendations:
- Mark Twain – Ron Chernow
- The Book of Records – Madeleine Thien
- King of Ashes – S.A. Cosby
- Rosarita – Anita Desai
- Audition – Katie Kitamura
- The Buffalo Hunter Hunter – Stephen Graham Jones
- Abundance – Ezra Klein & Derek Thompson
- A Marriage at Sea – Sophie Elmhirst
- Who Is Government? – Michael Lewis
- The Sirens’ Call – Chris Hayes
Favorite Books List:
- Paper Girl – Beth Macy
- Flashlight – Susan Choi
- We the People – Jill Lepore
- The Wilderness – Angela Flournoy
- There Is No Place for Us – Brian Goldstone
- North Sun – Ethan Rutherford
- 1929 – Andrew Ross Sorkin
- The Loneliness of Sonia and Sunny – Kiran Desai
- Dead and Alive – Zadie Smith
- What We Can Know – Ian McEwan
Obama also added a personal note, writing that he was “obviously biased” in recommending The Look by Michelle Obama.
Together, the 2025 selections form a cultural snapshot rather than a trend forecast — one rooted in storytelling, curiosity, and the belief that art continues to shape how people see the world. <
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