The Bridge: Slate’s Music Club 2025

About this episode

The episode features a roundtable discussion on the best music of 2025 and the trends that shaped the year.

The Slate Music Club returns, in this special year-end edition of Hit Parade’s The Bridge! Host Chris Molanphy joins New York Times pop music critic Lindsay Zoladz , and Julianne Escobedo Shepherd of Hearing Things in a critics’ roundtable led by Slate’s own Carl Wilson. They discuss their favorite albums and singles, as well as the trends that shaped music in 2025. Among this year’s big musical questions: Have we reached peak Bad Bunny yet? Did those animated Demon Hunters reinvent K-pop? Are Geese the saviors of rock, or just muppets with guitars? Is hip-hop ready to move on from Kendrick and Drake? Plus: Rosalia, Water for Your Eyes, Gaga, Wednesday—and of course, Taylor Swift. Note: Slate Plus members can hear this special episode in full. Ad-supported listeners will hear the first half. Want to hear the whole discussion? Sign up for Slate Plus! Unlock monthly early-access episodes, bonus episodes of “The Bridge,” and ad-free listening across all your favorite Slate podcasts. Visit slate.com/hitparadeplus to get access wherever you listen. Podcast production by Kevin Bendis. Don’t miss the rest of this year’s Slate Music Club episode! Become a Slate Plus member! Join for…

People in this episode

Host: Chris Molanphy

Guests: Lindsay Zoladz, Julianne Escobedo Shepherd

Topics covered

• music trends
• album reviews
• single reviews
• K-pop
• hip-hop
• rock

Keywords

• Bad Bunny
• Demon Hunters
• Geese
• Rosalia
• Taylor Swift

Mentioned in this episode

Products: Spotify, Hearing Things

Books & works: The Bridge, Water for Your Eyes

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