This Year's Best Bits: The Tipping Point?
Quick highlights from 2025
Here’s my annual rapid rundown of some of the things I enjoyed the most this year.
My selections reflect the fact that I believe this year saw a clear tipping point in mainstream perceptions of the previously-fringe ideas that are meaningful to me and my fellow members of The Leading Edge.
Favourite Podcast:
Harvard Sociologist Explains The Global Awakening Happening Right Now- Scott Britton with Martha Beck.
This is one of those rare inspirational podcasts that manages to be both grounded and profound. Beck: “Based on what we see sociologically, the interesting thing is that what’s happening now has happened before in various societies, but it’s happening so much more rapidly and at a larger scale now. And I would give it about two years until there are enough people who have chosen to walk away from the culture into their own truth for much of the fuel to go out of the old culture and a new way of being to begin.”
Honourable mentions:
On Powers, Great and Small by The Emerald. A typically poetic examination of all the ways modern culture misunderstands the true nature of subtle power instead of brute force.
Iain McGilchrist and Michael Levin in conversation. Probably my biggest incremental obsession this year is the work of biologist Dr. Michael Levin. Even if I only ever understand ~20% of what he’s saying. He recorded a two part interview with Leading Edge icon Dr. Iain McGilchrist. He also recently appeared on Lex Fridman. Mystical savant The Fourth Way wrote an excellent mystical interpretation of his ideas.
[From a personal perspective, last month I recorded the most popular podcast I’ve ever done with Dr. Chris Bache. He recounts his mindblowing experiences from 20 years of 73 massive dose LSD sessions].
Favourite Book:
The Secret of Secrets by Dan Brown.
Seeing this book rocket to #1 on the NYT Bestseller List was one of the most gratifying moments of my year. For me personally, it truly marked the turning point when I saw all the “fringe” ideas I’ve been exploring for the last decade go truly mainstream. This is obviously a work of fiction (shamefully, the first one I’ve read in years) and is more of a page-turner than hardcore literature. But the science behind it is robust. Brown said that after eight years of exploring the real-life scientific research: “I discovered that we have a model of consciousness that’s outdated in the same way the geocentric model of the universe was outdated. This research will change the way we view our world.” He also said that he no longer fears death. The book might make a great gift for the family at Christmas.
For a good intro, Dan Brown was recently on Rick Rubin’s podcast. There was also lots of good writing advice along with his insights on the research into consciousness. He thinks these revelations could become more widely accepted within the next year.
Favourite Article:
Life is Woo by Trish Blain - Alive Edges for Alexander Beiner’s Kainos community.
“As nervous as we may still feel about waving our “woo woo” flag, the truth is, woo isn’t fringe anymore… Cultivating the woo gives us hope, inspiration, and expands our capacity for pleasure. With each new experience of the nonordinary, our reality becomes fuller, bigger, richer.”
Honourable mentions
The Essence of Healing by Daniel Thorson.“I must confess something that feels almost embarrassing after years of intensive training, studying countless modalities, living in a monastery, and devoting an unreasonable amount of time to understanding human transformation: it really is this simple. The essential movement of healing—creating safety for what’s been fragmented to emerge, and meeting it with the qualities of secure attachment—is the essence of every approach to transformation I’ve encountered.” He recently wrote a deep dive on this key modality.
Four Funerals and a Flood by Jeremy Radcliffe. A beautiful and harrowing account of his personal experiences following the devastating floods in Hill Country, Texas.
Favourite TV Show:
Pluribus by Vince Gilligan.
You can always trust the creator of Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul to deliver. This is a darkly hilarious exploration of collective consciousness. It was also released just days after I wrote about the almost identical topic of “social memory complexes.” Which is a pleasingly weird sign. This show makes me chortle more than most actual comedies.
Honourable mention:
The Pitt. Superior medical drama that simultaneously illustrates the aburdity and heroism inherent to the U.S. Healthcare system.
The Studio. Genuinely funny madcap farce. A couple of unusually hilarious episodes make up for the more uneven ones.
Best of the rest:
Favourite DJ Sets: Elderbrook at the Greenpoint Waterfront was a great mix of new remixes of old classics. Also, it’s not my usual genre (more house/dance than melodic EDM) but this Oliver Koletzki at Mystic Creatures Festival 2025 is utterly infectious (thanks Frederik Gieschen for the flag). FWIW: three different EDM fans in my community recommended Colyn b2b Sainte Vie at Burning Man 2025.
Favourite Movie: Although it was imperfect, Weapons was really refreshing in how unpredictable it was relative to the formulaic dross we have become used to. From a Woo-verton window perspective, it was interesting to watch the trailer for Spielberg’s 2027 blockbuster Disclosure Day. And, while I didn’t love it, the calibre of talking heads appearing on the documentary The Age of Disclosure was notable, including the sitting Secretary of State.
Tom, coming across your work this year and having the chance to connect was not only affirming for the strange path I’ve long been on, but also opened, as Campbell put it, “doors where there were no doors.” Thank you, and keep going!
Thank you Tom for another incredible year of discovery, growth, and wisdom. Your writing is life-giving, life-affirming, and life-changing.