Best Political Campaign of the Year. A no-brainer. Zohran Mamdani ran a campaign of sheer joy to become mayor of New York City—and who would’ve thought that possible in this year? Mamdani brought new ideas to solve real problems New Yorkers are facing, and in so doing proved that youth and thinking outside the box aren’t liabilities—they’re exactly what voters are looking for. Will his bold, even radical, ideas work? I’m a little skeptical, to be honest. But I’m keen to see how it turns out. And I’m happy that Mamdani’s victory over establishment Democrats showed that the future of the party—and the country—belongs to those brave enough to imagine one.

Best Civic Movement of the Year. The No Kings protests were special. The largest and most consequential civic demonstrations in years, they were fueled not by rage or spectacle, but by resolve. I’ve covered scores of protests in my career, and there’s a test I use to understand how powerful a movement is. If, as I walk through the crowd, I hear people tell me over and over something like, “You know, I’ve never done anything like this before”—then I know it’s the real deal. That’s No Kings. Millions of ordinary, decent people, many of whom who don’t normally take to the streets, did this time, and the sight was breathtaking. Quietly, peacefully, in dignity and determination, these Americans showed up to declare that this country does not belong to any one man. They showed what mass politics can look like at its best: solidarity without anger, patriotism—Real Patriotism—without apology.

Best act of Republican Dissent. Not a lotta nominees for this one! You could go with Marjorie Taylor Greene—or not. To me, this award belongs to 21 Hoosiers: The Republican members of the Indiana state senate who defied Donald Trump’s demand to redistrict their state. These legislators resisted massive pressure from the President of the United States (Trump openly threatened to cut off all federal funding for the entire state of Indiana—an utterly lawless declaration), and by standing strong, they shamed national Republicans in Washington, who almost to a man and woman never whisper a word of dissent from their leader. The 21 Hoosiers offered a clear example of what Republican dissent looks like when it’s real—and when it costs something.

Best Media Trend of the Year. You know this one; you’re part of it. It was clear to me even before I left ABC News that legacy media’s influence was rapidly waning. And in no way do I mean this to be self-serving, but 2025 felt like a collapse for the old media, as the national conversation moved decisively to podcasts, TikTok, Instagram, YouTube and—of course—Substack. Politicians are now just as likely, if not more, to go on “Call Her Daddy,” “Pod Save America,” or “The Ben Shapiro Show” than “Meet the Press.” Something is lost, of course, as always with great change. The new media is messy, chaotic and sometimes misinformed. But it cannot be denied that this new journalism is more democratic, more diverse, and less captured by corporate interests pretending that “objectivity” means silence about reality. The future is here.

Best Pro Football Game of the Year. DA BEARS!!!!! Sorry, Packers’ fans. Saturday night’s game was one for the ages. My beloved Chicago Bears were pathetic last year; painful to watch and the laughingstock of the league. No more. Theoretically, we could still miss the playoffs. Spiritually, a new age in Chicago has dawned. BEAR DOWN.

Worst Executive Order of 2025. An impossible choice, given that much of Trump’s assault on our democratic processes and values has come through his executive orders. These orders are the foundation of Trumpism, and it has been utterly disheartening to see the abdication of any counterbalancing from the other two branches of government. Congress is supine, the Supreme Court complicit. When Trump on Day One of his administration signed Executive Order 14160, purporting to change the meaning of the Citizenship Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment, it was not just a shock (the issue has been considered settled law for over a century, and before Trump the only people who challenged it were considered cranks and kooks), it was a firebell in the night. That order was a signal of how radical, how brazen, and how racist this president was going to be. The issue is now before the Supreme Court, so the true meaning of that amendment, paid for with the blood of 700,000 Americans who died in the Civil War, is up for grabs.

Worst Member of the Trump Cabinet. If Lincoln’s cabinet was a “Team of Rivals,” Trump’s is a “Team of Bootlickers.” Our country has never seen anything like the Trump cabinet meetings, and to me, they are downright un-American. Grown men and women, including former governors, successful business leaders, and other actual adults, grovel before Trump and sing his praises to a level that would make Kim Jong Un blush. Who’s the worst among them? A close race, but I’m going with a surprise choice on this one: Secretary of State Marco Rubio. He has sold his soul. Rubio was once one of the Republican Party’s most articulate advocates of internationalism, foreign aid, and American moral leadership abroad. No more. For most of us, our lifelong commitments are not so easily abandoned. But most of us don’t desperately want to be president.

Worst Act of Monarchical Vanity by Trump. Another crowded field. And also disheartening. Americans, but our nature and heritage, should disdain monarchical vanity in our presidents. Now, I understand that those who become President of the United States have large egos. They have to, merely to imagine themselves with that much power to shape history. And, to an extent, that’s a good thing. But Trump—whatever else he is, good or bad—is far and away the most vainglorious president we have ever had. He demonstrates it every day. For this award, I’m going with what Trump is doing to the White House itself. His massive ballroom, the cheap gold gimcracks and gewgaws crawling up all the walls, the paving of the Rose Garden to resemble a hotel patio—it’s all so selfish, and much of it is done in defiance of our laws. At the end of the day—it’s not his house. It’s ours.

Worst Social Media Trend. This one’s easy. Are you as tired of AI slop as I am? Endless fake images, synthetic voices, automated “takes” are flooding our feeds, making online life louder, flatter, and harder to trust. Our future suddenly looks like oceans of plausible unreality, soulless content produced by a probability machine that is designed to stir the worst in us, and may end up actually destroying us. I’ll tell you what I tell my children: The greatest challenge for their generation will be to stay human.

Worst Villains of the Year. No contest for me here. The Lords of the Algorithms, the tech/social media billionaires. The transformation of Silicon Valley’s billionaire class from libertarian disruptors to authoritarian collaborators represents 2025’s most consequential political realignment. Their algorithmic control over information flows—combined with their apparent willingness to weaponize that power for political access—has created an oligarchic-authoritarian alliance. Thomas Jefferson warned us against “moneyed aristocraceys” aligned with government power—a tyranny of a government by the wealthy, for the wealthy. It’s on the horizon.