2025 IN HUNG UP POSTS
Free letter.
I would describe 2025 as “bad,” meaning “pretty terrible, actually,” meaning “I was excited every single day for this year to end.” The year in Hung Up began with “Stop Being January.” It has concluded with “MAGA Minaj.” The year in Hunter Harris began with Peyton and me crying (bad) while carsick on the Amtrak (worse) while going through concurrent breakups1 (awful) and escaping D.C. (too much fascism there). The year in Hunter Harris might end with Remy and me on the sofa watching 20th Century Women and then Holiday and then Catch Me If You Can, getting into bed just after midnight.2
Even though I cried in, like, six states and three countries this year, a lot of good things happened. I met my goddaughter and saw Beyoncé. I profiled Brenda Song and Macaulay Culkin and won a Webby (I think? No one told me officially, actually, so maybe it is actually Cosmopolitan’s). I went to Swig with Whitney from Secret Lives of Mormon Wives. I saw friends get married in Tuscany and met so many of you in London. Peyton and I did live “Lemme Say This” shows in Brooklyn, Los Angeles, and New Orleans. I got to introduce one of my favorite movies ever, The King of Comedy, at Metrograph and intro’d Mississippi Masala at Nitehawk; I interviewed Challengers screenwriter Justin Kuritzkes at MoMA. I got to meet Lia and Ola and tell their love story for Hinge! And even though I believe it is indecent for one (1) person to have two (2) podcasts, I’m co-hosting The Pitt’s companion podcast for HBO Max.
I’ve been writing this newsletter for five years, which feels surreal. So much (too much) of my identity is tied to my work, and it’s such a privilege to get to spend time in the comments and the chat with you. I have to start every single chat manually, and I look forward to it everytime, even when we disagree! (Sorry, the RA in me is coming out. Lol.) I love checking my phone and seeing Kathryn call Tom Sandoval “strung out Willy Wonka,” in a Traitors chat. Or watching the Super Bowl for the Kendrick Lamar halftime show and Hungies actually talking about things like “fourth down” and “offense,” and Meg saying “Oh, we are truly talking sports here??!!” A highlight of the year was Micah posting a photo of Emma Stone, with her red post-Bugonia pixie cut, walking the Golden Globes carpet and observing, “She looks like a grieving widow whose life is upended when a young boy claims to be the reincarnation of her dead husband.” It was when Brooke called Love Is Blind “The Heterosexual Stanford Prison Experiment!” It was Kristen Geil saying that “this chat alone is worth the price of the subscription,” and Kelly adding, “I had the same thought, this thread is like Twitter replies circa 2013.”
Thank you all so much for being here! Thank you for reading this newsletter and liking the same silly things I like. Thank you for wanting to talk about Ella McKay and Marty Supreme and Innit “Lemonade” and Tom Sandoval sweating through every article of clothing on The Traitors and how Hamnet was bad but The Summer I Turned Pretty was good.
The most special thanks to the people who pay for this newsletter ($5 a month, $50 a year, or basically $2.50 per post, and there are about 130 posts a year… pretty good deal if you ask me!). To the paid list: I am happiest being identified as being in this time and place with you. Here’s to 2026, which, thank God, is supposed to be an incredible year for Leos.
Top read Hung Up posts of the year
My personal favorite Hung Up posts of the year
Not enough people read
A surprising number of people read
What I’ve changed my mind about most since writing
Taking My Nightly Dose of Nicolandria
For the final episodes of the season, the Love Island USA chat will be paywalled. Spoilers for Love Island season 7 below.
So What Are You Going to Say at My Funeral Now That You’ve Killed Me?
Monday afternoon at 3pm ET I’ll be going live with fellow Love Island USA watcher Tembe Denton-Hurst of Extracurricular to talk about the finale and the fallout.
(Anything about Love Island tbh!)
The post that took the longest to write:
The post that took like 20 minutes to write:
An idea that came to me in a dream…
Headline I’m proudest of:
Headline that could’ve been better:
Evan is so funny! I wish Substack had introduced A/B testing headlines for a story like this.
Victory laps:
Justin Bieber is headlining Coachella:
I guessed 6/12 stars on the VF Hollywood Issue:
Taylor Swift is down for Amy Adams playing Tree:
How many times did I say “our cycles are synced 😭” lol
Should we watch together? I’ll start a chat if anyone’s plans are staying in and watching something too.
i promise i’m not being a kiss ass when i say that the hung up chat is my favourite thing on this app. truly can’t wait to talk about my programs soon (awards season)
I usually watch when harry met sally on NYE but might be too sad this year????