Read the original 2020s favorite things post here.
Welcome to OPE!, the newsletter by writer and music journalist Brady Gerber (me). This essay, originally published in my weekly newsletter, is free for all subscribers. Paying subscribers also gain access to an exclusive weekly curation of my favorite songs and links. All typos are intentional.
Get future essays sent to your inbox right away here.
Well, hello there. How are you?
Spring 2025 felt like a good time to do this.
Like all my past “seven favorite things” lists, I’m not including my actual favorite moments from the past five years, which mostly involve all the moments I spent with family, friends, and other wonderful people out and about in the world.
The criteria is simple: What “stuff” made me feel happy to be alive?
Ask me tomorrow, and this list will change.
Again, “favorite” is not “best.”
Listed in alphabetical order.
Let’s do it.
Blue Rev
A perfect indie guitar record. It’s everything I want in an album.
Elden Ring
Maybe the greatest video game I’ve ever played. When struggle is by design.
“I Really Want to Stay At Your House”
If music critics took anime more seriously, this could be a legitimate contender for song of the decade.
Oppenheimer
I’ll never forget sitting in a packed movie theater post-COVID and everyone being together in one place, all of us gasping and in awe at that scene. The reason I go to movies in the first place.
Saint Cloud
We’re Not Broken
Eric is a friend of the newsletter, but still: This is the book I wish I had when I was young.
The Zone of Interest
The rare work of art that genuinely had something new to say. Film as pure litmus test.
Excited to see what new stuff we get in the next five years.
With love and all the other good things,
-b
Original OPE! logo by Claire Kuang. Words and cartoons by yours truly. My views don’t reflect my clients or the publications and brands I work with. All typos are intentional.