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Hello there,

Our final newsletter for the year is our now-annual Bumper Holiday Edition. Every December, we ask the Storythings team for their media recommendations from across the year. We consume a lot of media, as you know from subscribing to this newsletter, and our team are a brilliant lot, so there are always gems to be found. If you’re looking for things to see/watch/listen to over the holidays, look no further. In fact, I’m fairly sure your social network will find this particular edition useful too, so do share away if you find it interesting!

We wanted to say thank you to all of you, particularly those of you who take the time to send us notes through the year about things you find interesting from this newsletter. We read and appreciate every single one. 🙏

A few highlights for this year for us included becoming B Corp certified at the beginning of 2024, being shortlisted in the Podcast category at Brand Storytelling 2025, placing in the Indie News Agency Top 40, and being nominated for Best Small Agency and Best Branded Podcast at the International Content Marketing Awards, apart from winning Platinum awards for our work on Phoenixed, the investigative podcast for the Global Payroll Association at the MarCom Awards 2024. We also ran a successful workshop at SXSW 2024 in Austin in March, and produced a daily 10-minute podcast at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity in June!

Have a wonderful holiday season and we will see you in January!

Anjali

Don’t become a B2B zombie. STAY HUMAN.

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Something read:

Hugh: Be Funny or Die / Filterworld / Earn It. Be Funny is about story structure and comedy, Filterworld is about algorithms flattening culture, Earn It is about getting and holding attention. Loved them all.

Matt: I’ve mentioned it a lot in our Attention Matters newsletter, but Kyle Chayka’s Filterworld really nailed a bunch of feelings about how digital platforms are changing culture. It’s affected how I see the world more than anything else I read this year.

Anjali: The Naked Don’t Fear The Water by Matthieu Aikins. A friend gifted me this Fitzcarraldo Editions book last year (you know them, the lovely white and blue spines are properly recognisable in any bookstore these days!) - but I only got down to reading it this year and I sped through it in a few days. This is journalism as if it’s a film script - Aikins (with a Canadian passport that he hid) travelled from Afghanistan to Greece (via Iran and Turkey) with an Afghan refugee friend, by land in trucks and buses and then sea. They land up in a refugee camp in Lesbos, Greece via some sitting-on-the-edge-of-your-seat moments. I could visualise this book so clearly in my head as I read it, and often found it hard to believe it is a true story. 

Emily: Spent Light by Lara Pawson. Goldsmith Prize-shortlisted this year, it’s a thrilling excavation of everyday household objects and how they unspool into darker, more difficult subject matter. You’ll need a strong stomach but it’s so worth it. 

Laura: The Ecology of Attention by Yves Citton prompted me into a deeper reflection on how we conceptualise attention. Rather than just pathologising attention (focusing on deficits, shorter spans, and information overload) or commodifying it in transactional terms, Citton frames attention as a relational, collective phenomenon. In his view, attention is not simply an individual skill or personal shortfall, but part of a broader social, cultural, and technological ecosystem. With all that is happening in the world, I suspect and hope we will talk more about the ethics around what type of content we put out in the world and what kind of attention we invite. 

Darren: I save my prime reading time for fiction, which this year has been Alan Moore, Ray Bradbury, Adrian Tchaikovsky and Dashiell Hammett (The Glass Key, which the Coen brothers definitely read before embarking on Miller’s Crossing). BUT (and I cheat a bit, as I read this last year) for a book that isn’t fiction I’ll go with The Art Thief by Michael Finkel, a true story of art theft, compulsion, desire and some incredible heist stories all committed by one man who builds a five million dollar art collection in his bedroom.

Emma G: O Caledonia by Elspeth Barker - a somewhat forgotten classic that is dark, gothic, and very funny. Like Maggie O’Farrell, I am buying ‘... numerous copies as presents, pressing them into people’s hands with an exhortation to read without delay.’

Emma S: Yellowface by R.F. Kuang (recommended by Emily) - good holiday read.

Something watched:

Hugh: On TV - Say Nothing / Rivals. My two favourite TV moments this year were book adaptations, which is about the only thing they have in common. Patrick Radden Keefe’s incredible 2018 book, Say Nothing is one of my favourite books of the last couple of years, so the 9-part TV adaption could have been a big disappointment. It tells the story of the Troubles through the lens of two female IRA members. As for Jilly Cooper’s Rivals, amongst all the bonking, bad wigs and silliness was a tender and very human love story between Danny Dyer and Katherine Parkinson, which was really the heart of the series. As for the rest, I found it a fascinating watch that paid homage to the TV of my childhood without getting into parody, which can be tough to balance given the writer and the genre. In movies, Perfect Days. This beautiful film, directed by Wim Wenders, is a Japanese drama about a toilet cleaner in Tokyo. Finding joy in the smallest of details, like his cassette collection, books from a second-hand book store, and taking photos using a film camera, he lives a simple, meditative life. As each day repeats, he follows the same rhythm and routines. He meets a small cast of characters, but these add little to a minimal narrative that tells of the joys of not chasing adrenalin rushes, but being in the now.

Matt: I was late to The Diplomat, just joining for season two, but when we found it, we binged it in less than a week. It’s the perfect mix of high end political intrigue and just-about-plausible plot twists. But what great plot twists they are!

Anjali: All We Imagine As Light, director Payal Kapadia’s Cannes Grand Prix-winning, Golden Globe-nominated film set in Mumbai. It is the story of two Malayalee nurses in the city and the poetry of their lives and the city itself; of the daily lives of migrants in a city as crowded as Mumbai. The camerawork is beautiful. 

Emily: Three Salons at the Seaside. I could have put this in the ‘something old’ section as it’s a re-released 1994 BBC documentary in 2022 (!) about three hair salons in Blackpool. It’s beautifully shot and the stories of the female salon owners and their customers’ take on class, community and loss, both personal and universal.

Aimée: The Boys - a violent and terrifyingly accurate depiction of how the world is shaping up - with ‘super heroes’ - we now have to wait until 2026 for the final season! Also watched (and recommend) Colin from Accounts for some lighthearted relief.

Chris: Mr. McMahon - I’m a lifelong wrestling fan and I always knew Vince McMahon is a wild guy, but this documentary put it out there for the world to see. The format was very well put together and did a great job of exploring  the difficult relationship between Vince and his son Shane, which was new information to me. I learned that Shane’s penchant for death-defying moves was all to impress his Dad in a bid to get the attention he didn't get as a child. 

Laura: Oh, this is always a difficult one. I’m going to mention Joker: Folie à Deux and True Detective, Night Country. For their bravery, for taking on the dark side of fandoms, for all the hate that they received that was so undeserved. Both are brave endeavours that I personally would like to see more of. I also have a lot of love for Bird, Anora and Emilia Pérez - I found them very wholesome and their lowkey optimism all the more touching. And, I’m planning on seeing Hundreds of Beavers as I’ve heard a lot of good things about it.

Darren: 

Hey Letterboxd, what have I watched this year? 

Well Darren, you have watched over 136 films so far. You started the year on a Humphrey Bogart tip, watching the African Queen, The Big Sleep and The Maltese Falcon. You gave them all four stars. In fact anything with Humphrey Bogart seems to get an extra star from you, because of the fact he’s in it. 

Yes Letterboxd, but what NEW things did I watch? Like released in 2024? Otherwise it’s just about how I’ve watched Excalibur for the 46th time? Or that I finally watched Death Race 2000…

Well, you thought The Bikeriders was pretty good, but the one that caught you by surprise was Kneecap. You gave that four stars and haven’t stopped banging on how it’s much better than any film made by and featuring a band has any right to be. I believe you found it funny, well-acted, brilliantly paced and insightful about Northern Ireland in a way that you hadn’t seen before. 

Also, you thought The Substance was a lot of escalating batshit bonkers brilliance.

Emma S: Slow Horses’ latest series, and I just started the new series of Bad Sisters, which is shaping up nicely.

Something listened to:

Hugh: Jon Ronson’s Things Fell Apart - Season 2. In January, writer Jon Ronson launched the second season of his podcast, which explores human stories from the culture wars. Season 2 focuses on events that snowballed within days of each other during the lockdown in May 2020. In typical Jon Ronson fashion, each episode provides a deeper understanding of these issues, brought to life through remarkable personal stories. This is possibly the best work Jon has done.

Anjali: I’ve been paying more attention to my health this year, and have found myself listening to Dr. Rangan Chatterjee’s Feel Better, Live More podcast a lot. 

Emily: The Articles of Interest podcast. It’s all about what we wear, but it’s so much more than that. It’s been a favourite for a long time - the episode on The Clueless Closet i.e. Cher’s from the movie, is such a fascinating listen.  

Aimée: Happy Ending by HiFi Sean & David McAlmont - it came out last  year, but it’s been a favourite for this year too.

Chris: Master: The Allegations Against Neil Gaiman - before listening to this podcast, I had no idea who Neil Gaiman was. I only listened because my sister-in-law, who is a lawyer, was one of the guests. The story had me hooked from start to finish. As a producer, I really enjoyed the ‘less is more’ approach to the production. There wasn’t too much going on sonically, which kept the attention on the story. I was also reminded that I can still use Zoom for interviews. 

Laura: Script Apart with Al Horner. It takes listeners behind the scenes of beloved films by talking to their screenwriters about the very first drafts of their scripts. Each episode delves into the early, often rough beginnings of well-known screenplays and explores how they evolved into the stories audiences love today - a very insightful journey into the creative process. 

Darren: Mainly Bauhaus (this link is an example: 80’s Tony Scott-style directing, Bauhaus perform Bela Legosi's Dead in The Hunger starring David Bowie) and early Cure. Oh and a plug for my pal Simon Parkins’ podcast, My Perfect Console. Like Desert Island Discs but for computer games. He’s had some great guests pulling together their 5 favourite games from a lifetime of playing. Some fantastic guests too, including Ronan Farrow, Dara O’Briain and Bryan Lee O’Malley.

Emma G: The Scary podcast - peoples’ stories of the unexplained and supernatural, narrated by Will O'Hanlon – who has a lovely, soothing voice. Perhaps not bed-time listening…

Emma S: Emma-Jean Thackray’s new track Black Hole or Cher’s Desert Island Discs.

Something live:

Matt: We got tickets to see Iron & Wine at London Palladium, not realising that the show included live shadow puppetry projections Manual Cinema. It was fascinating seeing the puppeteers on the side of the stage, creating live accompaniments to Sam Beam’s cinematic songs.

Anjali: Pakistani-American singer Arooj Aftab’s jazz baritone kept me entranced for a couple of hours when I saw her perform at Camden’s Roundhouse earlier this year. 

Emily: The Unravel exhibition at the Barbican. Stunning textiles and installations from artists around the world.  

Aimée: I went to watch friend and comedian Laura Lexx - she’s wonderfully funny and brilliantly quick witted.

Chris: I went to see one of my favourite hip-hop collectives, Hieroglyphics, who were celebrating their 30th anniversary with their first London show ever. This group has soundtracked every milestone in my life and seeing all of them on stage felt like coming full circle. They also have a great album called Full Circle, released in 2003. I got to meet them all backstage and they each signed my Hiero sweatshirt. Of course, I will never wear it. 

Laura: An Enemy of the People directed by Thomas Ostermeier. Ibsen’s play is so resonant today, highlighting how truth and moral courage often clash with societal pressures and self-interest, how severe injustice can push radicalisation and how its central character ends up walking the fine line between “speaking truth to power and loony conspiracy”. For me, knowing Ostermeier’s work, it was interesting to see the German theatre director working on a British stage. 

Darren: Beak> for the third or fourth time, possibly for the last time with Geoff Barrow. Every time they’ve played Brighton they provide a brown buffet from Asda consisting of cheesy puffs and other crisps. Outstanding.

Emma G: Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds live at the First Direct Arena in Leeds with my ‘rock chick’ friend. Of course.

Emma S: I’m off to see Ballet Shoes at the National Theatre on the 28th December!

Something surprising:

Hugh: Keira Knightley in Black Doves.

Matt: I’ve just downloaded and added the Dumb Phone app, which creates a single page, black and white homescreen with just text links for 5 key apps. It’s already cut down the amount of time I look at my phone, and the surprising thing was realising I wasn’t addicted to my phone, but to completing things. I’m pretty minimalist with email, tabs and notifications, switching nearly everything off. But there were a few apps - Slack, mail, WhatsApp - on my home screen that had little red circles, and that was the thing that drove me to pick up and open the phone so much.

Anjali: Nutter Butter’s TikTok account because it is just hilariously bizarre!

Emily: I found out that the length of Chile is the equivalent of the distance between the northernmost tip of Norway all the way south to Morocco. Crazy right? 

Chris: I was told that the cost of living in Thailand was cheap but I was still surprised when I got there in October 2024. A beach massage was the equivalent of £5. I had 12 in two weeks. I also ate a fried chicken fillet on a stick. I will be going back. 

Laura: From one of my favourite film directors, Radu Jude: Do Not Expect Too Much from the End of the World. I will quote the BFI on this: “Scabrously funny, provocatively topical, unashamedly oddball and often inspired, Jude’s sprawling, crazed but surprisingly coherent comedy skewers both today’s Romania and the West in general. And the last quarter – a superb single take – speaks volumes about the unreliability of the moving image. Radically insightful entertainment.”

Darren: Everyone seems to be playing Balatro and I held off for a while, as I felt it could be one of those games which captures my soul with a fiendishly simple mechanic. And it has. Think Poker but with deck building,  power-ups and challenges that build over each run – it’s much more compelling than I make it sound. Give it a go. It’s also interesting they have unfashionably gone for a £9.99 upfront one-off price, when they could have gone big on in-app purchases and currencies. 

Emma G: Saw David Thomas Broughton perform in London in the summer - a rare treat full of weird comedic moments, improvisation, discord and disruption. That voice - I had his albums on Spotify repeat for days afterwards. 

Emma S: Our team workshops - amazing what you can do in a day!

Something old:

Matt: I watched Getting It Back: The Story of Cymande, a great documentary about the UK Funk/Reggae group who were overlooked in their home country in the 70s, but found a new audience through hip-hop sampling and the 90s rare groove scene. I bought a lot of their records in the 90s when I used to DJ, so the documentary took me back into the crates to dig them out.

Emily: The novel Inspector Imanishi Investigates by Seicho Matsumoto. A Penguin Classic reissue of 1960s Japanese noir fiction. It’s fantastic and the best escapism. 

Aimée: Seeing Shed Seven live at Brixton Academy as they celebrated their 30th year as a band.

Chris: I rewatched Breaking Bad this year after working on a Storythings prototype and it has affected me on a deeper level. The first time I watched it, I was living at home, with no real responsibilities or dependents. Fast forward ten years, I have a mortgage to pay, a wife to take care of (who has been sick for three years) and bills, bills, bills like Destiny’s Child. Watching Breaking Bad in this new phase of my life has really made me think about the weight of having to provide for your family and the difficult decisions we sometimes have to make. In Season 3, Gus Fring says to Walter White, “A man provides, and he does it even when he's not appreciated, or respected, or even loved. He simply bears up and he does it. Because he's a man.” Oof. I had to go for a walk. 

Laura: How about vampires? I’m originally from Romania, so I can speak with confidence about vampires. Although, interestingly, vampires as we know them today arrived in Romanian culture through 1930s films. Yep, it was Tod Browning’s Dracula that actually inspired the first ever Romanian vampire novel. My first vampire-related recommendation is actually a children’s book: Colin’s Castle by Holly Swain. Colin is a vegetarian vampire and he just moved to his dream castle, but he has to deal with an unwanted guest… I can’t wait to see what Colin does next. On an adult front, I’m looking forward to the new Nosferatu, and if you’d like a soundtrack to go with anything vampire, I recommend King Luan’s No Vampires Remain in Romania - it always cheers me up! 

Darren: The Leftovers has been on my list for a while and I finally got around to it this year. It should be up there with other touchstones of TV writing like The Wire and Breaking Bad, and I don’t know why it hasn’t broken through in that way - but it’s up there. 

Emma G: Blood on the Tracks Season 3: The Bob Dylan Story (2022) where fact and fiction collide. My ears ‘inhaled’ the whole lot. Now I’m waiting for A Complete Unknown to arrive in the UK.

Emma S: The Shop Around the Corner. Alternative watch to Its A Wonderful Life (although I will watch this too) whilst preparing for Xmas.

Something new:

Hugh: Notebook LM. In amongst all the Generative AI noise over the last couple of years, Notebook LM has become the most used tool in my toolkit. The podcast feature is perfect for summarising long reports or groups of reports in an audio format. And I’m building a really useful collection of notebooks that I do go back to time and time again.

Matt: My daughter and I are big Billie Eilish fans, so her latest album Hit Me Hard And Soft was a big moment. We’ve got tickets to see her at the O2 next year!

Anjali: Thanks to Sofar Sounds, I was introduced to the music of ‘gender and genre fluid artist’ Kerensa, whom I watched live on a boat this year. I feel it’s worth pasting this from her bio: “Singing in both English and Mandarin, this classically trained dual heritage being embraces and blends all of their identities in one and ties them together with a neat, theatrical operatic vocal bow. With dramatic ups and downs, Kerensa keeps you guessing.” Here’s one of her Sofar Sounds performances from 2023.

Chris: My wife is from Iran and she’s a music snob - just like me. She introduced me to the sounds of Iranian singer, Hayedeh, by accident. She was playing the music in the house and walked into the living room and asked “who is that?”. The vocals are INCREDIBLE. I am now a fan and I will sample some of her music in my future recordings 

Laura: Maybe you’re looking for a 2025 diary, which for me always takes a lot of research. Currently I like Redstone’s Diary, and the theme of the 2025 edition is Moments of Happiness. In case you are not familiar with it, the Redstone Diary is a themed annual planner published by Redstone Press, each edition focusing on a specific concept—such as dreams, time, family or secrets—and they blend art, literature, philosophy, and history. Rather than just another calendar, it’s a cultural compendium designed to spark curiosity and inspiration, and a lovely collectible. 

Darren: It’s so new I haven’t even seen it yet, but if Robert Eggers’ Nosferatu isn’t marvellous, I’ll hand in my goth loyalty card. OH WAIT WAIT! Blue Eye Samurai and Scavengers Reign on Netflix. Beautifully stylised animation with carefully crafted storytelling. And Shogun on Disney. Series of the year - and I will entertain no other options.

And that’s it for this week - and year! Wherever you are, stay warm and do the things that make you happy, whether that’s hanging out with friends and family, taking long walks in Nature, binging on shows you love, or taking time for self-care. They’re all important things.

Have a great rest of December - bring on 2025!

Hugh, Matt, Anjali and the rest of Team Storythings