And As for 2025: A Year of Politics, Music, and Reckoning

“And so we were told this is the golden age

And gold is the reason for the wars we wage”

– U2, New Year’s Day

Having finally settled into our newly adopted home state of Washington, my wife and I had the opportunity in November to venture out to our first concert at Seattle’s Climate Pledge Arena. Appropriately, Heart, a band formed in Seattle, was the headlining act.

As the lights dimmed and the band prepared to take the stage, a video appeared on the front curtain. Celebrating Heart’s long history, the video counted up from their formation in 1973, displaying a single image from each year, each framed as something “you never forget.”

It began politically, with 1973 represented by Roe V. Wade. However, most of the years were represented by their cultural signposts, like Star Wars (1977) or the death of Kurt Cobain (1994). The image I found most provocative, though, was a shot of a solar eclipse representing 2024.

As only a passive fan of the band, I had not realized that Heart had played “Total Eclipse of the Heart” on the roof of Jimmy Fallon’s studio as the moon moved in front of the sun. As I watched the video, I could not help but interpret it through the lens of the current political moment.

To many, the election of Trump for a second stint in the White House felt like the sun had been blocked from view, or as I described at the beginning of the year, “impending doom.”

Driving the point home, the image hovered longer than the other in the timeline, the eclipse staying on the screen even after the text had faded out. After it reached its totality, it too faded and was replaced with the text “And as for 2025…”

With the year now completed, what image should be inserted to represent what has happened on that voyage around the sun?

Trump’s monopolization of 2025’s headlines would make him an obvious candidate, but would it be the man himself or a representation of one of the many effects he has had on the people of this country, if not the world?

Trump’s immigration policies dominated much of the year, and the case of Kilmar Abrego Garcia represents how far those policies have tested the rule of law and respect for humanity. Concerns about democratic erosion could be represented by the ongoing manipulation of electoral maps.

Tensions around dissent were evident when Trump took control of the National Guard in an attempt to end protests against his policies in Los Angeles. The record-breaking shutdown underscored Trump’s willingness to target the vulnerable. Maybe Trump, pictured in the shade of Epstein’s portrait, would best capture the instability beneath this administration.

Heart’s video noted how the years in which Princess Diana, Robin Williams, and Heath Ledger hung heavily over the years they died. Last year, we lost the Godfather of metal music, Ozzy Osbourne. Gen-X music fans were shocked by the death of Limp Bizkit’s bassist, Sam Rivers.

The murder of Charlie Kirk, a polarizing political figure, hung heavy over the political landscape. Images of two unnamed men clinging to the wreckage of their civilian watercraft while under attack foreshadowed the administration’s posture towards Venezuela.

With the legally questionable attack on Venezuela during the first days of the new year, we were reminded how quickly the narrative shifts in Trump’s America. In such a fluid landscape, any attempt to identify a single defining moment of the year may be a lesson in futility.

Perhaps the real answer will not be apparent until the considerable amount of airborne dust has settled.

What follows is a look back at what I wrote throughout 2025, a year of turmoil in the country and profound change in my personal life:

January

• A Tale Of Two Presidents

As he prepares for his second inauguration, Trump’s actions in the wake of Carter’s death provided a sharp contrast between the two leaders.

February

• Pulling The Alarm

Can the Constitution survive if Co-Presidents Trump and Musk usurp the other branches of government and nobody has the guts to stand up?

March

• Is The Resistance Dead?

Corporate America is cowering, the media has caved, and Establishment Democrats have no idea how to fight. Are we destined for fascism?

April

• A Change of Rhythm

Suddenly thrust into turmoil and facing a significant change, the sale of my drum kit unexpectedly set the stage for reflection.

May

• Will The Real Working Class Hero Please Stand Up

Springsteen and the President appeal to the working class, “The Boss” empowering them through storytelling, Trump harnessing their fears.

• A Minor Threat

When the War on Immigrants targets toddlers, cancer patients, and first-graders: a satirical look at immigration policy in Trump’s America.

June

• Pride Under Siege: The LAPD’s Troubled History With the LGBTQ+ Community

With the LGBTQ+ community’s historically strained relationship with the LAPD, can it rely on protection from violence during Pride Month?

July

• Live Aid: The Day The Music Mattered

Looking back 40 years after attending Live Aid, a day when Sir Bob Geldof successfully harnessed the power of popular music to drive change.

August

• From Woodstock to Vancouver: A Family Story in Nine Inch Nails

Mud, music, and memories: Nine Inch Nails ties together three generations, from Woodstock ’94 to a moving night in Vancouver.

September

• Red States In Glass Houses

GOP leaders call out New York and Los Angeles, but data shows many Red states are deadlier. Why aren’t they looking for a national solution?

October

• A Shutdown of Compassion: The Latest Assault on Obamacare

For the second time in a generation, Obamacare has brought Washington to a standstill — not because it failed, but because it worked.

November

• Echoes of Missing Men

A memory from my Scouting days and Chris Cornell’s Rock & Roll Hall of Fame induction are reminders that suicide does not occur in a vacuum.

December

• If This Is the Future, We’re F**ked: When AI Decides Reality Is Wrong

The fear was machines that were too smart. The danger lies in systems that are confidently wrong yet still treated as authoritative.

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Carl Petersen is a former Green Party candidate for the LAUSD School Board and a longtime advocate for public education and special needs families. Now based in Washington State, he writes about politics, culture, and the intersections between them at TheDifrntDrmr.