The best of 2024: Our favourite books, films, albums, TV shows, articles and podcasts

2024 was billed as the year of democracy.

So what? People did vote, not least with their feet. Donald Trump is back. Bashar al-Assad is in Moscow. Tahrir al-Sham is in Damascus. In Tbilisi, the pro-European opposition is digging in for a fourth week of protests against a government of Kremlin stooges. Keir Starmer is in Downing Street, but after travelling for nearly a month of his five so far in power he could probably use a break.

To sleep, perchance to dream. That’s one option for the winter solstice, at least for people with time off. Another is to read, mark, learn, inwardly digest and watch the telly. Hoping our readers and listeners have a bit of both, we present suggestions under eight headings for all 12 days of Christmas, to help you feel inspired, intrigued and maybe even younger.

The Ministry of Time by Kaliane Bradley. A romantic comedy with a twist that brings together a mildly depressed civil servant and a sexy polar explorer who died in 1848.

A Sunny Place for Shady People by Mariana Enriquez. Hideously twisted stories that feel like dispatches from another planet but stem directly from the streets of modern Argentina.

The Bee Sting by Paul Murray. A magnificent tragicomedy following an Irish family in the wake of the financial crash.

Human Acts by Han Kang. A powerful retelling of a 1980 massacre in Kang’s South Korean hometown of Gwangju.

Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus. Combining psychology, drama, science and humour, this novel about a young female chemist in mid-century America is first and foremost about women in a world of mansplaining.

How to Say Babylon by Safiya Sinclair. Sinclair’s poetic voice shines through in this powerful memoir of her upbringing in an oppressive Rastafarian household.

Acts of Desperation by Megan Nolan. A painfully relatable story about a toxic relationship between a girl in her twenties and a mysterious older man.

Yellowface by R. F. Kuang. An enthralling tale of fraudulence, told by the ultimate unreliable narrator.

Orbital by Samantha Harvey. This shimmering novel tracks 24 hours in the life of six astronauts on 16 orbits round the earth. Some say it was too slight to win The Booker, yet it has a rare poetic grace.

Butter by Asako Yuzuki (translated by Polly Barton). A journey down the rabbit hole of a reporter’s obsession with a murderer, Butter explores fatphobia, beauty standards, true crime, and domestic labour.

Small Game by Blair Braverman. What would happen to four people shooting a survival reality show if it turned into an actual fight for their lives?

My Friends by Hisham Matar. In an ode to friendship, Matar expertly depicts life in exile and the struggles of forming a home away from home.

Anora. Mikey Madison blazes in tinsel-haired glory. Expect to laugh as much as you cry in this tale of love and violence from Sean Baker.

The Substance. American cinema’s embrace of body horror post-Roe reaches its apex. Not for the faint of heart.

Monkey Man. Dev Patel’s passion project is Rambo for a new generation, with gorgeous visuals and thoughtful critiques of Hindu nationalism.

I Saw the TV Glow. An allegory for the trans experience but also a larger exploration of the power of nostalgia and regret. Jane Schoenbrun’s direction and Justice Smith’s performance are equally haunting.

Longlegs. A tense thriller with unexpected twists that suffered from misplaced comparisons with The Silence of the Lambs in its marketing campaign.

My Old Ass. A mushroom trip leads an 18-year-old woman to meet her 39-year-old self. An unexpected tear-jerker about the futures we choose for ourselves.

My Favourite Cake. A portrait of a 70-year-old widow in Tehran who falls in love with a taxi driver – brave, honest and really quite surreal.

Kneecap. Riotous semi-fictional musical comedy from the Irish language hip-hop trio. Hilarious, moving and very rude.

Io Capitano. Matteo Garrone’s realistic and beautiful account of fleeing from Africa to Europe, through the desert and across the Mediterranean.

Challengers. A sweaty, sexy love triangle tennis drama, beautifully scored and starring some of Hollywood’s brightest young stars.

Wicked. Astonishing set design, Ariana Grande’s pitch-perfect performance, and the last 15 minutes: Cynthia Erivo will make you cry.

Dune Part Two. Javier Bardem plays Lisan al-Gaib’s number one fanboy.

The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess, Chappell Roan. Her debut was released last year, but this euphoric queer-pop masterpiece reached the heights it deserves in 2024.

My Method Actor, Nilüfer Yanya. This third album from the British-Turkish songwriter is a slow-burn of brilliance. Let Yanya’s silken vocals and sultry guitars wash over you.

Alligator Bites Never Heal, Doechii. A debut mixtape in which Doechii raps with irreverence, irony and vulnerability, blending sounds that range from R&B and gospel to hip-hop and electronic.

Shostakovich, Symphonies 4-6, Klaus Mäkelä and the Oslo Philharmonic. The Russian audience at the premiere of Shostakovich’s 5th symphony wept at his evocation of Stalin’s terror – and of hope despite everything.

Dance, No One’s Watching, Ezra Collective. If you ever thought jazz was not for dancing, this album will change your mind and shake your body. Touring this year, the quintet became the first UK jazz band to play Wembley Arena.

Perceive Its Beauty, Acknowledge Its Grace, Shabaka. The British jazz musician took a break from the saxophone and loud sounds and created this flute masterclass that takes anyone who starts listening on a deep meditative journey.

A Dream Is All We Know, The Lemon Twigs. The D’Addario brothers from Long Island deliver some of the most breathtaking melodies this year.

GNX, Kendrick Lamar. In what can only be described as a victory lap, Lamar delivers some of his most quirky and humorous bars to date while paying homage to the West Coast.

Fabiana Palladino, Fabiana Palladino. In which Palladino steps out of the shadows of Jai Paul to make an album that recalls Prince and Janet Jackson without falling into pastiche.

Flight b741, King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard. KGLW uses the framework of the first pig-propelled flight to ponder fear, risk and regret while embodying a 70s-inspired rock romper of a sound. An orchestral sister album arrives next year.

Tigers Blood, Waxahatchee. Singer-songwriter Katie Crutchfield’s pseudonym comes from the creek where she grew up in Alabama – her sixth album brought her atmospheric indie-folk songs to a bigger audience.

Bad With Names, corto.alto. Jazz with a dancefloor sensibility from Glasgow multi-instrumentalist Liam Shortall’s Mercury Prize shortlisted album.

Deadloch. Australian detective comedy-drama and brilliant satire of the men's-rights backlash against feminism. The next season comes out in 2025 so it’s a great time to catch up.

Severance. If Office Space were made by Charlie Kaufman, you’d have something close to Severance: a psychological thriller better watched than explained. Second season in January.

Squid Game. A South Korean thriller memed to such a degree that it’s easy to forget just how good it is. The ingenious battle royale show plays out again from Boxing Day.

One Hundred Years of Solitude. A worthy adaptation of the “unfilmable” Nobel prize-winning magic realism novel by Gabriel García Márquez.

Daughters. A devastating doc about how US families are affected by incarceration, revolving around four girls preparing for a “Daddy Daughter Dance” with their imprisoned fathers.

Rob Auton: The Time Show. A beautiful life-affirming comedy special – about time.

Renaissance: The Blood and the Beauty. A docudrama about the battle between Michelangelo and Leonardo da Vinci.

Rivals. Irreverent adaptation of the Jilly Cooper romp. Chintz, perms, moustaches, local 80s TV and politics, and a deceptively good script.

After the Party. A New Zealand drama set in the aftermath of a sexual assault that may or may not have taken place. Complex and thorny, with masterful acting from Kiwi national treasure Robyn Malcolm.

Ludwig. A classic whodunnit in which David Mitchell poses as his policeman identical twin to find out why he went missing.

Black Doves. Keira Knightley and Ben Whishaw star in a spy romp with a forgivably silly plot. Enjoy the Guy Ritchie banter and a campy Sarah Lancashire.

Say Nothing. This adaptation of Patrick Radden Keefe’s book of the same name tells the story of the IRA’s abduction and murder of Jean McConville in seat-clenching detail.

Their Son’s Death Was Devastating. Then Politics Made It Worse – New York Times. An intimate portrait of the impact of conspiracy theories, anti-migrant rhetoric and loss.

The Pitchforks Are Coming… For Us Plutocrats – Politico. A venture capitalist’s 2014 “memo” about the collective anger coming for one-percenters, this has taken on new resonance since the murder of US health exec Brian Thompson.

A British Nurse Was Found Guilty of Killing Seven Babies. Did She Do It? – New Yorker. The article that launched 1,000 more, Rachel Aviv’s piece was one of the first to raise significant doubts about the conviction of child serial killer, Lucy Letby.

Seventy Miles in Hell – Atlantic. A rare reportage with photos and stories inside the Darién Gap – the dangerous strip connecting Panama and Colombia and one of the most popular routes for migrants trying to reach the US.

The Foreign Language That Changed My Teenage Son’s Life – New York Times Magazine. A journalist takes his 13-year-old son to Kazakhstan and watches in wonder as normally shy Max – who has been learning Russian of his own accord – finds himself at home in a country thousands of miles away from his own.

Life of the Mother – ProPublica. ProPublica’s team was the first to report on US women who had died because they couldn’t access legal abortion care in their state. Public service journalism at its finest.

Can nationalisation fix England’s rail network? – FT. Nationalised rail is coming, rejoice? Not necessarily. This article breaks down the rigid and seemingly insurmountable issues plaguing the UK’s rail network.

The Gaza We Leave Behind – New Yorker. The Palestinian poet Mosab Abu Toha delivers a haunting meditation on the places, things and hopes lost in war – and the memories that linger.

“The rollercoaster king: the man behind the UK’s fastest thrill-ride” – Guardian. Tom Lamont interviews the best in the business and finds out why rollercoaster designers are less soulless engineers, more conductors of intricate operas of twisted metal.

Putin Isn’t Fighting for Land in Ukraine – Atlantic. Anne Applebaum explains why a “land for peace” deal would not stop Putin, who aims to destroy Ukraine as a nation. If he succeeds, Applebaum argues, a refugee crisis, nuclear proliferation and the invasion of a Nato state all become plausible.

The parents group at the centre of a rollback of trans rights – Bureau of Investigative Journalism. An investigation into a little-known parent support group, the controversial guidance it gives, and its outsized influence on the UK government.

A War on the Nile Pushes Sudan Toward the Abyss – New York Times. Two reporters spend three weeks travelling in Sudan, which has been closed to most foreign journalists since April 2023, and document the often-forgotten war.

To Catch a Scorpion, BBC. Two investigative reporters try to track down one of Europe’s most prolific people smugglers, codenamed Scorpion.

The English Disease, Stak. Following this summer’s riots in the UK, this series tells the story of football hooliganism in England and the lure of a violent subculture.

Come By Chance, CBC. Two men born on the same day in a Newfoundland hospital discover they were switched at birth. It turns out they weren’t the only ones.

The Bunny Trap, Novel. The story of how investigative journalist Ellie Flynn came together with a group of brave glamour models seeking to expose an alleged abuser – and the rotten industry in which he’s working.

What happened that day in Haditha?, In The Dark / New Yorker. An investigation into the killing of 24 civilians in Haditha, Iraq, in 2005. Precise and detailed – the result of four years of reporting – but intimate too.

Cocaine Inc, Times. A podcast that attempts to trace the contours of the global cocaine industry whose profits are counted in the hundreds of millions and losses measured out in murders.

Hysterical, Wondery and Pineapple Street Studios. A gripping investigation into a mysterious illness that spreads among high school girls in New York.

Witch, BBC. 13 magical episodes in which India Rakusen takes the listener through the centuries of lore that surround witches and meets some who still practice witchcraft today.

Normal Gossip, Defector Media and Radiotopia. An addictive show that has shifted the dial on public attitudes to gossip.

The Sunshine Place, Audacy. The story of the “troubled teen” industry of the 80s and 90s and the harm it inflicted on the children it purported to save.

After Dark: Myths, Misdeeds & the Paranormal, History Hit. History buffs who enjoy the spooky and strange should give Dr Anthony Delaney and Dr Maddy Pelling’s enthralling podcast a listen.

The Narrator, This American Life. The war in Gaza, through the eyes of an eight-year-old.

AI slop. Hyperreal (and often strange) AI-generated images that pollute social media sites.

The Wonka Experience. Related to the above: don’t trust an event that uses AI imagery in its marketing.

Moo Deng. The pygmy Thai hippo the world fell in love with. Honourable mentions for other animals that captured the internet include Pesto the penguin, Haggis the hippo and Kirby the elephant.

The Costco Guys. What started as a father and son ranking foods from Costco has become a showbiz family with their own nicknames, wrestling personas and rap songs.

brat summer. Cheap cigarettes, smudged makeup and a white tank top. Charli XCX’s brat ended the era of clean girl living.

Very demure, very mindful. A phrase so ubiquitous it's allowed TikTok creator Jools LeBron to finance the remainder of her gender transition. Virality sells.

Hawk Tuah. An onomatopoeic description of oral sex techniques that made Haliey Welch an overnight celeb, leading to a trademark, a podcast and a failed meme coin.

Cucumber guy. Sliced cucumbers, sesame oil, garlic, rice vinegar and chilli oil was the recipe that made Logan Moffitt’s videos so popular that Iceland had a cucumber shortage.

Four Seasons Orlando baby. More than 85 million people have watched one-year-old Kate answer “me!” with eery enthusiasm when her mother asks: “Who wants to go to the Four Seasons Orlando?”

Raygun. The Australian breakdancer who bombed out of the Paris Olympics then fought a legal battle with a comedian trying to put on Raygun: The Musical.

Coconut tree. Funny at the time, but the endless remixes of Kamala Harris’s anecdote about her mother proved one thing by year’s end: memes don’t win elections.

Brain rot. Oxford University Press word of the year – defined as a result of overconsumption of trivial online material.

Reform will win a series of council seats at local elections in the UK.

Elon Musk and Donald Trump will fall out.

Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce will break up.

Northern Gaza will be reoccupied by Jewish Israeli settlers.

A new AI tool will allow humans to communicate with animals.

Beyonce will appear at Kendrick Lamar’s superbowl performance.

Cynthia Erivo will become the youngest ever Egot (Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, Tony) after winning an Oscar for best actress for Wicked.

Ralph Fiennes will win best actor at the Oscars for Conclave.

A doctor will appear in a US court charged with helping a woman get an illegal abortion.

Chelsea will win the Premier League.

Shell suits will come back into fashion.

It will be the hottest year on record.