Spotify really started something, didn’t they? Everyone has a “Wrapped” this year; I even got an email one from the cruise line on which I took a trip this summer. Like, “Congratulations! You went on {1} cruise for {7} days!” — and then nothing else. Two stats. So I thought for an end-of year thing here on KDO, I would write a post with a title like “Kottke Wrapped 2025” and then say, “haha, just kidding, I’ll see you jokers next year”. Fun gag.But then I started thinking about it, running some SQL queries, and looking at my stats and decided to do a Kottke Wrapped for real. (All stats as of today.)262. That’s the number of distinct days someone (me or a guest editor) published at least one post to KDO in 2025. How does that compare to past years? In 2024, we blogged on 267 days. 2023: 275 days. 2022, I went of sabbatical for 7 months but still managed 129 days. From 2007-2021, the average is around 275 days. In 2004, the year before I started working on KDO full-time, I posted on 344 days! (The average American work-year in ~250 days — maybe I should take more time off?)2142. The number of KDO posts for 2025. That’s 8.2 posts/day on days that we posted.1084. The number of members who either commented on (964 ppl) or faved (513 ppl) a KDO post this year. All told, we left 4474 faves and 4983 on posts in 2025. Compared to the number of total members, that is an absurdly high participation rate. Thank you so much for taking part!845. That’s the number of distinct tags used for entries this year. The list of most-used tags included movies, art, astronomy,music, design, science, books, remix, politics, photography, sports, travel, lists, and Japan. That’s a pretty good encapsulation of my (and hopefully your) general interests.4.9%. The amount by which KDO membership numbers increased from Jan 1. At one point in the year, membership numbers were up almost 10% (!) but that came back down steadily as the year went on. I only made a couple of membership calls during the year — most of the time I was just heads down on site work. I know this has been a tough year for a lot of folks out there and I really appreciate the support. If you’d like to help support this paywall-less site (a rarer and rarer thing as 2025 comes to a close), you can sign up for a membership for as little as $3/mo. ✌️And now a bunch of links to the most popular posts of the year according to three different metrics: visits, comments, and faves. Some random thoughts to follow.The Most Visited Posts in 2025JD Vance Chastised by Vermont Snow ReporterQuestlove’s Fantastic Video Mix of 50 Years of SNL Music80 of the Most Iconic Guitar IntrosThe Official Map of the Star Wars GalaxyAll the Dogs ExplainedFootball Stadium Turned Community GardenThe World’s Largest Data Center Rises in TexasThe 2025 Kottke Holiday Gift GuideExtinction Burst Explains MAGA Voters’ Racist AngerI Want No One Else to SucceedMeet the Aphantasics: Those Who Can’t See Mental ImagesTV Garden: stream television channels from all over the world for free…USPS Announces Goodnight Moon StampsHard Things Are Supposed to Be HardThe Design of the New Swiss PassportWWII Vet Crushes a Tesla With a Sherman TankSix Films Better Than the Books They’re Based OnWeird Al Yankovic Covers Killing in the Name by Rage Against the MachineReal Photos That Look FakeBernini’s Ratto di ProserpinaLololol: Max is changing its name back to HBO Max.Can I Lick It? Yes You CanA Comprehensive Guide to Yellow Stripey ThingsThe Prayer of Saint Francis87% Of Loud Crashing Noises Are Nothing, Report Top Experts From Other Room.The Most Commented-On Posts in 2025A Programming NoteHow Are You?“What is the best album released by a music act at least 15 years after its debut album?”I’m Heading to Japan. What Should I Do?Are You Looking for Work? Are You Looking to Fill a Position?Six Films Better Than the Books They’re Based On.My Recent Media Diet, the Resistance EditionWind It BackCan You Recommend a Good Bookmark Manager?What’s All the Fuss About Pluribus?Some KDO Updates: We’ve Got Ourselves a StewWhat are the five things that are essential in your kitchen?In Praise of Comfort FilmsGlass OnionThe End of College Life?How Much Do I Really Need to Know?This One Goes to 27Biking Is TherapyiOS 26 / Liquid Glass is terrible.I disagree with Quentin Tarantino on what his best film is.A Quick Anniversary NoteThere’s No Undo Button For Our Fallen DemocracyYou’ll Never Get Off the Dinner Treadmill.Instances of haptic nostalgia (“the poignant memory of the physicality of an obsolete thing”).Trump Ejects Zelenskyy From White HouseThe Most Faved Posts in 2025 (from May 18)This Is Your Captain Speaking…Some Recent Tweaks (and Post Faving!)A Bright Light Has Gone OutEvery Tree Can Be a BuddhaBernini’s Ratto di ProserpinaI Want No One Else to SucceedThere’s No Undo Button For Our Fallen DemocracySlow Start to the WeekPediatrician Dr. Annie Andrews is running against Lindsey Graham…The Underscore Music PlayerWalking the EarthI Am An AI Hater.The Kottke.org RolodexQ: “Want to Feel Old?” A: “Yes.”Refusing to Choose Is a ChoiceTaking the DayWhat Makes for a Healthy Society?Proof of life! I’m writing a longer post about my time in Kōyasan, but in the meantime…Some KDO Updates: We’ve Got Ourselves a StewThe 2025 Kottke Holiday Gift GuideBiking Is TherapyWhat Are You Thankful For?For They Shall InheritOwls in TowelsWhen In RomeIt’s interesting to look at the differences between these three lists. (Major caveat: the faved posts are all from the second half of the year because that feature didn’t launch until May.)In general, the most visited posts are due to outside traffic, not regular readers; i.e. it got linked from Google News or Reddit or Morning Brew and blew up a little.I feel like the most commented & faved posts are a bit more representative of what makes a “good” kottke.org post, whatever that means. But I also think that a number of my favorite posts, the s-tier stuff, didn’t make any of these lists — not that I can think of any of them right now. 😂Largely though, kottke.org isn’t a “popular post” blog — it’s a “several small things a day” kind of site. It’s about the day-after-day accretion, the steadiness, the rhythm. I’m not trying to make a few chart-topping hits here — it’s much more about hitting a baseline of quality each day, building a bit more on the previous day, days, weeks, months, years, decades. (Yes, decades…gotta flex a litte here. 🤷♂️)Ok, that’s all I have for now. I hope you have a healthy and safe start to 2026. I’ll see you in a few days. 🎉👋Note: I used the awesome Space Type Generator to make the header graphic. Here are a few of the alternatives I considered: Tags: kottke.org 💬 Join the discussion on kottke.org →