Americast Were our 2025 predictions right?
Dec 24, 2025
The hosts dive into their bold predictions for 2025 and assess their accuracy. They discuss a government shutdown and its far-reaching consequences. Sarah debates the possibility of Trump winning a Nobel Prize amidst the turmoil in the Middle East. There’s a fascinating analysis of social media's shifting power dynamics with Musk and Zuckerberg. They also explore the impact of Supreme Court decisions on cultural issues and highlight under-the-radar events like rising vaccine skepticism and targeted deportations.
AI Snips
Chapters
Transcript
Episode notes
Historic Shutdown Despite Republican Control
- Congress failed to pass a funding bill despite unified Republican control, causing the longest shutdown in US history.
- The shutdown damaged Trump's approval and exposed intra-party tensions but did not produce a clear lasting political penalty.
Trump's Nobel Ambitions Fell Short
- The idea that Donald Trump could win a Nobel Peace Prize reflected his ambitious Middle East diplomacy ambitions.
- By year-end he had not clinched major peace deals like Ukraine-Russia resolution, so the prize remained unlikely.
Tech Power Shift Beyond Social Bosses
- Marianna predicted tech bosses would jockey for influence, with Zuckerberg the cautious survivor and Musk volatile.
- Over the year AI firms and chipmakers arguably grew as central power players beyond any single social boss.