2025: The Meme of the Year
What Next
Slate Podcasts
4.6 • 2.3K Ratings
🗓️ 28 December 2025
⏱️ 27 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
With so much online content, it can be hard for a meme to stay in the collective consciousness for more than a few days. But one meme this year managed to capture seemingly everyone’s attention - and challenge the definition of a meme altogether.
Guest: Kate Lindsay, host of Slate’s ICYMI podcast.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Hi, just leave on work now. Sorry, it's a bit loud. Um, basically, so I was thinking we could get Macies tonight. Had a big Mac on my mind all day and delivery fee on the app is now from 99P. So you win? Of course you are. Love you. Bye. Exclusively on the McDonald's app. 18 plus service fee and small order fee may apply, but it's replacing restaurants. Serving times and teas and seas apply. Hey, guys, it's Lizzie. |
| 0:21.8 | All this week, we are sitting down with some of our favorite Slatesters to talk about the year we've had and the year that's coming down the pipe. |
| 0:29.2 | The reason we can do this, Slate has an incredible newsroom with a cast of writers and experts ready to walk us through everything from the WB sale to what the hell 6-7 means. |
| 0:41.2 | Slate pays for those writers with help from you. I am talking about subscriptions to Slate Plus. |
| 0:47.4 | Just this month, we are offering a year-long subscription to Slate Plus for 50% off. |
| 0:52.4 | That's half price for a full year. You get regular episodes |
| 0:55.5 | with no ads, plus special bonus content every week from new conversations with me and Mary |
| 1:01.6 | to tons of deeply reported features and hilarious insights over on the website. |
| 1:06.7 | Head to Slate.com slash TBD Plus and use the code TBD50 to sign up. That is TBD 50. |
| 1:15.3 | You'll get a full year of Slate Plus for half price, and this deal ends this week. So don't keep putting it off. |
| 1:21.3 | If you want to help us keep the lights on and guarantee that TBD sticks around next year, and for the years to come, subscribe. |
| 1:28.9 | All right, on with the show. |
| 1:36.6 | Memes have been around since the earliest days of the internet. |
| 1:42.5 | Some scholars would argue they were even around before the internet. |
| 1:46.6 | For example, the widespread Victorian practice of dressing up your cat for photos. |
| 1:52.3 | So while you may think you know what a meme is, it turns out a strict definition is hard to find. |
| 1:59.3 | For so long, I think a meme was very much one thing, which was an image. |
| 2:05.1 | That's Kate Lindsay. She hosts I.C.Y.M.I. |
| 2:08.3 | Slate's Internet Culture Podcast. |
| 2:10.5 | There's one that's like obsessed girlfriend. There's like a baby with like doing a fist like success. |
| 2:15.4 | Those are like the OG memes. But obviously for anyone who is like even remotely online, |
| 2:22.0 | they'll know that no one uses those anymore. |
... |
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