The author with his favorite boombox, circa 1984.

This week, as we near the end of 2025, the writers and editors of KQED Arts & Culture are reflecting on One Beautiful Thing from the year.

Today, you read the words of a man who’s turned 50. More time behind me than ahead. More music behind me than ahead. And less time to listen to it all.

Is that the goal? To listen to every bit of music ever made? When I survey my life, as one does when they turn 50, it resembles the hopeless quest of a quixotic imbecile. Shows, record stores, clubs, arenas, thrift stores, warehouses, concert halls. What can I hear that I haven’t yet heard ?

In October of this year, right before I turned 50, that question inspired a road trip. From Seattle to Los Angeles, I followed the British electronic duo Au

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