HBO’s new gay romance series Heated Rivalry has the internet… feeling things. It tells the steamy story of two feuding hockey players who secretly desire (and devour) each other. The series rounds out a long list of queer pop culture moments from 2025. Alex Abad Santos, correspondent at Vox, joins Sam to look back on it all. 

From I Love LA to the re-release of Brokeback Mountain, they break down the Year in Queer entertainment, and ask what representation in media can still accomplish today. They also look at the shifting landscape of Hollywood studios. What could it all mean for future queer representation?

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The Sam Sanders Show is a production of KCRW and Sam Sanders Productions.