The Morning: The comforts of nostalgia

February 26, 2022

First, a news update: The Ukrainian defense forces waged a ferocious resistance today to the Russian invasion, battling to keep control of Kyiv and other cities. Follow live updates from The Times.

By Melissa Kirsch

Good morning. Popular culture is taking us back to the past.

Klaus Kremmerz

Remembering when

When the present moment is stressful or uncomfortable, when the future seems especially fuzzy or uncertain, nostalgia offers a balm. It's why many of us turned to "Friends" reunions, "Sopranos" re-binges and childhood video games earlier in the pandemic.

As Gen Xers and many millennials approach or move through middle age, the entertainment industry has become determined to soothe their passage with a ceaseless and sentimental remembrance of things past: "Sex and the City," "Gossip Girl" "Jackass," "The Matrix" and "The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air" have all taken another turn around the piazza in the past year. "Frasier," "Night Court" and "Beavis and Butt-Head" are rumored to be returning. Even "Law & Order" is back.

The Super Bowl halftime show, featuring Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, Eminem, Mary J. Blige and 50 Cent, certainly set its sights on the midlife-adjacent. This fall, Avril Lavigne, Bright Eyes and My Chemical Romance will perform at the early-aughts emo-and-rock festival When We Were Young, a gathering that seems engineered to induce nostalgia. Its name serves to both rebrand sad music for loners as a group activity and to douse any thirty-somethings' lingering delusions that their best days are ahead of them.

Nostalgia is easily packaged and sold because it promises to create a community out of a cohort. We experience this every day on social media: Strangers become momentary pals when you swap stories of the music you loved or the clothes you wore when you were both in sixth grade. The internet is an endlessly renewing nostalgia mine from which anyone can, at any time, extract a cultural gemstone — a music video from the early days of MTV, a jingle for a product long out of circulation — and post it for all to appreciate.

In a recent essay in Town and Country, Kyle Chayka warned of the perils of too much nostalgia. "With our digital cultural channels, art can be profitable only if it gets attention, and it can get attention only if it matches a pre-existing pattern," he wrote. "That pattern is called nostalgia, and while it's pleasurable, is it not ultimately boring?"

For the moment, nostalgia is serving a purpose: It provides a retreat, a respite, a way to feel less alone. The word, roughly translated from the Greek, means "a longing to return home." It makes sense that some of us would seek and find comfort now in pop culture that feels homelike, that's reliably soothing and predictable, in a world where so much is not.

For more:

"The things you loved when you were young will never be able to make you young again," our critic A.O. Scott writes.
Nostalgia acts as an "emotional pacifier" during times of stress.
Chuck Klosterman's latest book reconsiders the 1990s.
People on TikTok are wistful for the early days of lockdown.

WEEKENDS ARE FOR …

🎻 Music: Five classical albums to listen to right now.

💡 Art: A new show in Prague explores how electricity changed art.

💃 Vogueing: A New York exhibit combines art, tech and dance.

THE WEEK IN CULTURE

Kelsey Hale for The New York Times

The Academy Awards will look different this year. (Here are the Oscar-nominated short films, reviewed.)
The Yeezy Gap/Balenciaga collaboration is here, raising the question: What are we buying when we buy fashion?
"The Wendy Williams Show" is ending. Sherri Shepherd will host a talk show during the same time slot, Vulture reports.
Have you been watching "Pam & Tommy"? Here's how the show made Lily James look like Pamela Anderson.
The security guards at a Baltimore art museum curated a new exhibition, NPR reports.
Here's what Times writers want to see this season at the Met Opera.
The Season 2 finale of "Euphoria" airs tomorrow. For many fans, it will be a night of doom watching.
"Killing Eve" is back for a final season. Here's a recap of season 3 (which includes spoilers).
The stars of "My Brilliant Friend," whose third season premieres Monday, grew up alongside their characters.
The Foo Fighters made a horror film "for fun," Dave Grohl says.

THE LATEST NEWS

War in Ukraine

Ukrainian troops near Kharkiv.Tyler Hicks/The New York Times

Ukraine braced for an all-out assault on Kyiv as its leaders warned residents that Russia wanted to "bring the capital to its knees."
In the city of Kharkiv, our reporter and photographer found battle wreckage and residents sheltering in the subway.
Tens of thousands of Ukrainians streamed into Poland to flee the fighting.
The U.S. and European allies plan to freeze Vladimir Putin's assets, though the move is largely symbolic.
China sees itself as a defender of sovereign independence. Russia's invasion has put it in an awkward position.
Follow our updates.

Supreme Court

Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson.Sarahbeth Maney/The New York Times

President Biden selected Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson as his nominee to the Supreme Court. She would be the first Black woman to serve as a justice.
If confirmed, Jackson will confront a court docket filled with polarizing issues.
But her confirmation would likely do little to alter the court's conservative trajectory.
Republicans appear unlikely to put up a contentious fight over Jackson's nomination.
Jackson's high school debate team in Florida helped shape her, she has said.

The Virus

New federal guidance will allow most Americans to stop wearing masks, practicing social distancing and avoiding crowded indoor spaces.
Here's how Robert F. Kennedy Jr. became a face of the vaccine resistance movement.
More than 5 million children worldwide lost a caregiver to Covid, a study suggests.

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REAL ESTATE

Clockwise from left: TK Images for Martha Turner Sotheby's International Realty, Josh Vick/Home Tour America, Alex Loer

What you get for $550,000: A renovated house in Houston, a two-bedroom condo in Atlanta or a 1791 home in Halifax, Mass.

The hunt: They wanted outdoor space in the San Fernando Valley. Which home did they choose? Play our game.

No bidding war, at least: A midcentury-modern home in Illinois is being offered for free, but you have to move it.

Dream home: A house in Philadelphia was too good for the developer to give up.

Italian manor: A 19th-century villa promises hidden treasures.

FOOD

Kate Sears for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Barrett Washburne.

Mardi Gras: Here are 12 recipes to celebrate on Tuesday.

Bite-size snacks: Miami chefs are experimenting with traditional croquetas.

Wine with friends: How the internet redefined terroir.

One can, five ways: Chickpeas can go many directions.

Greek soup: Meatballs take center stage in this riff on youvarlakia avgolemono.

LIVING

A travel guide training program.Miles Rashad

Travel guides: Some tour companies are diversifying their staffs.

Move freely: These exercises ward off lower-back pain.

Instant engagement parties: Couples are including family and friends in their marriage proposals.

Cabinet shopping: How to find storage for a small space.

Dreams about an ex: They're not necessarily a sign that you're still hung up.

GAME OF THE WEEKEND

Caitlin Clark.Bryan Anselm for The New York Times

Michigan vs. Iowa, women's college basketball: Caitlin Clark is must-see TV. The Iowa guard leads the N.C.A.A. in both scoring and assists, and she can hit three-pointers from anywhere on the court. But Michigan, the No. 6 team in the country, doesn't lose often. Last time the two met, a few weeks ago, Michigan won 98-90, holding off a furious Iowa comeback and Clark's 46 points (including some truly amazing shots). Sunday at 4 p.m. Eastern, ESPN2.

For more: Brian Hamilton profiled Clark for The Athletic.

NOW TIME TO PLAY

The pangram from yesterday's Spelling Bee was condominium. Here is today's puzzle — or you can play online.

Take the news quiz to see how well you followed this week's headlines.

Here's today's Wordle. If you're in the mood to play more, find all our games here.

Before You Go …

Check your local weather, 1990s Weather Channel-style.
Here's Arlo Parks covering Radiohead's "Creep."
"I see my memories — all our memories — as an aggregation tossed aside by impossibly wrong winds." This essay by Nickole Brown is lovely.

Thanks for spending part of your weekend with The Times. — Melissa

Claire Moses, Ian Prasad Philbrick, Tom Wright-Piersanti, Ashley Wu and Sanam Yar contributed to The Morning. You can reach the team at themorning@nytimes.com.