In the News

This article was originally published in the Human Progress. Listen to the podcast or read the full transcript here. Let’s start with the Progress Pulse Initiative, a project of yours that sets out to explore a fundamental question: do Americans believe...

This article was originally published in Psychology Today. Key points Nostalgia has a net-positive effect on our psychological well-being. Nostalgia can help us navigate complexity and remind us of what we have already survived. Nostalgia brings the past forward to...

This article was originally published on MSN. Nostalgia is a powerful force. It has a way of transporting us back to simpler times when technology wasn’t in every pocket and function often took precedence over aesthetics. For many millennials, stepping into their...

This article was originally published in Fortune Magazine. Netflix holiday movies often follow a well-trodden path, laid in place decades before streaming even existed. It typically involves a small town, a city-dwelling fish-out-of-water lead, a love interest...

This article was originally published in the New Humanist. It’s late summer and the afternoon sun is beating off Shoreditch’s sheer glass facades and gum-littered pavements. My colleagues and I are en route to a “secret location” for our end-of-summer party,...

This article was originally published in Bored Panda. Ever felt, smelt, seen or heard something and been instantly transported back to “the good old days”? I know I have. Memories of the past can make us feel sad, or warm and fuzzy inside. They might even make us wish...

This article was originally published in Bloomberg. Welcome to this week’s Work Shift newsletter. I’m Matt Boyle, your work bestie. If you’re coming to us by way of a friend, please consider signing up on your own. In this episode, we explore how...

This article was originally published in the Seattle Times. As stress and uncertainty rise, more adults are finding solace in the familiar flavors of their youth. This nostalgic trend, fueled by social media and savvy marketing, is reshaping the candy industry. The...

This article was originally published in Deseret News. Sigmund Freud observed that the goal of psychoanalysis is the transformation of misery into normal unhappiness. Recent findings from the American Psychological Association on American workers suggest that this...

This article was originally published in Wellbeing. “When we engage in nostalgia, we are not moving toward the past. We are bringing the past to the present to help us plan for the future. Nostalgia pushes us forward, not back,” writes nostalgia researcher and...

This article was originally published in Business Insider. American workers are not all right. While news about "quiet quitters" spread like wildfire in 2022, things have actually gotten worse in America's workplaces since that viral trend lost steam. Engagement...

This article was originally published in The Conversation. If you’re a Millennial or a member of Gen Z and immersed in our cultures’ current obsession with reboots, re-enactments, sequels and prequels, then you may be feeling a bit of nostalgia fatigue and asking...

This article was originally published in the New York Times. Before it reminded us of the glory days, nostalgia was a medical condition involving severe homesickness. In Word Through The Times, we trace how one word or phrase has changed throughout the history of the...

This article was originally published in CNBC. Hearing a sound in passing or getting a whiff of a smell can transport you to a familiar time and place in your life, and more likely than not you’ll get excited and want to think about the memory some more — that’s...

This article was originally published in the Los Angeles Times. Nostalgia seems harmless enough, and then someone starts earnestly — absurdly — glamorizing the Stone Age. “Damn can you imagine being a human during the paleolithic age,” tweeted a...

This article was originally published in The Atlantic. The homogeneity of the suburbs has an upside: If strip malls and subdivisions remind you of home, you can feel nostalgic almost anywhere. If you listen to the experts, much of the place I’m from is not a place at...

This article was originally published in BNN. Recent studies show Americans are optimistic about their personal future yet pessimistic about national prospects. Mental health plays a pivotal role. Recent studies have highlighted a growing concern among Americans...

This article was originally published in Business Insider. Couples with two incomes and no kids are living it up like never before Elizabeth Johnson and her husband hit the vacation circuit hard over the past couple of years. They went boating in Florida, hiking in...

This article was originally published in Inc. One big theme of last year's Super Bowl ads was nostalgia. Whether it was Serena Williams starring in a Caddyshack-inspired ad or John Travolta pitching T-Mobile to a decades-old tune, the...

This article was originally published in Jacob's Media. Did you watch The Grammys the other night?  (If you did, you were part of a dwindling group of diehards who still enjoy network award shows.) One of the less obvious aspects of the show was that most of its...

This article was originally published in Good News Network. The United States has a reputation for being a hopeful nation, and a new survey indicates this optimistic outlook is still as American as apple pie. The results revealed a whopping 82% of Americans are...

This article was originally published in 1A Wamu. “Ah, those were the good old days.” Who hasn’t thought something like this before? These feelings of warmth and longing can be about a time in our personal lives or about an era in history. The feeling...

This was originally published in Campaign. Pause. Stop. Rewind. The careful product re-introduction of nostalgia comes in cycles. And now, Golin's APAC president observes that the post-pandemic, economically battered world is again warming up to the comforts of the...

This article was originally published in the Washington Post. Ah, December, when inboxes overflow with corporations defining your tastes and habits — your id, your ego, your very soul — from the past 12 months. Strava reminds you that you didn’t meet your jogging goal...

This article was originally published in the American Psychological Association. For many, the holidays bring back memories of simpler times, along with the carefree feelings of being younger, with fewer of the worries and stress that accompany...

This article was originally published in USA Today. There’s a special magic in the air during the holiday season that, for lack of better words, hurts so good. When the pine tree sales spring up around town and holiday-themed commercials air on TV, a...

This article was originally published in Business Insider. Christmas is strongly linked to nostalgia, which can lead to powerful emotions. Christmas songs may be written in a certain way to trigger feelings of sadness. Connecting with those negative emotions can have...

This article was originally published in Time. When people walk into Keri Piehl’s retro toy store in Albuquerque, N.M., their eyes light up. Wooden spinning tops, Yo-Yos, Trolls, rainbow lava lamps, scratch-and-sniff stickers—it’s like time travel, unlocked....

This article was originally published in Next Avenue. As a hospice patient I'm entitled to music therapy. Since I'm more of an audiobooks fan and don't listen to music a whole lot, I couldn't understand how it would help. My nurse, Nicolle, explained that since the...

This article was originally published in Minot Daily News. FARGO – Strengthen ND has announced a partnership with the Human Flourishing Lab to study and promote hope across North Dakota. “It is a tremendous opportunity to work alongside subject-matter experts and...

This article was originally published in The Hill. Roughly two-fifths of Americans now believe in UFOs, polls suggest, signaling a resurgence of popular-cultural interest in extraterrestrials possibly buzzing around us.  Last week, Congress held an extraordinary...

This article was originally published in BBC. Aqua's Barbie Girl is back on the radio, the Sugababes are packing out festival tents and low-rise jeans are here to stay. Whether it's on your radio, in the shops or at your cinema, you can't escape it. We're talking, of...

This article was originally published in Merion West. “Regulating your own emotions is something most people are capable of doing…It doesn’t require you constantly expressing [a problem], thinking about it, [and] sharing it with everyone…There’s something about not...

This article was originally published in Planet Woo. No, nostalgia doesn’t mean you’re stuck in the past. The morning smells like cut grass and sun cream. You can’t quite put your finger on it, but somehow you’re transported back to the last day of school, six weeks...

This article was originally published in Reason Magazine. Children raised in an atmosphere of fear become adults who prioritize security over liberty. The good news is that "only" a minority of younger American adults favor Big Brother-style surveillance of our home...

This article was originally published in MPLS St. Paul. Digging deep into the science behind the actually-productive and healthy human condition of being nostalgic. In the spring of 2020, households across the country listened to Elvis Presley and Cyndi Lauper, reread...

This article was originally published in For Women First. While your grandkids help you make red, white, and blue cupcakes for your family’s Memorial Day barbecue, you’re instantly transported back to when you were a little girl at your grandmother’s side, and her...

This article was originally published in Bored Panda. Humans are nostalgic creatures. There's simply something magical about traveling back in time to witness the black-and-white (or bronze tinted) world before us. Is it the nostalgia for better, simpler times? Or...

This article was originally published in NBC News. A grainy video that recently circulated on social media captured a mundane portrait of school life at the turn of the new millennium. Students smile and wave toward the camera as they pass through a hallway of blue...

This article was originally published in Goalcast. When is nostalgia healthy, and when does it become counterproductive or damaging? Memories have a huge role in shaping our lives. They provide a point of reference, as mental snapshots contributing to the story of...

This article was originally published in Her magazine. Whenever life feels a bit much we crave escapism and often turn to our favourite fictional worlds for that comfort. Do you ever find yourself turning to the same show again and again? Netflix is full of gripping...

This article was originally published in Shondaland. Whether throwing it back to the 1930s or following suit with the ’60s, embracing the fashion, food, and lifestyle of past decades is more than just playing dress-up for some. From evocative scents to decades-old...

This article was originally published in Shondaland Instead of throwing out your stuff, consider curating it for a serotonin boost. When Michelle Delabrer moved into her house, she filled the space with all the things she loved: a framed photo of the Weasley family...

This article was originally published on CNN. Editor’s Note: The past year was filled with uncertainty over politics, the economy and the ongoing pandemic. In the face of big changes, people found themselves longing for a different time. CNN’s series “The...

This article was originally published in Discover Magazine. Research has shown that mental time travel can motivate us, help us cope and even inspire better choices in the present. Do you often find yourself thinking back to the past and reminiscing about different...

This article was originally published in Remento. Life is full of change. And hopefully, it involves personal growth in which we learn lessons that help us become better versions of ourselves. But we also want stability. We want to feel like we know who we are and can...

This article was originally published in Fortune. “Nostalgia, it’s delicate but potent,” said Mad Men’s Don Draper as he pitched a concept for Kodak slides. In his famous speech that aired in late 2007, just as Wall Street banks were beginning to wobble under the...

This article was originally published on KevinMd.com There is something special about that childhood friend. It’s a bond that lasts a lifetime, something we can only experience fully in our formative years. My friend was Richard. We were inseparable in school growing...

This article was originally published in the Washington Post. More than a dozen studies in recent years have measured the ‘positive’ and ‘restorative power’ of such memories. If the word “nostalgia” only conjures up the idea of wistful looks back, think again, because...

This article was originally published in Psychology Today. Growing up in the 1970s, there was a massive collective outpouring of nostalgia for the 1950s. The musical Grease debuted, followed by the movie American Graffiti, which spawned the TV...

Benjamin Klutsey talks with Clay Routledge about why we’re not happier and what we can do about it This article was originally published in Discourse Magazine SHARESHARE In this installment of a series on liberalism, Benjamin Klutsey, the director of the Program on...

This article was originally published in the Charles Koch Foundation We sat down with Clay Routledge, a leading expert in existential psychology who examines how the human need for meaning influences, and is influenced by life experiences, goals,...

This article was originally published in Psychology Today. I went to dinner recently with a group of old friends with whom I’d fallen out of touch. After the usual catching up on what we’d missed in the intervening years, we fell quickly into an evening of...

This article was originally published in the Financial Times. Please use the sharing tools found via the share button at the top or side of articles. Copying articles to share with others is a breach of FT.comT&Cs and Copyright Policy....

This article was originally published in the New York Times Hilarie Burton Morgan, Sophia Bush and Bethany Joy Lenz talk shop on their podcast “Drama Queens” for their fans but, also, for themselves. When iHeartMedia announced in June that the actresses Hilarie Burton...

This article was originally published in the Guardian Our tendency towards rosy recollections of the past has been amplified, from photos on social media to retro video games. I've always been susceptible to bouts of nostalgia. Defined as “sentimental longing for the...

This article was originally published in the Atlantic You’ll enjoy the season more if you lower your expectations. I'm dreaming of a white Christmas,” croons the voice stuck in your head after a few minutes in CVS. “Just like the ones I used to know.” This...

This article was originally published in the Wall Street Journal There’s a special boost that only old friends can give us. Here’s why we need it now. Earlier in the pandemic, Kevin Masters found himself longing for his old buddy Ron. The two men met in...

This article was originally published in Martha Stewart Ask any collector, and they can likely tell you the story—the time, the place, the thrill—of the piece that began it all: a Wedgwood, or perhaps cloisonné, vase tucked behind peeling books, forgotten on an...

This article was originally published in BBC. Although it may seem inappropriate to talk to your colleagues about your university years or your awful former boss, nostalgia may actually be a vital tool for creating stronger, more connected teams. The word ‘nostalgia’...