Saturday, February 26, 2022

The Morning: The comforts of nostalgia

Certainty when things are uncertain.

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.

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:

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 LATEST NEWS

War in Ukraine
Ukrainian troops near Kharkiv.Tyler Hicks/The New York Times
Supreme Court
Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson.Sarahbeth Maney/The New York Times
The Virus

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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.

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 …

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.

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