What in the World - Are we in our nostalgia era?

Nostalgia. That reminiscent, comforting feeling of something from the past that is familiar. We get it with different things, from fashion to TV shows and music. In the last few years, there’s been a huge rise in things like y2k fashion, old school technology like flip phones and digital cameras, and even Kate Bush has made it back into the charts.

So why do Gen Z care so much about old things? Professor Ryan Lizardi tells us more about how nostalgia works, when it’s bad for you, and how marketing is keeping old things alive.
We also hear how nostalgia is interpreted from Marie Tusiama in the Ivory Coast, who runs a successful y2k Instagram page.

And what does nostalgia mean in Portuguese and Brazilian culture? Well, we hear from someone else in the Gelbart family - Ben tells us about his favourite Portuguese word, ‘saudade’.

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Email: whatintheworld@bbc.co.uk
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Presenter: Hannah Gelbart
Producers: Imogen James
Editor: Verity Wilde

Published on Friday, 26th December 2025.

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