FROM THE MAGAZINE

Why Does ’90s Nostalgia Feel So Good Right Now?

   At a moment when life is strictly digital, references to the last
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   Tommy Hilfiger Party.

   At times, however, the ceaseless nostalgia feedback loop can feel more
   mind-numbing than eye-opening. Simon Rex, the ’90s adult-film twunk
   turned MTV VJ heartthrob, may be earning Oscar buzz at the age of 47
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   There is no doubt that this endless retro stream offers an escape to a
   time when a car phone was a rare luxury. But the very persistence and
   pervasiveness of today’s mass nostalgia is only possible, of course,
   thanks to the algorithmic engines driving TikTok, Netflix, and other
   Big Tech platforms—in other words, the very same online tar pits we