The history of nostalgia
Feb 10, 2026•6 min
Episode description
The year 2016 is taking over the internet with people posting ‘throwback’ photos and memories from ten years ago all over their social media. It’s prompted questions over whether 2016 was a simpler time and why people have become nostalgic for that year. Agnes Arnold-Forster, a historian at Edinburgh University and the author of Nostalgia: A History of a Dangerous Emotion, talks about how nostalgia has evolved over time, from a serious medical condition in the 17th Century to a rose-tinted vision of the past.
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