Our current “nostalgia problem” fits into this class: Every so often (like right now), people interested in culture become fixated on a soft debate over the merits or dangers of nostalgia—as it applies to all art, but particularly to popular music. The dispute resurfaces every time a new generation attains a social position that’s both dominant and insecure. I suppose if this ever stopped, we’d be nostalgic for the time when it still periodically mattered.
