When, exactly, were the ‘good old days'?

08/12/2025 50 min

Listen "When, exactly, were the ‘good old days'?"

Episode Synopsis


A recent YouGov poll found that no matter how old you are, you likely think that the "good old days" were your teenage years. When was the best music released? The best movies? When were people the kindest? When was fashion at its peak, journalism the most reliable, and restaurants the best? The poll found a staggering consistency: whether you’re 80 years old or 30, you think the answer to most of these questions falls in your late teenage years. Why is that? What is it about our teenage years that evokes such a sense of optimism and positivity? Why can’t we retain that? And when were the best years for each of these questions? Our guests debate it:
Tom Proietti, resident media scholar at St. John Fisher University 
Norma Holland, former Rochester journalist
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