Is it spring yet?

What I'm reading, listening to, etc.

Mar 05, 2026

HELLO new subscribers! Welcome to Nicstalgia, your Pop Culture PhD and cultural literacy guide to navigate the nostalgia industrial complex. Quick orientation: About Nicstalgia • Website • Instagram. So happy you’re here!!!!!!! 💖 💖 💖

Macro and micro level, it’s been a week. Getting turned away from The Drew Barrymore Show with Hilary Duff as the guest is my villain origin story. Let’s see if I have more luck with Kelly Clarkson next week. I’m struggling to get through the winter, but I’m giving my best attempt at embodying the wistful energy of Jennifer Lopez in the “All I Have” music video.

I am pleased to announce that seasonal bucket lists, a favorite topic of Nicstalgia readers, will be back for SPRINGGGGG!!! You will get plenty of ideas for how to exercise your free will. In the meantime, here’s what I’m reading and listening to!

Now reading:

Black Dance in America: A History Through Its People by James Haskins (1990)

Recently read:

Eternally Electric: The Message in My Music by Debbie Gibson. What a talented woman. I love a celebrity memoir.
So many 33 1/3 books because they’re easy to carry on the subway, including the ones on Britney’s Blackout, The B52s’ Cosmic Thing, and Belle and Sebastian’s If You’re Feeling Sinister.

Favorite recent pieces on Substack:

Fandom Exile

Harry Styles: The Prince of Potemkin Pop Culture

Welcome to Fandom Exile, your destination for anti-nostalgia fandom research and cultural criticism…

22 days ago · 110 likes · 27 comments · Monia Ali

Internet Bedroom

🎀my girlhood essay🎀

When I was about to become a teenager, my family moved from a suburb outside of Toledo, Ohio to a suburb outside of Columbus, Ohio. My father had already been living in Columbus for some time, sharing an apartment with a man who was his spiritual guide and who told my parents to tell other people that he was my godfather when anyone asked questions…

13 days ago · 30 likes · 4 comments · rachel moss

Matriarchal Blessing

There is one word that explains how so many men can be in the Epstein files. So why is no one saying it?

Attention! This Tuesday, Feb 24th the doors to enroll in Women’s Circle 2026 will close, and will not open again for another year! What is Women’s Circle? It’s the founding membership of Matriarchal Blessing where a badass group of women meet each month to watch movies together and discuss patriarchy. It’s all online. Join from anywhere. All details and…

23 days ago · 17252 likes · 1472 comments · Celeste Davis

Found Object

They Killed Normal and Called It Progress

If My Best Friend’s Wedding came out today, it would be a prestige streaming series called “Unlikable Woman”, marketed as “brave,” dissected on Instagram, and quietly buried by the algorithm in forty-eight hours…

23 days ago · 1782 likes · 242 comments · Rodrigo Brancatelli

Songs from my CORE class playlist:

Huge thank you to the paid subscribers who support my work: Janine, Marie, Liv, CY, Matthew, Emily, Gina, Taylor, Alejandra, Jess, and Lindsay! À la Jessica Simpson, I’m gonna love you forever 💐💐💐

Upgrade to paid subscription

If you enjoy my interviews, essays, deep dives, and other musings, please consider supporting Nicstalgia! Your support helps me continue writing the most fun newsletter about offbeat, obscure, and niche pop culture. If you’d rather send a one-time gift of a custom amount versus a recurring subscription, you can also do that here!

Send a one-time gift