In this episode, I share the experience of my Physical Media Renaissance™ project that I’ve been working on for about a year. I dive into the physical media (CDs), 00s entertainment technology (icy blue Memorex CD boombox), and memorabilia (the iconic Geri poster) that I’ve acquired and six key considerations: consumption, media ephemerality, perceived value, circular economy, friction, and taste.

I talk about what this project means to me on a personal and generational level, why 90s-00s nostalgia has become a thing, the nostalgic and nowstalgic resurgence of flip phones and digital cameras by Luddite teens and Millennial lifestyle editors avoiding doom scrolling, why Urban Outfitters can sell a first-gen iPod for $350, and why I’m buying $1 CDs when Boomers told us to stop eating avocado toast and drinking Starbucks to buy a house for $725k. Haters will have their questions answered: Is this project wasteful? Is it materialistic? I dig into themes of ownership, transience, and – of course – the Diffusion of Innovations model as it relates to physical media.

We constantly switch from screen to screen with utmost ease and endless distractions, so is the friction of using physical media really worse than the feigned conversancy of Spotify Wrapped? If an algorithm wasn’t reinforcing confirmation bias and shaping your choices, would you be able to make them on your own? Wouldn’t it be fun to genuinely discover something?

You’ll learn my Nicstalgia Consumption Rubric framework of how to know what to buy and what not to buy, the similarities and differences between modes of consumption – thrifting, resale, and fast fashion – and how to curate and refine your own taste by using my ‘Live Laugh Love Loathe’ Nicstalgia Curation Rubric. I share my favorite finds and takeaways from the project around mindfulness, non-attachment, value, memories, and sense of self.

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🦋 Special Thanks
Doll Artwork by @hmdraws_
Theme Music by @egmusicnyc
Intro Video by @valentinareyes9