The idea of inflicting a 90s summer on children makes me anxious. Mainly because I was there

‘Weaponising nostalgia can grip a psychology but it can’t change the facts underneath,’ writes Van Badham Photograph: Photo: Edd Westmacott/Alamy

A recent piece in US publication the Cut has picked up on a curious sentiment seen floating around TikTok; public yearning to recreate a “90s summer”.

One can see the temptation of nostalgia for Americans, given the present they’re trapped in – and, perhaps, the El Salvadoran gulag they’re trapped in – is hardly so rosy. But as bombers fly over Tehran and their out-of-his-depth president handles a fragile situation by swearing at Benjamin Netanyahu on TV, it’s worth asking if the promptings of nostalgia may be what got us all into this mess in the first place.