Following -1998- [Simple × 2026]

1998 was the last year of the old world. It was the final moment you could be a kid riding a bike without a leash (a cell phone) to your parents. It was the last time you could get hopelessly lost and discover a diner by accident.

Here is the thing I miss most: The naivety. Following -1998-

Following 1998, irony took over. Grunge died. Nu-metal and boy bands fought for the radio, and the cynicism of the late 90s gave way to the pre-traumatic stress of 9/11. We stopped dreaming about flying cars and started worrying about the backup of our hard drives. 1998 was the last year of the old world

I miss when “following” just meant the next page in a book, not a metric of your worth. Here is the thing I miss most: The naivety

4 minutes

There is a specific weight to the phrase “the late nineties.” But if you dig deeper, the true hinge—the year everything began to creak before the floodgates opened—was not 1999. It was .