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Today’s Big Story

Millennial Nostalgia

From films and fashion to music, it’s all poppin’ like it’s hot

The term really bothers me, but I fear that I am, in fact, an elder millennial. The upside to my general fear of aging is that everything from my youth is suddenly coming back. And the friendly reminders should help as I approach middle-age and start noticing mild memory loss.

Did you watch Happy Gilmore 2 yet? Are you excited about Freakier Friday? There has been a rash of sequels and reboots of millennial favorites lately: Freddie Prinze Jr. and Jennifer Love Hewitt both returned to their popular ’90s horror franchise in the new I Know What You Did Last Summer, which hit theaters a little over a week ago.

And Backstreet’s back, alright. The beloved boy band is in Vegas, playing to sold-out crowds again. And you might’ve seen on social media that former Dawson’s Creek co-stars and exes Katie Holmes and Joshua Jackson were recently spotted filming a new project in New York City. And speaking of New York filming, we’re all painfully aware that they’re filming The Devil Wears Prada 2, right?

As the saying goes, what’s old often becomes new again. And millennials—those of us born between the early 1980s and the mid-1990s—are now at a point in their lives where their generational nostalgia is front and center. This recent surge in millennial-focused pop culture serves as “the next level of escapism” for the generation, Kate Kennedy, author of “One in a Millennial: On Friendship, Feelings, Fangirls, and Fitting In” tells NBC News. “It returns us to a time when our biggest worry was getting in line for a CD, not whether we would be able to afford a house,” Kennedy said. And who needs a Labubu when you can dress your dog up like a Beanie Baby?

Kennedy, who went to the Backstreet Boys concert last weekend, described nostalgia as a “connective tissue that makes people feel less alone and less judgmental toward themselves, because other people like what they like, too.” Perhaps that’s why it’s so comforting to see all the bands and groups from TRL back singing again. Man, doesn’t an afternoon watching TRL (with a full sugar Coke and a bag of Doritos) sound like heaven? Goodbye stress, hello Carson Daly.

There’s Some Congressional Drama Down in Texas

Democrats decamped to Illinois to deny Republicans a quorum on redistricting

Over 50 Texas House Democrats left the state Sunday in a desperate bid to block an aggressively partisan redrawing of the state’s congressional map orchestrated by Republicans with the support of President Donald Trump. The last-ditch attempt adds kerosene to an already smoldering political battle in the Lone Star State that has significant repercussions in Washington, where House Republicans enter a challenging midterm landscape.

Axios reports that Republicans have threatened to arrest the Democrats over the action. Democratic Caucus chair Gene Wu said at a Sunday evening briefing with Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker after arriving in Chicago that they had discussed this matter as “a topic of serious concern.” At the center of the escalating impasse is Trump’s pursuit of adding five more GOP-leaning congressional seats in Texas before next year that would bolster his party’s chances of preserving its slim U.S. House majority.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said in a Sunday statement he will “remove the missing Democrats from membership in the Texas House” if they're not back by Monday afternoon. “This truancy ends now,” he added.

The Heat Is On

Restaurants are adding dozens of new spicy menu items in a bid for younger diners

What’s the hottest trend in food? Literal heat. Spicy food is not just a fad in the restaurant industry—it's a consumer shift that's here to stay, restaurant industry experts say. And it’s being led by young people. Among millennials and Gen Z, one in four say they pack their own condiments, especially hot sauce, when visiting a restaurant.

This explains why spicy items like chicken sandwiches, seasoned sides and sauces are cropping up more often on menus at major fast-casual and quick-service chains. The idea is to introduce easy-to-execute and buzzy options that can capture the attentions of Gen Z and Gen Alpha diners. Apparently, “Gen Z will almost always go for the spiciest thing on the menu”, even if they can’t always handle it.

One of those companies was Chipotle, which in June introduced Adobo Ranch, its first new dip in five years, as a limited-time offer. According to CNBC, the draw toward spice is yet another way restaurants are responding to slower consumer spending while trying to keep costs in check. Earlier this spring, Cava launched Hot Harissa Pita Chips to meet the rising demand, along with hot varieties of their avocado bowl, vinaigrette and honey chicken. In May, Taco Bell launched the Mike’s Hot Honey Diablo sauce, a collaboration between Mike’s Hot Honey and the taco chain’s signature Diablo sauce.

We’re Becoming More Homebodies

But there could be costs to our isolation

In his February 2025 cover story for The Atlantic, journalist Derek Thompson dubbed our current era “the anti-social century.” He isn’t wrong. According to recent research, the U.S. is becoming a nation of homebodies.

Americans now spend an average of 99 more minutes at home each day than they did in 2003, while this generation of 15 to 24 year olds spends 124 more minutes at home than their counterparts two decades ago. Meanwhile, just 30% of Americans spent time socializing and communicating in person on an average day, down from 38% in 2014, according to the American Time Use Survey.

As Diana Lind in the Washington Post points out, there are plenty of healthy activities available at home, of course, “from playing with your children to pursuing a hobby. But there are also consequences to our homebody lifestyle.” Time in the house is more likely to be time spent alone and sedentary, triggering two of Americans’ biggest mental and physical health problems—social isolation and lack of exercise. And since the pandemic, thousands of destinations—from churches to movie theaters—have closed. According to the Survey Center on American Life, only 54% of Americans in 2025 have a “third place” they frequent, such as a coffeehouse or bar, down from 67% in 2019, and that number is still declining even after the pandemic ended.

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