On Sports Cards and Manufacturing Nostalgia

My piece in the latest issue of Current Affairs, now online!

Hello! It’s been a few months since my last post, but I’m happy to share some new writing. For the latest issue of Current Affairs, I contributed a piece called “Manufacturing Nostalgia,” which is now online. It’s about the marketization of nostalgia within the sports card hobby. As many of you know, I’m an avid collector, and this piece is my attempt to wrestle with some of the more sordid aspects of the hobby. In it, you’ll find a history of tobacco and gum companies manipulating children, descriptions of “card breakers,” and a requisite mention of Simulacra and Simulation.

Many thanks to Nathan Robinson for editing the piece, as well as C.M. Duffy for the amazing art!

As always, I hope you are doing well, and thanks again for subscribing!

- BCGL