Zoomers challenge Boomer office culture
Gen-Z is challenging the Boomer office culture of the 1980s and they might have a point.
1990s
News, current affairs, and cultural issues from the 1990s
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How did social media begin in Britain in the 1990s?
It may seem incredible but Britain beat Facebook by four years to create a social media website that reunited old friends across the globe – and became an early online sensation. But, as is so often the case with Great British inventions, other countries took the idea, improved on it, and ultimately dominated. So let’s…
Growing up before digital – what was it like?
It’s hard to remember a world – only a quarter of a century ago – when most people had no public visibility. Imagine it. A world without social media influencers, TikTok trolls, YouTube channels, and bots. The only way you ever got your name or face in public was if a newspaper published your letter…
Clubbing hedonism in the 1990s
The 1990s was a decade of unbridled clubbing hedonism the likes of which we’ve not seen since. I experienced it in full – but remember surprisingly little. Or maybe that’s not such a surprise. Regrets – none. Wish to repeat it – no. Glad to have witnessed this cavalcade of dissoluteness – yes. So, let…
How nostalgia became toxic on social media
It’s sad to have to post this on my blog about the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s – but I’ve noticed a sharp increase in nostalgia and history posts on social media clearly designed to fuel racism through a kind of toxic nostalgia. For example, show old film footage of London in 1985 and this is…
Cheque book and credit card – how we did banking in the 80s
The bank cheque book was part of our lives in the late 20th century but now it’s hard to remember having a cheque book in your pocket. Let alone using one. While the credit card arrived in the 1970s – with the launch of Access – in my experience, most of us didn’t start running…
Oasis and the rise and fall of Laddism
OK – I’m going to nail my musical colours to the mast first and declare that back in the 1990s, I was in the Blur army and never really warmed to Oasis. To me, and many others, they were standard bearers for a Laddism that seemed to be dragging us back to the worst aspects…
Gays outing gays in the 1990s
At the start of the 1990s, the gay and lesbian movement – as it was then known – had been through the wars. The previous decade had seen the AIDS pandemic and battles over Section 28, a pernicious piece of legislation banning what was termed the “promotion of homosexuality”. There was a combative spirit among…
Timothy McVeigh and the Oklahoma terrorist bombing
On April 19, 1995, the United States witnessed the worst single act of terrorism in its history. Just after 09:00 in the morning, a massive explosion ripped apart the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City. This killed 168 people and injured 680. The building was left a hollow shell as if some gigantic…
Police raids of clubs in the 1980s and 1990s
Night clubs in the 1980s and 1990s were often subjected to police raids for various reasons as TV historian Tony McMahon recalls
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