So Julie, you know, even though I get annoyed when other people say people used to be nicer,

I kind of think I might feel that way too.

Like, if I have a vision of my childhood and I'm walking down the street from the playground,

I imagine all my neighbors saying like, hi little Hana and the mailman coming by, you

know, and tipping is had at me and the old man walking his dog and, you know, I have no

idea of this memory as accurate, but I definitely have that feeling that people were nicer.

Did you grow up in Mr. Rogers' neighborhood or what was it?

No, I actually grew up in Queens, New York, so he's definitely certainly not true, yeah.

This is Radio Atlantic, I'm Hana Rosen.

I invited my colleague Julie back on to talk about something that's always really bothered

me.

It's when people talk about how things are so much worse today than they were in the past.

And they say things like, neighbors used to be nicer, and everyone used to smile at you

and help you out.

And sometimes it's just rampage at her and you can pretty much ignore it.

And then other times, it turns into this, back when men were men and women were women

type thing, which is more annoying.

There's like a benign wish to, like, tip your hat to the mailman.

And then there's a, like, oh, we need to bring back the social order of the 1950s.

And then you're like, whoa, how did we end up here?

Julie analyzes psychological research and social trends.

And she's also the host of another Atlantic podcast, How to Talk to People.

...