Hey there Shankar here. One of the rewarding aspects of our work at Hidden Brain is that we have

the space to experiment with different ways of telling stories. Sometimes we need an hour-long

podcast to fully explore a topic. Other times, a short episode can convey our thinking.

Today's show is a short essay about one thing our minds do as we confront the COVID-19 pandemic.

Over the past few weeks, our TVs have become a time machine. They've transported us to our past

to scenes of crowded subway cars and chaotic playgrounds, where faces are unmasked and people

sit shoulder to shoulder in sports stadiums. I have found myself marveling at movies where

carefree characters hang out at music clubs. It makes me remember a time when I didn't have a

thing twice about hugging a friend or stopping by a cafe with a colleague. It's hard to imagine

being so carefree again, even as many communities in the US and across the globe make tentative

steps to reopen. The ache we feel for a pre-COVID world may seem unproductive. What's the value in

looking back at lost freedoms and comforts? Why focus on things we cannot change? Of course,

this is how the mind works. Some time ago I was chatting with Clay Rutledge, a psychologist at

North Dakota State University, for a hidden brain episode called The Good Old Days. Clay studies

nostalgia and how it affects the way we think about our lives. Many of us experience nostalgia as a

bittersweet emotion. It combines the memory of good times with the ache of loss. You might think

that people who are very nostalgic are more prone to sadness and depression. But Clay found that

nostalgic reflection actually makes us optimistic. It reaffirms our social connections.

And by remembering important things about the past, it lays out a hopeful vision for the future.

I found in recent weeks that my own mind is going back further and further, sometimes to my

distant childhood. Last week I cooked a recipe I learned decades ago from a long dead aunt.

I remembered how, after placing food before me, she always thought to place some food on her

...