Why Do We Miss Things That Aren't Coming Back?

Have you ever heard a song, caught a familiar smell, booted up an old game, or seen something completely ordinary from your childhood, and suddenly felt like you were somewhere else? Not just remembering it but missing it. In this episode of the Average Joe Nerdcast, Nate goes down a rabbit hole that starts with a nostalgic TikTok song and one fascinating Welsh word: Hiraeth. From there, we're digging into why some people seem to feel nostalgia so deeply, what empathy might have to do with it, why smells and music can seemingly teleport us decades into the past, and the particularly cruel phenomenon of missing a moment before it's even gone. Along the way, we're talking Blockbuster, PlayStation, school pizza, old commercials, childhood Christmases, terrible 2000s music choices, and why the stupidest little things can somehow carry entire pieces of our lives inside them. Maybe nostalgia isn't about believing everything used to be better. Maybe it's just about remembering what mattered. AUDIO / MUSIC CREDITS “aquatic ambience” - Scizzie Written/composed by Jake Calum Mercier; performed and produced by Scizzie. ℗ 2022 Scizzie, under exclusive license to The System. Used as a brief excerpt for commentary and discussion. Original PlayStation startup audio - Sony Computer Entertainment / Sony Interactive Entertainment. Used as a brief excerpt for commentary and discussion. “The Reason” - Hoobastank Written by Douglas Robb, Daniel Estrin, Markku Lappalainen, and Chris Hesse. Performed by Hoobastank. Produced by Howard Benson. ℗ 2003 UMG Recordings, Inc. / Island Def Jam Music Group. Brief excerpt used for commentary and discussion. All copyrighted audio remains the property of its respective rights holders. No ownership is claimed by the Average Joe Nerdcast. And after the episode be sure to come hang out with us in The Lobby Discord and tell us: what's your sensory time machine? A song, smell, food, game, commercial, anything that instantly takes you somewhere else. Link to Discord: https://discord.gg/4QugKGfaV Nerdoween is upon us! Be sure to get your true paranormal stories sent over to [email protected] some of your stories will be read on an episode during October! Stay Gold. Nerd Bold. © 2026 Average Joe Nerdcast. All Rights Reserved.