Recently, redditor u/JackHammerAwesome asked, "What is currently in its 'Golden age,' but not enough people know about it?" I think this is such a good question! I don't know about you, but I tend to think of something being in its golden age after the fact, and never really stop to consider what's in its prime in the here and now. There's something kind of wonderful about reading through these and thinking about all the interesting and incredible eras we're currently alive during without even realizing it (as opposed to, you know, thinking about how we've been existing in "unprecedented times" for, like, ever now). So, here are 15 things that people currently believe are in their ~slay era~:
1. "Cooking! I'm 30 now, and it's so easy to find amazing recipes and good cooking supplies. With so much information, I can save money on food in so many ways. Literally, YouTube is teaching me to make so many great things."
2. "Podcasts — long-form storytelling, interviews, investigative journalism on so many topics — new and old. A great form of education, entertainment, and everything in between."
3. "Home TVs. The sort of hardware you can get for even $300 is absolutely absurd compared to what the 1980s through 2000s knew."
"I got a 32” TV from Best Buy in 2006 for $1,700. I can’t come to terms with the fact that only 18 years later, I’m watching a TV twice as big that costs 40% less and carries a picture quality that’s so good, it gives me chills sometimes."
4. "Astronomy is currently experiencing a golden age. It has changed radically in the last 30-ish years. Think on this: If you are 30+ years old, you were born into a world that wasn't sure if planetary systems were rare or common. We now know that nearly all stars are likely to have planets. We know of 5,000+ exoplanets. Mars was not considered a place where we could find signs of life by most. The generation of spacecraft exploring Mars since the year 2000 changed that. Now, some argue that discovering signs of past life on Mars is a matter of when, not if. We found multiple worlds in our solar system with liquid water oceans. This is just scratching the surface. New technologies like JWST promise to keep the momentum for the foreseeable future."
5. "Unfortunately, scams. Technology has made it easy and cheap to pull off. People are lonelier, and mental health concerns sometimes make people more vulnerable to these scams. And the archaic law enforcement structure isn’t set up to go after them, so there’s virtually no punishment for doing it."
6. "Knitting. First, we're in the golden age of yarns. There are hundreds of indie dyers putting amazing colors on a truly mind-boggling range of yarn bases (both fiber content and weight). Even 'cheap' yarn is better quality and comes in a wider range of colors and bases than ever before. There's an abundance of wool yarn soft enough to wear next to your skin (although you can get scratchy yarn if that's your jam). Then, there are the patterns. Thousands of them, many of them free online. Think of what you want to make, and there's a pattern out there."
7. "Paleontology! So much tech bringing new stuff to light."
"Completely overhauling existing knowledge, too. DNA studies have changed so much in paleontology that there are joke papers published about it. A lot of people's life work has been proven incorrect because of a few DNA studies, despite those folks using the best methodologies available to them at the time."
8. "Board games have been having a great run for the past 10 years, tons of amazing games coming out every year."
"The combination of the internet and the inability to copyright rules have opened a floodgate of innovation in board games."
9. "We’re in a damn solid renaissance of horror movies, and it’s been going for years. They are some of the only good movies that get made nowadays, IMO."
10. "Carbonated water. As a former alcoholic who was able to channel some of that addiction/some of those habits into drinking absurd amounts of carbonated water instead of booze, I’m super grateful to be in this golden age. The number of options is amazing."
11. "Keyboards, both synthesizers and mechanical. It's possible to get a synth that sounds identical to a $5,000 Minimoog for $200 and a decent mechanical keyboard for less than that."
12. "Playing guitar and recording music. You can buy a quality guitar online for super cheap now, and some pro recording software out there is free."
13. "Documentaries. So many good ones, available through so many online outlets."
14. "Archaeology. LiDAR's power to identify probably human-made structures under layers of jungle canopy is just incredible."
15. And finally, "Dietary options. No matter what issue you have, there's a pantry full of food that will meet that restriction AND taste good. Compare a keto diet from 1999 to now. It's unreal."
Now it's your turn! What do you think we're currently in the golden age of? Let us know in the comments below!
Note: Reddit submissions have been edited for length and/or clarity.