The first month of 2026 reflected many of the events of the past year. Much of recent pop culture was focused on continuing last year’s trends and projects. Movies that made film-lovers rush to theaters late last year were now in the running for the most prestigious awards in the industry.  A cultural phenomenon that put the whole world on edge in December was now being investigated by fans for its authenticity.  The long-awaited news for upcoming projects was officially released, giving people more to look forward to as the year unfolded.

While January did help clarify events from the past year, there were some parts of pop culture that demonstrated how people were not ready to move on.  In fact, it seemed as if the world wanted to go back ten years.  The first fad that truly marked January was the desire to recreate 2016.  On Snapchat, filters from that time period were brought back.  On social media platforms, the trending songs were those not heard in ten years, and dances were being created to complement them.  This trend reached its true magnitude when rumors were spread that Starbucks would bring its beloved “Unicorn Frappuccino” back.  While this was later proved false, the way that it was circulated only reinforced the idea that everyone longed to travel back in time, and let nostalgia take over. 

Eventually, the trend did fade from culture and social media, but not without providing some music artists the space to find their way back into the spotlight.  Zara Larsson’s song “Lush Life” dominated the charts in 2016, and is doing the same ten years later. With this spontaneous return to popularity, Larsson took the opportunity to expand her career.  She began to release variants of her album Midnight Sun in early January, and her songs deemed her the artist that would “bring back summer” in the height of winter.  Zara Larsson also collaborated on PinkPantheresses’s song “Stateside”, dropping the music video on January 15th.   The song in particular has been stated to be the “collab of the year” on social media.  Newfound fan Emma Llorente ’28, states that witnessing Larsson’s rebrand “really worked in bringing [her] back to Larsson’s music”.

While on the topic of artists emerging back into the spotlight after taking a “hiatus”, it would be inaccurate not to mention Harry Styles when referencing this month’s pop culture events.  Ever since his debut as a member of One Direction back in the early 2010s,  he has been a beloved figure in music. Styles released his last album, Harry’s House, in May of 2022.  Since then, it appeared that he isolated himself from releasing any music, or in other terms, stepped away from “the studio.” In a major announcement, Harry Styles revealed his new album online, Kiss All the Time, Disco, Occasionally on January 15th, after releasing a music video for his song “Apeture”. The album is set to be released on March 6th.  As someone who grew up listening to Harry Styles, Keegan Brin ‘28 stated, “It’s emotional for me to see an artist who I connected with in such a formative time of my life come back after such a long time, and the nostalgia is great.”  Fans from all around the world will join in welcoming the album, maybe even stating that it could win Album of the Year like Styles’s last album. 

Even with the start of the new year, many fans did not want to accept the end of many events that happened in 2025.  This was seen primarily with the end of the beloved Stranger Things. Netflix released One Last Adventure, a story behind how the creators of the show wrote the finale, on January 12th.  Unfortunately, the documentary was not as well-received as expected.  Some footage showed the creators’ computer tabs, in which there appeared to be the logo for ChatGPT.  Because of this, many fans flocked to social media and questioned whether the finale was truly authentic and written by the creators. This turn of events also marks the increase in use of AI in our rapidly growing technological world, and fans are now shocked that it would make its way into arguably one of the most monumental shows in recent history. 

January has certainly given everyone much to look forward to, setting the stage for a nostalgic yet transformative year for all those who love entertainment!  Stay on edge for the unfolding of what’s been mentioned in February!