Cultural Moments Of 1990 Revisited By Someone Born In 1990

From what I hear, 1990 was a hell of a year. NASA sent the Hubble Space Telescope into orbit, Nelson Mandela was released from prison—and, crucially, I was born unto this world. Twenty-five years later, as part of the Chicago Humanities Festival, a panel of six WBEZ radio personalities and six storytellers and poets will come together for a month-by-month review of 1990. Just because I lived through only half of ’90 doesn’t mean I can’t contribute to the conversation. As a primer to the CHF event, I revisited several of the year’s most notable cultural moments.

Goodfellas: My father still can’t go anywhere without doing his best Joe Pesci: “I’m funny how, funny like a clown? I’m here to amuse you?” I now know how many expletives he left out for my benefit. At the time of its release, the film set an industry record for profanity, including some 300 uses of “fuck.” 

Creation of the Web browser: Without it this article wouldn’t exist.