To explore how rose-colored glasses can taint one’s perception of the past and how it affects the present, my first experiment will work to highlight how politics have weaponized the feeling. I have set out to create a zine to define nostalgia, explore how it has been used in the last elections, and as a framework to study history. Through my creation, I hope to aid the audience in understanding when they are being manipulated and how we can reconcile with the desire to feel nostalgia and face the harshness of reality. I have never attempted to create a zine before, but I think that this is the perfect genre for this particular experiment in political nostalgia because zines have a reputation for their political character and will allow me to illustrate the concept that I wish to define. I believe that we need to recognize the use of nostalgia in politics more than ever as we become increasingly fixated on these imaginary pasts rather than a path forward into the future. If we wish to actually create change in the present, we must recognize both the good and the evil of the past on both partisan sides to make better, more educated choices for the future. I think the most relevant example of this has been the “make America great again” campaign strategy and even Biden’s call to return to civility. We are constantly being told that the answers lie in the past and that is the only way to remedy the present. However, my goal is to shatter this view of history and the rose colored haze that we have placed around it. By illustrating these realities, I hope to help liberate more open minded political individuals to see the faults in this perspective.