What do tie-dyed shirts, TikTok nostalgia cycles, and the hopeful chaos of Gen Z’s anxieties have in common? In this episode of History For F***k’s Sake host Sarah Dowd welcomes Louisa Rogers, assistant professor in Fashion Communications, creative entrepreneur, and youth culture decoder to step into the DeLorean and unravel the staying power of Back to the Future for its 40th anniversary.

From Brussels to the North East, Louisa’s career arcs across fashion photography, failed start-ups (she almost invented Vinted!), and now, teaching the next generation of style-makers at Northumbria University. Sarah and Louisa dive into why Back to the Future keeps resonating in meme culture, what retrofuturism says about our hopes and hang-ups, and how today’s young people make sense of a history and a future that feels uncertain at every turn.

Plus: Why fashion history is everyone’s history, why museums need to stop being so bloody boring, and whether Marty McFly would have gone viral on TikTok in 2025.

Highlights:

• From creative Belgian roots to academia, Louisa’s unconventional pathway through fashion
• Why fashion is a “speculative space” that helps us visualise the future (and the past)
• How Back to the Future offers a nostalgia fix for Gen Z & TikTok
• The power (and pitfalls) of recycling history: why our idea of “vintage” is often shaped by TV, not reality
• Gen Z, anxiety, and doomscrolling: what does history education need to do for young people now?
• Retro tech, Y2K fever, and why cassette tapes are cool again
• Why intergenerational friendships might be the missing secret to smashing stereotypes.
• “Protopia,” not dystopia: New ways creative industries and museums can help us actively imagine a better future and learn from the past.

Spotify / Apple Music Playlists for this episode:

Spotify

Apple Music

About Louisa Rogers:

Louisa Rogers is an assistant professor in fashion communication at Northumbria University with an interest in security studies, fashion and digital cultures. Her current research focus is on representations of surveillance, technology and militarism in fashion contexts.

She runs Trendlistr Vintage, a retail e-commerce brand, and completed the Cambridge University Institute for Sustainable Leadership Accelerator programme in 2020. She is also a founding committee member of Colour Collective UK,

Connect with Louisa:

X(Twitter): @louisarogers

Website: https://www.louisarogers.net/

About Sarah Dowd:

I’m Sarah Dowd - writer, speaker, heritage and arts consultant, producer, and all-around nerd - here to share the stories of our past that make us laugh, gasp, and mutter: It’s History… For F***k’s Sake.

For 25+ years I’ve created immersive, inclusive experiences that bring history alive, from rallying Second World War convoys through London to staging performances between Pearly Kings and Gen Z creatives. My work spans museums, cathedral crypts, pop-up theatres, global brands, and community projects across the UK and beyond.

As a Canadian living between the UK and France (with a late ADHD diagnosis that fuels my curiosity and creativity), I zigzag through culture, history, and big ideas, but never boring ones.

Every week on HistoryFFS, we explore how history echoes through today, from Drag Race to prefab tiny houses, with voices from musicians to mischief-makers.

Follow @HistoryFFS - because we’re all making history, one ridiculous, wonderful moment at a time.

Connect with Sarah:

Website: www.historyffs.com

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sarahdowd/

Patreon: HistoryFFS

YouTube: @HistoryFFSPod

Instagram: @historyFFSPod

TikTok: @historyffspod

X: @HistoryFFSPod

Produced by: winteraudio.co.uk