Featured Work

Featured Work

As a public intellectual, Clay has authored dozens of articles for popular outlets including The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, Newsweek, The Hill, Fortune, Entrepreneur, and Harvard Business Review. Clay wrote the TED Ed lesson, Why Do We Feel Nostalgia, and appeared in a series of Big Think videos.

Clay is a coeditor and regular contributor for the magazine, Profectus. He has also authored, edited, and contributed to both academic and mass market books.

The Wall Street Journal

Mental-Health Awareness Can Be Bad for Mental Health

Remember the Good Old Days? No Need to Feel Ashamed if You Do

Free Markets and Meaning in Life

The Campus Left vs. the Mentally Ill

The New York Times

Don't Believe in God? Maybe You'll Try UFOs

Why Are Millennials Wary of Freedom?

Suicides Have Increased. Is This an Existential Crisis?

USA Today

Want to make the world a better place? Have a child.

The real story behind America's population bomb: Adults want their independence

Helicopter parenting may be destroying the future of American entrepreneurship

Harvard Business Review

3 Ways to Build an Organizational Culture That Supports Mental Health

The Surprising Power of Nostalgia at Work

Bring the Outdoors into Your Hybrid Work Routine

Y ou Can’t Cure Your Employee’s Existential Crisis. But You Can Help

Business Insider

Your manager is not your therapist

In defense of nostalgia

The Hill

The costs of declining fertility go beyond economics

A new hope: ‘Star Wars’ as American religion

This Thanksgiving, let’s be grateful for human progress

Fortune

Want a more hopeful America? Increase awareness of past progress

Kamala Harris and Donald Trump are betting on nostalgia to win your vote. Here’s why

9 in 10 American workers are thriving despite the dominant narrative of widespread misery at work

America’s hopelessness crisis may have less to do with the economy and more to do with Gen Z’s mental health, new survey shows

Today’s nostalgia craze isn’t about the past. For Americans of all generations, it’s about a brighter future

America’s generational divide doesn’t apply to technology. Gen Zers and boomers share the same techno-optimism–and nostalgia

Patriotism is a crucial ingredient for progress. Here’s why

Entrepreneur

Want to Be An Entrepreneur? Focus on What Gives Your Life Meaning

Newsweek

The Psyche That Unites Americans Is Deeper Than the Politics Dividing Us | Opinion

Is College Making Young People Less Patriotic? Our Research Says Yes | Opinion

UBI is Not a Recipe for Long-Term Human Flourishing | Opinion

College Kids Don't Understand Socialism—or Capitalism. Our Research Proves It | Opinion

Discourse

Outward Action Is Good for Your Brain

High Anxiety, Low Abundance

Patriotism and Progress

Meaning and Markets

Nostalgia Can Be an Engine of Progress

National Affairs

The Spiritual Species

TED Ed: Lessons Worth SharingTED Ed: Lessons Worth Sharing

**AMERICA’S UNHEALTHY OBSESSION WITH MENTAL HEALTH**

**MEANING AND THE PSYCHOLOGY OF FREEDOM**

**HOW NOSTALGIA IS MAKING THE WORLD A BETTER PLACE — ONE MEMORY AT A TIME**

**TOWARD A HOLISTIC VIEW OF WELLBEING: OUTWARD, FUTURE, AND ACTION-ORIENTED**

Books

Available Now

From Sounds True
**Discover research and practices for mindfully using nostalgia to live a more intentional, connected, and meaningful life.**
In *Past Forward,* psychologist Clay Routledge presents a fascinating investigation into an emotion we all experience yet often misunderstand. As more than fifteen years of research reveals, nostalgia is more than rose-tinted sentiment or “living in the past”—it can also be a powerful resource for our well-being. Dr. Routledge uses the latest findings to illuminate the many ways that nostalgia can impact our lives, especially when we approach it with awareness and discernment. He offers a treasury of practices for harnessing nostalgia to boost your motivation; counteract loneliness; deepen healthy social connections; spark creativity; overcome stress, anxiety, and trauma; reveal your most enduring values; and much more.