And finally, we hit the North with Richard's look at a TV commercial for Granada television rentals that illuminates patterns of postwar British media, consumerism, and class on the cusp of Thatcherism:

Next up, Kelly breaks down those omnipresent 1980s TV commercials for L. Ron Hubbard's Dianetics and unwinds the intertwined histories of the Church of Scientology and Reagan's America:

Big week at We Are the Mutants! First up, Mike takes a trip back to the halcyon days of Christmas Wish Book bounty, when Sears and TSR, Inc. bestrode the American midwest like colossi:

NEW Today! "As unlikely as it seems from the perspective of 2026... long into the 1980s the vast majority of British households did not own the TV sets in their homes."

Kelly really goes above and beyond this week looking at how the omnipresent 1980s Dianetics TV commercials fit *perfectly* into Ronald Reagan's America full of anti-intellectualism, mental health denialism, and the logics of a brutally-enforced austerity-based individualist "self-help." A must-read.

"Anyone who was watching TV in the late 1980s remembers the commercial: probing personal questions appear in white text on a black screen as a Tangerine Dream-esque synth riff pulsates in the background..."

ICYMI: A trip back to the early-'80s wonderland of the Sears Wish Book: rec rooms, handheld electronic games, and disco pinball!

NEW today! Mike pores through the 1981 Sears Wish Book: Dungeons & Dragons, goldenrod kitchens, disco tables, air hockey, and Merlin: The Electronic Wizard!

In case you missed it... we turned 10! Thanks to everyone who's ever spread the word or shared an article!

We Are the Mutants is 10 years old! Thanks to all our readers, contributors, supporters, and everyone who's come with us on this decade-long journey!