Gael Fashingbauer Cooper is a CNET editor whose career long ago settled into a keen love of pop culture and nostalgia. She co-authored two books that celebrate bygone eras: Whatever Happened to Pudding Pops? The Lost Toys, Tastes and Trends of the ’70s and ’80s, and The Totally Sweet ’90s, underscoring a talent for turning cultural memory into engaging storytelling.
A journalist since 1989, Cooper has built a versatile résumé that includes Mpls.St.Paul Magazine, Twin Cities Sidewalk, the Minneapolis Star Tribune, and NBC News Digital. Her work spans local and national platforms, always with a voice that reflects Gen X sensibilities and a curiosity for how past trends inform today’s media landscape.
Her professed fondness for retro culture is part of what makes her reporting distinctive. If Marathon candy bars ever make a comeback, she’s quick to joke that she’ll be first in line—a light-hearted nod to a nostalgia-forward streak that informs much of her writing.
Cooper’s career demonstrates how thoughtful nostalgia can illuminate contemporary media and technology topics. By weaving cultural touchstones with clear, accessible reporting, she helps readers connect with both history and current developments in a way that feels approachable and insightful. Her ongoing work at CNET offers a hopeful, grounded lens on how past trends continue to shape the digital world.