What to Read, Watch, and Listen to...
...that's not THAT. A Friday Link Roundup for your sanity.
I tend to read, watch, and listen to a lot of Oldster-adjacent content. Every other Friday I’ll pass some of it along to you in a link roundup like this one.
While I have you…The advertiser- and venture-capital-funded approaches to media have failed and contributed to the demise of most legacy publications and outlets. Fortunately, the reader-supported approach is working. Support with your dollars the publications you’d like to see survive. Your paid subscriptions help me to keep publishing Oldster Magazine, and to pay contributors. They are greatly appreciated!
And through March, I’m offering 20% off subscriptions, so now is a great time to hop aboard.
RIP singer Roberta Flack, who died last month at 88 (David Browne and Jon Blistein at Rolling Stone), actor Gene Hackman, who died last week at 95, mysteriously along with his 65-year-old wife, Betsy Arakawa, and one of their dogs (Alek Arend at Yahoo! News), and New York Doll David Johansen/Buster Poindexter who died earlier this week at 75 (
at ).
Roberta Flack, Gene Hackman, and David Johansen. Getty Images Roberta Flack’s 11 Essential Songs - Ben Sisario at The New York Times.
David Johansen: 15 Essential Songs - Rob Tannenbaum at The New York Times.
7 Classic Gene Hackman Movies You Should Go Watch Right Now - Ethan Gach,
Carolyn Petit, and Zack Zwiezen at Kotaku.
I’m excited for makeup artist Bobbi Brown’s new YouTube talk show, I Am Me. Here she interviews Gloria Steinem:
Psychological Thrillers Are Finally Giving Middled-Aged Women Their Due - Cate Ray at CrimeReads. (h/t
)“She was the first Black woman to publicly address other women, using essays and lectures in the 1830s to champion their rights and challenge oppression.” - In The New York Times’ “Overlooked No More” obituary series, Annik LaFarge writes, “Maria W. Stewart, Trailblazing Voice for Black Women”
“Two Carnivores Walk Into a Vegan Sichuan Joint” - in NYMag/Grub Street, Mickey Boardman writes about a night out with style icon Lynn Yaeger and equally iconic nightlife journalist/Oldster contributor
.
“4 Yoga Poses for Older Women That Are No Pain and Much Gain” - Julie Blamphin at The Ethel/AARP.
“The author made a few bucks donating sperm back in the day. Thirty years later, there was a phone call. Then another one.” - at Esquire, Scott Raab writes, “What Happens When You Suddenly Have a New Family at 71?”
“‘The essential ingredient is openness’: Curtis Sittenfeld on the deep joy of midlife friendship.” - The Guardian. I’m looking forward to reading Sittenfeld’s new short story collection, Show Don’t Tell.
“Psst: Gen-X and young Boomers, go get your measles booster ASAP” -
in . (I think I’m covered…? When there was a Measles outbreak at my college in 1987, we all got re-vaccinated.)Don’t forget to keep making your voice heard by contacting your reps. I use the “5 Calls” app.
I can’t wait for the 2025 edition of Martha Frankel’s annual Woodstock Bookfest, April 3-6. That Sunday, April 6th at 11:30am I’ll be moderating a panel called “On Permission: Daring to Tell,” inspired by Elissa Altman’s wonderful forthcoming book, Permission: The New Memoirist and the Courage to Create. Participating will be Altman; Hyeseung Song, author of Docile: Memoirs of a Not-So-Perfect Asian Girl; and Jonathan Lerner, author of Performance Anxiety: The Headlong Adolescence of a Mid-Century Kid.
Left: the Woodstock bookfest logo; Right: Clockwise from top left: Elissa Altman, me, Hyeseung Song, and Jonathan Lerner. My Woodstock Bookfest panel, “On Permission: Daring to Tell”, is sponsored by Michelle Redo’s Daring to Tell podcast. Recently I had the pleasure of talking with Redo, and sharing a chapter from the audio version of my memoir, And You May Find Yourself…:
“When Older Renters Become First-Time Buyers” - Joanne Kaufman in The New York Times.
Apropos of…something…as you might have gleaned from my Free to Be…You and Me Post last week: If empathy is wrong, I don’t want to be right. (It was a popular post, in case you missed it):
And did you catch my interview with Oldster Questionnaire-taker
? I’ll be doing more of these live interviews, about every other week…
Okay, I’ve emptied the Oldster Magazine Link Repository on this one. Hope it helps keep you mentally occupied in between doses of appalling/terrifying news.
Thanks so much for reading, and all your support! I couldn’t do this without you all. 🙏💝
-Sari
Don’t forget the legend, Roy Ayers 🕊️
I'm so here for middle aged woman crime solving 💕