Hot Stuff
Some Oldster-adjacent content to take you through the weekend and beyond. PLUS: "The Oldster Top 10," Cliff Chenfeld's monthly playlist of new songs for old ears.
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. If you like what you’re reading here, please hit the ❤️ button to give Oldster a boost in the algorithm.
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. They got all of us accustomed to never paying for content we consume, while deep-pocketed corporations and investors bought the power to determine what was presented to us. It turned out that wasn’t sustainable. Fortunately, the reader-supported approach is working. Support with your dollars the publications you’d like to see survive.
Your paid subscriptions help me keep publishing Oldster Magazine, and paying contributors. Your support is greatly appreciated!
Now’s an especially good time to become a paid subscriber because on my 60th birthday in October, I’ll be raising my rates from the current price of $6/month and $55/year to $7/month and $60/year. (Still a pretty great deal, if you ask me!)
RIP: 1. Ozzy Osbourne, Black Sabbath singer and godfather of heavy metal, dead at 76 - Hillary Clarke at CNN; 2. Remembering actor Malcolm-Jamal Warner, who has died at age 54. The actor was best known for playing Theo Huxtable on The Cosby Show. - Aisha Harris and Steve Inskeep at NPR; 3. Andrea Gibson, poetic explorer of life, death and identity, dies at 49. - Hanna Schoenbaum and Hillel Italie at the Associated Press, via PBS.
Left to right: Ozzy Osbourne, Malcolm Jamal-Warner, and Andrea Gibson. Getty Images. The Osbournes rocked so the Kardashians could keep up. - Ashley Lee at NBC.
Why Malcolm-Jamal Warner’s death has hit the Black community so deeply. - Lisa Respers France at CNN.
The Poet Who Advocated Radical Tenderness - Amber Tamblyn in The New York Times.
I didn’t know Andrea Gibson personally, but I became an instant fan of their work after Elizabeth Gilbert invited me to contribute to her series Letters From Love with Elizabeth Gilbert, and she sent Andrea’s moving letter as an example.
I absolutely LOVED Part I of And So It Goes, the Billy Joel documentary on HBO/Max, and can’t wait to see Part II, which drops today.
I cracked up when I learned about one of Billy Joel’s first bands: a hard rock group called Attila. I mean…the outfits, the carcasses:
Last weekend I got to see Rosanne CASH perform here in Kingston, N.Y. at a great new/old venue called Assembly. (Old because it’s in the assembly room of a former Catholic school.) If you can catch her on her current tour, running through early October, I highly recommend it.
A song I love from Rosanne Cash’s 2014 album The River & The Thread. ^^^
What Sunday music sessions with nonagenarians taught Lauren Aliza about cherishing ordinary moments. - Lauren Aliza at Beyond.
Judas Priest, Rick Springfield, John Oates and Bob Geldof reflect on 40 years of Live Aid - Maria Sherman in the Associated Press. (Reminds me I want to watch CNN’s Live Aid documentary.)
Why Mr. Bauer Didn’t Like Me - Blaise Allysen Kearsley in Memoir Land.
I need to get my hands on the book everyone in my field is talking about, Empire of the Elite: Inside Condé Nast, the Media Dynasty That Reshaped America, by Michael Gyrnbaum.
Christine Baranski Fears a New York City Death—But she hopes to play Lawrence of Arabia before that happens. - In Vulture/NYMag, the prolific actress—currently starring in The Gilded Age—takes The Maria Bamford Questionnaire.
The Grody-Patinkin Family Is a Mess. People Love It. - in The New York Times, David Marchese talks with Mandy Patinkin and Kathryn Grody about their viral videos, their upcoming podcast, the TV series they’re shopping, and more. (In this video below Patinkin says he’s doing the interview so that he can get onto the cover of AARP. I hope that in the meantime, an Oldster link roundup will do!)
Your Hip Surgery, My Headache - In The New Yorker, David Sedaris writes about enduring…his partner Hugh’s surgery and its aftermath.
What Happened to the Idea of “Middle Age”? It now seems to run from 35 to the year before you die. At 74, I’m okay with that. - Oldster Magazine collaborator Valerie Monroe in Allure.
Val’s piece brought to mind this Oldster open thread from about two years ago:
The Final Lap, or What it’s Like to be 89 - recent Oldster Questionnaire-taker and newly minted nonagenarian Lloyd Kahn.
Let's talk about women's libido and atrophy - sam baker at The Shift With Sam Baker
The Pandemic Aged Everyone’s Brain—Even in Healthy People - Gemma Conroy at Scientific American/Nature.
“Learning I was HIV-positive 37 years ago changed everything. But lying to the man who I’d trusted turned out to be my biggest act of compassion.” - at The Queer Love Project, Timothy Hedden writes “My Life Sentence.”
Happy 99th birthday to Richard Grayson’s dad, subject of his 2022 Oldster essay:
Grayson’s essay had been inspired by this exellent one by Elissa Altman:
“As I watch my mom's mind give way to Alzheimer's, I've started writing letters to my future self. Scientists say it could reduce my risk of dementia by half.” - at Good Housekeeping, Mae Hanna writes “Dementia Cases Are Rising in the U.S. — This Simple Act Could Be One Way to Reduce Your Risk”
Sandra Oh Knows What’s Great About Middle Age - Lulu Garcia-Navarro in The New York Times.
I’m so excited that director, producer, and writer extraordinaire Ava DuVernay will be joining me on my “show,” The Oldster Magazine Questionnaire Live, on Tuesday, August 5th at 12:30pm ET/9:30am PT. Tune in!
Yesterday for the first time I used the chat function in the Substack app, and I’ll probably start using it more. It’s for paid subscribers exclusively. I broached a Very Important Topic: What’s the Worst Show Tune (or Any Kind of Tune) Ever Written? (The correct answer, of course: “This Was a Real Nice Clambake” from Carousel.)
How about you? Got any recs? Books? Shows? Movies? Music? Plays? Podcasts? Art shows? Places to travel to? Restaurants? Remedies? What’s good?
🚨And now it’s time to put some new music into old ears. 👂 Here’s the monthly Oldster Top 10 by Modern Sounds radio host Cliff Chenfeld: (PS Last August, at Oldster’s 3rd birthday party I played the Modern Sounds playlist and everyone loved it. Several guests asked me to share the Spotify link.)
Welcome to the Oldster Top 10, where we listen to hundreds of new songs each month to find some wonderful new tracks from noteworthy artists who may not have caught your attention. It’s hard to find the great new music amongst the tonnage, but we are here to make music discovery much easier for you. You can find all of these songs on the Modern Sounds playlist on Spotify. Enjoy!
Jensen McRae – Massachusetts – Time moves so quickly that we now have a new generation of singer-songwriters who see Taylor Swift’s more indie albums as formative influences. Jensen is in that camp and covers contemporary topics with a bit of a throwback sound.
Alex G – Afterlife – Alex G toggles between beautiful acoustic bliss and noisy rock, much like Neil Young, and he is in a sweet, mellow mode here.
Bruce Springsteen – Sunday Love – Bruce released 7 previously unreleased albums in one drop last month and many are finding it too unwieldy to explore. Located amongst the overflow is a beautiful album, “Twilight Hours,” which features romantic new songs in the Sinatra mode, including this beauty.
Mt. Joy – Coyote – Festival headlining Americana-ish band branches out with a (slightly) louder and edgier song.
Mark Ronson/Raye – Suzanne – Raye is one of the most special and talented artists to emerge in recent years (check her out on her own) and she is having a blast here with legendary producer Ronson.
Tanner Usrey – These Days – Male singer songwriters with who straddle the lines between country, Americana and roots rock are blowing up and this guy may be the next one to break.
Above and Beyond – Quicksand (Don’t Go) – Shimmering beautiful electronica from veteran European DJs
Annahstasia – Believer – 6 minutes of building intensity and longing from this folk-soul artist who makes you believe every word and note.
Sasami w/Clario – In Love With A Memory – Evocative, nostalgic, layered tune from the very versatile Sasami and Clairo, whose quiet, lovely solo songs are a treat.
Chaparelle, Zella Day, Jesse Woods – Inside The Lines – Fun throwback duet that might remind you of Lee Hazelwood and Nancy Sinatra, if you can remember that long ago…
Sooooo much good stuff to read, watch, and listen to this weekend. If you like what you’re reading here, please hit the ❤️ button to give Oldster a boost in the algorithm.
I’ve got a full slate of great new pieces for you next week, too. (And the week after that, and…) Thanks as always for reading, for commenting thoughtfully, and for all your support! I really couldn’t do this without you. 🙏 💝
-Sari
What a week for gen x :( and elder millennials :(
Now I have my weekend's reading all lined up. Wow. Thanks, Sari!