Maybe You Could Use a Good Link Roundup to Occupy You Right Now...
I mean, who couldn't? I've got you covered...
I tend to read, watch, and listen to an awful lot of Oldster-adjacent content. Now and then I’ll pass some of it along to you in a link roundup like this one.
In case you missed it, Pulitzer-winning journalist Jennifer senior mentions me and Oldster and the Oldster Magazine Questionnaire (!!!) in her smart article in The Atlantic about the gap between your chronological age and the age you think you are in you mind.
Brian Lehrer had Jennifer Senior on his WNYC show last week to talk about that Atlantic article where she mentions Oldster.
On the
podcast, Sole-Smith talks with RDN Debra Benfield about the intersection of ageism and anti-fat bias.“In the 1980s, I was a teenager, living in a crummy, downbeat New England town. All around me were the descendants of those who’d killed the witches—small-minded people who made their racism, their homophobia, their general lack of empathy known.” - in Harper’s Bazaar, Michelle Tea writes about being a goth and a mom.
You know that Oldster essay series, “Letter to My Younger Self”? (See essays so far by: Jay Blotcher, Sara Eckel, and Lani V. Cox.) Well, at Future Me, you can do the reverse: write a letter to your future self.
“Sydney’s remarkable, obsessive love didn’t feel eerie to me, it felt eerily familiar.” - speaking of our younger selves, Oldster Questionnaire taker
in my other magazine, Memoir Monday. Looking back at journal entries he wrote as a love-lorn closeted teen, Albo finds kinship with a needy AI chatbot. (Yes, I publish TWO magazines here on Substack, and yes, I’m EXHAUSTED 😵💫).I enjoyed Oldster contributor
’s interview with rock ‘n roll photographer Joel Bernstein about his work on Springsteen’s 1980 album, The River, and more.Remember when I asked you all in an open thread how you discover new music? Cliff Chenfeld is here to help with his radio show, Modern Sounds, part of the All Arts Radio Hour from WLIW, and NPR affiliate.
Gen Xers, check out
’s new series, “Gen X Approved The hottest tips & recommendations from your Gen-X sisters.”Somehow there are still both in-person and virtual tickets available for the live taping of
and Jennifer Romolini’s Everything is Fine podcast at Caveat in Manhattan on April 9th. I’ll be there. Who else is going? (In case you missed it this summer, I had the great thrill of being a guest on the show talking about Oldster and my book.)
“You want to know what a person in their 50s looked like 50 years ago? Try Walter Matthau in The Taking of Pelham 123. I’m not saying Matthau wasn’t a dreamboat. I’m saying he reflects a life well lived in the company of gravity and pastrami, with a bottle of sunscreen nowhere within reach. There are wrinkles on top of his wrinkles. There are the jowls and the puffy eyes I know so well from the mirror.” - in the New York Times, while contemplating Tom Cruise’s enduring youthfulness and visual appeal, Nathan Englander takes a moment to reflect on what actors in their 50s used to look like. (h/t
on Instagram.)My cousin Jennifer Masket-Valenta has launched The Breast Box for women undergoing mastectomies. "Breast Box Mastectomy Support is an organization based in Denver, Colorado that sends boxes filled with free surgery recovery items to people going through breast cancer, mastectomy, and/or reconstruction." Please consider supporting it with a donation, if you can.
Alright, that’s probably enough links to occupy you through the rest of the weekend! Have a good one…
-Sari
Congrats on the Atlantic shoutout!! Epic 🤘
Love the description of Walter Matthau in his 50s!