Postcard from the Road
A little link round-up, posted just before I board a plane...
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.
P.S. I had planned an open thread for today, but I’m traveling, and won’t have time to respond to comments.
P.P.S. A reminder that I have a 10% off sale on subscriptions running now through Oldster’s second birthday on August 31st. After that, prices go up, slightly…
50 years ago today, Hip-Hop was born. At the New York Times, Wesley Morris writes “How Hip-Hop Conquered the World.” Later this month, we’ll publish a piece about it by Oldster contributor—and one time regular contributor to The Source—
.The Sugar Hill Gang didn’t start Hip-Hop, but it’s a good time time to listen to their 1979 hit, “Rapper’s Delight” (Is there ever a bad time for it? No.):
RIP Robbie Robertson, primary songwriter and guitarist for seminal Americana act, The Band, who died at 80 this week. - via Chris Morris at Variety.
At the Associated Press, Scott Bauer recommends honoring Robertson’s memory by watching The Last Waltz, Martin Scorcese’s 1978 documentary about The Band’s 1976 farewell concert.
- in Harper’s Bazaar, on the history, and beauty, of drag.
More essential reading from Chee, on his own experience dressing in drag: his 2015 essay, “Girl,” published in Guernica and featured in The Best American Essays.
August is many things, but apparently it is also “Make a Will Month,” as the folks at FreeWill.com keep reminding me. (Maybe my husband and I will finally do this…)
Had a nice chat about all things Gen X with
on his podcast, .At AARP’s The Arrow, Tod Goldberg gives us “The 75 Essential Books for Gen Xers.”
“When I am an old woman I shall wear purple
writes an ode to in her newsletter, . Here’s the late poet reading the piece:
With a red hat which doesn’t go, and doesn’t suit me…” - So begins Jenny Joseph’s 1961 poem, “Warning,” which“In March of 1953, my grandparents took Adele, all of 21 months, to Willowbrook State School. It would be many years before I learned exactly what that name meant, years before I learned what kind of gothic mansion of horrors it was. And my mother, who didn’t know how to explain what on earth had happened, began telling people that she was an only child.” - in The Atlantic, Jennifer Senior writes a moving essay about the many developmentally disabled children who in the past were often automatically institutionalized, “The Ones We Sent Away.”
“…the KlimaSeniorinnen Schweiz, a group of about 2,400 Swiss women aged 64 and over, say they have a common fear: soaring temperatures and heat waves that are threatening them with health ailments in their final decades.” - a group of older women has sued the Swiss government, accusing it of “violating their fundamental rights by not doing enough to protect them from the effects of climate change.” At the New York Times, Isabella Kwai reports.
“I take one day at a time. I used to plan every day. Now, I just say one day at a time — and maybe have some peppermint ice cream.” - in the Chicago Sun Times, a profile of 99-year-old legendary children’s musician Ella Jenkins by Mitch Dudek.
I’m taking a podcasting tutorial from my former boss, Longreads founder and Ursa Story producer, Mark Armstrong. (My aim: to eventually create a real Oldster podcast.) In the process he interviewed me about what I’ve learned over almost two years editing Oldster Magazine, and made me some fun reels to share with you. Like this one:
It’s been an even more action-packed week than usual here at Oldster Magazine dot com (yes, I bought that URL, so you can get to the magazine that way, too). Did you read
’s latest piece, “Expectation?”… How about my interview with ’s about her beautiful new illustrated book, How to Say Goodbye?… The Oldster Magazine Questionnaire™ from writer ?… The latest installment of ’s monthly column on Sex and the City reboot, And Just Like That?
And now I’m literally off to catch a flight to see family in the Bay Area. Have a great weekend everyone!
- Sari
Another great roundup. And yes, get the will! You will rest easier afterward.
Hope that you have a wonderful trip. :).