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. 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! - Sari Botton
RIP Ruth Buzzi, a comedic genius best known for playing spinster-who-hit-people-with-her-handbag Gladys Ormphby, on Rowan & Martin’s Laugh-In. She was 88. - Mike Barnes in The Hollywood Reporter.
A podcast about early 90s comedy Northern Exposure hosted by Rob Morrow (“Fleischman”) and Janine Turner ('“O’Connell”)?? Sign me right up for Northern Disclosure, which launches Tuesday, May 20th.
Incidentally, I just learned you can stream Northern Exposure in its entirety on Amazon Prime. Twenty years ago, when Brian and I first moved to Rosendale, NY—a tiny river town that has a lot in common with the show’s fictional Sicily, Alaska—we rented disks of the show from the local library. In 2012, we dressed as O’Connell and Fleischman for Halloween.
Halloween 2012. Twenty-two years after Northern Exposure’s debut, no one at the party had any idea who we were dressed as, but we didn’t care. It took me a few episodes to get into it, and it’s corny in places, but by the end of The Four Seasons on Netflix, and was laughing and crying and didn’t want it to end.
Next time I’m in Manhattan I’m going to check out Ben Shahn, On Noncomformity at The Jewish Museum in Manhattan, on view from May 23rd through October 12th. (The painting up top, “Age of Anxiety,” top is by Shahn.)
Also on my list: Amy Sherald: American Sublime at The Whitney, on view through August 10th.
An Oldster essay by Michael A. Gonzales from around this time last year:
“Boss of the Carpenters” retires this weekend after 50 years building sets for SNL - Hanna Frishberg at Gothamist, on 87-year-old Stephen “Demo” DeMaria, who’s been building sets at Saturday Night Live since the show debuted in 1975.
Oldster Questionnaire-taker Joyce Wadler took my other questionnaire this week at Memoir Land. She writes about publishing her (somewhat) autobiographical Borscht Belt novel, The Satyr in Bungalo D.
“I Came to Study Aging. Now I’m Trapped in ICE Detention.” - Russian scientist Kseniia Petrova, as told to Alex Ellerbeck, in The New York Times/Opinion.
At 66, He’s Finally the Husband of My Dreams - Helen Schulman in The New York Times/Modern Love.
Hear Me Out… What If Gen Xers Are Actually The Cool Ones? - Daisy Jones in British Vogue.
Made for cool Gen Xers (and Xennials, and Millennials):
Flipping through this has been an antidote to existential dread. Order the book… Upstate people: This Saturday evening, 5/17 at 7pm, Brian Macaluso and I are opening for Seth Branitz at The Muse in Rosendale. First we’ll perform a few covers together (as “Loveypie”), but this is the big news: For the first time ever, Brian will then play the four songs from his first solo EP, Independence Day. Then Seth will play. It’s pay-what-you-can, with a suggested donation of $20, but no one will be turned away for paying less. Come out if you can…
Emma Gannon talks with Donna Lancaster about intergenerational friendships.
What is Perimenopause Really Like? - Oldster collaborator Claire Zulkey in Evil Witches Newsletter.
It took over two decades to get my painful periods diagnosed. - sam baker and Naga Munchetty talk about awful, painful adenomyosis—a diagnosis I share—on The Shift With Sam Baker.
In case you missed it, there’ve been a lot of great interviews in Oldster lately. For instance: Kevin Sessums’ inspiring Oldster Questionnaire and before that, another great Questionnaire from Maryjane Fahey; the second installment of Allyson McCabe’s “Late Nite Radio” interview series, with 75-year-old filmmaker/singer-songwriter Sally Potter; and my chat with Valerie Monroe about “How to Save Your Hide,” her skincare post from last Friday. I love how knowledgable Val is, and also how non-judgmental. (She told me I can keep using soap on my face!)
Speaking of the “Late Nite Radio” series, I recently added this to the interview with Suzanne Vega: Vega performing the original version of “Tom’s Diner” a capella:
How about you? Got any recs? Also: HOW ARE YOU? How are you holding up through this time? Have you tried singing your favorite songs at the top of your lungs several times a day? (←My primary hack for emotional survival right now. 🎤🎶)
Okay, I feel as if I’ve done my part to keep us all from doomscrolling too much over the weekend. If you like what you’re reading here, please hit the ❤️ button to give Oldster a boost in the algorithm.
Thanks as always for reading, for commenting thoughtfully, and for all your support! I absolutely couldn’t do this without you. 🙏 💝
-Sari
I whizzed through The Four Seasons and loved it; then rewatched the original Alan Alda film of it (which I hadn’t seen for many years) to compare and contrast. Also excellent, of course.
I’ve been watching Andor with my son (dubbed ‘Star Wars for grown-ups’), have to wait a couple of days before watching the final three, so avoiding spoilers. Little bit in love with Diego Luna!
"The Four Seasons" was one of those movies that was on cable when we got cable when I was 15 (1983). To me, it epitomized adulthood! (That and the New Yorker I bought at B. Dalton at the mall). This one being centered on Gen Xers really tickled me!