The Last Oldster Link Roundup of 2023
Santa dropped this down the chimney a few days early.
I tend to read, watch, and listen to an awful lot of Oldster-adjacent content. Every other Friday I’ll pass some of it along to you in a link roundup like this one.
PS This roundup will probably be too long and digitally dense to show up in full in your email. Click on the title to read the whole thing on the web.
PPS Now through 12/31/23 I’ve got a 10% off sale on paid subscriptions—which help me to pay contributors, and will give you access to the paywalled content that is coming soon…
RIP Andre Braugher, 61, a great actor whom I had the pleasure of interviewing in 1996, when he played the title role in Shakespeare’s Henry V in Central Park. - At NPR/Fresh Air, Terri Gross and David Bianculi remember him and his career.
“Then I was raised from the dead and enjoyed the party.” - Anthony Haden-Guest is alive and well, but in NYMag/Intelligencer, Alexis Swerdloff covers his “living funeral”—something a friend of mine participated in for herself, before she died of terminal cancer.
“Coming to auction is a clattering collection of machines once owned by the likes of Ernest Hemingway, Shirley Temple, Andy Rooney and … the Unabomber.” - When’s the last time you used an analog (or even electric) typewriter? I collected them for a while, thinking I’d write letters on them. But they were challenging to use and expensive to repair, so they just took up space and collected dust, and eventually I sold them—but not for the many thousands of dollars the ones David Waldstein writes about in the New York Times are going for. You can bid on these illustrious specimens at Heritage Auctions.
The guts of a typewriter I found on the street here in Kingston, NY. “Just last month, Mr. Herman, 95, the king of cozy couture, was moving the merch — velour loungewear — on QVC, where his creations have been a durable staple for 30 years, and where has he sold close to 900,000 units since 2017.” - in the New York Times, Joanne Kaufman profiles fashion designer Stan Herman on the occasion of his new memoir, Uncross Your Legs: A Life in Fashion.
“As I approached forty, I thought I might finally be able to accept the advice I often see on lists like these: ‘Forgive yourself.’ Maybe that will be on my 50 for 50 list.” - Sweetbitter author
on what turning 40 means to her.“If I reframed it as a cloak of invisibility I could do all sorts of things ‘inappropriate’ for my age. I refrained from robbing a bank (though fairly sure I could have got away with the loot), instead turning my attention to street art.” - street artist Deborah Wood in The Guardian.
“Now the questions for Winston’s caregivers resemble those that doctors and older human patients confront: How much treatment is too much? What is the trade-off between prolonged life and quality of life?” - in the New York Times, Paula Span writes about a dilemma veterinarians faced in treating a 51-year-old gorilla named “Winston.”
San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance “I Like it Here, area documentarian Ralph Arlyck's latest film, is a quietly moving meditation on mortality that manages, with artful elan…” - in Chronogram, Peter Aaron writes about filmmaker Ralph Arlyck’s latest film on aging and death, which should be coming to movie theaters soon, and which I got to see, and enjoyed.
“One person called out Chris Evans, 42, for marrying a ‘child bride’ (Alba Baptista is 26). When Florence Pugh was 24, she got so much pushback for her relationship with her then-boyfriend, Zach Braff, 45, that she addressed the criticism in multiple interviews and on Instagram.” - in NYMag/The Cut, Lila Shapiro writes, “The Age Gappers: They say they’re happy. Why is it so hard to believe them?”
“I Take Care of My Aging Parents. How Can I Recover Financially?” - also in NYMag/The Cut, Charlotte Cowles offers financial advice to a letter-writer.
Are you up-to-date on all the latest from Oldster Magazine? Questionnaires from Elizabeth Gilbert and Breena Clarke? The latest installment of
’s column? My interview with Melanie Mayron? ’s latest essay, “City of Stars”? The review of the first six “Ask a Sober Oldster” interviews?Waaaah. I’m sick with Covid. So are a lot of other people right now, according to Alexander Tin at CBS News/Healthwatch. I’m on day 10 and still testing positive. Be careful out there!
🚨It’s time for the monthly Oldster Top 10 by Modern Sounds radio host Cliff Chenfeld:
Welcome to the Oldster Top 10, where Modern Sounds radio host Cliff Chenfeld listens 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!
Ratboys – The Window –Poignant song from rising indie rock band from Chicago about the singer’s grandfather, who early in the Covid pandemic was unable to say goodbye to his ailing wife and could only see her through a nursing home window.
Sufjan Stevens - Will Anyone Ever Love Me – This veteran singer-songwriter has been making whispery, gentle music for a long time and seems as inspired as ever on this pristine new song.
Romy – She’s On My Mind – The xx have made some of the vibeist, grooviest music of the last 10 years and now Romy from The xx is back with a sleek solo record.
Indigo De Souza – Younger and Dumber – A note to her younger self, filled with nostalgia and introspection that builds to a powerful finish.
Victoria Monet – On My Mama – Grammy nominee for Record Of The Year is funky joy.
Baby Rose – Stop The Bleeding –Towering soul from new singer who channels a bit of Nina Simone.
Bully – Days Move Slow – Kick ass rock song that is the singer’s tribute to her recently deceased dog. It may be the best song about a dog since the Beatles’ “Martha My Dear.”
Natalia Lafourcade – Des Todas La Flores – Beautiful, warm tune from Grammy nominee for Best Latin Rock or Alternative album.
The Kills – New York – Veteran band returns with a big, lusty song about a lover that melds into the city.
Real Estate – Water Underground – Pure indie pop pleasure from reliable tunesmiths.
Not too shabby for a person who’s been sick for a week-and-a-half, if I do say so myself… Wishing a merry Christmas 🎄 to those who celebrate, and an easy time for those who find the holidays hard. Thanks, as always, for subscribing and reading and commenting. It means a lot to me. 🙏
-Sari
I have a friend who is one of those "on the street poets" - she'll write you a poem on demand (although she's usually at art events now more often than as a street performer) and she always does so on a typewriter. There's also a lovely bookstore in some small California town that I never remember the name of that has a public typewriter where you can write a letter and then they'll mail it for you.
Oh no, Sari. Fuck, fuck, fuck. When my about to turn 80 boyfriend came down with Covid, I proposed planning an eightieth birthday party and invited everyone in the world he had ever known and loved. Then we decided (against my dogged conviction that I wasn't ever getting married again), why don't we have a surprise marriage ceremony in front of all those witnesses. Happiness cured his Covid. Wish I could do that for you.