Oldster Magazine

Oldster Magazine

Home
Questionnaires and Interviews
Personal Essays
Link Roundups
The Oldster Podcast
Bloggy Things
Ask The East Village Yenta
Archive
About

Ask a Sober Oldster Series

Ask a Sober Oldster #31: Sydney Lea
"I am 83 and if I don’t get drunk or otherwise wasted for the next few months, I will have been clean and sober for 26 years."
 • Sari Botton and The Small Bow
Ask a Sober Oldster #30: Tommy Swerdlow
"I used to be a bit of a cocky jerk and judgmental asshole, but there’s nothing like a twenty-year heroin habit to knock some of the snot nose out of…
 • Sari Botton and The Small Bow
Ask a Sober Oldster #29: Elizabeth Jannuzzi
"Being alive, that’s the best thing about being in recovery."
 • Sari Botton and The Small Bow
Ask a Sober Oldster #28: Carvell Wallace
"One of the best things about working on yourself is that you’re never going to be out of a job with that. I get to work on stuff for the rest of my…
 • Sari Botton and The Small Bow
Ask a Sober Oldster: Second-Year-Plus Highlight Reel
A look back at the latest in our "Sober Oldster" collaboration with The Small Bow. Here, tidbits from the most recent interviews in this popular monthly…
 • Sari Botton and The Small Bow
Ask a Sober Oldster #27: Elizabeth Gilbert
"I honestly cannot think of anything about being in recovery that is harder than not being in recovery."
 • Sari Botton and The Small Bow
Ask a Sober Oldster #26: Rhett Miller
"It’s hard feeling isolated in a roomful of partying people, and the hilarious thing is that that’s my job."
 • Sari Botton and The Small Bow
Ask a Sober Oldster #25: Rick Moody
"When I was active, any stiff breeze, any mild bit of reversal, was enough to send me down into the narcissistic ball of pain. Now, mostly, I am just…
 • Sari Botton and The Small Bow
Ask a Sober Oldster #24: Margaret Cho
"I was definitely born with the 'need.' That urge to put something between me and living."
 • Sari Botton and The Small Bow
Ask a Sober Oldster #23: Nadia Bolz-Weber
"Not only do I reliably know where I am when I wake up, I never wake up in pools of vodka vomit anymore. It’s so bad for your skin, you know…very…
 • Sari Botton and The Small Bow
Ask a Sober Oldster #22: Richard Rushfield
"Like so many, I grew up with broken tools for relating to others, and alcohol became the way I learned how to do that."
 • Sari Botton and The Small Bow
Ask a Sober Oldster #21: Laurie Woolever
"Since I got sober, I am somewhat slower to react to provocations and challenges; I have developed the capacity to take a breath instead of losing my…
 • Sari Botton and The Small Bow
© 2026 Sari Botton · Privacy ∙ Terms ∙ Collection notice
Start your SubstackGet the app
Substack is the home for great culture