meta_pixel
Tapesearch Logo
Log in
Consider This from NPR

Anne Lamott has some ideas on getting older in the United States

Consider This from NPR

NPR

Society & Culture, Daily News, News, News Commentary

4.26.2K Ratings

🗓️ 12 September 2024

⏱️ 12 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Getting older has been a punchline for as long as anyone can remember. And while there are plenty of jokes to be made about aging, it can also have some negative implications for how we see ourselves and others.

For writer Anne Lamott, aging has been a challenge, and a gift. "There is grace in not being able to see everything so clearly with all of its faults and annoying tendencies."

Lamott has been reflecting on growing older in her latest column for the Washington Post, and shares some of those insights with Consider This host Mary Louise Kelly.

For sponsor-free episodes of Consider This, sign up for Consider This+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org.

Email us at considerthis@npr.org.

See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.

NPR Privacy Policy

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0

The last birthday cake I couldn't blow up the candles that he drove me back.

0:04.4

Getting older has been a punchline for as long as anyone can remember from Rodney Dangerfield to Phyllis Diller.

0:11.3

You know you're old when your walker has an airbag.

0:14.0

And when you can remember when fast food meant you ran over a chicken.

0:21.0

From Patton Oswald. I broke my foot it was it took two it

0:26.8

happened in two parts the second part was I slipped off a curb and I landed

0:32.4

wrong that was the second part. The first and most

0:35.1

important part was I turned 53. That is the crucial part. I you turn once you get past 50 everything's fatal to one to six. If I go

0:47.4

four days without tweezer

0:50.8

I could have a nice situation going on right here.

0:57.0

The other day I pulled the hair out of my neck that was so long. I thought my neck was growing dangs.

1:07.0

I was like, what?

1:08.0

Those are the humorous takes on aging, but it is not all fun and games.

1:13.7

Unfortunately there still is quite a bit of age

1:15.7

and that we need to navigate in everyday life

1:17.8

that we see on television and magazines

1:20.2

and advertisements social media.

1:21.8

Becca Levy, professor and researcher at the Yale School of Public Health.

1:26.4

She studies the psychology of aging.

1:28.9

Levy encourages older adults to keep in mind how they are affected by stereotypes and age bias.

1:36.3

It impacts everybody so we all are aging and we all have loved ones who are aging and so I think it's very much part of everybody's existence.

1:47.0

Consider this.

...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from NPR, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of NPR and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.

Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.