💬 [B]old People: What are you doing to escape the news?

Here's what I'm reading/watching/listening to. What about you?

If you're following the news, you know it's been a Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Week. The stock market is plummeting, the dizzying trade tariffs are on again / off again, the world order is shifting and unstable, and the nonsensical chaos created by Trumpty-Dumpty continues. So I ditched the introspective discussion post originally queued up for this week. I couldn’t bring myself to stir up any more anxieties, yours or mine; as soon as I start thinking too deeply, my brain runs off the rails.

Before we get into this week's discussion question, I want to share a bit of good news! The legendary Judith Viorst, author of the bestselling children's book Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day, is my next [B]old Woman Q&A. She is 94 and just published a new memoir! Stay tuned for this one; I know you'll love it. Update: here’s the Q&A with Judith:

Judith Viorst, 94, doesn’t want to flunk old age

Judith Viorst’s beloved children’s book, first published in 1987 and based on her three real-life sons, has sold four million copies.

What are you doing to escape the news?

I'll go first! Here's everything I'm reading, watching, and listening to right now:

Reading

Getting lost in a good book is my go-to activity to block out everything; that includes my To Do list as well as the destabilization of the global order. If I’m really in avoidance mode, I read in my favorite chair in my favorite sunny spot in the middle of the day, feeling enormously guilty but doing it anyway. Why the guilt, for heaven’s sake! I’m 73 and semi-retired, I should be allowed to read in the middle of the day! But that’s just me, always feeling pressure to be more productive.

I read both “high-brow” literary fiction and popular fiction, meaning it’s considered “low-brow” because it’s more plot-driven. (As long as it’s well-written, I don’t care which it is.) So far this year I’ve loved Jakob Kerr’s Dead Money and Curtis Sittenfeld’s new book of short stories, Show Don’t Tell. I look for new titles in several places, including the NYT Book Review, The Guardian, People¹, and recs from my elder daughter, who is a voracious reader.

I’m also drawn to nonfiction thrillers. I just finished Careless People by former Meta executive Sarah Wynn-Williams, about Facebook’s lies, deceit, and unethical business practices. Wynn-Williams, Facebook’s former Director of Global Strategy, recounts blow-by-blow, thriller style, what she learned and what she encountered during her tenure as one of the top execs. The tech wizards inside the company tweak algorithms to spread misinformation and manipulate elections (Trump, in 2016); company leaders collaborated with the Chinese government to gain entry into that country; and, of course, Facebook deliberately fails to protect our personal data (to read this explicitly detailed is hair-raising). Even more disturbing are her accounts of sexual harassment and misogyny inside the company; COO Sheryl Sandberg was part of this.

Not surprisingly, at least one former Facebook employee is publicly disputing² Sarah’s version of what went on; and in a final irony, Facebook/Meta itself has filed an injunction³ to prohibit Wynn-Williams from promoting or discussing her book publicly. I’m drawn to this kind of insider stuff about the tech industry, a culture I’ve followed closely for over 25 years, and which I was part of in the early aughts. Twenty years ago I yearned to be part of it; more recently, I feel disgust.

I’m just starting Chimamanda Ngozi Adichi’s new book, Dream Count; I loooved her last book, Americanah, published over a decade ago. Has anyone read this one yet? How did you like it?

Watching

This week, my husband,

Sam Harrington

, and I finished Season 3 of The White Lotus, of course, but like a lot of people I was disappointed by the ending. It didn’t feel as if all the pieces of the story fell into place. Creator Mike White is oh so clever but he didn’t quite nail it. Never mind, it’s a perfect diversion, especially if you like drooling over a luxury resort in beautiful Thailand.

We both loved Adolescence, the four-part Netflix crime series, filmed in Yorkshire in northern England, about a 13-year-old boy who is arrested after the murder of a girl at his school. This is a must-watch; it’s brilliantly filmed and acted (each episode was shot in one take), and unfurls the real issues at stake aside from murder: the pernicious influence of social media, the online “manosphere,” toxic masculinity, misogyny. Riveting.

We’re currently watching Bosch: Legacy, the final season of the tightly-scripted police procedural based on Michael Connolly’s books and starring Hieronymous (Harry) Bosch, a former LAPD detective, now a private investigator. I get so into the characters in these series that I climb into bed peppering Sam with questions about who said what and why… and in the case of Adolescence, what really happened. (You’ll have to watch it!)

Listening

I regularly listen to the New York Times’ The Daily (about headline issues) and The Ezra Klein Show (to understand tariffs and trade deficits, etc.). I know, I know… I should branch out from the NYT, so I look forward to your suggestions. As with well-written books, and having had a podcast⁴ myself for five years, I like tightly-edited shows—and the NYT does this reliably.

My husband Sam briefly appears in a new podcast series, The Redefector, telling the extraordinary true story of a high-ranking KGB officer, Vitaly Yurchenko, who defected to the U.S. in 1985; ninety days later, he disappeared from the supposedly watchful eyes of the CIA, and redefected back to Russia.

The Redefector is a new podcast documentary series produced by the brilliant Julie Kohn.

Sam, now a retired gastroenterologist, was asked to examine Yurchenko for his purported stomach troubles, during the weeks the spy was stashed away in a safe house near DC. In Episode 4 of the podcast is Sam’s very funny retelling⁵ of the “special” patient’s visit to his medical office. The guy had on an obvious wig, Sam says, and a make-up disguise that looked like Dutch Boy paint. Oh, and there was nothing wrong with him; he is still alive and living in Moscow!

That’s it from me. Your turn!

MY QUESTIONS FOR YOU:

• What are you reading, listening to, watching for diversion these days?
  

• What other activities do you engage in to stay sane in this uncertain time?

1. People’s picks are surprisingly well chosen.

2. Careless People is Careless by Katie Harbath

3. Former Meta executive barred from discussing criticism of the company (NPR, March 14, 2025)

4. [B]old Age podcast, 2019 - 2024.

5. In Episode 4, start at about 30 minutes to hear Sam.