Jonathan Alter joins the exciting new world of newsletters with “OLD GOATS: Ruminating with Friends,” a weekly forum for tapping the wisdom and experience of older people who aren’t yet ready to be put out to pasture. A wide variety of guests discuss history, politics and culture in written, easy-to-scan form. Alter also periodically posts his own short takes on what’s going on in the world.
OLD GOATS began when Alter recalled his conversations with the great New York intellectual, Diana Trilling, who liked to say she believed in a “life of significant contention.” That doesn’t mean arguing, just talking about something important and compelling, not trivial and boring. The goal is to provide a forum for that—and to offer a little counter-programming to society’s constant focus on the new.
Alter and his friends talk about vivid life experiences and memorable mistakes—what they’ve learned over the years and what they still don’t understand.
The newsletter broadens the conversation to its readers, so members of “the OG Community” can exchange thoughts and ideas with Alter and with each other.
If OLD GOATS was an investment, it might be called a “wisdom play”–a chance to stumble on a few good stories and fresh insights that –with any luck– could help give all of us a little perspective on life.