Lessons from an Old Man in a Black Bathing Suit

"as if living to ninety were primarily the result of hard work or prayer..."

This week's New Yorker has a meditation on longevity by Michael Kinsley ’72, J.D. ’78. Kinsley wonders why society confers respect, and even bragging rights, on those who live to be very old, "as if living to ninety were primarily the result of hard work or prayer, rather than good genes and never getting run over by a truck." Read the piece—teasingly titled "Mine Is Longer Than Yours"—here.

Related topics

You might also like

The Harvard-Radcliffe Collegium Musicum reunites for a 50th anniversary tour around France.

He was Harvard’s quintessential people person.

The former economics concentrator brings his talent for crunching numbers to netminding.

Most popular

In her memoir All That's Unseen, Emilee Hackney explores religion, friendship, and home.

College staff whose jobs will be changed or eliminated were notified this week.

The planned opening of the Goel Center in Allston for performances will be in spring of 2027.

Explore More From Current Issue

Singer performing on stage with a guitar, wearing a hat, and surrounded by band instruments.

Singer Elisa Smith’s whiskey-soaked voice and subversive feminism is part of the genre’s urban shift.

Star-filled night sky with the Milky Way arching over a rocky silhouette.

There’s a growing movement to curb light pollution. It starts on your front porch.

Katie O’Dair in academic regalia holds a ceremonial staff outdoors at a graduation ceremony.

How Katie O’Dair makes kings, comedians, and parents feel welcome on campus.