So Your Parents Are Old

If you’ve ever felt like you spend more time buried in paperwork than with your loved one, you probably do—and it’s exhausting. Caregiving expert Pamela Wilson walks Vanessa through the practical legal and financial steps every family caregiver should know. For more from Pamela, you can check out her website or pick up a copy of The Caregiving Trap: Solutions for Life’s Unexpected Changes. To connect with the team and gain access to behind the scenes content, join our community at joincampside.com⁠. You can also find us on ⁠Instagram⁠, ⁠TikTok⁠ & ⁠Youtube⁠. If you have questions you want Vanessa to try to answer, or just want to tell us what you think of the show, email us at parents@campsidemedia.com. Can't wait to hear from you! Our production team is Shoshi Shmuluvitz, managing producer and editor; Lily Houston Smith, senior producer; Ashley Warren, production manager; Yi-Wen Lai-Tremewan, studio recordist; and music by Mark McAdam and Amber Devereux. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Producer Shoshi Shmuluvitz turns the mic on Vanessa to unpack the personal story behind So Your Parents Are Old—and to talk about what it’s been like turning the messiest chapter of life into a podcast. To connect with the team and gain access to behind the scenes content, join our community at joincampside.com⁠. You can also find us on ⁠Instagram⁠, ⁠TikTok⁠ & ⁠Youtube⁠. If you have questions you want Vanessa to try to answer, or just want to tell us what you think of the show, email us at parents@campsidemedia.com. Can't wait to hear from you! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Vanessa is joined by Barry Rothbart, whose relationship with his father was fraught for many years. What do you do when your dad is both as bad as he seems, and worse—and you love him anyway? For more from Barry, listen to Searching for Allan Rothbart. To connect with the team and gain access to behind the scenes content, join our community at joincampside.com⁠. You can also find us on ⁠Instagram⁠, ⁠TikTok⁠ & ⁠Youtube⁠. If you have questions you want Vanessa to try to answer, or just want to tell us what you think of the show, email us at parents@campsidemedia.com. Can't wait to hear from you! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Economist Corinne Low maps the math of women’s time to understand why “having it all” isn’t really possible, especially when aging parents enter the equation. She gives practical advice on how to buy back time, outsource guilt-free, and make choices your future self will thank you for.  Read Corinne's bestselling book, Having It All: What Data Tells Us About Women's Lives and Getting the Most Out of Yours.  To connect with the team and gain access to behind the scenes content, join our community at joincampside.com⁠. You can also find us on ⁠Instagram⁠, ⁠TikTok⁠ & ⁠Youtube⁠. If you have questions you want Vanessa to try to answer, or just want to tell us what you think of the show, email us at parents@campsidemedia.com. Can't wait to hear from you! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this engaging conversation, comedian and author Roy Wood Jr. shares insights from his memoir, The Man of Many Fathers. He reflects on losing his father at 16 and the impact of various father figures in his life. Roy discusses his writing process, emphasizing emotional honesty and the lesson-driven structure of each chapter. He contrasts grief with humor, aiming to balance the two while protecting family privacy. Ultimately, he reveals how writing his story served as a personal journey of healing, both for himself and for his son.

Journalist and author Alissa Quart joins Vanessa to talk about how to turn a parent’s art into a living legacy while navigating the impossible “third shift” of caregiving. They also zoom out to discuss the economics of aging in America and what it’s like to live in an “anti-compassion time.” Read Alissa’s books Bootstrapped: Liberating Ourselves from the American Dream and Squeezed: Why Our Families Can't Afford America. You can also check out her NY Times Op-Ed, My Mother, the Artist, Discovered at 90, her most recent Guardian article, or see some of her mother’s art @barbaraquartpainter or in this photo inventory. Learn more about the Economic Hardship Reporting Project, or send them a pitch.  To connect with the team and gain access to behind the scenes content, join our community at joincampside.com⁠. You can also find us on ⁠Instagram⁠, ⁠TikTok⁠ & ⁠Youtube⁠. If you have questions you want Vanessa to try to answer, or just want to tell us what you think of the show, email us at parents@campsidemedia.com. Can't wait to hear from you! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Collin Moulton’s parents hadn’t spoken in decades—until their failing health forced a reunion no sitcom could script. The comedian joins Vanessa to talk about the chaotic final years of his parents’ lives and what it means to truly grow up when your parents are old. Follow Collin on Instagram to find Collin’s tour dates. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Journalist and former CNN anchor Amara Walker opens up about her mother’s Alzheimer’s—how she found support in community, how she talks to her children about their grandmother’s illness, and how she arrived at the difficult decision to move her mother to a nursing home. Find out more about the Alzheimer’s Association on their website.  The book Vanessa read to her son is called Nana Nana by Nate Bertone and illustrated by James Claridades. To connect with the team and gain access to behind the scenes content, join our community at joincampside.com⁠. You can also find us on ⁠Instagram⁠, ⁠TikTok⁠ & ⁠Youtube⁠. If you have questions you want Vanessa to try to answer, or just want to tell us what you think of the show, email us at parents@campsidemedia.com. Can't wait to hear from you! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Comedian Kathleen Madigan has turned the trials of caring for her parents into some of her sharpest material. She joins Vanessa to commiserate about Medicare and creepy porcelain basement dolls—and to show how humor can help you through the hardest moments. Hear more from Kathleen on Madigan's Pubcast, and find tour dates on her website. Her new special, The Family Thread is available on November 21. To connect with the team and gain access to behind the scenes content, join our community at joincampside.com You can also find us on ⁠Instagram⁠, ⁠TikTok⁠ & ⁠Youtube⁠. If you have questions you want Vanessa to try to answer, or just want to tell us what you think of the show, email us at parents@campsidemedia.com. Can't wait to hear from you! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Actress Erika Christensen joins Vanessa to talk about her new film After All, where she plays a daughter caring for her ill mother. Together, they explore the unexpected intimacy of birth, death, and everything in between. To connect with the team and gain access to behind the scenes content, join our community at joinparents.com You can also find us on ⁠Instagram⁠, ⁠TikTok⁠ & ⁠Youtube⁠. If you have questions you want Vanessa to try to answer, or just want to tell us what you think of the show, email us at parents@campsidemedia.com. Can't wait to hear from you! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices