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Harrison Ford (83) and Lukita Maxwell (23), in Apple TV’s Shrinking
There’s a cogen revolution in the air – or more accurately, on it.
Television, film, music are all telling a new story not just about aging, but about generational relations in a time of age diversity. Tune into any award show, and you’ll witness front-and-center tales of cogeneration – older and younger people coming together for mutual benefit, meaningful friendship and co-creation.
Here are my three favorites of the past month.
Music: I recently went to see 2025 Grammy winner Ruthie Foster, 61, who won Best Blues Album for Mileage. The album is a collaboration with two musicians half her age: Tyler Bryant and his wife Rebecca Lovell. Check out their version of the song “Mileage,” recorded at Sun Records in Memphis. It is a beautiful testimonial to the power of experience.
Film: Last night I watched Eleanor the Great, Scarlett Johansson’s directorial debut starring the 94-year-old June Squibb, more than half a century Johansson’s senior. The pivotal relationship in the film makes that seem quaint – the plot revolves around the intergenerational friendship between Squibb and a 20-something NYU student played by Erin Kellyman. The interviews with its stars – Fresh Air and the NYTimes – are stunning.
Television: For all the fanfare surrounding Hacks (which picked up two more Emmys for its intergenerational co-stars last month), and Only Murders in the Building (7 Emmys), Shrinking deserves more kudos for its depiction of the bond between the therapist played by Harrison Ford, 83, and the teenage daughter of one of his colleagues, played by Lukita Maxwell. They are the show’s anchoring voices of sanity, and their relationship is deeply moving and funny. Harrison’s depiction of the trials of early-stage Parkinson’s is also enormously compelling.
One common thread through all three: Bonds that bridge not only age, but culture and race. A glimmer of hope in our age-segregated and hyper-polarized times.
How do we translate these stories abounding in popular culture to our lives today? I’m teaming up with my friend, collaborator and bestselling author Chip Conley to answer that question at an MEA workshop in Santa Fe from Nov. 10-15.
Stay Relevant in a Changing World: Mastering the Art of Mutual Mentorship will focus on how to live an age-rich life and thrive in a society where five generations are living and working side by side. A clue: It all comes down to three precepts: proximity, purpose and partnership.
I’d like to invite you to join this workshop and master the skills that turn generational differences into generational advantages.
Sign up by October 22, and MEA will provide a 20% discount (use code FREEDMAN20). Hope to see you there!