The Topic at Hand

In an interview with Henry Kissinger, just before he turned 100, a reporter kicked off his story with a list of the former statesman’s physical ills: his hearing, his vision, the surgeries he’s had … topics that were completely unrelated to what the two discussed.

In fact, this is common in news stories about older people—inserting health-related comments to satisfy some odd obsession about aging.

Imagine if interviewers started digging into things-that-commonly-happen-at your-age stuff with younger celebrities. She suffers from painful periods. His acne still flares up.

It’d be considered intrusive and beside-the-point.

It is. At any age.

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