The elderly have been largely marginalized in our western societies which are ever increasingly involved in the cult of youth. So it?s a relief to hear a programme unashamedly dedicated to hearing the voices and thoughts of old people. In this collection, David Greenberger wants to give us a taste of the long lifetimes of interesting experiences by a very particular largely ethnic community.
There are some charming moments here. ?I thought the world would be better by this time, says one old man wistfully ?after all the wars we?ve gone through, I thought this world would be a better place, but it?s not really.? That?s a life lesson in itself ? history must keep repeating itself and experience has to be accumulated by each generation anew.
Sometimes I would have liked some of the questions to go deeper ? the narrator tells us that he asks questions, sometimes banal, sometimes unexpected, to hear how they respond rather than their actual answers, but occasionally that didn?t seem quite enough.
Technical quality varies here ? some of the questions off mic are so distant that they clash with the studio narration that comes in loud and clear just moments later. And the music though gentle and original sometimes just simply has no place ? fading in and out so arbitrarily that it distracts from rather than enhances what people are saying.
But all in all, this is a gentle piece, giving us a chance to re-connect with a part of society who are now gathered into senior citizen homes, and no longer sitting around in the village square available for chat and advice. And for that experience alone, it?s a worth listen.