Monday, November 30, 2020

Global Aging, 2nd Edition: Book Review

Published 13 December 2019.

I earlier this year, I selected Springer's Global Aging textbook in order to teach a class on global aging for Fall 2021. This 414 page book contains a lot of information about aging by using examples from dozens of countries. 

Here is the Table of Contents: 
  1. Our Aging World 
  2. The Study of Global Aging 
  3. Demographic Perspectives on an Aging World 
  4. Aging Environments 
  5. Health Patterns and Behavior 
  6. Health Care Systems 
  7. Long-Term Services and Supports 
  8. Older Workers 
  9. Retirement and Pensions 
  10. Families 
  11. Caregiving 
  12. World Religions and Aging 
  13. Global Aging and Global Leadership
Additionally, each chapter concludes with one or two essays that are--for the more part--focused specifically on one country. 

Sunday, November 29, 2020

Downhill (2020): Film Review

 

Released 14 February 2020.

How do couples in long-lasting relationships manage the shift in dynamics that inevitably happen over time?

Downhill (2020) directed by Nate Faxon and Jim Rash present a narrative that addresses this and other questions about love at midlife. Their film is an adaptation of a 2014 Swedish film Force Majeure.

Julia Louis-Dreyfus and Will Ferrell play Billie and Pete Staunton who are vacationing with their two tween boys at a ski resort in the Swiss Alps.

Because of the film’s title and the preview, I watched the film with an eye for weaknesses in the marriage, finding both couple contributing to some dysfunction: Pete is not invested enough; Billie is overly invested in managing every detail.  

(Spoilers ahead.)