Speaking with @Geezer Magazine founders Laura LeBleu and Paul von Zielbauer felt less like an interview and more like accidentally discovering the exact same people living parallel GenX lives somewhere else in America.
We talked about midlife reinvention, ageism in tech, menopause, independent publishing, nostalgia, burnout, creativity, sibling dynamics, music obsession, and the strange realization that many GenXers are simultaneously exhausted and creatively exploding at the exact same time.
Laura and Paul created Geezer as a giant analog print magazine for GenX (think part Interview, part McSweeney’s, part Mad Magazine) as a reaction against digital overload and the flattening way our generation keeps getting discussed online. The conversation kept circling back to the same core idea: many of us spent decades building careers that paid the bills while quietly putting our creative lives on hold. And now, somewhere in late midlife, a lot of people are trying to reclaim those parts of themselves before it’s too late.
We also got into the realities of aging in tech, the mythology around GenX nostalgia, why so many creatives still need “real jobs,” the economics of independent publishing, and whether any of us are emotionally prepared to become the people AARP thinks we are. Spoiler: absolutely not.
Also discussed: Nick Cave, The Smiths vs. The Cure, Heavy Metal Parking Lot, Red Hot Chili Peppers slander, pool-skating Dogtown legends, and the deeply GenX instinct to keep making art while quietly wondering how the hell to pay for it.
You can subscribe to Geezer magazine here, and don’t forget to use promo code FRIEND15 to get a 15% discount!
Thank you Courtney, Bre Phillips, Ms.Yuse, Don Buckter, Acejonesz, and many others for tuning in, and thanks to Yanni Hamburger for moderating.
Thanks for listening!
We’re Dana DuBois and Lawrence Winnerman, lifelong BFFs and co-hosts of The Daily Whatever Show — our independent home for smart, irreverent conversations about culture, politics, media, creativity, relationships, aging, and whatever else is shaping modern life this week.
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