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March 25, 2016

It’ll Make Sense When You’re Older

Kids do not like being told it’ll make sense when they’re older. They’re pretty sure the grown-ups are wrong.

Sasheer Zamata (right) and her mom, each photographed in third grade.

Prologue

Kids do not like getting told it’ll make sense when they’re older. They’re pretty sure the grown-ups are wrong, and whatever the conversation is, they’re up for it. (4 1/2 minutes)

Act One

Adolescence

Reporter Hillary Frank finds out there is this tradition going on in her town, where big kids take over younger kids’ parties—and she investigates how one kid goes from freaked out to an instigator. Hillary Frank’s latest is the scripted podcast “Here Lies Me.” (9 minutes)

Act Two

Grown

Comedian Sasheer Zamata does this joke about her mom in her standup act. About how her mom hates white people. They finally sit down to talk about why, and Sasheer finds out how mad her mom is at her own mom, for trying to make her get along with white people when she was young. (22 minutes)

Act Four

Old Age

For those in the early stages of dementia, some simple tasks become very complex. Chana sits down with one guy determined to figure out why something that used to be so easy has become so hard. (12 1/2 minutes)

We learned about Carl from Teya Sepinuck at Theater of Witness. You can see Teya's work on dementia and memory at her website Tangles in Time.