Howard Feldman

I ve started to worry that living a long life is becoming a full-time job. As someone who has recently burrowed deep into the rabbit hole of longevity, I am fast reaching the conclusion that getting older is honestly not what it used to be.

Around a week before I got married, my father decided it was time for an intervention. Not the “Sit down, son, let's talk about your obsession with Holocaust literature” kind. More the practical kind. In his mind, he would have failed as a father if he hadn't taught me how to change a tyre before I became someone's husband.

There are two types of people in the world. Those who delete a document, unopened, when they realise it was sent to them by mistake. And those who open it first, before deleting it. I know which group I belong to. I also know which group I tell people I do.

I'd like to make a request on behalf of the Jewish people. Could someone else please take over for a week?

It was never going to snow in Johannesburg. I knew this because nothing kills the possibility of snow quite like half the city staring out the window waiting for it to fall.

I sometimes wonder how my wife and I make it through the day. Given how little confidence our adult children have in us, it’s a wonder we manage to dress ourselves in the morning. And close to an open miracle that, despite our clear lack of basic decision-making skills, we lead fully functional lives and have even reached moderate levels of success. With our youngest now engaged and soon to leave the family […]

I am convinced that the number of leftover-related deaths among the over-65s is dangerously underreported. I have no evidence for this. I haven't conducted research and I don't have access to secret hospital records. I just know people over 65. There seems to come a point in life when the fear of wasting food becomes greater than the fear of death.

Before we got married, sometime in the 1990s, we were required to attend a marriage-preparation programme. The idea was to encourage young couples to communicate about areas of potential conflict: money, parents-in-law, sex, careers, religion, and so on.

A friend once told me a story about his father. My friend is observant; his father is a committed, self-proclaimed atheist. One day, after he'd proudly announced his non-belief to a stranger, the man looked at him and asked, “Really? What kind of atheist are you – Orthodox or Reform?”

If the tortoise from The Tortoise and the Hare were alive today, he would be unbearable. He wouldn’t simply enjoy his victory. He would turn it into a speaking career. His LinkedIn profile would describe him as an endurance strategist, resilience coach, and thought leader in sustainable momentum. His keynote address would be called “Slow is the new fast” and he would tour corporate conferences […]