In 2015, podcaster Jonathan Goldstein produced a segment for Reply All which asked the question: Why Is Mason Reese Crying? Reese was a ubiquitous 1970s presence on American television, cropping up on talk shows and in commercials of every kind. He was a striking, unusual looking child with distinctive facial features and bright red hair and the preternaturally adult demeanor and quick-fire banter common to many child stars. Goldstein tracked Reese down to ask him about a time when he was co-hosting the popular Mike Douglas Show as a child. On the podcast, Goldstein describes a YouTube video where Reese’s precocious facade crumbles dramatically with inexplicable emotion over Harry Chapin’s live performance of “Cat’s in the Cradle.” The little boy abruptly abandons his formerly frivolous tone, to the visible discomfort of Douglas, and instead turns to the side, hiding his face and heaving with inconsolable sobs. It’s This story is from Kinfolk Issue Thirty-Nine Buy Now Related Stories Arts & Culture Issue 44 Celestial Transfer What’s the point of buying a star? Arts & Culture Issue 39 Note to Self What advice would you give your younger self? An artist, a writer, a conductor, a curator, a rabbi and a robot pen missives to the past. Arts & Culture Issue 39 Nic Stone How can a young adult fiction author tackle racism, inequality and incarceration—but not rob teen readers of their optimism? Arts & Culture Issue 39 Learn Lenience We were all young once. Arts & Culture Issue 39 Pay it Forward How to be a mentor. Arts & Culture Issue 39 Be Accountable On youth and responsibility.
Arts & Culture Issue 39 Note to Self What advice would you give your younger self? An artist, a writer, a conductor, a curator, a rabbi and a robot pen missives to the past.
Arts & Culture Issue 39 Nic Stone How can a young adult fiction author tackle racism, inequality and incarceration—but not rob teen readers of their optimism?
