Part one: Cultural urgencies -- Trapped in the new time machines -- True secrets of being aged by culture -- "The Xers" versus "the boomers" : a contrived war -- Perilous parenting : the deaths of children and the fear of aging-into-the-midlife -- The high costs of middle-ageism -- Part two: Theorizing age resistantly -- What is age studies? -- Age identity revisited -- From life storytelling to age autobiography -- Acting age on stage : age-appropriate casting, the default body, and valuing the property of having an age -- Age studies as cultural studies : beyond slice-of-life.