Are print magazines dead? Of course not! While many once-thriving magazines have shuttered or switch to digital only, a new crop of independent print magazines are filling valuable niches. We spoke with Laura LeBleu, editor of Geezer magazine, a new publication aimed at Generation X, to find out how she got the idea for Geezer, why analog is back, and what makes her generation love the feel of turning pages so much. Learn how LeBleu developed a love of magazines, which surprising magazine was her inspiration, the reality of what it takes to launch a print venture, and what she hopes readers take away from Geezer.

Special offer: Use code FINDERS15 for 15% off an annual subscription to Geezer. Available to the first 10 subscribers through June 30, 2026.

About our guest:

Laura LeBleu’s life has always revolved around storytelling—either as an actor, a writer, or, now, as the founding editor of Geezer, a print magazine for Gen X. Bringing Geezer to life has easily been the most fulfilling creative achievement of her fifty-something years, and she’s thrilled to share this weird, soulful publication with fellow Gen Xers and the world.

Geezermagazine.com

Geezer Magazine on Substack

Laura LeBleu on Substack

Instagram: @geezermagazine

Instagram: @laura.lebleu

Finders and Keepers is hosted by Rachel Kramer Bussel and is a production of Open Secrets Magazine. Thank you to Sound Off Network and Dan Schroeder for audio production support. If you like the podcast, we’d greatly appreciate if you’d leave a rating and review wherever you listen to podcasts and tell your friends about it to help us reach new listeners. Want to share your own stuff story, tell us who we should interview next, or share your own most treasured possession? Contact us at findersandkeeperspod@gmail.com or leave a voicemail at speakpipe.com/findersandkeepers

For more about our attachments to our belongings, read the personal essays in the Object-ives and Stuff-ed sections of Open Secrets Magazine at opensecretsmagazine.com, where you can also submit your own essays.

Moving is a process most people dread because it forces us to closely examine what we own and decide what really needs to be packed up, lugged around, then unpacked in a new home. Items we’d been content to let stockpile in a closet become another matter entirely when faced with storing them in boxes upon boxes.

In this episode, thriller author Rob Hart discusses how he went about downsizing twice within a few years after his divorce, and then upon remarriage, each time having to get real about what he took with him. As he says, he had to ask himself, “What do I care about carrying with me into this next phase of my life?”

Hart discusses the nuances of being a published author faced with a multiplying array of copies of his own books, including foreign editions. How do authors store the work that they’ve invested countless hours into? What do they do with all the extra copies they amass?

Hart is also an avid Lego enthusiast, dedicating days at a time to building items like a Lego typewriter, which he likes to display when he’s done, and shares this hobby with his daughter. What’s the draw of building Lego sets, and what’s Hart’s dream Lego purchase?

We also discuss Hart’s research process for his Assassins Anonymous series, whose latest title, Three Hitmen and a Baby, was released this week.

Click on “Transcript” on the top right to read an auto-generated transcript of this episode.

About our guest:

Rob Hart is the author of Three Hitmen and a Baby, The Medusa Protocol, Assassins Anonymous, The Paradox Hotel, The Warehouse, the Ash McKenna crime series, and is the co-author of Scott Free with James Patterson. He’s worked as a book publisher, a reporter, a political communications director, and a commissioner for the city of New York. Hart lives in Jersey City.

robwhart.com

Rob Hart on Substack

Instagram: @robwhart1

Three Hitmen and a Baby

Finders and Keepers is hosted by Rachel Kramer Bussel and is a production of Open Secrets Magazine. Thank you to Sound Off Network and Dan Schroeder for audio production support. If you like the podcast, we’d greatly appreciate if you’d leave a rating and review wherever you listen to podcasts and tell your friends about it to help us reach new listeners. Want to share your own stuff story, tell us who we should interview next, or share your own most treasured possession? Contact us at findersandkeeperspod@gmail.com or leave a voicemail at speakpipe.com/findersandkeepers

For more about our attachments to our belongings, read the personal essays in the Object-ives and Stuff-ed sections of Open Secrets Magazine at opensecretsmagazine.com, where you can also submit your own essays.

Writer Athena Dixon owns hundreds of items of Black memorabilia, ranging from household goods with racist Jim Crow-era artifacts dating back to the early 20th century, such as a 1931 “Colored Entrance Only” sign from Atlanta, Georgia and Montgomery, Alabama, to civil rights movement-era mementos. From segregated water fountain signage to household items such as napkins and tchotchkes, her vast collection spans public and private belongings. How and why did Athena amass such a large collection? Which ones does she display in her home? Why is it so important to her to hold onto these items, and what does she hope people will learn from them? Where are these items still being sold, and what do they say about the history of the United States?

Visit the episode page at Open Secrets Magazine to read a transcript.

About our guest:

Athena Dixon is the author of essay collections The Incredible Shrinking Woman and The Loneliness Files and her work appears in publications such as Harper’s Bazaar, Shenandoah, Grub Street, Narratively, and Lit Hub among others. She is a Consulting Editor for Fourth Genre and the Nonfiction/Hybrid Editor for Split/Lip Press.

athenadixon.com

Instagram: @the_muse_paper

The Loneliness Files

Finders and Keepers is hosted by Rachel Kramer Bussel and is a production of Open Secrets Magazine. Thank you to Sound Off Network and Dan Schroeder for audio production support. If you like the podcast, we’d greatly appreciate if you’d leave a rating and review wherever you listen to podcasts and tell your friends about it to help us reach new listeners. Want to share your own stuff story, tell us who we should interview next, or share your own most treasured possession? Contact us at findersandkeeperspod@gmail.com or leave a voicemail at speakpipe.com/findersandkeepers

For more about our attachments to our belongings, read the personal essays in the Object-ives and Stuff-ed sections of Open Secrets Magazine at opensecretsmagazine.com, where you can also submit your own essays.