AARP Washington State Podcast

Confused about the vaccination process in Washington State? Wondering what you should do to stay informed and stay safe? On today's episode, we're joined by WA State Secretary of Health Dr. Umair Shah and Attorney General Bob Ferguson. We get the latest on vaccination across our state, plus an update con artists using the coronavirus as a hook.

Are you tired of being tired? Or could you use better sleep? Our guest today is world-class sleep consultant Pat Byrne, who's worked with the Seahawks, Mariners and Sounders and other pro, college and Olympic teams, plus the US military and many other major institutions. We'll get the lowdown on sleep and performance, and how aging affects our sleep. He's the author a new book called "An Inconvenient Sleep: Why Teams Win and Lose" which he co-wrote with his daughter Suzanne Byrne. Of course, I had to ask him about the sleep issues that seem to come on as we get older, from waking in the night… to early rising… to the increased difficulty in changing time zones. We talked about sleep trackers, how they can help and where they're pretty useless. Pat says naps are OK… and explains why and how to nap.

Have we entered a new era of misinformation and outright lying? Prof. Jeffrey Hancock is director of the Social Media Lab at Stanford University, where he studies trends in our discourse and he has ideas on how we can better find the truth. His TED Talk called "The Future Of Lying" has been viewed over 1 million times on YouTube. Learn about the Butler Lie, Sockpuppets, the 50 Cent Chinese Army and much more. This is a live presentation of AARP Washington, The UW Center for an Informed Public and BECU. You can learn more or watch video at aarp.org/factfromfiction

Join us for this roundtable discussion with experts Jevin West, Director of the nonpartisan Center for an Informed Public, and David Mikkelson, the founder of Snopes.com. Jevin and David provide a detailed look at the history and current state of misinformation and will equip you with the tools and resources you need to distinguish fact from fiction. Learn how to determine if the sources you're using are reputable, how to report misleading information and scams, how to best approach friends or family who have shared inaccurate content, and much more.

In this special edition of the podcast, our Fraud Watch Network cyber expert Dave Morrow alerts us to how con artists are using the 2020 election to scam money and personal information. This has nothing to do with the campaigns, it's old-fashioned fraud in a new package. Dave tells us what to watch out for and how to fight back.

How to spot misinformation with Prof. Jevin West, Director of the nonpartisan Center for an Informed Public at the University of Washington. This episode is a live online event on how you can avoid falling for the attempts to mislead that are all around us. The spread of misinformation is among the most pressing challenges of our time. New platforms for human interaction and information sharing have opened the door to misinformation, disinformation and other forms of networked manipulation, which not only mislead and create divisions, but also diminish trust in democratic institutions such as science and journalism. Jevin West provides us with a powerful set of tools to cut through the most intimidating data. You don't need a lot of technical expertise to call out problems with data. Are the numbers or results too good or too dramatic to be true? Is the claim comparing like with like? Is it confirming your personal bias? Drawing on a deep well of expertise in statistics and computational biology, Jevin West provides examples of selection bias and muddled data visualization, distinguish between correlation and causation, and examine the susceptibility of science to modern misinformation.

In this episode, we talk with Laura Coffey, the author of "My Old Dog: Rescued Pets with Remarkable Second Acts". Senior dogs often desperately need rescue from shelters and Laura explains the joys of giving these pets a loving home. Often there can be no costs to the new owner. Laura also tells how she made her dream of creating a best-selling book come true. You can learn more at myolddogbook.com.

AARP Financial Ambassador/TODAY Show financial editor Jean Chatzky and Lyn Peters from WA's Department of Financial Institutions answer questions from older adults about managing finances during the coronavirus outbreak. This episode is from "Spread The Facts", a production of TVW, AARP Washington, and WA COVID-19 Joint Information Center to help people over 50 navigate the coronavirus pandemic. Jean and Lyn answer questions from our members and TVW's David Johnson.

In this episode, we focus on scams arising from the COVID-19 pandemic. In a crisis, con artists craft their pitch to what's in the news. We talk frauds relating to stimulus payments, offers of protective supplies or cures, price gouging, fake charities and investments and more, with guests Attorney General Bob Ferguson; Shannon Smith, Division Chief of the Attorney General's Consumer Protection Division; and AARP Fraud Expert Doug Shadel. David Johnson of TVW is the host and the program is a part of "Spread The Facts", a partnership between TVW, AARP and the WA COVID-19 Joint Information Center.

This episode is a recording of our Tele-Town Hall live Q&A phone event on the Coronavirus in WA, featuring Gov. Jay Inslee, Secretary of Health John Wiesman and Attorney General Bob Ferguson. We take calls from our members and answer questions about how to stay safe during this disease outbreak, both health-wise from the virus and from con artists seeking to use fear to scam you. The call was recorded Sat. March 21st.