Baylor College of Medicine’s Center for Medical Ethics and Health Policy wants to engage Houstonians in learning how to “face disease and frailty before you get there.” Let’s face it: while we know we’re all mortal, and that as we age, we decline physically and sometimes mentally. It’s an inevitability we don’t really want to linger on. So, how do you get people to talk about and think about something they don’t want to?

That’s where acclaimed actor and playwright Anna Deveare Smith comes in. She’s performing her docudrama Let Me Down Easy at an event the center’s putting on Jan. 17. Deveare-Smith performs character monologues based on real-life interviews she’s conducted, including with late Texas Governor Ann Richards.

On this edition of Houston Matters, we talk with Dr. Amy McGuire, the director of the Center for Medical Ethics and Health Policy, about how the center hopes to use the performance to jump-start conversation about preparing for and accepting physical decline.

Also this hour…

Millennials and Entrepreneurship

We’re used to hearing a lot about the lives and attitudes of Millennials, the generation of young adults between the ages of 20 and 35. And it’s not always good. But one potentially positive story about Millennials is that some studies suggest they are outpacing their predecessors when it comes to starting their own businesses. That’s according to a worldwide survey known as the Global Entrepreneur Report.

To learn why — and to find out what unique traits Millennials bring to the world of business — Michael Hagerty talks with Dr. Martin Lindenberg, director of the University of St. Thomas McNair Center for Free Enterprise and Entrepreneurship.

Texans and Financial Literacy

Texans aren’t that good at managing their money. That’s according to a recent study that gave the Lone Star State a D+ for its residents’ overall financial literacy.

According to the National Report Card on Adult Financial Literacy from the Center for Financial Literacy at Champlain College, Texans got an F when it came to overall financial knowledge, a C+ for saving and spending habits, and a C- for their credit scores and understanding of how credit works. Only five other states got lower grades than Texas.

Why are Texans worse with their money than much of the rest of the country? And what do residents of Greater Houston often struggle to understand about managing their finances? We dig deeper into how and why Texas got such a low grade with John Pelletier, director of the Center for Financial Literacy. Then, we get some advice on the basics of financial literacy from Rebecca Loftis with The Women’s Resource of Greater Houston, which provides basic financial education at no cost to people who have little to no financial literacy.

Eye on Houston

Four hundred submissions and only 64 photographs made the cut for the 22nd annual Eye on Houston Photography exhibition at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston. The twist for this exclusive showing is that these are works from disadvantaged high school students from HISD who have learned their craft with Through the Lens Houston, a nonprofit after-school program that offers kids much more than just camera and Photoshop skills they sign up for.

Terry Merwin, the founder of Through the Lens Houston, spent years as a teacher. Then, two years ago, she followed her own passion for art by founding a Houston organization that aims to empower young minds using a camera as their tool. Along the way, they picked up course credit and created a portfolio that they can show to colleges. An exhibition at a highly prestigious art museum? Well, Paige Phelps found that’s just the cherry on the cake.

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