The world is getting older—and that reality is what inspired this podcast. Thanks to advances in medicine, healthier lifestyles, and improved living conditions, people are living longer than ever. That’s a good thing. However, longer lives will also require a lot of change from both individuals and society. We will have to prepare now for something earlier generations never considered possible: the second 50 years of our lives. 

In this episode of the Age of Aging, Executive Producer Jason Karlawish speaks with Debra Whitman, Chief Public Policy Officer at AARP, about her new book, The Second Fifty: Answers to the 7 Big Questions of Midlife and Beyond. Together, they explore what it means to plan not just for retirement, but for an entire second half of life—dispelling myths about aging and offering practical insights for the years ahead.  

Resources 

Special thanks to Debra Whitman and Jason Karlawish, MD, for being a part of this episode.  

The Age of Aging is a Penn Memory Center production hosted by Editorial Director Terrence Casey and Producer Jake Johnson, in partnership with the Penn FTD Center, the Penn Institute on Aging, and UPenn’s Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center. Contributors include Nicolette Calcavecchia, Dalia Elsaid, Jason Karlawish, Emily Largent, and Meaghan Sharp. 

The Age of Aging is made possible by generous donors like you. To learn more visit www.pennmemorycenter.org/ageofaging