Gen Seasoned

By Anuradha Varma

Conversations on longevity, reframing retirement and creating multigenenerational connections.
Co-founders Anuradha Varma and Jahnavi Sarma are seasoned journalists as well as a Mindset Coach and E... more

· Health & Fitness

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FAQs about Gen Seasoned:

How many episodes does Gen Seasoned have?

The podcast currently has 24 episodes available.

Gen Seasoned episodes:

September 21, 2026Ep 24: I Lost My Medical Seat by One Mark, Then Rebuilt Two Hospitals: Dr. Minnie Bodhanwala
She lost her seat in medical school by a single mark — and ended up running two of Mumbai's most respected charitable hospitals instead. In this episode of Gen Seasoned, Dr. Minnie Bodhanwala, CEO of Nowrosjee Wadia & Bai Jerbai Wadia Hospitals and author of Defying Conventions: A Maverick Healthcare Odyssey, tells Jahnavi Sarma why a "gloomy hospital environment" once seen through a child's eyes changed the way she designs care itself.

From training as a dentist in a field that doubted a dentist could ever run a hospital, to building a neonatal ICU that now competes with Boston and Philadelphia, Dr. Bodhanwala walks us through 35+ years of quietly, persistently breaking the rules she was handed. She talks candidly about scepticism, setbacks reframed as blessings in disguise, why she stopped trying to be indispensable, and the one piece of advice she'd give her 25-year-old self. Listen in!

Follow Dr. Minnie Bodhanwala on: Instagram | LinkedIn | Buy the book

Timestamps
01:15 – Her journey into healthcare — missing the medical college seat by one mark, and finding dentistry instead
04:15 – The shift from treating individual patients to leading institutions
05:20 – A lifelong learner: MBA, MHA, law, Certified Fraud Examiner, AI in healthcare from Johns Hopkins
06:01 – Building a team-first culture at Wadia, and why integrity came first
07:27 – The first convention she defied: leading hospitals as a dentist by training
09:39 – Being one of few women in the field — proving herself through results, not arguments
10:37 – The "gloomy hospital" story — redesigning the environment through a child's eyes
12:28 – Facing scepticism and opposition to change
14:55 – Turning criticism into fuel, not demotivation
18:24 – The constants: integrity, compassion, and continuous learning
21:48 – The leadership lesson that took longest: delegation over being indispensable
25:01 – 35 years of transformation — building a NICU that rivals Boston and Philadelphia
32:01 – Reframing her biggest "failure" (the lost medical seat) as a blessing in disguise
36:42 – Redefining success — from personal achievement to patient and staff happiness
38:18 – Preparing hospitals for India's aging population — wellness centers, geriatric awareness, telemedicine
41:02 – The one change she'd make to Indian healthcare tomorrow: strengthening primary care and affordability
43:08 – Advice to her 25-year-old self: "Never underestimate yourself"
45:37 – The one takeaway from Defying Conventions
For more, email [email protected]
Disclaimer: Views are personal. Listener discretion is advised.
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49min
August 30, 2026 Ep 23: Pickleball, Protein and the Thin-Fat Truth: Talking Longevity with Dr. Navin Gnanasekaran
In this conversation with Gen Seasoned, Dr. Navin Gnanasekaran walks us through why longevity thinking should start in our 30s (and what to do instead if one is already past it), busts the myth that starving yourself is the same as fasting smart, and explains why multivitamins are, in his words, expensive urine.

In his book The 100-Year Blueprint: An Indian Doctor's Guide to Longevity, this physician and medical futurist makes the case that India doesn't need to borrow the West's rulebook on ageing — because Indian bodies are simply different. We're the "thin-fat" phenotype, we run on smaller metabolic engines than the processed food we feed them, and our arteries, quite literally, are thinner.

He also talks about the quarter-quarter-half plate rule, and why your non-stick pan and paper chai cup might be quietly working against you. Plus, why it may be a good idea to take up pickleball or any racket sport. Listen in!

Follow on: LinkedIn | Instagram | Buy the book

Timestamps
01:05 – Why India needs more longevity conversations, and why he wrote the book to read like fiction, not a textbook
02:52 – When should longevity thinking actually start? The lifespan vs. healthspan gap
05:35 – What people already in their 50s can still do — managing vs. preventing
07:13 – The Indian "thin-fat" body type explained
08:10 – The Ambassador-and-aviation-fuel analogy: capacity-load mismatch
10:05 – Why Western cutoffs (waist circumference etc.) don't apply to Indians
10:37 – Thinner arteries, earlier heart disease — the cardiac surgeon story
11:56 – What inflammation actually is — and what "inflammaging" means
15:02 – Countering inflammation: oil swaps, omega-3s, stress, fried food
18:02 – Intermittent fasting: separating the hype from the evidence
20:03 – Why crash diets crash your metabolism
22:34 – How time-restricted eating actually works — the 12–14 hour window
23:56 – Time-restricted eating for diabetics
24:05 – Handling hunger pangs: the thirst-vs-hunger trick
26:00 – The quarter-quarter-half plate rule
29:32 – India's protein gap — and how to actually fix it
32:22 – Supplements: why multivitamins are "expensive urine"
33:52 – Vitamin D, B12, creatine — the supplements actually worth taking
34:41 – Collagen: hype vs. evidence
36:22 – Is your kitchen poisoning you? Plastics, non-stick pans, aluminium foil, paper cups
38:47 – Loneliness = smoking 15 cigarettes a day
42:29 – Building a "third place" and real social connections
45:00 – The Copenhagen study: why racket sports (and pickleball) beat almost everything else
48:38 – Brain stimulation beyond Sudoku — novelty, discomfort, and neuroplasticity
52:14 – NEAT: fidgeting, non-exercise movement, and quiet calorie burn
54:04 – Rapamycin, mTOR, biohacks — gimmicks vs. getting the foundations right
56:52 – Haldi doodh: swapping the evening coffee for turmeric milk
58:24 – Closing message: building a nation that lives to 100, joyously

To get in touch, email [email protected]
Disclaimer: Views are personal. Listener discretion is advised.

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1h
August 26, 2026 Ep 22: Dementia, Depression & the Sandwich Generation: Archana Sharma, Samvedna Care
Ever wondered if forgetting why you walked into a room is normal — or something more? In this episode of Gen Seasoned, Gurgaon-based Archana Sharma, founder of Samvedna Care, touches upon dementia care and goes decade by decade through what really brings people to therapy in their 50s through 80s — empty-nest crises, career plateaus, and the unique stress of caregiving for a spouse.

Her tech-driven platform offers online dementia screening, cognitive stimulation, caregiver support, and corporate wellbeing programmes — reaching families as far as a lady in Vizag whose neighbour switches on her iPad each week, to an NRI family in the US needing culturally contextual dementia care. Archana also shares why ageing starts earlier than you think, and a simple self-care checklist anyone can start today. Listen in!

Follow Archana Sharma: LinkedIn | Instagram | WebsiteTake the Samvedna Assessment: map.samvednacare.com

Timestamps
01:59 – From software engineer to founder: how Archana's 2010 self-development project sparked Samvedna
04:13 – Loneliness as the #1 problem for seniors — and how it drives health, cognitive and mental health decline
07:16 – Spotting the dementia care gap and building India's dementia awareness/care programs
08:59 – Cognitive Stimulation Therapy and the person-centric approach
11:38 – When one spouse has dementia and the other has schizophrenia — supporting NRI and out-of-station families
12:48 – Pandemic pivot: taking dementia care and caregiver training online via Zoom and WhatsApp
19:16 – Building the self-screening tool: from paper-and-pencil community camps to a 3.5-minute mobile screener
20:50 – What dementia therapy activities actually look like — puzzles, music, Ludo, intergenerational workshops
23:30 – Real cases: a lady in Vizag living alone, and a Gujarati NRI family in the US needing culturally contextual care
26:09 – Screening vs. diagnosis — how the self-screener works like a "BP machine at home"
28:26 – At what age should you start screening? Dementia symptoms can appear as early as your mid-40s
30:35 – Aging really starts in your 30s — the case for starting self-care early
32:31 – Seniors have agency too: decade-by-decade breakdown of what people come to Samvedna for
33:30 – The 50s: empty-nest syndrome, relationship concerns, career plateauing and loss of identity
35:55 – Retirement counseling — planning for emotional wellbeing, not just finances
37:21 – Caregiver stress in the 50s–60s and the "sandwich generation"
39:22 – The 70s: becoming a primary caregiver to your own spouse, and managing a whole care ecosystem
41:00 – Depression and anxiety in the 60s–70s, and therapy approaches tailored for elderly clients
42:04 – Chronic illness in later life: MS, ILD, cancer, Parkinson's
45:13 – On relocating elderly parents: why timing matters for rebuilding a social life
47:03 – The "silver economy" — planning your own next 30 years differently from your parents' generation
49:49 – Family counseling: generational expectation gaps, adult-children issues, and 65-year-old couples in counseling
51:36 – Caregiving through the lens of past relationship trauma and sibling dynamics
55:01 – Archana's self-care checklist: exercise, diet, sleep, alcohol, socialization, spirituality
57:35 – Samvedna's wellness app "nudges" — a daily micro-activity prompt (map.samvednacare.com)

To get in touch, email [email protected]
Disclaimer: Views are personal. Listener discretion is advised.

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1h 1min
August 17, 2026 Ep 21: From wrinkles to longevity: Dominik Thor, President, Geneva College of Longevity Science
The visit to a clinic may start with a wrinkle, but a longevity doctor can turn that into a larger conversation around what’s happening inside the body, says Dr. Dominik Thor, a Swiss pharmacist and doctoral economist, and President, Geneva College of Longevity Science (GCLS). He talks to Gen Seasoned’s Anuradha Varma about the need for a dedicated higher education centre in the field of longevity, while decoding buzzwords like “peptides”, the growing trend of longevity clinics and the stress-ageing loop. He also believes Eastern medicine and Indian ayurveda can contribute to the next wave of preventive medicine. Listen in!

Timestamps:
00:51 – About the Geneva College of Longevity Science (GCLS) — the world's first academic institute dedicated to longevity science
02:16 – Who GCLS trains: doctors, physiotherapists, nutritionists, entrepreneurs
03:48 – Why longevity is such a broad, hard-to-pin-down field
06:33 – Why the beauty industry is embracing longevity and objective measurement
07:10 – New diagnostics, wearables, and the quantified-self trend
08:02 – Preventive healthcare and rebuilding trust after COVID
09:49 – Inside longevity clinics: from solo doctors to hospital-scale setups
13:44 – Exposome, genetics, and the need for retesting over time
16:18 – What to ask before choosing a longevity doctor
17:04 – Which medical specialties feed into longevity medicine
19:23 – How regulation (e.g. peptides) differs country to country
20:19 – GCLS's academic partnerships (Gulf Medical University, UAE and more)
22:15 – GCLS's new Medical PhD in Longevity Science
23:29 – Dominik's own path into longevity science
26:48 – Starting with a master's — and who GCLS's students really are
28:15 – Why India is a natural market for longevity (Ayurveda, integrative medicine)
31:13 – The "stress-aging loop" and the rise of peptide therapeutics
34:31 – What peptides actually are, explained simply
37:01 – GLP-1s vs. gray-market peptides — legality varies by country
38:49 – What longevity medicine could look like in a few years
39:32 – Body positivity, GLP-1s, and the health-vs-aesthetics debate
43:22 – Why dermatology and beauty are a "gateway" into longevity
46:02 – The risk of brands slapping "longevity" on old products
46:45 – Senescent cells and the biology behind wrinkles
48:15 – Mayo Clinic and Stanford's longevity-aesthetics research
51:17 – What excites Dominik most about the field's growth

To get in touch, email [email protected]
Disclaimer: Views are personal. Listener discretion is advised.
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54min
July 23, 2026 Ep 20: Rohini Rana: From palace kitchens to fusion plates
Rohini Rana, born into the royal family of Awagarh, Uttar Pradesh, was all of 20 when she married into Nepal’s distinguished Rana family in 1977. Looking up through her bridal veil, staring back at her was a wild boar's head, a red handkerchief tied around its neck. She froze, she says with a laugh, recalling the ancient Vedic wedding ritual called "Chaurasi Vyanjan".

Having recently published her third cookbook Memories on a Platter: My Fusion Cookbook (Penguin Random House), Rohini goes down memory lane with Gen Seasoned in her signature warm and witty style.

She talks about growing up in Nainital, her “rice trauma” that started in boarding school and followed her all the way to Nepal, when she woke up to a breakfast of rice on her first morning as a new bride. It’s another story of how she grew to love the Nepali staple and was reduced to tears when she craved a meal of “dal bhat” during one of her many travels around the world with her husband, Gen. Gaurav S.J.B. Rana (former Chief of Army Staff, Nepal Army).

She also talks about preserving heirloom recipes, her farm-to-table kitchen, and much more! Listen in!

Follow Rohini: Instagram | Books

Timestamps
02:07 Family, acknowledgments, and food as inheritance
03:09 Born in Agra; the Nainital palace turned hotel
05:01 Learning menus at her mother's side
06:24 Convent school and moral science; boarding school food trauma
09:33 Engaged two days before her final exam; learning to cook before the wedding
13:34 Marriage and army postings
15:42 The cake that impressed her father-in-law
17:22 Rice for breakfast — the culture shock
22:08 Learning to love rice
23:07 Missing dal bhaat in Lebanon
25:30 The Chaurasi Vyanjan — 84 dishes, Vedic roots
30:07 Face to face with the wedding wild boar
31:29 Cooking wild boar with timur
33:07 Building the book from 30 countries of travel
36:48 Samosas around the world
38:06 Pakoras vs. tempura
40:31 Saving the Kancho Bari recipe from extinction
45:30 Life today — grandmother, garden, farm-to-table
50:01 Favorite spices — India vs. Nepal
53:25 What she wants readers to take away
57:01 What's next — temple food and royal cuisine

To get in touch, email [email protected]
Disclaimer: Views are personal. Listener discretion is advised.
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59min
July 14, 2026 Ep 19: Re-purpose with BK Bhayana: A second career at 60
What do you actually do when four decades of "get up, go to work, come back" suddenly stops? In this episode of Gen Seasoned, Anuradha Varma talks to BK Bhayana — engineer, and now a first-time entrepreneur in his 60s (launching the Elevate cervical pillow) — for a wonderfully honest chat about what retirement really feels like.

He talks about those early days of feeling like he had nowhere to go, why he never bought into the "just take up gardening" advice, and how he eventually found his footing again — by simply asking what he was already good at.

Listen in to the refreshingly honest conversation about starting over, staying curious, and figuring out what "busy" means beyond a job description.

Follow on: LinkedIn | Instagram | Website

Timestamps:
1:33 Meet BK Bhayana: engineer, MBA, patent holder
2:19 The big question: how was the day after retirement?
3:57 The "India Gate" metaphor
6:11 The LinkedIn message that led to his first NGO connection
7:13 You don't need a "passion" — just find what you like doing
8:26 From personal cervical pain to a product idea
10:47 Designing the cervical pillow
12:29 Filing for a patent
14:26 "I'm not a doctor, but I'm an engineer"
15:00 A day in the life running the business
16:07 Learning Instagram, reels & video editing from his daughters
17:20 Taking the product to stalls in Bangalore, Mumbai & Gurgaon
18:09 Building a website and learning social media from scratch
19:10 Before vs. after: no targets, no hurry, more creative freedom
20:14 Still looking for the right mentor
21:37 The advantages of post-retirement life
22:39 Feeling low — and how community helps
26:19 Reframing it: not "grieving," but a "missing link"
27:41 The rejected-by-daughters list of retirement ideas
29:07 What's next: a temperature-sensitive fan regulator
30:41 Advice to his past self
31:08 Does all this free time actually feel good?

To get in touch, email [email protected]
Disclaimer: Views are personal. Listener discretion is advised.
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33min
June 30, 2026 Ep 18: Corinne Auman, gerontologist: Sparkly shoes, ageism and second acts
What does it really mean to grow older, and are we using the right language to talk about it? For instance, you may be an older adult, but you could be a “young old” (aged 60-70) or a “middle old” (aged 75-85) person. In this episode, Dr. Corinne Auman, an American gerontologist with over 20 years of experience working with older adults, and the author of Keenagers: Telling a New Story About Aging, unpacks the word "keenager", how society sees older adults and how we talk to ourselves in our own heads.

She shares her “sparkly shoes” moment that sparked a conversation about internalised ageism — and why even the most aware among us aren't immune to it. She also touches upon practical aspects of how to plan for life after 50, laying out what a retirement reframing playbook might look like. Listen in!

Get to know Corinne: Website | LinkedIn | Instagram | Book

Timestamps:
00:36 — Introduction: Anu welcomes Dr. Corinne Auman, gerontologist and author of Keenagers: Telling a New Story About Aging
01:21 — The word "keenager" — where it came from and why it matters
03:07 — Internalised ageism: the sparkly shoes story
05:06 — Even anti-ageism advocates carry the script — and that's okay
08:19 — Everyday ageist language we don't notice: "still working," "you look great for your age," and more
10:44 — Preparing for life after 50: why acknowledging change is step one
11:36 — What Corinne sees in her care management practice — and the danger of denial
13:57 — Breaking it down: what to plan for beyond finances (intellectual, social, and spiritual life)
17:28 — The retirement honeymoon — and what happens six months later
18:30 — Why we're living longer but nobody gave us a new playbook
19:22 — Two or three decades of retirement: the math nobody thinks about
21:53 — Relationships and marriage in retirement: the renegotiation nobody warns you about
25:34 — Semi-retirement as a preview — and why hobbies matter more than you think
27:35 — "A new continent rising out of the sea" — the longevity economy and the billion consumers being ignored by marketers
32:25 — Moving beyond the three-stage life model: multiple careers, elder care, and intentional breaks
33:06 — The surprising reality of who needs care coordination — 65-year-olds caring for 90-year-olds
35:28 — Five generations in the workplace: stereotypes, benefits, and what actually works
37:47 — A message for people in their 30s and 40s: how to fight ageism now
39:49 — Young old, middle old, old old — how researchers are trying (and struggling) to categorise aging
41:05 — An AI course story: catching your own ageism mid-sentence
42:24 — Corinne's upcoming second book: How to Be a Keenager

To get in touch, email [email protected]
Disclaimer: Views are personal. Listener discretion is advised.
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44min
June 17, 2026 Ep 17: Hari Baskaran, 77, active ageing ambassador: ‘You have to invite joy’
When Hari Baskaran chose to formally retire at 64, he hit the “ground running”, taking up cycling and trekking. At 70, he cycled 3000 km from Chennai to Delhi in 58 days. However, it was at 75 that the active ageing ambassador was asked to slow down by his doctor, which put him on a fresh path of self-discovery, which he calls an “inflexion in the mid-70s”.

Listen in as the author of Battling On to Vibrancy@80 talks to Gen Seasoned’s Anuradha Varma, touching upon thoughts of mortality; taking inspiration from his happy-go-lucky teenage grandson, who has cerebral palsy; the power of community; his love for Chat GPT and, of course, his excitement as he prepares for the upcoming Bengaluru 10K running challenge.

Follow Hari Baskaran on: LinkedIn
His book: Battling On To Vibrancy@80

Timestamps:
04:10 On turning 60, getting into cycling and trekking
11:25 Life changes at 75, dealing with death of loved ones
17:23 Battling health issues and facing mortality
19:30 An inflexion at 75; the frailty index
23:00 Staying mentally strong; internal triggers
27:50 How grief changes as you age
32:20 Finding purpose again - the three stages
36:20 It’s about participation, not performance
40:27 The power of community
43:34 On his spiritual practice
47:40 Overcoming his bad phase
51:25 Having fun in senior groups; pre-retirement life
58:20 Balancing family time post-retirement
01:03:27 On his grandson, a happy child with cerebral palsy
01:6:15 Inviting joy into our lives
01:09:06 Journalling, writing a blog and then his book
01:12:30 A fan of Chat GPT
01:18:20 The Bangalore 10K Challenge

To get in touch, email [email protected]
Disclaimer: Views are personal. Listener discretion is advised.
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1h 23min
June 11, 2026 Ep 16: Longevity scientist Dr Sophia Pathai: India has ‘Blue Zones’ too
In this episode, Dr. Sophia Pathai, British-Indian physician scientist and co-author of The Longevity Code, decodes biological ageing, from epigenetic clocks that can predict your health trajectory, to organs that age at different speeds.

She talks to Gen Seasoned’s Anuradha Varma on the gut-muscle-mind connection, why walking and fidgeting matter as much as the gym, the truth about GLP-1 drugs, and what the Blue Zones can teach us — including what India is getting right.

Listen in to understand longevity science without the jargon!

About Dr Sophia Pathai:Dr Sophia Pathai is a British-Indian medical doctor with a PhD in the biology of ageing. Trained at University College London and the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, her research was among the first to identify biological markers of accelerated ageing in diverse populations. She has led global medical teams at companies including AbbVie and Johnson & Johnson, and most recently helped advance longevity innovation in the Gulf. The Longevity Code is her first book—blending cutting-edge science with real-world insight to show how we can build resilience, improve healthspan, and live not just longer, but better.

Follow Dr Sophia Pathai on: LinkedIn | Instagram

The book: The Longevity Code: Science, Strategies and Secrets to Living Better and Longer, by Sophia Pathai with Olympic coach Pullela Gopichand: https://www.amazon.in/Longevity-Code-Science-Strategies-Secrets/dp/0143478621

Timestamps:
02:00 About the book04:45 Biological age vs chronological age
10:10 Ageing clocks; don’t use Indian data
13:45 Need Indian context to data
16:37 The Blue Zone, living a longer and healthier life
18:10 India’s blue zones – Karnataka and Kerala
21:10 The hallmarks of ageing are dynamic
23:27 Vivek Oberoi endorsing autophagy; gut-mind connection
28:26 Why joy is important, owning the moment
36:07 Hormesis, good stress, and NEAT (nonexercise activity thermogenesis - walking, standing, fidgeting)
42:16 GLP-1RAs for longevity , the drug of the decade
46:24 Approach GLP with caution and context
49:00 The future of longevity science

To get in touch, email [email protected]
Disclaimer: Views are personal. Listener discretion is advised.
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55min
May 28, 2026 Ep 15: Navneet Gupta, Service GTD: Solving the eldercare challenge for NRIs
As a former NRI, Navneet Gupta, Founder CEO, Service GTD knows only too well the stress of managing eldercare back home in India, negotiating across continents and time zones. Here, he talks to Gen Seasoned founder Anuradha Varma on providing eldercare services for NRIs by onboarding trusted supply partners, and handholding families through the process long after the booking happens, much as a relationship manager would at a banking institution.

Navneet also touches upon evolving care needs, including the need for care at home services such as dialysis and dental care, besides “elderproofing” homes to prevent falls, etc. Listen in!

About Service GTD: Service GTD was started in 2025 as a service marketplace platform designed to simplify the experience for the global NRI community to discover and access high-quality services and lifestyle solutions. The team interviewed over 120 NRI families before finalising eldercare as their focus/GTM category. They now offer care services across 45+ cities in India.

Follow on: LinkedIn | Website Support: +91 90357 54090 (India)

Timestamps:
03:06 Starting Service GTD; challenges of NRIs taking care of family in India
06:24 Addressing the trust deficit between service providers and families in eldercare
08:00 His experience of caregiving as an ex-NRI
11:22 His research in eldercare
14:15 Focussing on trusted supply partners
17:05 What people need; the booking process
21:55 Taking on an advisory role as in the finance industry
23:25 What NRI families need
28:27 Tech as a differentiator in agetech
30:10 Some challenges faced by clients
34:00 Taking time to research partnerships
36:23 Learnings for the eldercare industry
39:12 Plans for other services
41:34 Elders are looking for social engagement

To get in touch, email [email protected]
Disclaimer: Views are personal. Listener discretion is advised.
...more
49min

FAQs about Gen Seasoned:

How many episodes does Gen Seasoned have?

The podcast currently has 24 episodes available.