In our culture that celebrates youthfulness, countless Americans dread getting older. Aging brings inevitable changes to our bodies, abilities and lifestyle. But aging not all bad. Surveys show time and again that people in their 80s are happier than young adults and people in middle age. So why do we fear getting older? What if we rethink our obsession with aging? In today’s podcast episode, we explore what aging is really like in America right now and how the experience might be better if we stopped worrying about the process of growing old.

Podcast Guests:

Katherine Esty, therapist and author of Eighty somethings: A Practical Guide to Letting Go, Aging Well, and Finding Unexpected Happiness

Bill Rodgers, decorated marathon runner and Olympian

Marc Agronin, geriatric psychiatrist at Miami Jewish Health and author of The End of Old Age: Living a Longer, More Purposeful Life

Ashton Applewhite, activist and author of The Chair Rocks: A Manifesto Against Ageism

Donna Butts, Executive Director of Generations United