After a long absence from the podcast we are back. In the first segment we read a glowing review of the podcast, we report on our recent midlife crises in action, and give one area where we are optimistic about the future. In the main segment (16:30) we discuss an article in which a group of psychologists report on how Gen X midlifers compare to the previous generations in terms of quality of life, and how midlife-aged adults in the U.S. compare to their counterparts in other countries.

As always, please like and subscribe to the podcast, and youcan reach us at [email protected]. You can also follow Alvin Shultz and Jack Eichler on Facebook or LinkedIn.

We are excited to be back for our 30th episode and to celebrate our 2nd year anniversary of the podcast.

In the opening 10 minute segment we reflect on how the podcast has helped us cope with midlife issues, and Jack tells a story about a recent grad student who recently quit a job in industry to pursue a career in teaching.

In the main segment (11:30) we discuss a paper where researchers try to find evidence that people tend to search more for meaning and purpose in life when they reach a new decade in chronological age. Are men more likely to cheat on their relationships, are we more likely commit suicide, and are we more likely to run a marathon for the first time when we are at a "nine-ender" age? We discuss the research evidence for all these behaviors.

We end the episode by reflecting on our current transition from age 49 to 50 and how this is or is not impacting our search for meaning and purpose in life.

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Social Media: message Jack Eichler or Alvin Shultz on Facebook.

In this episode we have brought on special guest host Carolyn Lambert to tackle the topic of coping with aging parents. Carolyn is a certified parent coach who was a guest on the podcast back in episode 11, and she is currently acting as a caregiver for her father who recently sustained a serious physical injury.
In our opening segment Jack reports to Alvin and Carolyn whether the book Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck has made him cry yet, we briefly discuss an article by Harvard business school professor Arthur Brooks, in which he argues that pushing yourself to do things you are likely to fail will make you happier, and we introduce a new segment called Wisdom from Alvin's youth where Alvin reads an entry from his high school journal.
In our main segment (28:00) we discuss two papers related to dealing with aging parents. The first looks at how demographic shifts over the past 100 years have resulted in middle aged folks being confronted more frequently with caring for aging parents, and the expectations and resentments mid-lifers might have with respect to these caregiving situations. The second paper discusses the different coping strategies we tend to use when caring for our aging parents, and we discuss these with Carolyn in the context of her current situation in which she is caring for her father.  
As always, we hope you leave us a five star review and follow us in your podcast feed, and please share the podcast with all of your friends and family in your social media platforms.

Arthur Brooks article:

https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2025/01/to-succeed-fail-better/681492/?gift=JlCQzt3MIZaHNzn12_BIC6Ii6LGkjfV5Ze_XJr6BLhw&utm_source=copy-link&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=share

Email: [email protected]

Facebook: you can friend Jack Eichler and Alvin Shultz

We apologize for the delay between pods, but as you'll hear in this episode Alvin experienced some chaos over Christmas and New Year's, so we were delayed in putting out our annual holiday special. Though this is coming out a little late, this should be a nice way for you to reflect on the holidays and think about some potential New Year's resolutions.
In the opening segment we hear from Alvin about how his iPhone got hacked, as well some physical issues that he has been dealing with over the past couple of months. You'll learn how a UB Key can be used to protect your phone, and what a cervical myelopathy is.
At minute 21:00 we have a holiday edition of our Are You Not Entertained segment where Jack reports on an unexpected movie that you can add to your Christmas movie rotation.
The main segment starts at minute 35:00, in which we discuss a commentary from the Journal of Psychiatry Reform that argues the holiday blues are a real phenomenon. We briefly reflect on our own views of the holiday season, review data that suggests the winter holidays are a risk factor for death, explore how the holidays might lead to increases in anxiety and depression, and discuss some of the wellness toolkit action items that might help you deal with the holiday blues and improve general well being. 

Email: [email protected]

Facebook: You can friend Jack Eichler or Alvin Shultz

Commentary from the Journal of Psychiatry Reform:

https://journalofpsychiatryreform.com/2019/12/19/wellness-calendar-for-the-busy-physician-how-to-survive-the-holiday-blues/

In this episode we tackle the issue of physical decline by reviewing the book "Younger Next Year" by Chris Crowley and Dr. Harry Lodge.
In our opening segment we report on our informal Facebook poll about whether folks cry more from reading books or watching movies (5:45), briefly discuss the recent revelations about Cormac McCarthy's underage muse (9:50), hear a story from Alvin about one of his crazy step fathers (12:39), and we bring back our Gen Z word of the day segment (18:55).
In our main segment (22:09) we review the new science of aging proposed in the book by Dr. Lodge, which focuses on how our modern sedentary lifestyle is the leading predictor of cardiovascular disease, and how routine rigourous exercise improves our health outcomes and improves the odds of reaching older age and allows us to live vital and productive lives well into our 70s and 80s. We also discuss  the suggestions proposed by Chris Crowley to build extrinsic motivation for increasing physical activity and how these resonate with us. We end by briefly reviewing Dr. Lodges' suggestions for changing  your diet and how these relate to those proposed in the book "The Obesity Code."
Email: [email protected] 

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Jack Eichler: ⁠https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61564991623933⁠

Alvin Shultz: ⁠https://www.facebook.com/alvin.shultz

In this mini-pod we give you our rapid response to the 2024 election. We reminisce about the elections from the 1990's and early 2000's and give some brief perspective on last week's election. We hope that reflecting back on past elections and realizing many state-level elections diverged from the presidential election will help reduce the anxiety many folks might be feeling right now.

Email: [email protected]

Jack Eichler: ⁠https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61564991623933⁠

Alvin Shultz: ⁠https://www.facebook.com/alvin.shultz

In this episode we are excited to bring you our second Midlife Crises movie review, in which we explore themes of existential identity and death in the 2023 movie Barbie.

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Jack Eichler: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61564991623933

Alvin Shultz: https://www.facebook.com/alvin.shultz

In this episode we are excited to bring you our interview with Dr. Rachel Wu, a professor of psychology at the University of California-Riverside.  She is a developmental cognitive neuroscientist investigating how we learn across the lifespan. Dr. Wu has received more than two dozen awards and grants, including a Rising Star award from the Association for Psychological Science and an NSF Career award to investigate the role of learning new skills on cognitive and functional growth in older adulthood. Dr. Wu has published over 40 research articles during her tenure at UCR, but she also puts her research into practice. She was a violinist in a rock band for 7 years, she is a commissioned painter, and she tries to master new skills every few years to gain a better understanding of the difficulties in being an adult learner.
In our interview (16:58) we discuss whether there is general cognitive decline in the midlife, the lifespan theoretical framework for how we can learn as older adults, a research study carried out by Professor Wu in which it was found that engaged learning by older adults led to long term improvements in cognitive abilities, and practical advice for you can be a successful learner as an adult (and hopefully improve your cognitive abilities later in life).    
After the interview (68:00), Alvin and Jack reflect on instances in which we have completed engaged learning and how these experiences fit within the lifespan theoretical framework.

Email: [email protected] 

Facebook: direct message or send friend request to Jack Eichler

In this episode we continue our series on happiness, focusing on how one might improve happiness in the midlife. In our opening potpourri/grab-bag segment, Jack gives a quick take on the movies Defending Your Life and Joe vs. the Volcano, which were on our top 5 list of movies related to existential happiness from our last episode. Jack also recommends an episode from The Nietzsche Podcast in which Keegan Kjeldson discusses The Four Great Errors in thinking identified in Nietzsche's book Twilight of the Idols, and Alvin briefly explains how a car crashed into his house and his recent experience taking his oldest child to college.

In our main segment (28:00), we give an overview of the book The Happiness Hypothesis by Jonathan Haidt. We discuss the framework of automatic processing vs. conscious decision making, factors that influence our baseline happiness, the Happiness Formula, and some of the practical tips that might help you improve your happiness proposed by Jonathan Haidt. We end the segment by explaining why we think JD Vance is wrong in asserting that childless cat ladies are unhappy, using evidence cited by psychologist Paul Bloom.

As always, we thank you for listening, and please support the podcast by following us in your podcast feed, leaving us a five star review, and sharing the podcast with your friends and family. If you want to share your feedback or thoughts on specific topics from the episode, you can email us at [email protected]

The Happiness Hypothesis: https://www.happinesshypothesis.com/

Article on the impact of having children on happiness by Paul Bloom:

https://www.theatlantic.com/family/archive/2021/11/does-having-kids-make-you-happy/620576/

In this episode we follow up our interview with Dr. Danny Blanchflower by discussing the possible causes of the observed decreased happiness among America's youth.
After Alvin tells a brief story about an internet scam he encountered while selling his car, we have a research discussion on the possible causes of the unhappiness epidemic (12:53). We discuss Jonathan Haidt's hypothesis about how smart phones and social media use have led to the unhappiness epidemic among young people, Peter Gray's hypothesis about how these trends in unhappiness are actually linked to the lack of autonomous outdoor play available to our younger generation, and Alvin provides an epidemiological perspective on this issue.
We then discuss some of the recommendations put forth by Jonathan Haidt about how we might reduce device and internet usage for children and adolescents, and we highlight the recent recommendation from the Surgeon General to put warning labels on social media sites and Governor Gavin Newsome's announcement about his goal of banning phones in all California Schools (54:45).
Finally, we do our combined Are You Not Entertained segment and Midlife Crises Top 5 List, where Alvin and I choose our top 5 movies related to happiness/existential growth (74:35).

(Spoiler alert: we discuss the major plot points of these movies in detail) 

Email: [email protected]

Twitter (X): @midlifepod2023

Jonathan Haidt's book The Anxious Generation: https://jonathanhaidt.com/anxious-generation/

Peter Gray's paper on autonomous/independent play and youth happiness: https://www.petergray.org/_files/ugd/b4b4f9_f2cb98d004af4ebf9644c8daa30b040e.pdf

Surgeon General's warning on social media use: https://www.nytimes.com/2024/06/17/opinion/social-media-health-warning.html

Gavin Newsome's call to ban cell phones in CA schools: https://www.nytimes.com/2024/06/18/us/california-newsom-smartphone-ban.html