Longer life spans and aging Baby Boomers will soon lead to a surge in the number of Americans 65 or older. By 2030, health care spending is expected to increase by 25%, largely because the population will be older. Although there is a big push to offer assistance in keeping seniors as healthy as possible while "aging in place," nearly 42 percent of people who live to age 70 will spend time in a nursing home. And, for those who want to age in place, the pool of potential family caregivers will be smaller for baby boomers than it was for their parents.

Pennsylvania has one of the fastest growing older populations in the country and that means challenges are imminent or may be here already.

On Thursday's Smart Talk, we examine the challenges of an aging population with Pennsylvania's Secretary of Aging Teresa Osborne and Keira McGuire, producer and host of WITF's Health Smart series.

Health Smart latest episode "The Aging Boom" airs on WITF-TV Thursday night at 8.

Also, with all the attention of whether Russia interfered in last year's U.S. presidential election and if there was contact between the Trump campaign and Russia, what is life like inside Russia under President Vladimir Putin? Russian author and activist Masha Gessen's latest book The Future is History looks back at the history and fall of the Soviet Union and then paints a picture of a nation that although not Communist, resembles a totalitarian state.

Gessen appears on Thursday's Smart Talk.

Masha Gessen is at the Midtown Scholar Bookstore in Harrisburg Monday starting at 6:30 p.m.