As we get older, it’s impossible to ignore changes in our body and our mind, but societal attitudes also play a big part in how we feel about aging. The way older people are dismissed, ignored, stereotyped can affect how we see ourselves, our happiness and longevity. This hour, we’ll examine the myths of getting older, our cultural ideas and how to reshape our beliefs about later life.

Gerontologist Tracey Gendron joins us. She’s the author of Ageism Unmasked and writes that aging is just a fact of life, a slow and steady process of change, neither good nor bad. We’ll also talk with writer Lorene Cary. She’s adapting her memoir Ladysitting: My Year with Nana at the End of Her Century, to the stage.