It is a story of our time — the new landscape of living longer, and of dying more slowly too. Jane Gross has explored this as a daughter and as a journalist, and as creator of the New York Times’ “New Old Age” blog. She has grounded advice and practical wisdom about caring for our loved ones and ourselves on the far shore of aging.

Mohammed Fairouz is a composer whose opera and symphonies have been performed at Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, and The Kennedy Center. His 11 albums include “Native Informant,” “In The Shadow of No Towers,” “Poems and Prayers,” and, most recently, “Follow, Poet.” This interview is edited and produced with music and other features in the On Being episode “Mohammed Fairouz — The World in Counterpoint.” Find more at onbeing.org.

He’s been called a post-millennial Schubert. Mohammed Fairouz has composed four symphonies and an opera while still in his 20s. He invokes John F. Kennedy and Anwar Sadat, Seamus Heaney and Yehuda Amichai in his compositions. He sees “illustrious language” as a form of music — and as a way, just maybe, to shift the world on its axis.

David Blankenhorn is founder and president of the Institute of American Values. He’s also co-director of The Marriage Opportunity Council. His books include “The Future of Marriage.” Jonathan Rauch is a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution and co-director of The Marriage Opportunity Council. He’s a contributing editor to The Atlantic and National Journal, and the author of “Gay Marriage: Why It Is Good for Gays, Good for Straights, and Good for America.” This interview is edited and produced with music and other features in the On Being episode “David Blankenhorn and Jonathan Rauch — The Future of Marriage.” Find more at onbeing.org.

What would it take to make our national encounter with gay marriage redemptive rather than divisive? David Blankenhorn and Jonathan Rauch came to the gay marriage debate from very different directions — but with a shared concern about the institution of marriage. Now, they’re pursuing a different way for all of us to grapple with the future of marriage, redefined. They model a fresh way forward as the subject of same-sex marriage is before the Supreme Court.

Bruce Kramer was the creator of “The Dis Ease Diary” a blog about his life with ALS and “We Know How This Ends: Living While Dying.” He was the Dean of the College of Education, Leadership and Counseling at the University of St. Thomas, where he served on the faculty for over 19 years. He was a passionate music lover and was a choir conductor for most of his adult life. This interview is edited and produced with music and other features in the On Being episode “Bruce Kramer — Forgiving the Body: Life with ALS.” Find more at onbeing.org.

From the moment of his diagnosis with ALS, Bruce Kramer began writing — openly, deeply, and spiritually — about his struggle, as he puts it, to live while dying. He died on March 23, 2015, while we were in production on this show. His words hold abiding joy and beauty, and reveal an unexpected view opened by this disease.

Alan Dienstag is a clinical psychologist in private practice in New York City and Westchester County. This interview is edited and produced with music and other features in the On Being episode “Alan Dienstag — Alzheimer’s and the Spiritual Terrain of Memory.” Find more at onbeing.org.

Alzheimer’s disease has been described as “the great unlearning.” But what does it reveal about the nature of human identity? What remains when memory unravels? Alan Dienstag is a psychologist who has led support groups with early Alzheimer’s patients, as well as a writing group he co-designed with the novelist Don DeLillo. He’s experienced the early stages of Alzheimer’s as a time for giving memories away rather than losing them.

Arthur Zajonc is president of the Mind and Life Institute. He is emeritus professor of physics at Amherst College, where he taught from 1978 to 2012. His books include “Meditation as Contemplative Inquiry: When Knowing Becomes Love” and “The Heart of Higher Education: A Call to Renewal.” Michael McCullough is professor of psychology at the University of Miami, where he directs the Evolution and Human Behavior Laboratory. He’s the author of “Beyond Revenge: The Evolution of the Forgiveness Instinct.” This interview is edited and produced with music and other features in the On Being episode “Arthur Zajonc + Michael McCullough — Mind and Morality: A Dialogue.” Find more at onbeing.org.