[B]OLD AGE With Debbie Weil

Updated: 10 May 2024 • 119 episodes
debbieweil.com/podcast

A podcast about (b)oldly moving from midlife to old age in a society that devalues old people and/or misunderstands what (b)old age is *really* like. Debbie, who is 72, explores that question in frank 30-minute conversations with best-selling authors, experts, and exceptional individuals. With her guests she delves into the unretired (non-retired) life, ageism, ambition, slowing down (or not), physical deterioration, grandparenting, intergenerational collaboration, grief and widowhood, and more. As well as other stuff that piques her interest such as the craft of writing. She invites her husband, Sam Harrington, on as a frequent guest. He’s a retired physician with a dry sense of humor and he makes her laugh. Debbie and Sam took a grownup gap year at age 61, leaving behind a professional life in Washington D.C. Now in their early 70s, they live a busy and productive "unretired" life on an island off the coast of Maine. Debbie writes for Substack at debbieweil.substack.com. Over 100 previous episodes at debbieweil.com/podcast MEDIA PARTNERS: Encore.org Modern Elder Academy (Formerly) Next For Me

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Today, Debbie talks with Sarah Fay, an award-winning author, writing teacher, and keynote speaker whose work has been featured in and on NPR, Oprah Daily, Forbes, The Los Angeles Times, and more.  Her journalistic memoir Pathological: The True Story of Six Misdiagnoses (HarperCollins, 2022) was an Apple Best Books pick

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Today Debbie talks to Patty Ivey about life changes and opportunities opening up for her after being diagnosed with and treated for breast cancer last year. Inspiring doesn’t really cover it as a way to describe Patty. Neither does [b]old, as in [B]OLD AGE. Patty and Debbie go back at least 15 years, when Debbie was a

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Debbie speaks with Lyn Slater, a writer and activist and former social media influencer. She spent her mid-60s becoming an icon of fashion, racking up nearly 800,000 Instagram followers, representing huge brands like Ilia Beauty, Kate Spade, Moncler, and Visa (among many others), speaking on fashion panels, and in gene

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In the Intro to this episode, you'll hear Steven Petrow talking about his sister Julie Petrow’s death last June 2023. After years of battling ovarian cancer, Julie, Steven’s five-years-younger little sister, chose to die in her New Jersey home by drinking a lethal cocktail. She was surrounded by her family. And it was

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Today, Debbie talks with Kirsten Powers, a New York Times bestselling author, a liberal columnist and, most recently, an on-air political analyst with CNN. In 2023, after almost two decades, she left what she calls the “media circus” to pursue a different life as a writer and a life coach. Kirsten, who is 56, is [b]old

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Today, Debbie talks to Dale Russakoff, a veteran reporter for The Washington Post, a bestselling author, and a classmate from her Harvard/Radcliffe class of 1974.  They talk about her surprising experience at Harvard as a woman from the South, her distinguished career as a journalist, and the importance of family.  Deb

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