Show Notes
Arlene Heyman reads an excerpt from her short story collection Scary Old Sex. Then Max talks with Dr. Joycelyn Elders about her time as Surgeon General under Bill Clinton, what happened after she was forced to resign, why she will forever be known as “the condom queen,” and why older and younger generations should know how to have good, safe sex. — To read more about Arlene Heyman’s work, check out Scary Old Sex in the New Yorker and The New York Times and her debut novel, Artifact.
Know someone who should be on 70 Over 70? We’re looking for all types of stories and people to feature at the top of the show. To nominate yourself or someone else, email [email protected] or call 302-659-7070 and tell us your name, age, where you’re from and what you want to talk about.
More from 70 Over 70
Hysterical investigates a mysterious illness that spreads among a group of high school girls in upstate New York. What is causing their sudden, often violent symptoms? Is there something in the water or inside the school? Or is it “all in their head?” The series examines the outbreak in LeRoy, NY, believed by some to be the most severe case of mass hysteria since the Salem Witch Trials. In his search for answers, Dan Taberski (9/12, Missing Richard Simmons, Running from Cops) explores other seemingly inexplicable events of the last few years – CIA officers being crippled with nausea and vertigo; cops OD'ing from exposure to fentanyl – and discovers they’re far more connected than we realize.
Before 70 Over 70 goes on hiatus, Max sits down again with the person who inspired the show, his dad Marty, to talk about what he has learned from these conversations and what he hopes will stick with listeners.
Paul Price shares what he has learned about how to make the most of the time we have left. Then Max talks with Dr. Diane Meier, a geriatrician and founder of Mount Sinai’s Center to Advance Palliative Care, about what she has learned from helping so many people make meaning of their lives, how to have hard conversations with people we care about, and why 70 feels exciting and unknown.
Greg O’Brien shares how a terminal diagnosis revealed his purpose in life. Then Max talks with Judith Light about how her career opened up when she started to focus on what she could give rather than what she could get, and how that transformation has helped her think about death in a “real, conscious and alive way.”
This week we’re going back to our first interview of 70 Over 70 with Sister Helen Prejean, who has dedicated her life to ending the death penalty in America. Sister Helen’s interview helped set the tone for our show, and as 70 Over 70 comes to an end—yup, we’ve only got a few episodes left—we wanted to revisit this first conversation and share Sister Helen’s thoughts on what it really means to be present, how to show up for others, and why gratitude is so important at any stage of life.