Health and Wellness: Recent Episodes
Untrained Wisdom
If you’re an older adult or have maturing loved ones and welcome inspiration and ideas on leading a more enriching life, this podcast is for you. Untrained Wisdom introduces you to ordinary people (age 55+) who have redefined the paradigm on what it means to become older, and industry professionals whose expertise guides seasoned generations to live more fulfilling lives.
After 2 years and 6 seasons of producing interviews, I've decided to end Untrained Wisdom. In this final episode, I reflect on my experience. Thank you all for listening.
Dorothy Oliver, owner and operator of the general store in rural Panola, Ala., joined forces with a local county commissioner in 2021 to get as many people as she could to get vaccinated from COVID-19 in her small black community. Dorothy's efforts included diligently communicating with residents and educating them about the disease, which resulted in a nearly 99 percent vaccination rate among the town's adults in a state with one of the lowest vaccination rates in the U.S.
In this interview, Dorothy talks about the work she did before and after the vaccine became available as well as the recognition she's received publicly, which includes a personal address by Dr. Anthony Fauci. Her story was also featured in a 2021 short documentary by The New Yorker magazine called The Panola Project.
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Tony Rodriguez was a well-respected trauma therapist whose life was cut short in a tragic accident. Some time after, his wife Jennifer Ohman-Rodriguez began journaling. Many of her raw, unfiltered accounts in the first 14 months of grief became the foundation of her 2022 book, "A Time to Mourn and a Time to Dance: A Love Story of Grief, Trauma, Healing and Faith" published by Chalice Press. In this interview, Jennifer talks about the complexities of navigating life as a widow and mom to their two sons, the therapies she turned to in helping her healing, writing the book, and who this book is for.
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Jennifer's Recommendations: - Cello suites of J.S. Bach - The Book of Longings by Sue Monk Kidd
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Lillian Colón was the first Latina Rockette to perform at Radio City Music Hall. Her years of experience on stage and backstage prepared her to ultimately audition for and be cast as a dancer in the 2021 musical film In the Heights. In this interview, Lillian shares what it was like to be at the audition and on the set, where she was the oldest dancer. Furthermore, Lillian briefly mentions her rough early years, which she spent in an orphanage and have served as a launching point for recent creative projects, including her memoir called Lilly: The First Latina Rockette.
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Alexis Baker is a licensed and board-certified music therapist in Portland, Oregon who started Bridgetown Music Therapy, a subscription-based video library service with lessons targeted for aging adults. In this interview, Alexis talks about what music therapy (and what it's not), who her clients are within the senior citizen population that utilize her service, how the BMT platform works, and why this type of health service is beneficial. Furthermore, Alexis mentions the American Music Therapy Association as a resource for anyone interested in finding a professional in their area.
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Alexis' Recommendation: - Survivor - Fixer to Fabulous
Shuva's Recommendation: - Cheer
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On Father's Day 2021 Twin Cities-based KARE 11 reporter Karla Hult launched So Many Goodbyes, an advocacy service for families who have loves ones living with Alzheimer's. After seeing her father's decline from the disease, Karla wanted to help others in a way she wished was available to her. Through mentoring and workshops, Karla aims to serve families so they can better navigate the long and difficult experience that one might expect with an Alzheimer's diagnosis.
In this interview, Karla talks about her father and how meaningful he was in her life, the different stages of decline she observed in him, and the emotions of producing a series of personal feature-length stories about her dad and the impact of Alzheimer's. Furthermore, Karla spotlights the stress Alzheimer's places on caregivers – many of whom are senior citizens.
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Karla's Recommendations: - U2 - The Daily podcast by The New York Times - Up First by NPR - All books by Margaret Atwood - Ted Lasso on Apple TV+ - Schitt's Creek on Netflix - Game of Thrones on HBO
Shuva's Recommendation: - In The Heights movie musical
If you enjoyed this episode, please leave a review on Apple Podcasts. Check out guest recommendations on Pinterest. Finally, you can support the show through Patreon or leave a tip on the Goodpods app.
Interested in starting your own podcast? Sign up here for your own Buzzsprout account.
Jon R. Kerstetter completed three tours of duty in Iraq with the U.S. Army as a combat physician and flight surgeon from 2003 to 2006. After his return from Iraq, Dr. Kerstetter suffered a stroke while undergoing surgery for a brain aneurysm. The resulting cognitive and physical impairments left him unable to continue his career as a doctor and military officer. Through extensive physical and cognitive rehabilitation, he enrolled in a graduate writing program at Ashland University in Ashland, Ohio, earning his Master of Fine Arts in creative nonfiction, and published his memoir, called Crossings: A Doctor-Soldier's Story.
In this interview, the Iowa City, Iowa resident reflects on his childhood growing up on an Indian reservation in Oneida, Wisconsin, changing course in middle age to become a doctor, and contributing his medical skills in international conflicts before serving in Iraq. He also talks about the differences between civilian and military medicine, and shares a handful of remarkable experiences being challenged during his time in Iraq as well as on the long road to recovering from his stroke through writing his book.
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Jon's Recommendations: - The Midnight Library by Matt Haig - Killing Crazy Horse by Bill O'Reilly and Martin Dugard
Shuva's Recommendation: - Marvel Studios' The Falcon and The Winter Soldier
If you enjoyed this episode, please leave a review on Apple Podcasts. Check out guest recommendations on Pinterest. Finally, you can support the show through Patreon or leave a tip on the Goodpods app.
Interested in starting your own podcast? Sign up here for your own Buzzsprout account.
The influence of Alexa – the voice-powered artificial intelligence assistant – among aging adults who live alone is the focal point of a recent study by Dr. Valerie Jones of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. In this interview, the associate professor in the school's College of Journalism and Mass Communications talks about the basic components of the study, the Alexa guide provided to help the senior citizens use the device regularly, and the implications the results can have for society.
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Valerie's Recommendations: - Apeirogon and Let the Great World Spin by Colum McCann
Shuva's Recommendation: - The Last Dance Netflix series
If you enjoyed this episode, please leave a review on Apple Podcasts. Check out guest recommendations on Pinterest. Finally, you can support the show through Patreon or leave a tip on the Goodpods app.
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Robert Kaplan, aka Sam the Senior, is the creator of TheOlderFolk.com, an acknowledgement of humor-infused reality on being a senior citizen. The website and Instagram account feature aspects of his life – some in cartoon posts – that articulate the quirky realities of getting older as well as lessons about healthy habits aimed to encourage longevity.
In this interview, Sam the Senior talks about his work with the aging population as a traveling optician prior to starting the site as well as some of the fictional characters developed previously about healthy living. One of those characters is Healthy Man, depicted in The Healthy Man Handbook. Sam the Senior also talks about some of the content on theolderfolk.com that's generated positive feedback and shares what he hopes to accomplish with the site longterm.
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Sam the Senior's Recommendation: - Hemingway
Shuva's Recommendation: - The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway
If you enjoyed this episode, please leave a review on Apple Podcasts. Check out guest recommendations on Pinterest. Finally, you can support the show through Patreon or leave a tip on the Goodpods app.
Interested in starting your own podcast? Sign up here for your own Buzzsprout account.
Driven by a desire to have a transitional living option that positions itself between completely independent living and assisted living, Susan Shullaw and a group of friends co-founded TRAIL of Johnson County. As Iowa's first aging-in-place organization TRAIL modeled itself after the Village to Village Network and has grown to more than 200 members since opening its doors in 2017. In this interview, Susan shares why it's important for the community to have an aging-in-place organization, the benefits provided to members, and her vision for the future of TRAIL. She also shares how locals who are not older adults can become TRAIL volunteers, as well as advice for communities that want to consider starting their own aging-in-place organization.
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Susan's Recommendations: - Hot Tamale Louie (trailer) by John Rapson - Olive Kitteridge and Olive, Again by Elizabeth Strout - Some Kind of Heaven documentary
Shuva's Recommendation: - At The Ready documentary
Find these recommendations and others on the Untrained Wisdom Pinterest page.
If you enjoyed this episode, please leave a review on Apple Podcasts. If this enjoy this podcast, consider making a recurring contribution on the Untrained Wisdom Patreon page.
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