What does your voice give away before you've finished a sentence? Dr. Larry Barsh talks with Dr. Chris Montgomery, a dialectologist at the University of Sheffield, about the verdicts we reach in half a second — educated or backward, polished or rough, one of us or not from around here — and why nobody believes they have an accent. Montgomery leads the UK Swear Map, a national survey of how Britain actually curses, built in partnership with the satirical arts collective Modern Toss (creators o...

Episode Title: Becoming Martian: What Space Will Do to the Human Body, Mind, and Species Runtime: ~55 minutes Episode Summary What happens to us — biologically, genetically, evolutionarily — if humans actually go live on Mars? Not visit. Live. Dr. Scott Solomon, evolutionary biologist and teaching professor at Rice University, has spent years following that question to its surprisingly unsettling conclusions. His new book, Becoming Martian (MIT Press), argues that the most profound c...

THE ENLIGHTENED CYNIC Episode: The Rule of Law — What It Means, Why It Matters, and What You Can Do Host: Dr. Larry Barsh Guest: Professor Alexandra Natapoff, Harvard Law School EPISODE SUMMARY In this inaugural episode under its new name, The Enlightened Cynic welcomes Harvard Law Professor Alexandra Natapoff for a conversation about one of the most urgent concepts of our time: the rule of law. Professor Natapoff explains what rule of law actually means in 2026, why she chose to open Harv...

Specifically for Seniors • Guest: Bill McKibben About the GuestBill McKibben is a journalist, author of 20+ books, and professor at Middlebury College. He wrote the first major book on climate change in the 1980s and founded 350.org — the world's first global grassroots climate campaign — and Third Act, an organization mobilizing Americans over 60 on climate and democracy. Episode Summary McKibben joins host Dr. Larry Barsh to argue that cheap solar and wind power represent the most powerful ...

In an era when American democracy faces unprecedented challenges and questions about authoritarianism have moved from the margins to the center of our political discourse, this conversation with author Jack El-Hai offers crucial historical perspective. The parallels between the events he chronicles in his book and the political landscape we're witnessing today make this discussion essential listening for anyone concerned about the preservation of democratic institutions and the rise of authorita...

In this episode of the podcast Specifically for Seniors, host Dr. Larry Barsh sits down with technologist and author Dan Wilson to discuss how artificial intelligence can empower older adults. Dan shares that his inspiration for writing his book came after he successfully helped his mother fix her home WiFi from 500 miles away by using ChatGPT to troubleshoot the problem. He explains that for the first time in his twenty-five-year career, technology has become "gentle" by adapting to human needs...

In this episode of Specifically for Seniors, Dr. Larry Barsh welcomes David Cravit and Larry Wolf, co-authors of Super Aging: Getting Older without Getting Old and the Super Aging Workbook. Together they explore how aging can be reframed as a stage of opportunity rather than decline. Drawing on decades of experience in advertising, branding, and consumer trends, they describe how the concept of “super aging” challenges stereotypes and offers a positive, purposeful approach to later life. Cravit ...

Editorial cartoons distill political complexity into a single, unforgettable image. By exaggerating flaws, contradictions, and absurdities, they make power visible—often more effectively than prose. In this episode of Specifically for Seniors, we sit down with the legendary Steve Brodner, whose fearless illustrations have chronicled American political theater for decades. From the Library of Congress to the pages of The Nation, The Washington Post, and The LA Times, Brodner’s pen has skewered ...

One day, Narcissus caught sight of his own reflection and thought, “Finally—someone who gets me.” Fast forward a few millennia, and Donald Trump, in a moment of mythological cosplay, gazed into the Capitol Reflecting Pool and saw not the dome of democracy, but the shimmering image of his own magnificence. And like his ancient counterpart, he was utterly transfixed.So in June 2025, to mark his 79th birthday—and presumably the anniversary of his divine self-recognition—he staged a taxpayer-funded ...

Join us on our Substack page (https://specificallyforseniors.substack.com)where satire meets substance and storytelling sparks civic engagement and where we comment several + times a week. Let’s keep the conversation sharp, smart, and unapologetically bold.In the August 14, 2025 episode, Larry welcomes Dr. Sophia McClennen. Sophia is a professor of international affairs and comparative literature at Penn State University. She is the author of several books on satire, media, and politics, includi...

With the appointment of Robert F Kennedy, Jr. as Secretary of Health and Human Services, the Trump administration has systematically targeted the next generation of scientists and public health leaders. He has cut science funding to its lowest level in decades. More than 20,000 jobs were eliminated, billions of dollars in scientific research has been threatened or paused, and a budget draft proposes a major restructuring of Health and Human Services. The Trump administration has asked Federal a...

We’re going to take a break from politics and the voices of older adults on today’s podcast and talk with the younger generation that keeps us inspired.I was recently introduced to a compelling new voice in filmmaking, a bold young screenwriter and director whose creative vision and storytelling instincts mark him as one to watch. At this year’s NYC Short Film Showcase at New Plaza Cinema, audiences were treated to a standout debut from the rising young screenwriter and director behind the shar...

A Fact Sheet at whitehouse.gov is entitled President Donald J. Trump Keeps Promises to Our Veterans and Establishes New Center for Homeless Veterans. Fact Sheet Linkhttps://www.whitehouse.gov/fact-sheets/2025/05/fact-sheet-president-donald-j-trump-keeps-promises-to-our-veterans-and-establishes-new-center-for-homeless-veterans/ On this page is the statement “President Trump strongly believes that every veteran deserves our gratitude, and that the federal government should treat veterans like t...

A FACT CHECK at the White House website proclaims “President Trump will always a protect Social Security and Medicare.” It goes on to quote Elon Musk saying “The waste and fraud in entitlement spending — which is most of the federal spending is entitlements — so, that’s, like, the big one to eliminate. That’s the, sort of half-trillion, maybe $6-700 billion a year.” After a list of “facts” about fraud, improper payments to deceased individuals and improper payments to both SSA and Medicare and ...

A recent space tourism flight on the Blue Origin capsule featuring an all-female crew including Katy Perry and Gayle King sparked some controversy over whether it was a publicity stunt to promote Jeff Bezos’ space tourism business or whether it had some scientific purpose. We were curious about humans’ venture into space, so we called on the go-to-expert on all things space flight Dr. Jonathan McDowell. Dr. McDowell is an astrophysicist on the Chandra X-ray Center team at the Center for Astrophy...

A Free ranging discussion of freedom of the press.Dictators hate a free press. Victor Orbán in Hungary built his own media universe while simultaneously dismantling the free press. The Nazis smashed printing presses of opposition newspapers. One of Trump’s first actions was to dictate who would cover him in the White House and on Air Force One and refuse to allow the Associated Press admittance to press briefings. Social media and press giants like Mark Zuckerberg and Elon Musk control or rather...

A recent article in the Washington Post described the current administration's attempts to cancel leases for many National Park Service buildings saying that it could save taxpayers millions of dollars. This move came after the firing of about 1000 probationary workers.I wanted to learn more about the National Park Service and how funding cuts will affect visitors this summer, but more than that - about the cultural and historical background of our national parks and the politics affecting them....

I was 6 years old when Voice of America first broadcast during World War II. It was established in 1941 initially focused on countering Nazi and Japanese propaganda during World War II and later played a significant role during the Cold War broadcasting to communist countries. Very recently, however, the White House moved to close down Voice of America to "ensure taxpayers are no longer on the hook for radical propaganda. " To get an up-close and personal view of what’s happening at VOA, we as...

The news that the Trump administration plans to eliminate the Environmental Protection Agency's offices and the future implications of Trump's energy policies on the environment and climate led to my concern about how it will affect my children and grandchildren and yours. Because I didn't understand what all the implications could be and what we could do about it, I invited David Cain from the Citizens' Climate Lobby to talk with us about the organization, what it does, and how he became active...

To be honest I should have titled this podcast -Surviving the Podcast Guests.Tune in and you'll understand why I said this. Joel and Karmela Waldman are mother and son co-hosts of their True Crime podcast called Surviving the Survivor. Joel worked most recently as a Washington, D.C.-based correspondent for Fox News, covering national politics from Capitol Hill. He has also worked as an investigative reporter for Fox 5 in New York City and for TV-news programs in West Palm Beach, Miami, and Tuc...

We've just been through an historic election and so we asked Bob Levey, a prize winning journalist who has covered the Washington scene since the Johnson administration to talk with us about it. We talked about Bob's early years at The Washington Post and his currect column on the Senior Beacon Newspapers. Bob and I discussed the recent election, the job that both print and media did in covering the days up to the election, Bezos' refusal to endorse Harris and the problem with print endosements...

I have a friend who just celebrated his 100th birthday. He was a bombadier during World War II. He is in great physical ad mental health, has written a play about his experiences and is trying to cast that play at the senior residence he considers home. This got me wondering if there was a way that more of us could live well into old age, so I called on Noelle Nelson, PhD author of “The Longevity Secret, How to Live Happy, Healthy & Vibrant Into Your 70s, 80s, 90s and Beyond” for the answer. No...

One of the best parts of doing this podcast is that it gives me the opportunity to meet and talk with some remarkable people who've done exceptional things after retirement. Chad Richardson was a Detroit police officer who gave himself the gift of filmmaking when he retired from law enforcement. On today's episode of Specifically for Seniors takes us on his journey to fulfill his dream after retirement. Chad and I talk about his movie Bad Senator and the more than 200 seniors who volunteered in...

Maggie Scarf is a former visiting fellow at the Whitney Humanities Center, Yale University, and a fellow of Jonathan Edwards College, Yale University. She was for many years a Contributing Editor to The New Republic and a member of the advisory board of the American Psychiatric Press. Maggie is the author of seven books for adults and two books for children. She s the recipient of numerous awards and fellowships, including a Ford Foundation Fellowship and a Nieman Fellowship in Journalism at Ha...