Dr. Robert Waldinger, director of the Harvard Study of Adult Development, shares insights from the world's longest study on happiness, tracking over 2,500 people since 1938. The core finding: A good life comes from caring for your body and relationships, as warm connections predict health and longevity better than cholesterol levels at midlife. Privilege doesn't guarantee happiness, as inner-city participants matched Harvard men in well-being.

Guest Introduction:

Dr. Waldinger is a Harvard Medical School professor, psychiatrist, psychoanalyst, and Zen master who directs the 85+ year Harvard Study. His TED Talk has over 50 million views, and he co-authored The Good Life with Marc Schulz, distilling study lessons on connection. He teaches meditation globally and psychotherapy at Mass General Hospital.

Connect With Guest:

• Website: robertwaldinger.com
• Book: The Good Life: Lessons from the World's Longest Scientific Study of Happiness.
• TED Talk: "What makes a good life? Lessons from the longest study on happiness".
• LinkedIn: Robert Waldinger

What to do next:

• Click to grab our free guide, 10 Key Issues to Consider as You Explore Your Retirement Transition
• Please leave a review at Apple Podcasts.
• Join our Revolutionize Your Retirement group on Facebook.

In this episode of Revolutionize Your Retirement, host Dori Mintzer talks with gerontologist, author, and longtime positive aging pioneer Rick (Harry R.) Moody about his latest book, Climate Change in an Aging Society. Rick describes how he came to link two topics many people avoid, aging and climate, and why he believes older adults have a unique role to play in responding to the “four horsemen of the climate apocalypse”: fire, flood, drought, and heat.

Rick and Dori discuss how climate realities are already affecting decisions about where and how to live, home insurance, health, and the ability to “age in place.” Drawing on stories from New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina, wildfire survivors in Paradise, California, and his own move from Boulder to the Bay Area, Rick underscores that relocation is not a full solution, as almost every region now faces some climate risk. Instead, he argues that the key is to move from paralysis and denial toward action—mitigation and adaptation—rooted in a sense of legacy and intergenerational responsibility.

The conversation highlights Rick’s core message: “Here, now, you, hope.” He explains why hope is not naïve optimism but “a verb with its sleeves rolled up,” and outlines three powerful roles for individuals at any age: citizen (voting, marching, contacting elected officials), consumer (choices about energy use, travel, food, and purchases), and investor (shifting money away from fossil fuels and toward more sustainable options).

About the Guest – Rick (Harry R.) Moody, PhD

Rick (Harry R.) Moody, PhD, is a pioneering gerontologist, educator, and author whose work has helped shape the modern conversations on positive aging, ethics, and the spiritual dimensions of later life. He is the former Vice President for Academic Affairs at AARP, visiting faculty in the Creative Longevity and Wisdom program at Fielding Graduate University, and visiting professor at Tohoku University in Japan.

Rick previously served as Executive Director of the Brookdale Center on Aging at Hunter College and as Chair of the Board of Elderhostel (now Road Scholar). He has written or co-written numerous influential books and articles, including the widely used gerontology textbook Aging: Concepts and Controversies (now in its 10th edition), Ethics in an Aging Society (the first book on biomedical ethics and aging), and The Five Stages of the Soul, which has been translated into seven languages.

Key Topics We Cover

• Why climate change and aging belong in the same conversation, and why the title “Climate Change in an Aging Society” matters.
• The difference between fear, despair, and what Rick calls real hope (not optimism), including reflections from Václav Havel and David Orr.
• Mitigation vs. adaptation and what each means for older adults deciding whether and where to move, downsize, or age in place.
• How dreams can mirror climate anxiety and also point toward personal action and awakening in the second half of life.

Connect with Rick Moody

• Mind-Body Website: https://cmbm.org/governance/
• Books:
• Five Stages of the Soul
• Aging

What to do next:

• Click to grab our free guide, 10 Key Issues to Consider as You Explore Your Retirement Transition
• Please leave a review at Apple Podcasts.
• Join our Revolutionize Your Retirement group on Facebook.

In this episode of Revolutionize Your Retirement, host Dori Mintzer talks with Helen Hirsh Spence, founder of Top 60 Over 60, about reframing aging in the 21st century and confronting both external and internalized ageism. Helen shares her own story of becoming a social entrepreneur in her late 60s after a 35-year leadership career in education, and how subtle experiences of invisibility and lowered expectations led her to recognize ageism in herself and in the culture around her.

The conversation dives into what ageism looks and sounds like, everyday comments, workplace nudges to retire, birthday-card humor, and “senior moment” jokes, and why these messages quietly erode confidence, opportunity, and health. Helen introduces the idea of “longevity literacy” and a “longevity mindset,” noting that we now live 20–30 years longer than previous generations and need a new life map beyond the old “learn–earn–retire” model. She and Dori discuss how people in their 50s, 60s, 70s, and beyond can pivot, re-skill, and design non-linear lives that include multiple purposes and periodic reinvention.

Helen also talks about her work with individuals and organizations: helping older adults surface purpose, strengths, and an “entrepreneurial mindset,” and helping employers become age-ready by recognizing the value of older workers’ experience and institutional knowledge. She emphasizes the importance of self-awareness, stepping out of one’s comfort zone, building multi-generational connections, and cultivating supportive networks that challenge limiting beliefs about aging.

About the Guest – Helen Hirsh Spence

Helen Hirsh Spence is a trailblazing advocate for longevity literacy and a leading voice in the fight against ageism. She is the founder of Top 60 Over 60, a niche consultancy and thought-leadership platform that challenges outdated stereotypes about aging and showcases the value of older adults in today’s workforce and society.

Before launching her social enterprise in her late 60s, Helen spent more than 35 years as a senior leader in public and private education, including roles as a language teacher, secondary school principal, founding executive of the Ontario Principals’ Council, and head of an all-girls school in Ottawa. A lifelong learner and traveler, she has done volunteer advisory work in Honduras, Bolivia, the Canadian Arctic, India, and Bhutan, and even climbed Kilimanjaro at 58.

Key Topics We Cover

• Longevity literacy and the new map of life: living 20–30 years longer and outgrowing the learn–earn–retire model.
• Longevity mindset: reframing expectations, health span, and the opportunities of extra decades.
• Purpose in later life: self-awareness, revisiting values, multiple evolving purposes, and getting out of your comfort zone.
• The entrepreneurial mindset (for business or life): creativity, spotting opportunity, re-skilling, and embracing change.

Connect with Helen Hirsh Spence

• Website & Resources: Top 60 Over 60 – articles, talks, media, and program information.
• LinkedIn: Age Sense - Fresh perspectives & insights on shifting demographics, longevity & age inclusivity, reflections

What to do next:

• Click to grab our free guide, 10 Key Issues to Consider as You Explore Your Retirement Transition
• Please leave a review at Apple Podcasts.
• Join our Revolutionize Your Retirement group on Facebook.