That's right.

I think what's what happens is when you're over 50, you do get wisdom and experience and it is time to sort of release yourself from a lot of things.

It's not easy.

Of course, it's hard.

But a part of that that runs parallel to that is the aging process itself.

And, you know, we live in a culture that, which I think is changing, very different than Asia, which embraces aging.

You know, we live in an ageist culture, which creates self-imposed ageism.

And what

Can you talk about some of those?

Yeah, for sure.

First of all, most of the innovation is being done outside of the U.S.

I went around the world to interview over 70 people for Longevity Nation and the people who are really innovating.

And Asia and the Asian countries that have the oldest populations, there's a lot of innovation.

And I'll share some of that in a minute.

The EU and the U.K., devising new innovation within workplace and work models.

And so what are some of the most effective community-based solutions that can help us maintain those social connections?

Uh, give us a little bit of your backstory on how you got to this situation.

Yeah, no, thanks.

I was, as you mentioned, I was, uh, the president and publishing director of Hearst Magazines and, you know, I'm sure many of your listeners and viewers know some of our magazines.

We launched Oprah's magazine and Food Network and Esquire and many, many others.

And, um, I was about, um, I was a- about ready to sort of wrap up what was a 40-year great career.

I was just kind of ready to do my next thing, and everyone kept saying to me, "Oh, you're gonna retire." And I thought, "Well, no, I'm gonna actually leave this job because it was a great job and a great career, and I'm gonna go off and do my next thing." So in, in my language, um, said I'm gonna rewire and do my next chapter.

And anyway, people, um...

[laughs] You know, you get there because somebody looked at what you did and said, "This is really awesome, and I want that person on my team, and I really want them working on my project." And it's just a really different way of thinking about how value is assessed.

[upbeat music]

Insight number one: the new longevity era is here.

One hundred years ago in the US, life expectancy was sixty-two years old.

In Europe, it was less than sixty years old, and in many Asian countries it was less than fifty years old.

Due to the developments of vaccines and antibiotics, cleaner water, a better food supply, and waste disposable, we've seen more growth in life expectancy since the early twentieth century than at any time in all of history combined.

Today in the US, average life expectancy hovers around eighty and is higher in many European and Asian countries.

Life expectancies of mid to late eighties in places like Hong Kong, Japan, and Korea, and it is anticipated in a few years women in those countries will exceed ninety years old as life expectancy in those countries continue to grow.

[upbeat music]

So how do we manage that part of it?

Yeah.

Well, well, first of all, I think as we're all living longer, we're gonna need to work longer.We're going to want to work longer.

We're going to be able to work longer.

And what I say is that you and others and myself are paving the way for the next generations, because when they're in jobs, they're gonna wanna work longer as well.

And so it's all sort of we're kinda paying it forward in an, in an odd kind of way.

But, you know, in the AI revolution, much like in the digital revolution, you know, new kinds of jobs are created, new kinds of things happen.

Mm.

Mm-hmm.

You know, 100 years ago, the average life expectancy was 62.

Today, it's 80 in the US, and growing, and in other parts of the world.

Here's another amazing stat, [laughs] which, you know, 100 years ago, there were seven million people who were 65 or older.

In this country, there are now 60 million, growing to 80 million by 2040.

So you're gonna have a lot of cranky 65-plus-year-olds-

Mm-hmm.

Is, do we have to raise the retirement age again and again in order to do it? Will have, we have to reduce, uh, the amount of money we give future generations? W- we need reform, and no one wants to touch it on either side of the aisle.