aging

For nearly 15 years, National Medal of the Arts award-winning poet and author Julia Alvarez has focused on writing picture books and novels for children. But earlier this year, she published her first novel for adults in more than a decade, called Afterlife.

The protagonist, Antonia Vega, is a woman in her late 60s reckoning with isolation and her new identity after her husband’s sudden death. In a world upended by the ongoing coronavirus pandemic and wrestling with its own kind of communal grief, the themes of the novel resonate in ways that Alvarez never could have predicted.

Judge Amy Totenberg has ruled Georgia will use its outdated voting machines for one more election. Then, it’s time for change. Delve into the 153-page ruling with GPB politics reporter Stephen Fowler.  

A metro Atlanta police department is trying out a pilot program to help opioid users go to treatment facilities instead of jail. Travel there for the story with GPB’s Ellen Eldridge.

Georgia is aging … fast. Estimates indicate that by 2030, one in five Georgia residents will be 65 years of age or older. By 2050, the number of Georgians older than 85 will triple from 2010.

To get ahead of these demographic shifts, some businesses and organizations are trying to anticipate the needs of Georgia’s population by developing “age-friendly communities.”

The Atlanta Regional Commission recently held a forum on building age-friendly communities in both the metro Atlanta area as well as across the state.

Food insecurity is a pressing issue nationwide — particularly in Georgia, where one out of every four children live in food insecure households. It's a dire picture for seniors, too, with the latest estimates putting Georgia in the top ten worst states for food insecurity among aging populations. 

Residents and officials across Georgia are working to address the problem. GPB's Full Plates series is taking listeners around the state to learn about creative local solutions to food access problems.

 Three to four days a week Ernestine Mims comes to the Senior Center in Twiggs County to eat lunch with her friends. On a recent afternoon, the women sat at a long table, covered in a yellow cloth.  Ernestine was clearly having fun.

“I laugh and talk, and I can go the day on, don’t think about nothing, no pains or nothing,” she said. “When I come up here I am able to forget about it. It’s just like a home away from home.” 

Demographers call it a "silver tsunami."

Ten-thousand baby boomers turn 65 each day, according to Pew Research, and 90 percent of homeowners of retirement age say they want to spend their twilight years at home, according to the AARP. Whether it's the high cost of assisted living and long-term care or fears of lost independence or comfort, "aging in place" is now the biggest trend in senior living.

Today's show celebrated the 50th anniversary of Alliance Theatre in Atlanta, explored the dynamics of aging in place and checked in about the future of funding for MARTA.

Michael Parver and Jamie Clements joined "On Second Thought" to revisit 50 years of programming and transformations at the theatre. They also discussed the new renovation project and the opening of "Ever After," a musical based on the 1998 Drew Barrymore film.

Atlanta’s Donald Glover has found a new level of success. He’s an actor, the creator of a hit show named after his hometown of Atlanta, and a rapper under the name Childish Gambino. But his most powerful statement might be “This Is America”, a new song and video released over the weekend. Freelance entertainment reporter Jewel Wicker gives us her take on the video and what role musicians should play when it comes to social issues.

May is Older Americans Month. In 2017, Georgia ranked 41st in the nation for senior health. GPB Special Correspondent Celeste Headlee talked about the state of our elder care system with Kathy Floyd, executive director for the Georgia Council on Aging, and Glenn Ostir, director of the Institute of Gerontology at the University of Georgia.

Our country is growing ever grayer as baby boomers age in large numbers. A massive study at Emory University that takes an in-depth look at the aging process is underway. Emory hopes to bring together 100,000 people to study physical and mental health, sickness, and other factors that affect the elderly. We sit down with university researcher Michele Marcus to learn a little bit more about the study and what they hope to uncover.