Specifically for Seniors - A New Direction

Book bans have reached a record high over the past two years. Books targeted have overwhelmingly been about people of color and LGBTQ individuals. And nowhere has that been more evident than in Florida. Our guest today on Specifically for Seniors, Tania Galiñanes had to face Florida House Bill 1467 head on as a school librarian in Florida. House Bill 1467, signed by Governor DeSantis on March 25, 2022, and effective July 1, 2022,requires school districts to be transparent in the selection of instructional materials and library and reading materials. This legislation preserves the rights of parents to make decisions about what materials their children are exposed to in school. And she’s here today to tell us her story and why she had to leave a job she loved. My conversation wth Tania is one that you have not heard on television, she speaks frankly about the dangers and the kids it affects.

Be advised: Adult language is used during this podcast Those of you who are fans of the TV show -Amerca's Got Talent - will recognize my guest this week. Maureen Langan was a semi-finalist on Season 18 of AGT where her performance landed her a standing ovation and four "Yeses" from the judges. Maureen is an internationally acclaimed standup comedian, broadcaster, Tedx Talk speaker and corporate event host. She has performed with entertainment, literary and cultural icons that include Robin Williams, Jay Leno, Rosie O’Donnell, Jack Canfield, Joy Behar, Gloria Steinem, Danny Glover and Gladys Knight ­– and she roasted comedy royalty Jerry Stiller and Anne Meara. As a broadcaster, Maureen created and hosted Bloomberg Television and Radio’s award-winning entertainment programming, where her most memorable moments were interviewing Joan Rivers and George Carlin. Her astute observations and interviewing style earned her the title of “Best Female Commentator” by the Newswomen’s Club of New York. Her TEDx Talk, “The Business of Fun,” is inspired by her time performing in South Africa at the first ever Johannesburg International Comedy Festival. Maureen’s message of inclusion had 600 people on their feet when first presented at Monmouth University. Maureen and I talk about her broadcasting career, her solo show "Daughter of a Garbageman", her Tedx Talk, what it's like being talent on AGT, her comedy tour "Don't Make Me Hate You", hosting corporate events and a TV pilot she'd like to make. Sit, relax and enjoy the story behind appearing on AGT and the differences between what you say on TV and in a comedy act.

Adam Mansbach is a novelist, screenwriter, cultural critic and humorist. He is the author of the #1 New York Times bestseller Go the F**k to Sleep, which has been translated into forty languages, named Time Magazine's 2011 "Thing of the Year," and sold over three million copies worldwide. Mansbach's novels include Rage is Back, The End of the Jews (winner of the California Book Award), and Angry Black White Boy, which is taught at over a hundred schools and was adapted into a prize-winning stage play in 2008. and his most recet novel - The Golem of Brooklyn. Adam's debut screenplay, for the 2016 Netflix Original BARRY, was nominated for an Independent Spirit Award and an NAACP Image Award. His work has appeared in The New Yorker, New York Times Book Review, Esquire, The Believer, The Guardian, The Los Angeles Times, The Boston Globe, and on National Public Radio's All Things Considered, The Moth Storytelling Hour, and This American Life. Adam and I talk about being multi-genre author, the rise of antisemitism, public figures and anti-semitism, Adam's book - The Golem of Brooklyn and why the Golem learns English from watchng Curb Your Enthusiasm and the danger of Elon Musk's ownership of a social media platfform and a whole bunch of satellites.And no podcast with Adam Mansbach would be compete without the back story of Go the F**k to Sleep. Watch for Adam's commercial for the upcoming presidential election - he promised to do one at the end of the podcast. This is one podcast you want to watch and share! Link to The Golem of Brooklyn purchase on Amazonhttps://www.amazon.com/Golem-Brooklyn-Novel-Adam-Mansbach/dp/059372982X/ref=sr_1_1?crid=2ZPIDO5M5857J&keywords=the+golem+of+brooklyn&qid=1701025577&sprefix=the+goem+of+brooklyn%2Caps%2C86&sr=8-1

An hour without notes and a script. We talked ice cream sandwiches, Death Wish and Red Barn coffee, the pandemic, a life in Improv and teaching, Batman, super heroes, radio and ImprovBoston. If you want to spend an hour listeninhg to a pleasant, no-stress conversation about things that really matter very little, get connected. It's like a version of Jerry Seinfeld without Larry David.

Today on Specifically for Seniors, we're going to do something just a bit different. We have three guests who are here to tell you three completely different stories about parts of their lives. You've met two of them on previous podcasts, but they didn't have the time to tell you the rest of their stories. The third is new to Specifically for Seniors, but it's the story of a part of American history that our generation cannot forget. So make yourself a cup of coffee, sit back, relax, and let these three men tell you about a part of each of their lives. Those of you who are regular listeners to specifically for seniors will recall Alistair Henry from our May, 2023 podcast. Alistair retired at 57, shed his possessions and went to live with the First Nations band in the Northwest Territory, then left Canada's North to volunteer, working with local NGOs. Those are nonprofit organizations in Bangladesh. He and his wife enjoyed budget pack packing for four months at a time in Central America and Southeast Asia in their sixties. In 2020, Alistair endured a double lung transplant. Alistair is back today to talk about the transplant and the work he is now doing as a Trillium Gift of Life advocate. On November 22nd, 1963, a 26 year old junior duty officer was on duty at Bethesda Naval Hospital when the casket containing the body of Jack Fitzgerald Kennedy arrived from Dallas. You met that naval officer on this podcast on May 3rd, 2023. Sorel Schwartz today is a professor emeritus of pharmacology at Georgetown University Medical Center, and Senior Pharmacology advisor at the FDA Sorel is with us today as we near the 60th anniversary of JFK's assassination. My third and final guest on today's podcast is Robert Norris. Robert's story is one that many of us who were draft aged during the Vietnam War era will have faced in one way or another. Robert is a Pacific Northwest, native Vietnam war, conscientious objector who served sometime in a military prison, an expat resident of Japan since 1983. He's the author of The Good Lord Willing, and The Creek Don't Rise. But, but let me let Robert tell you his story. We're talking to Robert from his home in Fukuoka, Fukuoka, Japan. Book Availability: The Good Lord willing and The Creek Don't Rise https://www.amazon.com/Good-Lord-Willing-Creek-Dont/dp/180100000X

It was just a few months ago that Neo-Nazis and white supremacists paraded in front of Disney World in Orlando spreading antisemitic messages, more recently an outbreak of antisemitism on college campuses, war in Israel after a deadly Hamas attack on Jewish settlers and amidst all that Yiddish language is making a comeback due to our guest today on Specifically for Seniors. Avi Hoffman was recently awarded Congressional recognition, was invited to the Vatican to meet Pope Francis and was inducted into the Bronx Jewish Hall of Fame for his lifetime work advancing Jewish culture, Yiddishkayt and Holocaust awareness through the charity he founded - Yiddishkayt Initiative, Inc. (YILoveJewish.org). As an actor, he was nominated for a NY Drama Desk Award for his Yiddish language portrayal of Willy Loman in Death of a Salesman. He is best known for his Too Jewish Trilogy: Award winning one man shows. On TV, he was featured as Sid Raskin in the Starz TV series Magic City, as well as on Netflix’ Bloodline, A&E’s The Glades and on the NBC series Law and Order. He recently starred in the Film Festival favorite: You Will Not Play Wagner and the International Award winning short Yiddish Films: Shehita, BOXED and the motion picture – The Imported Bridegroom. He was seen in the PBS documentary They Came For Good: A History of the Jews in the US. Avi has performed all over the world, has numerous acting and directing credits and has received multiple awards and nominations. Avi and I discuss his childhood, his acting background, antisemitism, but, most of all, the comeback of Yiddish Website and Books: https://yilovejewish.org/product-category/books/ Links to interviews, articles: https://yilovejewish.org/yilove-jewish-live/

Our guest on specificallyfor Seniors this week, MT Connolly unfortunately had to cancel her podcast at the last minute but MT wIll be on later in the year. MT Connolly is the architect of the federal Elder Justice Act, founder of the Department of Justice’s Elder Justice Initiative, a MacArthur “genius” grant awardee, and author of the 2023 book, The Measure of Our Age: Navigating Care, Safety, Money, and Meaning Later in Life But we thought it would be fun to revisit a very early podcast from March, 2022 with comedian Robert Klein. This podcast was originally recorded and played only in audio but we found the recording and will rerun it for the first time with the original video We all know Robert Klein from hir more than 80 appearances on the Johnny Carson Show, and his more than 79 film and TV credits. He hosted Saturday Night Live twice and was in the original Cheeseburger Sketch with John Belushi and Dan Ackroyd. Robert was the frst comedian to have ab HBO SPecal and went on to star in 8 more. He's been nominated for 2 Emmy's, 3 Grammys and 1 Tony. His most recent film, Befre I Go , is a sometimes funny, but always moving experience. You will get to know Robert as a person as he and I talk about his career, medicine and dentistry, Johnny Carson, SNL, his family, quitting smoking, politics, health and even the picture on the wall behind him..

One of the most common problems that older adults have is hearing loss and the inability to hear conversations clearly in a group setting especially when there is a lot of background noise even when they are wearing their hearing aids So we asked Brian Taylor, AuD, the senior director of audiology for Signia to come on Specially for Seniors to talk about the problem and the solution.Brian is the editor of Audiology Practices, a quarterly publication of the Academy of Doctors of Audiology, and an adjunct instructor at the University of Wisconsin. Dr. Taylor has been an American Academy of Audiology member since 1991. Brian and I discuss the social implications of hearing loss, diagnosis and tyes of hearing loss and a new type of hearing aid by Signia.

This podcast is a must listen for both you and your family's well-being. The stories that Diane Dimond tells about senior guardianship can happen to anyone. Journalist Diane Dimond and I discuss the problems that can occur what happens when a system designed to protect goes horribly wrong. Using stories gleaned from years of research, Diane illustrates how unscrupulous guardians can drain resources designed to allow those incapacitated by mental and physical disability to live comfortable lives and robs family of their inheritance. We’re Here to Help, When Guardianship Goes Wrong is must reading for families who have become caregivers. Diane Dimond has enjoyed an award winning career in radio and television news.She is the recipient of theAmerican Bar Association's Silver Gavel Award. Perhaps you know her from her coverage of some of the nation's biggest stories - including the murder of JonBenét Ramsey, the Michael Jackson case, the O.J. Simpson Murder Case and the Bush-Gore election recount in Florida- in a career that has included NPR, CNBC, Court TV, MSNBC and the "Today" show.

Are you looking for ways to improve your brain health and cognition? Look no further than the latest episode of "Specifically for Seniors" podcast, where Dr. Jennifer Brinckerhoff and Jodi Bornstein discuss the link between quality sleep and brain function. From the importance of deep sleep to tips for improving sleep habits, this episode is a must-listen for anyone looking to boost their brainpower.  Jennifer Brinckerhoff, M.D. is medical director at Orchard Cove's Wellness Center. Dr. Brinckerhoff received medical degree from the University of Virginia School Of Medicine AND completed her residency in internal medicine with a primary care focus and a fellowship in geriatrics at the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center. Dr. Brinckerhoff is certified in internal medicine by the American Board of Internal Medicine with a certificate of added qualifications in geriatrics. Jodi Bornstein is an Occupational Therapist with Hebrew Senior Life’s Therapy House Calls program. Jodi has published in the American Journal of Occupational Therapy and for the last 6 years has been a guest faculty member at the Massachusetts General Hospital’s Institute of Health Professions.