How to Live to 100 (or Die Trying)

The longevity gold rush is underway and we hear about the latest reasons for optimism and cynicism from Steve Horvath, the developer of a 'biological clock' that is mostly used by researchers or, the curious, although some experts question whether such measurements are ready for prime time. Horvath explains the science behind his clock, the centenarian connection and the food he says can keep our biological age low. Guest: Steve Horvath is a biogerontologist, whose research lies at the intersection of epigenetic biomarkers of aging, preclinical and clinical studies, genomics, epidemiology, and comparative biology. This episode was produced by Moira Welsh, Julia De Laurentiis Johnston, Matthew Hearn and Sean Pattendon.

After years of chatting with Dr. Sinha for the Star's Third Act series, we dig into his perspective on a good old age; the longevity secret he learned from a man who has already lived past 100 and how we can reframe the way governments think about growing old. GUEST: Dr. Samir Sinha, of Sinai Health and University Health Network and director of health policy research at the National Institute on Ageing.

It is inevitable. Our fear of it can make it worse. Join us for an animated conversation on dying with two unlikely sources. Michael Brooke, a kid from Thornhill who ended up in the '90s LA skateboarding scene before a career in funeral homes and Ondi Timoner, who twice won the Grand Jury Prize at the Sundance Film festival and in 2022, she released her most personal film, called Last Flight Home, about the extraordinary life and death of her father. GUESTS: Michael Brooke, skateboarder and founder of Concrete Wave. Ondi Timoner, award-winning filmmaker whose documentary on her father's death changed laws for medical assistance in dying.

We all  love to nerd out on the advances in the science of exercise but here's a practice that never required wearable technology: Early human movement. Like, leaping from a predator. Or, crouching as a hunter. Here is a bonus thought: By using our bodies the way they were originally intended - for mobility, balance and play – it could be a lot easier to, say, jump out of an airplane in your 80s.     His body injured after a decade in Canadian pro-football, Andre and his yoga-practising gymnast wife Catalina talk mobility benefits at every life age. Meanwhile 10,000 feet above ground, Mary and Lina conquered those mobility issues by jumping out of an airplane, to teach their grandkids a thing or two about growing old. GUESTS: Former CFL star Andre Talbot and Catalina Moraga, the husband-and-wife owners of Spirit Loft Movement Centre in Toronto. And 80-something BFFs Mary Kelcey and Lina Zatzman, who enjoy a high-altitude adrenaline hit.   

Where and how are we all going to live in our later years? It is the question of our times.  In our later years, some will live mortgage free. Others will need housemates to financially survive. For many, the shining holy grail of housing is both affordable and offers  health supports in case life goes sideways. We look at two options that work: the Golden Girls co-ownership and cluster care, with Toronto's largest non-municipal provider of affordable housing where the workers, Susan Vickberg says, feel like mothers who have her back. GUESTS: Louise Bardswich, the original Golden Girl of Port Perry and Susan Vickberg, who lives in an affordable cluster care household at Woodgreen Community Services.

We're living longer than ever, but that doesn't always mean we're living better longer. The Toronto Star held a live virtual event, led by award-winning journalist and host of this podcast, Moira Welsh and special guests Dr. Samir Sinha (Geriatrician and Clinical Scientist, Sinai Health and University Health Network) and Laura Tamblyn Watts (CEO of Can Age). They discuss how the habits you commit to now can shape the quality of your health years down the road. Good health in later life isn't guaranteed — but the choices you make today can make those years stronger, more independent and more meaningful. Learn the simple daily changes that add not just years to your life, but better years.

Isolation and loneliness is the scourge of our later years but older men seem to have a profound struggle to create social connections and while there may be several reasons for this high suicide rate, some Ontario men aged 80 and older see no reason to live. We hear one man's personal experience and his discovery of Men's Sheds, an organization that helps men get socially connected. A PhD candidate at B.C.'s Simon Fraser University explains the incredible value of 'generativity" in our later years and Dr. David Conn, a psychiatrist at Baycrest Centre, helps us understand suicide in older men and why it doesn't have to end this way.  Guests: Alan Marrison of Men's Sheds; Eireann O'Dea, PhD, Simon Fraser University and Dr. David Conn, Psychiatrist at Baycrest Centre. The full transcript of this episode is available in Apple Podcasts or Spotify, or on the episode page at thestar.com/podcasts/how-to-live-100-or-die-trying This episode was produced by Moira Welsh, Julia De Laurentiis Johnston, Matthew Hearn and Sean Pattendon. It was produced with the support of a journalism fellowship from The Gerontological Society of America, The Journalists Network on Generations and The Silver Century Foundation.

Hands up if you worry you'll outlive your money. Longevity is great - if the bills get paid and a lot of people in their 70s are still on the job because they need the money. The future of work is both perilous and potent, a chance to merge elders' crystallized intelligence with the incoming generations.  What happens when the CEO develops dementia and doesn't want to leave the C-Suite? Or, if you have to work to survive but your feet can't stand another eight-hour shift? What if you want to stay in the office game for creativity and relevance? And, what about the millennials who want your job? We examine the brave new world of intergenerational workplace longevity whether we can do the job, want the job or even need the job. GUESTS: Beth Truesdale, co-editor of Over Time: America's Aging Workforce and the Future of Working Longer; Laura Tamblyn Watts, author of Let's Talk About Aging Parents: A Real-Life Guide to Solving Problems with 27 Essential Conversations.

What if we all looked forward to growing old? Embracing age is a new trend among some millennials and really, why not? That cohort has already given us body positivity, so aiming high, in years, is surely the next trend. Unless it crashes into the wall of ageism. And ageism, dear listeners, is the happiness killer coming for us all. Ageism 101: It seeps into every aspect of our lives, from invisibility to careers and relationships but what many do not know is that ageism can lead also to depression and premature death. In a world growing older, we examine the impact of age prejudice in a conversation that challenges and inspires. Guests: Mary Hynes, advocate for older adults with the lived experience of 80 years; Kyrié Carpenter, "Crone-in-Training" and co-founder of Old School Hub; and Dr. Samir Sinha, geriatrician, director of health policy research at the National Institute on Ageing.

The Toronto Star's Moira Welsh hosts How to Live to 100 or Die Trying, an uplifting, shocking, and illuminating conversation for all ages on growing older. You'll hear from a 40-something football star turned mobility mentor, a skateboarding impresario focused on death, but a good one. And a scientist who says he can measure biological age. But don't fear the reaper because he also shares a startling secret to longevity. We give traditional topics like ageism a millennial twist and go deep into the future of work. Call it freedom 75. Keeping it real throughout is blunt insight from a geriatrician who says most of that data on your wearable device is poppycock. It's quite a ride, this arc of life. You can find it on thestar.com or wherever you listen, to your favourite podcasts.