Today’s featured podcast is Zestful Aging Podcast – a multi-award winning weekly interview show heard in 103 countries. It’s coming up on its fifth year with over 300 guest interviews. Nicole’s guests are change makers from a wide variety of disciplines; filmmakers, writers, advocates, poets, musicians, scientists, athletes and entrepreneurs, many of whom are top experts in their fields. The Show examines issues surrounding aging, including health, empty nest, caregiving, grief and loss, and longevity. These issues are discussed in a 30 minute interview format which allows the conversation to go beyond soundbites and go deeper into the topic.
The Show draws guests from all over the world and has a humanistic bent. It brings non-mainstream topics to its audience and differentiates itself from other podcasts which focus on aging. One such example is Nicole’s recent interview with acclaimed fashion historian Kimberly Chrisman-Campbell. The conversation centered around Chrisman-Campbell’s new book “Skirts” which is about the history of the skirt. Nicole and Kimberly then talked about the origins of fashion and how one could build their own “timeless style”. The focus was not on how to look younger, but rather to define and discover one’s own true style in this life phase.
Contrary to the notion that “aging is just a number”, Nicole’s belief is that aging is a complex and ambivalent time which involves grief and loss but also affords one the opportunity to use what time is left in the most intentional and purposeful way. The Show’s goal is to share optimism about getting older and challenge the societal narrative that aging is all about decline and decreptitude.
As a psychotherapist of 30 years, Nicole has the advantage of being an experienced interviewer. Her questions are probing and nuanced. Many guests have said, “That’s the best interview I’ve ever had!” This expertise led to her writing the book: “Not Just Chatting: How to Become a Master Podcast Interviewer”.
Nicole has presented in many trainings which focus on developing the podcaster’s interview skills. Her ultimate goal is to be the “Terry Gross” of aging well.
