How a Legendary Financier Became a Blockbuster Novelist

As we begin the annual celebration Women’s History Month, it’s a good time to take a closer look at how women are progressing in their careers and in the workplace—specifically women of color. While women of color represent 20 percent of the U.S. population, they represent only 6 percent of C-level positions—that is, CEOs, chief operating officers and chief financial officers—compared to white women (22% )and white men 56%. In today’s episode, we talk with Analiza Wolf, the founder of Women of Color Rise, a firm dedicated to helping women of color get a seat at the table. As an executive coach, facilitator, author and keynote speaker, she has worked with hundreds of senior executives in organizations ranging from Fortune 500 companies to start-ups and nonprofits. Drawing on her own wide-ranging experiences over the years and the stories of hundreds of women she’s interviewed for her podcast and new book, “The Myths of Success: A Woman of Color’s Guide to Leadership,” Analiza will describe some of the obstacles that have turned the glass ceiling into a “concrete ceiling” for many women of color. She’ll reveal the 9 myths that hold women back from the advancement they seek. And, she’ll offer an array of practices that can help women break through to the next level in their careers, as well as specific ways that organizations can create clear pathways to leadership in the workplace, not only advancing women of color, but making their organizations more innovative, more productive, have happier customers—and employees who feel valued and motivated.

Since 2020, the COVID pandemic has had a brutal impact on nursing homes, accounting for more than 200,000 deaths of residents and staff in long-term care facilities. Subsequently, the nursing-home industry has been the subject of intense public scrutiny, with critics pointing to insufficient staffing levels and low wages, cases of financial abuse or neglect, and the need for greater government oversight. But a growing number of advocates are moving beyond criticizing nursing homes and stepping up efforts to reform what they call is a “broken long-term care system.” In today’s episode, Rick Gamache, the CEO of Aldersbridge Communities in Rhode Island, talks about his decades-long involvement as a distinguished administrator, a thought leader, teacher and mentor to many individuals in the elder care industry. Mr. Gamache, who oversees four Aldersbridge communities—from independent and assisted living to skilled nursing facilities—does not shy away from the myriad challenges of long-term care. He describes the trauma of the pandemic, but also the heroic efforts of staff members at every level to pitch in under extremely high-risk situations. He explains the need to change how we pay for long-term care, as well as redesign buildings and shift to smaller communities to better serve residents and reduce the risk of spreading infectious diseases. Mr. Gamache believes we need a new paradigm for nursing home care, and ultimately, his goal is to help train the next generation of leadership.

Hudson Cooper is proof-positive that career reinvention can be a lifelong enterprise—past our 50s and continuing well into our so-called “retirement” years. Hudson initially thought he would have a career in medicine and then law, but fortuitous events led him to a stint writing sports books for young adults and doing stand-up comedy. And that, in turn, led to an acting career which landed him roles in numerous movies and TV shows like “Law and Order,” “Madame Secretary” and “Bull.” In today’s episode, Hudson recounts the latest twists and turns of his career, first, as the writer of a wry and incisive newspaper column, “Random Thoughts,” for an upstate New York newspaper, and most recently, the host of a unique radio show, “ShowBuzz,” which recounts his behind-the-scenes experiences and stories with Hollywood celebrities and insiders. Hudson will share his own story of how his show was created and how he puts together refreshing and candid interviews each week with a wide-ranging roster of writers, directors and actors from across his career. Through it all, Hudson offers us lessons in persistence, resilience, humility and risk-taking—and the readiness to leap when life’s unexpected opportunities arise.

In an era of increasing longevity, we have the opportunity to lead vital and meaningful lives far into our later years. But there are lots of decisions facing “longevity adults” that require thoughtful, sometimes difficult, conversations with family, friends, colleagues, as well as experts in senior living. In today’s episode, Scott Fulton and Catherine Owens, the co-hosts of a lively podcast called “Tattered Capes,” present their rare blend of expertise in senior living and longevity lifestyles, offering sometimes widely divergent perspectives to achieve a common goal: Engaging people in life’s “missing conversations” that can spur us to a higher quality of life as we age. Catherine, a nationally recognized senior living expert, is the author of “Be Your Own Hero: Senior Living Decisions Simplified.” Scott, the co-author of influential works such as “Eldercare 101,” guides consumers and companies in designing better housing solutions for our longevity needs. Together, Catherine and Scott believe that while our experiences may leave our capes “somewhat tattered,” everyone has the power and capability to be the everyday hero of their own lives.

Over the last several decades, the job market has gone through a roller-coaster of change: the Black Monday stock market crash, the 1990s recession, 9/11 terrorist attacks, the 2008 financial crisis, the Covid-19 pandemic, followed by the Great Resignation, and the ascent of artificial intelligence. Along the way, our careers have gone through dynamic changes, too. As we live longer (and hopefully healthier) lives, we often decide to work longer, have multiple careers, delay retirement, and seek new work experiences well into our later years. And Scott Passeser has seen it all. In today’s episode, Scott, who is Senior Vice President of the national recruiting firm, Executive Alliance, will offer his observations and insights about jobs for older, as well as younger folks, in a perplexing economic environment that seems both strong and vulnerable. The host of the widely popular weekly radio show, Jobline, Scott will talk about what employers are looking for in job applicants; what are some hot areas for job growth (think “climate change”); and how AI will affect us all on the job. He’ll also highlight some of his pet job-hunting peeves, like “easy apply” websites that enable people to avoid doing important homework; and he'll provide some valuable tips and tools for acing job interviews. And yes, for older workers who want to keep working, he’ll offer some thoughts about ways to consider a “progressive retirement.”

Every week, we see a stream of news stories about opioid addiction, drug overdoses, and mental health issues—people from teens to seniors coping with stress, burnout, depression, anxiety, loneliness and suicidal ideation. We live in an Age of Anxiety. And while there are numerous recovery programs and treatments, it seems as if the problems are growing, and the solutions are insufficient. In today’s episode, we talk to Asher Rabinowitz, a New York State licensed clinical social worker and credentialed counselor, who has worked in the field of alcohol and substance abuse treatment for the past 28 years. Over the course of his career working with thousands of individuals, he has developed an incisive approach to recovery, which he aptly calls, “simple—but not easy.” Plainspoken and passionate, Asher explains his new system of the “ABCs of Recovery” (a mnemonic sequence of Awareness, Boundaries and Consequences) and how it differs from other current approaches. He’ll talk about how he has used storytelling as an unusually powerful therapeutic tool that can offer people insights into the possibilities of change. And he’ll tackle the challenge that faces many individuals who successfully complete their recovery programs—but can’t take their progress to the outside world.

When we think about our later years, we know that because we’re living longer these days, we need to create a realistic financial plan for retirement—to make sure we don’t run out of money. But we still have a hard time talking about how to deal with long-term needs, even though the data show that two-thirds of us will need some sort of care after age 65. And we also have trouble facing the fact that adult children often become the caretakers and decision-makers for aging parents—and that a lack of planning can ruin our families. In today’s episode, Carroll Golden, a renowned expert in the field of extended and long-term care planning, offers a pragmatic, but personal and refreshingly accessible approach to this complicated and emotional subject. Carrol, the author of “How Not to Pull Your Family Apart: A Practical Guide to Caregiving and Financial Stability,” will spell out her three-step guide that provides a multi-generational approach to proactive planning, enabling families to gather information, put together a planning process, and structure a care planning team. She’ll unpack the emotional obstacles to effective family communication and present specific financial options to help families sort through the maze of alternatives. Ultimately, Carroll’s goal is to help us avoid the handwringing of uncertainty and live our best possible lives as we age.

In an age when health care is driven by specialization and technology, Dr. Stephen Post is a rare and remarkable blend of scientist and humanist, a best-selling author and transformative speaker who has inspired thousands of people with his acclaimed work on “the human side of medicine.” In today’s episode, Dr. Post, who is Director of the Center for Medical Humanities, Compassionate Care, and Bioethics at Stony Brook University School of Medicine in New York, will talk about how we can educate our medical students and professionals to foster an approach of “compassionate flourishing”—supporting the healing and well-being of patients by uplifting “the full measure of their being, including their life meaning and social roles.” From the start, there has been a spiritual side to Stephen’s work in caregiving, a continuous exploration of positive psychology, altruism, love, happiness, and the mystery of the human mind. He’ll talk about his ground-breaking research into the dynamics of compassionate care of persons with dementia and their caregivers, as well as the striking phenomenon of unexpected lucidity of “deeply forgetful” people. And broadening the issue of bioethics, Stephen will tackle the troubling issue of the widespread lack of public trust in medicine as well as other sectors and institutions in society.

As we head into another new year, we wonder what lies ahead in the coming months. We’re “curious,” we say, about what will happen in the November elections; what’s in store for us in new TV shows and movie premiers; the outcomes of our favorite sports teams; and what events will unfold in our lives, both traditional and unexpected. But curiosity is much more than simply striving to acquire information about things we’d like to know. In today’s episode, Perry Zurn, a professor of philosophy, and Dani S. Basset, a professor of bioengineering, will talk about a compelling thesis they present in their book, “Curious Minds”: that curiosity is fundamentally a practice of making connections. “Relational curiosity” connects ideas into networks of knowledge, and it connects the knowers themselves, both to the knowledge they seek, and to each other. The co-authors—who are also identical twins—will spell out three main styles of curiosity, which they’ve called the “butterfly,” the “hunter,” and the “dancer.” They’ll talk about what neuroscientists think is happening in the brain when people are curious, and they’ll describe the debate among educators as to how curiosity is related to learning. And Professors Zurn and Bassett will set out some thought-provoking arguments about how we should foster curiosity in the workplace, in schools, and more broadly in our culture—as a potentially important tool to help us navigate these challenging times. Curious to hear more? Listen in.

Most of us are well acquainted with salsa—the spicy mixture of tomato and chili sauce we enjoy with tortilla chips at Mexican restaurants and at parties with friends. But now we can learn about another kind of SALSA—no, not the Latin dance, but a zesty Texas-based initiative known as Successful Aging and Living in San Antonio—SALSA, for short. In today’s episode, we talk with Jane Paccione, the Managing Director of Collective Impact for the San Antonio Area Foundation, which created SALSA with the mission of transforming the community by advancing practices that improve the quality of life of older adults. A passionate and insightful advocate, Jane will explain how SALSA “brings everyone to the table”—connecting businesses, nonprofits, and government entities—thus creating a movement that turns collaboration into “collective impact,” an approach that is more likely to solve complex problems. She’ll describe the work of SALSA partners on issues such as housing, transportation, social engagement, health, and caregiver support. She’ll also talk about “Reframing Aging,” a key national initiative designed to change the narrative about what aging means, combat ageist stereotypes and language, and improve the public’s understanding of the many ways that older people contribute to our society.