Meals on Wheels - Food for the Body & Spirit
You Earned This: The Social Security & Medicare Podcast!
Release Date: 12/09/2025
Super Scam-Fighter Kathy Stokes
You Earned This: The Social Security & Medicare Podcast!
Seniors are not the only group targeted by scammers, but they can be especially vulnerable. In this episode, AARP's chief fraud prevention expert, Kathy Stokes, shares important advice for protecting yourself -- and your older loved ones -- against scammers. Kathy says scamming is an "epidemic" that can be fought with knowledge. Whether it's the 'Tech Support' scam, the 'Grandparent' scam, the 'Banking' scam, or the 'Romance' scam...Kathy says you can empower yourself using a "Pause, Protect, Reflect" strategy. Listen and learn more about the $196 billion per year criminal...
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Frances Perkins: "God, FDR, and the Common Workingmen"
You Earned This: The Social Security & Medicare Podcast!
Secretary of Labor Frances Perkins was the first female cabinet member in U.S. history. Appointed by President Franklin D. Roosevelt, Perkins is known as the "Mother of Social Security" for her pivotal role in the creation of The New Deal's greatest legacy. In this episode, Amanda Hatch, Executive Director of the Frances Perkins Center in Newscastle, ME, shares stories about this early feminist icon --- and her lifelong commitment to social insurance for the American people. As Frances Perkins herself said, she came to Washington in 1933 for "God, FDR, and the common workingmen."
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"It Takes So Little to Do So Much" - Activist & Entrepreneur Tula Thompson
You Earned This: The Social Security & Medicare Podcast!
Not only can everyone make a difference, says activist & entrepreneur Tula Thompson, but just by doing a little, you can have a big impact. One of Tula's passions is protecting Social Security and Medicare. And when Tula is committed to something, she dives right in --- whether it involves buttonholing a U.S. Senator after an airplane flight or preaching the importance of our earned benefits to younger adults. Tula has a long background in business, partnering in a metal insulation company with manufacturing facilities across the U.S. She is now a partner in For Fine Arts in Montana, one...
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The Mother of Mindfulness - Dr. Ellen Langer
You Earned This: The Social Security & Medicare Podcast!
This episode is a must-listen, featuring the "Mother of Mindfulness," Dr. Ellen Langer of Harvard University. She explains that mindfulness is a key to healthy aging - both mentally and physically. Dr. Langer gives helpful tips about "actively noticing" the world around you --- using her "bottom up/top down" approach. As a bonus, she tells us why 1 + 1 isn't always 2! Tune-in... and you'll be hanging on every word from one of our most eminent psychologists!
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A Professor's Take on Trump's Medicaid Cuts
You Earned This: The Social Security & Medicare Podcast!
Tim Layton is a professor of public policy & economics at the University of Virginia. He analyzes Medicaid policy and its impact on real people. Professor Layton disagrees with some progressive arguments about health coverage, but agrees that taking medical insurance away from people is generally a bad idea. And that's exactly what Trump's "Big Beautiful" (Or Big Ugly) bill does. Prof. Layton also has some interesting angles on how to improve Medicaid --- including letting nurse practitioners see patients without doctors' supervision. Give this lively discussion a listen! Read Prof....
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Best of 2025 Podcast - Year End Special
You Earned This: The Social Security & Medicare Podcast!
Savor the best moments from the podcast during 2025! This compilation features interviews with Jon 'Bowzer' Bauman of Sha Na Na, Senators Ron Wyden & Tom Harkin, Reps. Maxwell Frost & Debbie Wasserman Schultz, AARP's Deb Whitman, and former Social Security Commissioner Martin O'Malley --- among many others. Enjoy!
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(Encore Episode) Stories We Tell Ourselves as We Age
You Earned This: The Social Security & Medicare Podcast!
Just in time for the holidays, some free advice on aging and enjoying life with family & friends from Dr. Erlene Rosowsky. She is a clinical psychologist at Harvard specializing in the field of "geropsychology." Her research and writings spring from a deep sense of empathy for seniors and their families. In this encore episode, she talks about "the stories we tell ourselves" and the importance of humor. "Dr. R" also has plenty to say about ageism and forming friendships later in life. A must-listen for seniors --- and their loved ones! Check out her blog, "The Older...
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Living to 100 and Beyond - Super Aging with Author William J. Kole
You Earned This: The Social Security & Medicare Podcast!
More of us will be living to 100 and beyond, says Bill Kole, author of "The Big 100." But do we want to? And how will we pay the bills for all those extra decades? What is the impact of "super aging" on Social Security? Bill paints a picture of the coming centenarian boom and all of its implications - good & bad - in this lively and surprisingly fun episode! After all, where else can you hear a 120-year old woman doing hip-hop? Bill's book, "The Big 100: The New World of Super Aging," is available at billkolebooks.com and through fine booksellers everywhere!
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Meals on Wheels - Food for the Body & Spirit
You Earned This: The Social Security & Medicare Podcast!
Meals on Wheels not only delivers hot, nutritious food to seniors --- it provides an important social connection to people who may be lonely or disconnected. Meals on Wheels even makes older people safer! Meals on Wheels America's chief policy offer, Josh Protas, tells us all about this amazing program that, unfortunately, faces possible funding cuts. As a historian, he also answers the question: do our current leaders have a 'compassion deficit?'
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Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz - Unaffordable Health Coverage Kills People
You Earned This: The Social Security & Medicare Podcast!
11-term congresswoman and member of House Democratic leadership Debbie Wasserman Schultz takes Trump and the GOP to task for making health coverage unaffordable. "Not having health insurance... kills people," she says. Wasserman Schultz rails against the Big Ugly Bill's massive cuts to Medicaid and the Republicans' refusal to extend Affordable Care Act subsidies. She was among the lawmakers who pushed back on the administration for trying to make it harder for workers to qualify for Social Security Disability Insurance - leading Trump to reverse course.
info_outlineMeals on Wheels not only delivers hot, nutritious food to seniors --- it provides an important social connection to people who may be lonely or disconnected. Meals on Wheels even makes older people safer! Meals on Wheels America's chief policy offer, Josh Protas, tells us all about this amazing program that, unfortunately, faces possible funding cuts. As a historian, he also answers the question: do our current leaders have a 'compassion deficit?'