New podcast flips the script on aging

'Aging Rewired' by Senior Planet from AARP is a new podcast that explores the intersections of technology and aging. Weekly conversations with experts and stories of older adults from all walks of life help narrow the digital divide.

The podcast was created to challenge myths and stereotypes about aging and tech, while focusing on topics that matter to older people. Guests offer unique and relatable perspectives on current trends, products and new initiatives.

'Aging Rewired' is hosted by Sheila Solomon, an award-winning former newspaper reporter and editor. We spoke recently about what makes this series unique and the importance of listening to older people's voices when it comes to technology.

This interview has been edited for brevity and clarity.

What is 'Aging Rewired' about?

One, it's about changing the narrative of how we talk about that retirement word that I try not to use very often. It's also about recognizing that older adults have always been in a place where many of us have broken the stereotype. It seems to me that technology has made us even more aware of that. There probably are still people who say I don't want to be bothered with tech. I don't know how to do it, just leave me alone. It's not relegated only to older people. But those of us who are older seem to get that label more than others. What we are hoping to do with our podcast is to inspire and motivate older adults by talking to people who are doing things involving technology that you may not have thought about.

Why should people tune into your podcast?

This is a podcast about connecting people and helping older people to know what's available to them. If you're lonely, technology can totally take that away from you. If you need to see a face, if you need to hear a voice, you can do that without leaving your space. And maybe you physically are unable to leave your space, but you can have a darn good friendship virtually. And there are ways to do that and people want to help you to do it.

The podcast has helped bust some myths and stereotypes about aging. What are some of the most common tropes you encounter besides that every person over 60 is a Luddite?

That we need to get out of the way. In fact, we are invisible in some instances, to all kinds of people. We haven't talked about the invisibility factor yet in the interviews that I've done. That may come up in a future segment.

I grew up with the understanding that retirement meant you no longer have a 9 to 5. And you also aren't expected to do anything else. I mean, you get this pension and you go off and play it or whatever it is, you're going to do, but you don't need to be messing around with anything else. I didn't even grow up with parents like that. But I never considered that, but it is still what a lot of people think. Many older adults believe that they've not done something right if they can't give up a job, if they still want to work, if they want to be busy, or even volunteering. There's something wrong with that. There are all kinds of myths that we hope to bust by having these conversations with people who absolutely are doing these things.

Some older people are reluctant to talk about themselves. How do you get people to open up?

For me, it's been about bonding over something we have in common. Even if it's one thing, if they realize, oh, we have this in common and we talk about that, it usually leads to something else and so people relax a little bit. The episode on the filmmakers is a good example. They were retired military and I have all kinds of family connections with the military, so we talked about that. In another podcast, we had North Carolina, and Virginia and Washington, D.C, in common.

Most of your career was spent as a print reporter. What's been similar and different about doing podcast interviews?

A lot has been similar, with the exception of me not having to write down anything. I still do the prep work. I'm still doing the research. I've had producers who are helping to build the script. But I'm going in and I'm seeing little things that maybe we should say this way, ask it that way. We have a good rapport in that regard. But for me, it is just like what I would do on the print side. Because I'd go back into the library and pull out all the old clips. That's how we did it, back in the day. You read all of that and you make some mental notes, but also some written notes, and then you go off. The other thing that also makes it similar, is that you have questions prepared. But you don't always hold on to those questions because something takes you on a better path.

What is your advice to journalists who cover aging, especially younger journalists? How can they avoid perpetuating stereotypes?

Approach interviewing an older person like you interview anybody. If age is relevant, mention it. If not, ask yourself if it belongs in the story. The more we present a truer picture of how older people are living, the better. I want that equity to come through in the writing. And it may not always, because older people are way more ahead of so much than we give them credit for.

One of the stories I did before I graduated from college was with a woman in her 90s and she was in a retirement home. Even when I met her, I didn't think of her as someone close to my grandmother's age, per se. I saw a woman who I was sent to interview - she had a resume, full of accomplishments. And my job was to talk with her about all of that, and then to talk with her about what she wants to continue to do, and that was what we did. I'm still doing things that way, and I hope they're going to want to do it that way too.

Over her 51-year career, Sheila Solomon has worked for Newsday, The Charlotte Observer, and the Chicago Tribune. In addition to her new gig as a podcast host, Solomon serves as the Strategic Alliance Manager at Rivet360 in Chicago. She also co-founded Journalism Funding Partners to support local journalism.