Bob Tygenhof - living the best life through a devotion to exercise - LLAMA28

Live Long and Master Aging - Episode 28

Bob Tygenhof is a 68-year old gym rat and health professional. A former advertising industry executive, Bob pursued a second career as a certified fitness specialist and nutritionist with the Integrative Medical Group of Irvine, California. A long-time exercise devotee, Bob follows a rigid program of strength and aerobic training, in between coaching patients on personalized programs. Working alongside doctors, he also overseas patients following a Fasting Mimicking Diet (FMD), called ProLon, for body weight management and longevity. The Irvine medical practice was among the first to embrace the diet, developed by Dr. Valter Longo at the University of Southern California (USC). LLAMA host Peter Bowes took part in an early clinical trial and was one of the first human guinea pigs to try out the FMD. He discusses it in detail with Dr. Longo in LLAMA episode 01. In this in-depth interview, recorded at the 2017 Podcast Movement gathering in Anaheim, California, Bob Tygenhof explains his motivation for a relentless exercise program and devotion to a lifestyle focussed on longevity.

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Lilian Grigorian - reviving aging hearts with cells from newborns - LLAMA27

Live Long and Master Aging - Episode 27

Problems associated with the aging heart could be reversed by infusing the organ with a type of cell taken from a young heart. According to a study published last week in the European Heart Journal, elderly rats injected with a specific type of stem cell showed a significant improvement in their health and vitality. The cardiosphere-derived cells helped reverse signs of aging in animals with an average age of 22 months, which is considered old for a rat. They were more agile and even showed better hair growth than animals in a control group. In this in-depth interview, Dr. Lilian Grigorian, the study’s co-primary investigator at the Cedars-Sinai Medical Center Heart Institute in Los Angeles, explains how the research was carried out, and why some of the results came as a surprise. She says the “incredibly motivating” findings could have “exciting” implications for human heart health and longevity within the next ten years.

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Floyd Norman - 82-year old Disney legend defying ageist stereotypes and still working to stay young

Live Long and Master Aging - Episode 26

Floyd Norman is busier than ever. He is 82 and still working at the job he started in the 1950s. A cartoonist all his life, Floyd enjoyed a hugely successful career creating some of Disney’s most iconic characters. As a young cartoonist he was handpicked by Walt Disney to be part of the team behind The Jungle Book. He also worked on classics such as Sleeping Beauty, One Hundred and One Dalmatians and Mary Poppins. Later, at Pixar, Floyd brought his creative flair to Toy Story 2 and Monsters, Inc. But Disney’s first black animator says he was “pushed out” of the job that he loved when he reached the traditional retirement age. But Floyd refused to accept that his career was over. He returned to work and has since been honored with the title, Disney Legend, in recognition of his extraordinary contributions to The Walt Disney Company. In this in-depth interview Floyd explains how being busy in his 80s helps him stay young; how, as an “old codger,” he reinvented himself by learning to use digital editing software; and why “not clinging to the past” is the key to keeping his mind active and vital.

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Sarah Barber - exposing the myths behind memory slips as we age

Live Long and Master Aging - Episode 25

Senior moments and the aging process go hand in hand. As we grow older memory lapses and cognitive problems are often assumed to be the normal course of events. 

But should we really worry about losing the car keys, now and then? 

The biological and psychological explanations for declining cognitive performance are many and varied, but Dr. Sarah Barber, an Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychology at San Francisco State University, says memory slips are not always signs of worse to come. Dr Barber’s work at the University's Cognition and Aging Laboratory explores how emotional wellbeing and social factors affect our ability to process information. 

In this in-depth interview she argues that memory and attention spans in older people actually improve when they are in a positive environment; and explains why being aware of the passage of time influences how we do with memory tasks.

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Glen Campbell - country music legend

In 2011, shortly after Glen Campbell revealed that he was suffering from Alzheimer's disease, we spent the day together - at Glen's Malibu home, the golf course and his home studio. Glen and his wife Kim talked honestly and with humor about the disease.

I also met Glen's children, Cal and Ashley and bandmate Siggy Sjursen, as they performed together in their Agoura Hills garage studio. We were all in awe of Glen's incredible fortitude and enduring talent as he performed some of his most familiar songs. It was one of those goosebump moments, never to be forgotten.

VIDEO: Glen Campbell's long goodbye - BBC News website

LISTEN: Up All Night, 5 live: Extended interview

Update:

October 7, 2011: I went to see Glen Campbell on the Los Angeles leg of his 'Goodbye' tour last night, at Club Nokia. It was a magical evening - touching, inspiring and only a little sad. Campbell, despite his memory fading through developing Alzheimer's disease, clearly relished every moment. I lost count of the number of times he said, 'I love this song,' smiling and responding to the crowd's roaring cheers of approval. The showman shone through, even during a few nervous moments when he became hopelessly lost mid-verse. His band, made up of his children, kept him going and Glen laughed it off. Some of his guitar riffs - and his performance of the classic, Wichita Lineman - were flawless. It was more than a concert, it was a lesson in how to deal with life and all that it throws at you.

Glen Campbell died on August 8, 2017, at the age of 81

Ethel Travis - centenarian living life to the full

Live Long and Master Aging - Episode 24:

"It's nothing to do with age, it's your attitude."

Ethel Travis wants to make history. At the age of 102, the former ballerina, artist and fashionista has her sights set firmly on the future. With a busy social calendar, good health and the support a loving family, Ethel embraces life with giddy enthusiasm.  A centenarian with the mind and body of someone decades younger, she loves to talk, reminisce and make new friends. 

I met Ethel recently at her home, in Newport Beach, California, for a conversation about age, attitude and humanity.

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