"Young People Are Acts of Nature, But Beautiful Old People Are Works of Art" - Dr. Marion

Today we are #LiveInTheHive in Dr. Marion Somers, award-winning and nationally recognized Geriatric Care Specialist, professor, and author of the book, Eldercare Made Easier: Ten Steps to Help You Care for an Aging Loved One.

From the moment I met Dr. Marion, I’ve been captivated by her passion for the elderly, for the death and dying process, and for LIFE! We’ve had many poignant conversations about her life and work, and I’m thrilled to share this extraordinary 85-year-old force-of-nature on #TheEdgeofEverydayPodcast.

(Full disclosure: As you know, we don’t edit on #TheEdgeofEverydayPodcast – we prefer the adventure of being #LiveInTheHive! However, we had some technical problems with our recording, and a bit of editing was necessary on this one.)

In this episode, we touch on…

• What type of person is drawn to stay present to the aging, death, and dying process?
• Marion shares the story of growing up in Harlem, gravitating to the elders in her community and discovering her love of storytelling.
• The power of deep listening.
• How has eldercare changed over the years?
• Technology has separated and isolated all of us, but particularly the aging.
• Discover ways to engage in eldercare, both as an elder and as a caregiver.
• What is important to those who are transitioning.
• The power of planning a funeral with the person who is in transition.
• What does it mean to grieve well?
• A brief review of her exhaustive and resource rich book on eldercare.

For over four decades, Doctor Marion has provided care for more than 2,000 elderly clients while she owned and operated a thriving Geriatric Care Management practice. As a leading expert on elder care issues, topics, and solutions, she’s been featured on The Today Show, Eyewitness News, in The Wall Street Journal, Newsday, and on a host of national radio programs.

Contact Dr. Marion HERE.

Buy Book HERE.

Connect with your host Sandra Bargman:

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Happy New Year Everyone! Goodbye 2025 and hello 2026. I have high hopes for 2026. We can all agree 2025 has been quite an insane roller coaster of a ride, to put it mildly.

A Universal 1 Year (2026) is a threshold. It begins a new nine-year story not only for the world, but for each of us. If you imagine the past nine years as a chapter – from 2017 to 2025 – the 1 Year is the moment the next chapter title appears.

The page is blank. The pen is in your hand.

The themes of a 1 Year revolve around emergence: new beginnings, self-leadership, instinct and courage.

And in Chinese Lunar tradition, 2026 is The Year of the Crimson Fire Horse. This year is celebrated for its dynamic energy, symbolizing passion, change, and transformation. Horses represent strength, freedom, and spirited perseverance, and the element of fire magnifies these qualities.

The theme for 2026 is CLEAR. It’s about acceleration. breakthrough and integration.

It is time to step forward with COURAGE!

I share a reading of ‘We Were Made for These Times’ by Dr. Clarissa Pinkola Estes.

“My Esteemed Ones –

Do not lose heart. We were made for these times. I have heard from so many recently who are deeply and properly bewildered. They are concerned about the state of affairs in our world now. Ours is a time of almost daily astonishment and often righteous rage over the latest degradations of what matters most to civilized, visionary people. You are right in your assessments.

The luster and hubris some have aspired to while endorsing acts so heinous against children, elders, everyday people, the poor, the unguarded, the helpless, is breathtaking.

Yet, I urge you, ask you, gentle you, to please not spend your spirit dry by bewailing these difficult times. Especially do not lose hope. Most particularly because, the fact is that we were made for these times.”

Wishing our listeners, guests, and everyone who contributes to and uplifts #TheEdgeofEverydayPodcast a very Happy New Year!

#TheEdgeofEveryday #TheEdgeofEverydayPodcast #HappyNewYear2026 #WeWereMadeforTheseTimes

Connect with your host Sandra Bargman:

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What is the relationship between theatre, storytelling, and community?

In a larger sense, what is the role of art in times of resistance and unrest politically?

Today we are #LiveInTheHive with Seth Gordon, author of the new book, Crossroads in the American Theatre: New Leaders in a New Age.

This book is a must read for theatre geeks, theatre lovers and for those who understand the importance of art and the communal experience of live theatre in these dark and challenging times.

The American theatre is at a crossroads. After a worldwide pandemic and the social reckonings that took place just before and around the pandemic, the way non-profit theatres lead their institutions and produce their plays is being reexamined almost from scratch.

As we witness the collapse of institutions and systems nationally in real time, media, financial, education, religion, etc. the American theatre, too, has been called to evolve, and to re-connect with the greater community it serves. Seth Gordon, and the artistic leaders he interviews for this book, reflect deeply on the future of American theatre and it’s supporting structures. And they offer hope for emerging theatre-making.

In this illuminating episode…

• Seth offers a brief history of theatre in the USA, in particular the emergence of our national non-profit theatre institutions – the move from a strictly business model into a model that served the creation of art and it’s relationship to community, rather than the creation of profit. The ideal of non-profit theatre vs commercial theatre.
• Theatre is an instrumental element of a thriving TOWN SQUARE that supports and enriches the community it serves.
• How did the pandemic affect the faltering existence of non-profit industrial complex? Did it cause it, or simply illuminate it?
• How have streaming services contributed to the disconnect from live theatre? We must reinvigorate the loyalty of the theatre to its community AND vice versa.
• Theatre is an “essential form of democracy” and the massive IRONY of the attack on and erosion of democracy ushered in by 47 and his regime and the pulling of federal funding coinciding with reevaluation of live theatre institutions (artistic institutions in general). Art is RESISTANCE.
• A social message vs. entertainment While the classics are relevant, is it time for brand new voices and different play structures?
• Does the Board of Directors’ role need reimagined?
• Theatre will always survive, but it may not be structured in the same way.
• All this and so much more…

Full bio/resources:

https://www.ou.edu/finearts/drama/about/people

https://www.linkedin.com/in/seth-gordon-619b165/

Buy HERE. Also available at The Drama Bookstore, NYC.

Connect with your host Sandra Bargman:

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