AARP Washington State Podcast

Confused about the vaccination process in Washington State? Wondering what you should do to stay informed and stay safe? On today's episode, we're joined by WA State Secretary of Health Dr. Umair Shah and Attorney General Bob Ferguson. We get the latest on vaccination across our state, plus an update con artists using the coronavirus as a hook.

Are you tired of being tired? Or could you use better sleep? Our guest today is world-class sleep consultant Pat Byrne, who's worked with the Seahawks, Mariners and Sounders and other pro, college and Olympic teams, plus the US military and many other major institutions. We'll get the lowdown on sleep and performance, and how aging affects our sleep. He's the author a new book called "An Inconveni...

Have we entered a new era of misinformation and outright lying? Prof. Jeffrey Hancock is director of the Social Media Lab at Stanford University, where he studies trends in our discourse and he has ideas on how we can better find the truth. His TED Talk called "The Future Of Lying" has been viewed over 1 million times on YouTube. Learn about the Butler Lie, Sockpuppets, the 50 Cent Chinese Army an...

Join us for this roundtable discussion with experts Jevin West, Director of the nonpartisan Center for an Informed Public, and David Mikkelson, the founder of Snopes.com. Jevin and David provide a detailed look at the history and current state of misinformation and will equip you with the tools and resources you need to distinguish fact from fiction. Learn how to determine if the sources you're us...

In this special edition of the podcast, our Fraud Watch Network cyber expert Dave Morrow alerts us to how con artists are using the 2020 election to scam money and personal information. This has nothing to do with the campaigns, it's old-fashioned fraud in a new package. Dave tells us what to watch out for and how to fight back.

How to spot misinformation with Prof. Jevin West, Director of the nonpartisan Center for an Informed Public at the University of Washington. This episode is a live online event on how you can avoid falling for the attempts to mislead that are all around us. The spread of misinformation is among the most pressing challenges of our time. New platforms for human interaction and information sharing ha...

In this episode, we talk with Laura Coffey, the author of "My Old Dog: Rescued Pets with Remarkable Second Acts". Senior dogs often desperately need rescue from shelters and Laura explains the joys of giving these pets a loving home. Often there can be no costs to the new owner. Laura also tells how she made her dream of creating a best-selling book come true. You can learn more at myolddogbook.co...

AARP Financial Ambassador/TODAY Show financial editor Jean Chatzky and Lyn Peters from WA's Department of Financial Institutions answer questions from older adults about managing finances during the coronavirus outbreak. This episode is from "Spread The Facts", a production of TVW, AARP Washington, and WA COVID-19 Joint Information Center to help people over 50 navigate the coronavirus pandemic. J...

In this episode, we focus on scams arising from the COVID-19 pandemic. In a crisis, con artists craft their pitch to what's in the news. We talk frauds relating to stimulus payments, offers of protective supplies or cures, price gouging, fake charities and investments and more, with guests Attorney General Bob Ferguson; Shannon Smith, Division Chief of the Attorney General's Consumer Protection Di...

This episode is a recording of our Tele-Town Hall live Q&A phone event on the Coronavirus in WA, featuring Gov. Jay Inslee, Secretary of Health John Wiesman and Attorney General Bob Ferguson. We take calls from our members and answer questions about how to stay safe during this disease outbreak, both health-wise from the virus and from con artists seeking to use fear to scam you. The call was reco...

This episode is a recording of our Tele-Town Hall on the Novel Coronavirus COVID-19, featuring experts from Seattle-King County Public Health and the Washington State Department of Health. It's important information for older adults. Hosted by AARP Washington State Director Doug Shadel, the call features Ingrid Ulrey, Public Health Policy Director for Seattle & King County and Dr. Marisa D'Angeli,...

On this episode, our guest is Amy Nofziger, director of the AARP Fraud Watch Network's Help Line. The Help Line is a free service for advice on frauds and scams and for our members to report frauds to the Network. Amy fills us in on the latest, including the DNA Genetic Swab Scam. You can reach the Help Line at 1-877-908-3360 and it's absolutely free.

The 2020 Census is so important to older Americans that AARP has formed a national task force, led by AARP Census Project Lead Jennifer Baier, to make sure our members are counted accurately. We'll find out the different ways to respond to the Census, how to get one of the half million jobs available helping with the Census, how to spot and report Census scams, and more in this special episode. 

Medicine is taking a new look at old drugs for treatment of PTSD, depression, anxiety, smoking cessation, end of life care and more. We talk with UW professor Dr. Ingrid Walker about the research being done at major institutions like Johns Hopkins on psychedelic and other drugs and what hope these old, sometimes ancient, drugs have for new medical and therapeutic use.

"Home Matters with Pete" on KIRO 97.3 FM interviews our Outreach Director Amanda Frame and Communications Director Bruce Carlson on this radio talk show. We talk about a full range of what AARP does in Washington State, including fraud prevention, employment programs, encouraging livable communities, how AARP got started and much more.

We get billions of robocalls to our phones and it's driving many of us crazy. In this episode, we've got Chuck Harwood, Regional Director of the FTC live at our SpoofProof Your Life event to explain the latest on the robocall situation, how you can tell what calls are scams (hint: most of them!) and how you can fight back.

In this episode, we dive deep into how Bruce Lee became a martial arts and movie legend and how Seattle is where he developed and put together what made him an icon to this day. Author Matthew Polly has written the first recognized biography, called "Bruce Lee: A Life" and we sit down to talk about Bruce's formative years. He graduated from high school, attended the UW, met his wife and began teac...

Recorded live, Amy Nofziger, director of AARP's Fraud Fighter Call Center, gives us the lowdown on the latest frauds and scams being reported to the Fraud Fighter Help Line, plus she gives tips on staying safer on social media. This presentation was part of our "Spoof Proof Your Life" events. These events also featured AARP fraud expert Doug Shadel, Courtney Gregoire of Microsoft, and Chuck Harwoo...

This time our AARP Washington State Office is the subject, as Bruce Carlson is interviewed by Tony Russell on 100.7 The Wolf. Tony is now the host of the "Tony, Jake & Jenn" morning show on 98.7 The Bull in Portland, OR. We talk about our work in the state office and especially about our scam prevention work with AARP's Fraud Watch Network.

This episode is a live TeleTown Hall with Washington State Gov. Jay Inslee, hosted by our AARP Washington State Director Doug Shadel, where Gov. Inslee takes questions over the phone from AARP members around the state. We talk a lot about the cost of healthcare and much more. The episode was recorded live on February 27th, 2019.

Would you like advice on your retirement savings from the Chair of the Economics Department at Harvard? In this episode, Dr. David Laibson tells how to build your financial resources, the principles he uses to help manage Harvard's employee pension fund, and how we as a society can make it easier for everyone to build a nest egg.

In this episode, we go into the shadowy work of Dark Web identity theft and frauds with con man turned cybersecurity consultant Brett Johnson. Called "The Original Internet Godfather" by the Secret Service, Brett was recently featured on the cover of the AARP Bulletin This podcast is the extensive interview behind the story in the Bulletin. You'll hear Brett sit down with the article's author, our...

This episode is a live TeleTown Hall hosted by our AARP Washington State Director and national fraud expert Doug Shadel, with special guest Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson. A TeleTown Hall is like a radio call-in show, where we take questions by phone from AARP members around the state.  In this episode, Doug and AG Ferguson talk about the latest developments in scams and frauds, includin...

In this episode, we learn about the Washington Retirement Marketplace, a program of the WA Dept. of Commerce, that aims to give small business employers, employees, gig workers, entrepreneurs or anyone without a retirement plan at work, the ability to set up a payroll deduction retirement savings plan easily and cheaply. We talk with Carolyn McKinnon, the founding director of the program, and lear...

Would you like romance, better relationships, better sex and more fun in your life? Dr. Pepper Schwartz, relationship expert and UW professor, gives her best advice for those of us over age 50 in this episode. We talk about travel and how it can rekindle romance. We talk about dating and finding new love. We talk about the physical changes of aging. We talk about how to be more attractive at any a...