Baby boomers are the generation that invented staying forever young — and that means never losing any of their mental sharpness. As they reach retirement age, however, that belief seems increasingly hard to sustain. Patricia Marx, a regular contributor to The New Yorker who specializes in funny, first-person journalism, decided to take this problem on. In her latest book, Let's Be Less Stupid, she investigates the proliferation of mind-sharpening techniques, including having her brain electrically zapped, learning Cherokee, and playing piano scales for hours. And the results were…mixed.

Kurt Andersen: There are so many different products and schemes to help you keep your wits. How did you decide which ones you were going to do?

Patricia Marx: I made a list of as many as I could, and they ranged from things like "learn a language" to "eat sensibly" to "take naps" to "turn all the photos on your desk upside down." I did as many as I could tolerate. I didn’t eat legumes, and I didn’t take naps…boy, science likes naps. I’m really sorry, because I have not slept my whole life and it turns out to be a bad thing.

Of all these things you did, how effective did they seem?

I’m not a scientist, so I really have no idea. Before and after, I had my IQ taken and I had my brain imaged. They were very gleeful about how much my brain had improved and how much bigger certain areas were. I told my boyfriend, very proudly, that my brain was 33 percent bigger in many areas, and he said, "If that was so, then your brain would be oozing out of your nose, eyes, and ears" — and you can see that it’s not. The thing about MRI and fMRI is they lead us to believe they know a lot more about the brain than they do.

You started out doing humor at the Harvard Lampoon, and you were the first woman elected to the Lampoon. How much of your experience was a gendered thing?

It wasn’t, and I felt that it shouldn’t be. It’s just not the primary way I identify myself. I didn’t really know there weren’t girls on the Lampoon before. I just knocked on the door and said I’d like to sign up.

You went on to be a writer at Saturday Night Live for a couple of seasons. Did that feel more like a boys’ club?

It just felt like overnight camp. Even though people were complaining, as they do at a comedy job, I was thinking, “Please make us work on Sunday.” Just the fact that they had pizza and Diet Coke at three in the morning was so much fun to me. And, like at the Lampoon, people were just hilarious. Maybe that’s why I tend to write funny. I came to think that being funny was the most important thing in the world.

More than 4,000 of you took us up on testing your hearing with the Mimi Hearing Test app — which is remarkable, considering the national stigma surrounding hearing loss. That may be why many American adults have not been tested. 

But mobile technology like Mimi has increasingly made it possible for people to find out about their hearing ability. The challenge is that we can now access a form of health data without a medical professional to help interpret it. 

So we brought some questions you've raised about your hearing results to Dr. Lawrence Lustig, professor and chair at Columbia University Medical Center's Department of Otolaryngology. You might remember him from our episode on deaf composer Jay Zimmerman.

How much hearing loss is natural and nothing to worry about? Average adults will naturally be unable to hear very high pitched sounds (above 8000 Hz) that young children can. Is there a good rule of thumb?

That is a tough question. There's no absolute or bright line. If you were a military veteran and were exposed to loud explosives, you probably have experienced some amount of hearing loss and the cause was clearly identifiable. It’s not that the hearing loss can be ignored, but one can be reasonably certain it doesn’t represent something like a tumor or infection causing the hearing loss. 

But if you're young, under 40, and notice hearing loss affecting your day-to-day, that should be checked out as soon as possible. 

Hearing loss above 8000 Hz is not a huge deal since a majority of the speech frequencies are between 500 and 2000 Hz. In general, high tones are lost first, and female and children's voices are higher pitched, and thus these are the voices that people with hearing loss generally have a harder time hearing.

For a lot of people, a moderate loss is manageable, if all they have to do is turn up the volume on the TV. However, those same people could have difficulty in a noisy background, at a restaurant, dinner table with family, or in a meeting at work. In the end, any hearing loss that affects your day-to-day life should be evaluated by a professional.

What are the risks of leaving your hearing loss untreated?

There is no inherent 'risk' of leaving your hearing untreated, barring such instances such as getting hit by a car or bus because you didn't hear it coming and you weren't paying attention!

But keep in mind that hearing loss is a form of brain deprivation, at least for someone who had hearing for most of their adult life (for the born-deaf, their other senses are amplified). If you wait too long, say decades, it becomes harder to address because the parts of your brain that would process that sound don't work as well.

In addition, there are some causes of hearing loss that need to be investigated to be sure there is not an underlying condition causing the loss, such as a tumor at the base of the brain, an infection, or other disease. Thus all forms of hearing loss should really be evaluated by a professional to be sure there are no underlying causes that need to be treated. In particular, hearing loss in only one ear, definitely needs to be looked at because it could be the result of a treatable infection. Similarly, sudden cases of hearing loss should be evaluated as soon as possible.

What can be done about tinnitus?

There's no magic pill to make it go away. Usually people have tinnitus in association with hearing loss, but they don't necessarily go together. We have only a crude understanding of the cause of tinnitus. There's some evidence that it starts in the ear and sets up in the brain stem. The lack of animal models is the part of the challenge in addressing the condition. You can't ask a lab mouse, do you have tinnitus?

We have some anatomical correlates of brain scans of what tinnitus looks like, but we're not 100% sure those relationships are accurate. That being said, there are a number of treatments, each with varying degrees of success, depending on the individual, including the use of tinnitus maskers, use of hearing aids for those that already have hearing loss, and retraining therapy with sound. 

A few people have written to us about bad experiences with hearing aids - they were expensive and didn't work in all environments. Is that changing?

Hearing aids are getting better all the time. They are still not perfect: they cause trouble with feedback, with the 'occlusion effect' (sensation of something plugging the ear), and the challenges of amplifying not just what you want to hear but also what you don't want to hear. However, newer processing algorithms and directional microphones are making them better for amplifying what you want amplified while suppressing background noises. Smaller devices and better ear inserts are also improving the cosmetics and ear-plugging factor, and some now even come with tinnitus suppression software. Advances will continue to occur in the industry.

For less serious hearing loss there are many cheaper options such as smartphone apps or Bluetooth devices that can amplify voices in challenging environments, like noisy restaurants.  

If you suspect that someone you know has hearing loss, what are some strategies for getting that person to seek help?

The best thing is to be upfront and non-judgmental. We tell people if we think they are losing weight, or look pale, or have vision troubles, and most are thankful for that feedback (well, maybe not the weight comment). If you think someone has hearing loss, let them know it's affecting their ability to interact, and also let them know the field is advancing and there are many new treatment options available that were not available even a couple years ago. In the end, the most important thing is to get people hearing again and not feel ashamed they have a hearing loss. For some reason, no one is embarrassed or ashamed to wear glasses! So why is there a stigma associated with hearing aids? There shouldn't be. We should all be accepting of this like any other medical condition. 

Roger Angell, a senior editor and staff writer, has contributed to The New Yorker since 1944 and was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame last year, for his writing on the sport. This year, he won a National Magazine Award for his essay “This Old Man,” about aging, loss, and love. Angell spoke with David Remnick about writing in his tenth decade.

While we sweat it out at spin class in the name of good health, the world’s oldest people drink whiskey, eat bacon, and chug Miller High Lifes with a side of Johnny Walker Blue.

At least those are the life secrets we love to hear when we talk about supercentenarians — the exclusive group of people who live to be at least 110 years old. But the science is not that simple, and the lives of these super-survivors are proof.

The oldest person recorded in history, a French woman named Jeanne Calment, lived to be 122 years old. Calment, who was born in 1875, lived a fairly easy, stress-free existence, according to Jean-Marie Robine, a French demographer who met her and studied the last years of her life.

But the more significant marker of her longevity, he believes, is her direct ancestors who lived, on average, 22 years longer than expected. “So definitely, the gene pool [was] exceptional,” he said.

Tom Perls, a physician and researcher who runs the New England Centenarian Study, has studied about 150 supercentenarians. He agrees: living an extremely long life probably has to do more with your DNA than what you drink.

“It’s many complicated pathways that feed into what determines your rate of aging and your risk for age related diseases,” Perls said.

Today, the oldest known living person in the world is a woman in Brooklyn, New York, and lives a fairly quiet life. At 116 years old, Susannah Mushatt Jones has watched the world go form streetcars to hoverboards; from President William McKinley to President Barack Obama, who is framed in a picture on her wall.

Last July, she celebrated her birthday in style with the Brooklyn Nets, local politicians and a gigantic cake topped with (frosting) bacon, a food she eats every day because her doctor says, “why not?”

But she doesn’t talk as much as she used to, and spends most of her days with caretakers and family in Brooklyn — waking up to a big plate of grits, eggs and bacon every morning.

And she knows better than to credit the bacon for her extraordinary life.

“I have no secret,” she said in a video two years ago. “I just live with my family. My family makes me happy.”

Before journalist Lesley Stahl joined 60 Minutes, she became the first woman to serve as CBS News' White House Correspondent. Her coverage of news, political leaders and stories has taken her around the globe. Her latest investigation looks into the science of grandparenting. In  Becoming Grandma: The Joys and the Science of the New Grandparenting Stahl reflects on her own experiences as a grandmother, and interviews friends and experts to understand how grandmotherhood affects women. 

Event: Lesley Stahl will be in conversation with Tom Brokaw at the 92nd Y (Lexington Avenue at 92nd Street) on Wednesday, April 13th at 7:30 p.m. She'll be signing books after the discussion. 

Check our Lesley Stahl's Guest Picks!

What have you read or seen over the past year that moved or surprised you?

I’m just finishing Anna Quindlen’s new novel, Miller’s Village– a novel that seeps into your pores, gorgeously written. Wise. Addictive.

What are you listening to right now?

 Wait, Wait... Don’t Tell Me!

What’s the last great book you read?

I loved Jon Meacham’s book on George Bush the first. I’ve thought for a while that he was due for some revisionism.

What’s one thing you’re a fan of that people might not expect?

Banjos!

What’s your favorite comfort food?

French fries – Ketchup! Extra salt!

Dana Spiotta joins Deborah Treisman to read and discuss Joy Williams’s “Chicken Hill,” from a 2015 issue of the magazine.

Watch Video | Listen to the Audio

JUDY WOODRUFF: A new report due out later this week from the National Institute on Early Education Research finds that a number of states are struggling to find ways to improve access to high quality pre-kindergarten.

Tonight, we look at a unique approach taken by a preschool in Seattle, Washington. It’s giving children life lessons that go beyond the classroom, and providing a unique opportunity to seniors.

Special correspondent Cat Wise has our report. It’s part of our Making the Grade series on education that airs every Tuesdays.

MARY MCGOVERN, Resident, Providence Mount St. Vincent: What do you see?

CHILD: A brown bear.

CHILD: A brown bear.

CAT WISE: Mary McGovern is 95 years old, and one of her favorite things to do is read to toddlers.

MARY MCGOVERN: And what is that? A bird.

CHILD: A bird.

MARY MCGOVERN: A bird. What color is the bird?

CHILDREN: Red.

MARY MCGOVERN: Red. Everybody knows that.

CAT WISE: Luckily for Mary, she doesn’t need to go any further than down the hall to find her young friends.

MARY MCGOVERN: Oh, see, look in here is the little kids in there.

CAT WISE: Oh, yes.

McGovern lives at Providence Mount St. Vincent, a nursing home in Seattle, Washington, that also houses a day care for children up to 5 years of age.

WOMAN: Thank you, honey. Thank you. There you go. Thank you very much.

CAT WISE: Every weekday, 500 residents are joined by 125 children in the facility affectionately called The Mount.

MAN: Peekaboo.

WOMAN: Peekaboo.

MAN: I see you.

Administrator Charlene Boyd:

CHARLENE BOYD, Administrator, Providence Mount St. Vincent: We wanted to create a place for people to come to live, and not come to die.

CAT WISE: So, in 1991, Boyd and other administrators added a high-quality preschool to the nursing home and created an intergenerational learning center, a community for the very old and very young.

Why is there is this railing here?

CHARLENE BOYD: This railing is here not for the kids, but it’s here for residents. And it’s a safety piece for a resident in a wheelchair to push themselves up and to hold on and to bring themselves to a standing position and watch the children through the window.

CAT WISE: So, they can stand here and look in?

CHARLENE BOYD: They can stand here and look in.

It’s putting high-quality child care in a setting that link old and young together, making the magic between these two ages together, bringing joy to the residents and joy to those young children. It’s just like this magical formula that happens every day.

WOMAN: Can I get a high-five? There. He knows how to do a high-five.

MARY MCGOVERN: Most of them, they’re curious about me. Why are you here? I tell them I’m here because, when I was living in my house, when I got too old, I wasn’t always walking straight, and sometimes I would fall. And if fell, I had to have some help to get up, because I couldn’t get off the floor.

I want to hug your baby doll.

MAUREEN MCGOVERN, Mary McGovern’s Daughter: I think there are things that both parties take away from the interactions. It’s not like a lifelong relationship, but just for that moment in time, they’re both enjoying each other’s company, and getting something out of their relationship with that person in that moment.

MARY MCGOVERN: Give me a hug. Come on.

CHARLENE BOYD: All of us have common needs to be recognized. All of us have common needs to be loved, and all of us have common needs to share life together. And so these children bring life and vibrancy and normalcy. It’s a gift. It’s a gift in exposing young families to positive aspects of aging, and it’s a gift of also having children seeing frailty, normalcy and that’s part of that full circle of life.

(SINGING)

CAT WISE: Intergenerational activities can be spontaneous or planned, like this sing-a-long.

MARIE HOOVER, Intergenerational Learning Center: There’s 36 visit possible each week, so each classroom, six classrooms, has at least three visits, up to six visits.

CAT WISE: The director of the center, Marie Hoover, says children become comfortable with elderly residents at an early age.

MARIE HOOVER: Whether they’re in a wheelchair, or in a walker, or maybe they’re hard to understand, or you have to speak louder, it is just about who that individual is, and they adjust. The kids just don’t — they really don’t blink an eye. This is normal. This is just who this resident is.

CAT WISE: Ninety-three-year-old Harriet Thompson joined this sing-a-long on her way to the dining hall.

HARRIET THOMPSON, Resident, Providence Mount St. Vincent: I usually like to go sit down for a while before dinner, but I heard them singing, so in, we went.

CAT WISE: What do you experience internally when you’re around these children?

HARRIET THOMPSON: Happiness, just plain old happiness. You know, yes, it beats anything else. Beats television.

CHARLENE BOYD: Boredom and loneliness at sort of the plagues of older adults. There’s nothing more delightful than seeing young children with noise, with laughter. You see the residents, and they hear the sound of the kids coming down the hall, and it’s as though sunlight just came through the window.

HARRIET THOMPSON: I’m a great-great-grandmother, but they’re in another town. I can’t hold my own little girl because she’s far away. And so this is what makes me happy. You get to know them, and watch them, and act silly with them. And it’s good to feel like you’re 3 years old again.

CAT WISE: Teachers see similarities in the ways these two very different age groups communicate.

MARIE HOOVER: The brain of a toddler, and as somebody is beginning to have, you know, some signs of dementia, the brains are similar, and their development, or their decline, is similar.

CAT WISE: That was apparent in this art class, where resident John Goss, a retired surgeon, and 5-year-old William Kraynek (ph) teamed up as painting partners.

JOHN GOSS, Resident, Providence Mount St. Vincent: This is a junk brush?

CHILD: A giant.

JOHN GOSS: Giant, yes.

He’s operating on my plain, and I’m operating on his plain, and so we have an attachment. He helped me, and we were working together.

CHILD: I used blue, and he used blue, and I used green, and he used green.

JOHN GOSS: It’s wonderfully fun, because things come out of your hand, rather than your mouth.

MARIE HOOVER: The kids are certainly of that age where this there isn’t this sense of, oh, that’s weird or something to be scared of, and I think that’s happening on both sides of the age.

CHILD: What’s your name?

ANNIE CARTER, Resident, Providence Mount St. Vincent: Annie Carter.

CAT WISE: Later the same day, William Kraynek visited the skilled nursing section of The Mount to help make sandwiches for the homeless.

CHILD: I had three sandwiches.

ANNIE CARTER: Oh, I see.

CAT WISE: Here, William partnered with 92-year-old Annie Carter.

ANNIE CARTER: We just talk about our work, just like anybody else on a job. That’s our job, so we have to do the right thing.

WOMAN: This is Alex.

Hi, Alex.

MAN: How you doing?

WOMAN: Hi.

CAT WISE: How do the children deal with difficult situations, like a resident that might be declining or even death? How do the children deal with those situations?

MARIE HOOVER: Developmentally, it’s not really something they can conceptualize. Even our oldest kids, at 5, kids don’t quite get that whole death concept.

If the kids bring that up to the teachers, then the teacher’s response is going to be, I miss Mary too. What’s your favorite memory about what she did?

And those are the kinds of things they’re going to focus in on, as opposed to somebody died. They’re just not quite ready to get that concept.

CAT WISE: Child care at The Mount is competitively priced with similar high quality preschools in the area. Currently, 400 families are on the wait list.

Administrators believe The Mount’s model can be replicated across the country, and they expect interest to peak this summer, when a documentary featuring their work called “Present Perfect” is released.

For the “PBS NewsHour,” I’m Cat Wise in Seattle.

PBS NewsHour education coverage is part of American Graduate: Let’s Make it Happen, a public media initiative made possible by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.

The post What happens when a nursing home and a day care center share a roof? appeared first on PBS NewsHour.

Pulitzer Prize-winning author and physician Siddhartha Mukherjee traces the history of genetics and heredity in his new book The Gene: An Intimate History. Former New York Times Magazine editor Gerald Mazorati details his journey to compete on the national circuit as age 60 in Late to the Ball. New Yorker staff writer and Harvard historian Jill Lepore embarked on a quest to uncover the truth behind the eccentric modernist writer Joe Gould in her new book Joe Gould's Teeth. 

Former New York Times Magazine editor Gerald Marzorati took up tennis in his mid-50s. In Late to the Ball: Age. Learn. Fight. Love. Play Tennis. Win., he details his journey to compete on the national circuit at age 60. Finding himself in a difficult spot in life — past middle-aged, but still not “old”— he explains why he set this goal and how he set off to make it a reality. 

Event: Gerald Marzorati will be signing, reading from his book and in conversation with Roger Angell at The Corner Bookstore (1313 Madison Avenue and 93rd) on Tuesday, May 17th at 6 p.m.