I’ve been sleeping in a tent the past 15 months. You might imagine some of the challenges. Well, I wrote about it so you don't have to. But I hope you find some inspiration from my experience, which I'm getting really, really tired of. agewise.substack.com/p/discoverin...

Discovering My Untapped Resilience at 64

15 months living outdoors has cultivated a greater appreciation for the little things in life

agewise.substack.com

The rise in awareness of mental health conditions, a positive thing, is a double-edges sword, several experts say, as awareness + AI queries + social media influencers fuel inaccurate self-diagnoses. medium.com/@robertroybr...

Are We Too Obsessed with Mental Health?

Fixation fueled by social media and AI queries can generate excess sensitivity and inaccurate self-diagnoses, mental health experts say

medium.com

The best way to up your odds of a long and healthy life is to focus not on longevity and lifepsan influencer hocus-pocus, but on well-grounded lifestyle science that promotes healthspan. agewise.substack.com/p/focus-on-h... #health #aging #longevity

Focus on Healthspan, Not Lifespan

Aim for quality years, through better health and capability now, and longevity becomes more likely

agewise.substack.com

The US is the undisputed leader of the "morbidity gap," the difference in years between how long people live and how long they are healthy. The data argue for greater focus on living well instead of worrying about living longer. medium.com/@robertroybr... #aging #longevity #health

People Live Longer But Less Healthy as ‘Morbidity Gap’ Grows

Poor health isn’t confined just to “older people,” new research finds

medium.com

Many of the nonfiction writers I’ve edited over the years try to be too many things. They want to write about this, that and the other, and they never quite settle into a topic area consistently enough to become really good at it. Makes it hard to build credibility and attract followers.

How to Find Your Writing Groove

PLUS: Announcing the Writer's Guide Chat Room

writersguide.substack.com

As I get older, I find obits can be cautionary tales or cause for celebration, depending on the age of the departed and the circumstances of their demise.

Aging Lessons from Sam Neill and Lindsey Graham (and Mitch McConnell, Too)

Obits can teach us a lot about how to live

medium.com

Among writers, you got your AI writers, and those of us who love writing.

I’ve just launched a Chat Room for all Writer’s Guide subscribers. I’ll be prompting discussions, doing Q&As, and otherwise mentoring and coaching nonfiction writers with more one-on-one interaction (rather than just sending posts). Join us! substack.com/chat/1877241 #writing #writers

The Writer's Guide chat

Join now in the Substack app

substack.com

“If you are 40, healthy, and sedentary, it is likely that you already have something going on inside your cells that will likely come back to haunt you in 10 or 15 years,” says University of Colorado researcher Iñigo San Millan, PhD. Full story (for people of any age!) in the Age Wise newsletter:

One Avoidable Reason Health Problems Sneak Up on Older Adults

You might feel fine, but if you’re sedentary, deleterious cellular juju is building up

agewise.substack.com

If you’re beyond your 30s and not challenging your muscles, they are slowly wasting away. But it doesn’t have to be so. Strength training (weights, resistance bands or body-weight exercises like push-ups) is vital for healthy aging, to preserve mobility, capability and overall well-being.

Sweet Spot Found for Longevity Benefits of Strength Training

A certain amount can help you live longer. More won't likely extend your life, research suggests.

agewise.substack.com

Hey nonfiction writers: I’m relaunching The Writer’s Guide after a much-needed hiatus. I’ve got some really helpful features and functionality planned. To get the ball rolling, a back-to-basics guide: writersguide.substack.com/p/punctuatio... #writing #writers

Punctuation Rules & How to Break Them

PLUS: Announcing The Writer's Guide relaunch!

writersguide.substack.com

Dementia is devastating, but it’s also widely misunderstood. The disease is not as common as most people think, and there’s a LOT one can do years in advance to greatly reduce the risk of getting it. agewise.substack.com/p/3-surprisi... #aging #brain #dementia

3 Surprising Truths About Dementia

If you think it's an inevitable part of aging, here's the good news

agewise.substack.com

Former US soccer star Mia Hamm, now 54, still works out. She uses strength training, but not heavy weights anymore. Brilliant strategy for healthy aging — we need aerobic AND resistance work. Wait… Mia Hamm is 54?! www.businessinsider.com/mia-hamm-lon... #aging #soccer #health

Soccer legend Mia Hamm has a 3-step longevity routine to stay strong and agile in her 50s

Mia Hamm said she ditched heavy weights and explosive exercise to prioritize smart movements that help with heart health and longevity.

businessinsider.com

New research measured the brain's biological age among people who speak one language vs. people who speak two or more. The key finding: "... multilingual experience matters as a gradient: it is not simply about being bilingual or not, but about the depth and duration of language experience.”

Bryan Johnson thinks he can live forever. He spends ~$2 million a year making himself a biohacking experiment of one. His announcement that he has autoimmune gastritis serves as cautionary tale for anyone who dreams of immortality. agewise.substack.com/p/biohacker-... #aging #longevity #health

Biohacker Aiming to Live Forever Gets an Autoimmune Disease

A cautionary tale for anyone who dreams of immortality

agewise.substack.com

We’ve all helped create polypharmacy, whereby people take way too many medications, and often the wrong meds, leading to serious physical and mental health outcomes that shouldn’t happen. Doctors know it. But only you can stop it. agewise.substack.com/p/polypharma... #aging #medicine #health

The Little-Known Reason Why You Might Be Taking Too Many Drugs

From middle-age onward, millions of adults fall into a “prescribing cascade” of way too many meds. Doctors know it. But only you can stop it.

agewise.substack.com

As we age, we get better at dealing with regrets, or we simply have fewer of them. That’s the hope, anyway, and there’s some science to support the idea. This story explains how to better deal. medium.com/crows-feet/h...

Here’s One Upside of Aging: Your Regrets Lose Their Sting

New science says regrets become less negative with age. Here’s how to tame and transform them through a quick 3-step process.

medium.com

I wrote about why I took four months off writing to search for purpose and meaning as I dealt with frustrations and insecurities related to #aging in the era of #ai. I hope the story inspires anyone who’s out of a job, or worried about their career these days. agewise.substack.com/p/an-old-guy...

An Old Guy's Search for Purpose and Meaning in the AI Era

And why I just spent four months NOT doing the thing I love most

agewise.substack.com

Before you take any new prescription meds, you’ll want to see what sometimes happens, despite a prescribing physician’s best intentions. agewise.substack.com/p/grave-risk... #medicine #aging

Grave Risk Revealed in Sedatives Prescribed After Acute Care

Another reason why you should ask a lot of questions before agreeing to take any medications your doctor might prescribe

agewise.substack.com

I know all about this, and it sucks: Thanks largely to drops in federal subsidies, “About 3 million fewer people in the United States had Affordable Care Act health insurance plans in February compared with the same time last year.” apnews.com/article/affo...

Millions drop Obamacare health coverage after subsidies expire and costs rise

New federal figures show that about 3 million fewer people had Affordable Care Act health insurance plans in February compared with the same time last year.

apnews.com

Years ago, I tried fish oil supplements, because I don’t eat a lot of fish and I’d heard these capsules offered a super healthy alternative. I was mistaken, as was so much of the advice then (and now). New research spurred me to take a deep dive on how we all got this so wrong.

Fish Oil Supplements Fail to Protect Against Heart Disease, Dementia and Depression

There’s something fishy about the bold claims. And oh, those side effects!

agewise.substack.com

Mick Jagger's guide to #longevity, at 82: "if you want to have fitness and longevity, you can't do loads of drugs and drink all the time.” www.gq-magazine.co.uk/article/the-...

The Mick Jagger guide to longevity

It’s a no to saunas and cold plunges, and a yes to laying off the drugs after 40. Ahead of the release of the 33rd Rolling Stones album, Foreign Tongues, GQ spoke to the legendary frontman about stayi...

gq-magazine.co.uk

The fear of #aging is common (and typically unfounded) among people in mid-life. But I had no idea “maturity fears” were a big thing among young adults. And those fears are more pronounced among millennials than previous generations (yet also largely unfounded). agewise.substack.com/p/the-fear-g...

The Fear Growing Up is Growing Worse

Young adults yearn for childhood, with “maturity fears” stronger among millennials than previous generations

agewise.substack.com

There are many ways to ruin #sleep. As we age, one challenge becomes feeling even older than we are. Stop that! agewise.substack.com/p/feeling-ol... #aging

Feeling Older Than You Are Linked to Poor Sleep

Poor sleep has many causes. This one could be mostly in your head.

agewise.substack.com

New study includes unpaid caregivers and degraded quality of life to estimate the total annual cost of dementia in the US: $818 billion. medicalxpress.com/news/2026-06...

No heavy lifting is required to conclude that strength training promotes good health. Plus, as a new long-term study finds people who did ~90-120 minutes of strength training weekly had a ~13% lower risk of dying vs. people who did none. theconversation.com/people-who-l...

People who lift weights live longer – new study

People who did around 90 to 120 minutes of strength training each week have a 13% lower risk of dying from any cause.

theconversation.com

The best medicine? It’s lifestyle medicine: healthy behaviors we can choose to lean into. These are the most important things we can do to set ourselves up for a long and healthy, productive, enjoyable existence. I'm using them as an organizing principle for my new newsletter, Age Wise.

7 Pillars of Healthy and Happy Aging

Foundational “lifestyle medicine” factors promote long life and improved physical and mental well-being along the way, representing an organizing principle for this newsletter.

agewise.substack.com

Ever feel like you’re getting old? Worried you’ll slow down, struggle to remember why you walked into a room, grow out of touch with the latest trends (AI, anyone?). Then my new newsletter, Age Wise, is for you.

The Big Lies About Aging

Age Wise is a newsletter exploring the real science of happiness, health and longevity for anyone who’s getting older.

agewise.substack.com

We've all heard that exercise is good for us. And now we learn that brains of people on exercise look younger than those of sedentary individuals.

Exercise Makes the Brain Younger

Scientists found brains can appear almost a year younger after just 12 months of routine workouts

medium.com

I sometimes don't know why I do the stupid things I do. So how could I possibly know someone else's intentions? And that's the thing: We assume the intentions of others based on their actions, and our perception of their actions, and the numerous expectations and biases we hold.

We’re Often Wrong In Assessing Intention

Humans are too quick to judge and to think they know what others are up to, but there are ways to correct for this.

medium.com