Living past 90 comes with a unique kind of loneliness. There’s so much to share from a lifetime of experience, but a dwindling number of confidantes as the average nonagenarian outlives their friends, spouses, and loved ones.
In Argentina, some seniors are turning to podcasts to share their stories, instead. Last year, 97-year-old Alberto Chab posted a video online from his home in Buenos Aires with the help of a granddaughter, calling for others around his age to unite and talk about what’s going on in their lives.
His idea also got the attention of someone much younger – 26-year-old journalist Guadalupe Camurati, who knew just the platform for a rousing conversation that people around the world might want to tune into.
That’s how the podcast “Ninety and Counting” was born. Seniors discuss anything from doing the tango, to healthy habits, to affection and ways of connecting. Many of the clips are shared on the Ninety and Counting Instagram page. The first post was shared in August last year.
Chab now meets with fellow seniors every two weeks to toss around podcast topics. Sitting in a conference room, he tells his comrades to “just say everything that comes to mind. It’s never going to be absurd, because whatever happens to one of us – having a car crash or going to the eye doctor – a similar situation will arise for the other.”
He starts every meeting with one topic – the one he chose when we met the group was the unconscious – and he moderates the ensuing debate. The idea is to make the group think about how they connect the topic with their ordinary lives.
A place to talk about change and vanishing ways of doing things
“Welcome to Noventa y contando (Ninety and Counting),” Nelida, age 94, says in a video introduction to the podcast posted to social media. “I’m very happy with everything I’ve accomplished with my family and friends—those who are still alive.”
Another Instagram clip shows a woman riding a bicycle. “I’m 85, and I’ve finally accomplished a dream—traveling,” she says. “My granddaughter helped me travel through volunteer work. In Argentina, it is very difficult for me to be retired and travel. I went to Spain and England. We don’t need to look at age, only our will to do things.”
Ninety and Counting’s first season started in 2024 and season two is now being produced. It has a regular cast of five men, five women and Alberto, but they don’t always appear in the same episodes together. They typically choose one member of the group to talk with Chab about a certain topic. For example, Mabel once chose to discuss the role of women with him, with Camurati moderating the conversation.
Some of the topics they discuss are related to things that either don’t exist anymore or have changed: candy they used to eat when they were kids, drinking fresh raw milk instead of buying it at the supermarket, having someone to stuff their mattresses with wool instead of buying a new one.
Chab thinks the podcast has had a positive impact on the lives of those involved. Because of it, members of the group and listeners have more things to share with their loved ones and families. Before the podcast, they often felt excluded by society and even their own relatives because of their age, but now they have stories to tell and often feel inspired by them, he says.
“(Our grandchildren) would say, ‘Hi, Grandpa. How are you? How are you? Fine, fine. Good, very fine.’ And they’d get on their cell phones and talk to each other. But now they have someone participating, there are things to tell our grandchildren or children, or neighbors or friends. There are things to ask them. So a re-socialization was established, a very fruitful dialogue that didn’t exist before,” Alberto said.
Debate on how to live a long and joyful life is an inevitable theme. In one Ninety and Counting clip, 92-year-old Mabel counsels: “a tip to get to 90 is to eat healthy and love yourself, love yourself very much.”
Simple good fortune is what one former physician, Juan Carlos, credits for his longevity. “I’m 97 years old and spent 57 as a doctor. I got to 97 because God is good. I didn’t do sports and ate like a sibarita” – referring to people in Argentina who appreciate fine dining and wine.
As for Chab, his new career as a podcaster means he still has “much more to learn,” he says – with a little help from his friends. The technical aspects of podcasting are all handled by Camurati, but Alberto says he is now trying to explore the technology, and even trying to use AI.