Young at Heart with Kojo Nnamdi

Mary Kay Fleming thought she knew what retirement would look like. A developmental psychologist and humor writer, she assumed that when her husband Don retired, life would carry on much as before. He’d stay busy. Maybe even renovate the house. That’s not what happened. Instead, the scientist she’d known for decades surprised her by turning to poetry—an old, unspoken dream that finally had room to surface. With Don at home full time and Mary Kay still working, their marriage shifted in unexpected ways. Suddenly, they were together all the time. Don wanted to talk—about everything. “He could do twenty minutes on where the squirrel went after it left the tree,” Fleming says. What felt like a small adjustment became a deeper reckoning with how meaning changes when work falls away. In this episode of Young at Heart, Mary Kay reflects on what retirement asks of us—not just practically, but emotionally. She talks about the need for “a reason to get out of bed in the morning,” and the challenge of finding purpose once the novelty of free time wears off. Drawing on her background in developmental psychology, she explores how identity and contribution continue to evolve later in life. She also speaks candidly about loss, aging, and the power of humor to make those changes easier to bear. “If you cannot keep a sense of humor,” she says, “there are ways that getting older becomes much harder.” Young at Heart brings you stories of people navigating life’s transitions. For Mary Kay Fleming, retirement wasn’t about slowing down—it was about finding new ways to matter.

Arlene Okerlund has always trusted the detours. A Shakespeare scholar and professor of English, her life has been shaped by chance encounters, unexpected pairings, and a philosophy she sums up simply: “Serendipity rules.” Again and again, she followed curiosity—even when it didn’t fit neatly into a plan. One curiosity lingered for years. Every June during her childhood, when the carnival came to town, Arlene would hear live country-western music drifting from the stage. And every now and then, a banjo would cut through the noise. “When the banjo started playing, the music just sparkled,” she remembers. “I just loved it. I’d never heard anything like it—and I fell in love with it right then.” As a young mother, she bought a banjo on an impulse and hung it on her wall. And it stayed there for nearly four decades. In this episode of Young at Heart, Arlene reflects on what it meant to finally pick up the banjo later in life—and on the long, winding path that led her there. She talks about delayed passions, trusting instinct over ambition, and discovering that joy doesn’t disappear when you put it off—it waits. Young at Heart brings you stories of people navigating life’s transitions—stories that invite you to imagine what’s next. For Arlene, taking the long way wasn’t a delay. It was how she arrived.

Sometimes the life you’ve built isn’t the one you’re meant to live. In this episode of Young at Heart, Chris Donovan shares how a health scare pushed him to stop postponing his true passion and finally pursue his dream of becoming a shoe designer. His story shows that it’s never too late to embrace your calling, take risks, and follow the life you’ve been sketching out all along.

After retiring from decades as air traffic controllers, Lori and Mike struggled to let go of an identity built on high-stakes decisions. In this episode of Young at Heart, they share how an unexpected second act as ushers at Madison Square Garden helped them rediscover joy, connection, and purpose. Their story is a reminder that retirement doesn’t end who you are—it can reveal something new.