For years, I’ve resisted launching a podcast. I felt I was too late to the party. Who needs another podcast? But, then, our MEA CEO Derek Gehl reminded me that I love interviewing people and going deep. So, voila, “The Midlife Chrysalis” podcast was born. My standard is high. The question I wanted my listeners to ask is “Might this episode change my life?”
As you know, I’ve been a “midlife activist” since the time the Airbnb founders started calling me their “modern elder” so I’m thrilled to explore this life stage with an impressive roster of high-profile guests who’ll prove that midlife is a transformative era, more chrysalis than crisis. Given that I know many of my guests, we’ll explore their personal side – that the public rarely sees – and how midlife is or, for those older folks, was a time of tenacity and grace, priming them for a reinvention.
We launch this week with an impressive roster of guests including a recording (all these episodes are available in video on YouTube as well) with me and Maria Shriver at the Great American Music Hall in San Francisco, musician Michael Franti at our MEA ranch in Santa Fe, and MEA faculty member, venture capitalist turned Buddhist coach Jerry Colonna. The podcast will go live each Wednesday (a midweek midlife podcast) with the next three episodes being former Today Show host Hoda Kotb, marketing guru Seth Godin, and a recording of me and podcast host Rich Roll on stage in LA at our event tomorrow (we still have a few tickets available for this Wise & Wild event).
Who else will appear this summer? Governor Gavin Newsom, author Elizabeth Gilbert, Spanx founder Sara Blakely, Blue Zones’ Dan Buettner, author Anne Lamott, actress Naomi Watts, author Arthur Brooks, Airbnb founder Brian Chesky, author Karen Walrond, Whole Foods Market founder John Mackey, and so many more.
I hope you enjoy the podcast and you’ll do me the favor of sharing it with your friends and family. Thank you!
-Chip