Catherine Marienau of Oak Park and Gail Zelitzky of Chicago first met when Marienau served as Zelitzky’s faculty mentor while she studied for her master’s degree at DePaul University. The two quickly bonded over their shared passion for women’s issues and went on to create a podcast together, Women Over 70 – Aging Reimagined.
Now, 300 episodes later, the co-founders and co-hosts are celebrating the milestone with a symposium called Celebrating Who We Are as We Age Oct. 19.
Since the podcast launched in 2019, Marienau and Zelitzky have interviewed a variety of female artists, authors, activists and academics from the ages of 70 to 110.
“We’re all about having women see that there’s a future between 70 and however long you live. Our mission is to shatter the myth that women become irrelevant as they age, and also to reframe the conversation around aging,” Zelitzky said. “We want our listeners to be inspired and become more creative and curious about what they can do to make their longevity be an exciting time of life, which it really is.”
The podcast features interviews with older women about their life stories and experiences and aims to help women shift their perspective about life after 70. Marienau said that podcast hosts women who are involved in life and who can serve as role models for other older females, as well as for the younger generation of women.
“We talk with women who are in all different locations, different stages of life, really, to hear their stories about paths they’ve taken, choices they’ve made during their life, but especially how they are living now in these later decades,” Marienau said. “We want to hear their stories about what they’re involved in, what they care about, how they’re contributing, and new things that they’re learning.”
Five years after launching, the podcast has been streamed in 120 countries and has over 400,000 downloads. To celebrate their success and the milestone of 300 episodes, the two women are holding their first symposium called “Celebrating Who We Are as We Age,” which will take place in LaGrange. The event will feature a packed schedule of exhibits, authors’ showcases, lectures and interactive workshops on topics including health, creativity and personal growth.
The event will also feature a virtual lecture by keynote speaker author and activist Ashton Applewhite, who was featured in podcast episode 250, titled “Ageism Harms Us and Obstructs Equity.” The co-hosts said they see the symposium as an opportunity to unite a community of women with shared interests and strengthen bonds within the community.
“I’m just imagining the energy in the room when you get 100 or more women who are embodying the theme celebrating who we are as we age,” Marienau said. “Every person will get something meaningful out of it. I think it’ll be something that people will remember for a long, long time.”
After five successful years of podcasting, the two women said they don’t plan to slow down any time soon.
“I don’t think we’ll ever run out of interesting women to talk with,” Marienau said. They plan to continue featuring stories from older women, which they say are underrepresented.
“One of our goals is to create a legacy for the women we interview. Our interest is in showcasing their stories. We want our listeners to hear them and say, ‘wow, we didn’t know aging could be so cool,’” Zelitzky said.
“If we can accomplish that, and people come away with a different way of thinking about aging, I think the entire world will be better for it.”
Tickets for the “Celebrating Who We Are as We Age,” symposium are available at an early bird rate with the code ebsymposium24. The event will be held at Plymouth Place, 315 N. LaGrange Rd. For more information, see WomenOver70.com.
