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[B]OLD AGE With Debbie Weil - Steven Petrow on His Sister Julie, the Importance of Choice, and Medical Aid in Dying

Steven Petrow on His Sister Julie, the Importance of Choice, and Medical Aid in Dying

03/08/24 • 36 min

[B]OLD AGE With Debbie Weil

In the Intro to this episode, you'll hear Steven Petrow talking about his sister Julie Petrow’s death last June 2023. After years of battling ovarian cancer, Julie, Steven’s five-years-younger little sister, chose to die in her New Jersey home by drinking a lethal cocktail. She was surrounded by her family. And it was legal. She used a procedure called MAID or medical aid in dying, which is now legal in 10 states in the U.S. plus the district of Columbia.

But before she died, she made Steven, who is a bestselling author and a contributing columnist for The Washington Post, promise to write about how she chose to die, in order to raise awareness around MAID, a practice that many people don’t know about, or don’t understand, even though it was first legalized in Oregon, almost 30 years ago.

So Steven did, publishing an essay about Julie and her decision in The New York Times a few months ago. It got a huge reception with over 600 comments on the NYT’s site.

In this episode, Steven explains more:

  • What the term medical aid in dying means and what it is exactly (it used to be called physician assisted suicide, but a physician is NOT present)
  • Why he thinks only 9,000 people have availed themselves of the procedure since it first became legalized
  • Why it’s mostly used by educated whites (for one thing, the cocktail of lethal drugs cost $700 to $900 and is NOT reimbursable)

This is simply a fascinating episode and Steven is a lovely guest, eloquent, respectful, and informed. It was such a pleasure to have him back on the show. As always, see below for links to his articles and books, including the NYT article, and a link to the first time he was on the show almost three years ago.

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Don't miss Debbie's Behind The Scenes essay on Substack accompanying every episode of the podcast.

//////////

Mentioned in this episode or useful:

Connect with Debbie:

Our Media Partners:

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In the Intro to this episode, you'll hear Steven Petrow talking about his sister Julie Petrow’s death last June 2023. After years of battling ovarian cancer, Julie, Steven’s five-years-younger little sister, chose to die in her New Jersey home by drinking a lethal cocktail. She was surrounded by her family. And it was legal. She used a procedure called MAID or medical aid in dying, which is now legal in 10 states in the U.S. plus the district of Columbia.

But before she died, she made Steven, who is a bestselling author and a contributing columnist for The Washington Post, promise to write about how she chose to die, in order to raise awareness around MAID, a practice that many people don’t know about, or don’t understand, even though it was first legalized in Oregon, almost 30 years ago.

So Steven did, publishing an essay about Julie and her decision in The New York Times a few months ago. It got a huge reception with over 600 comments on the NYT’s site.

In this episode, Steven explains more:

  • What the term medical aid in dying means and what it is exactly (it used to be called physician assisted suicide, but a physician is NOT present)
  • Why he thinks only 9,000 people have availed themselves of the procedure since it first became legalized
  • Why it’s mostly used by educated whites (for one thing, the cocktail of lethal drugs cost $700 to $900 and is NOT reimbursable)

This is simply a fascinating episode and Steven is a lovely guest, eloquent, respectful, and informed. It was such a pleasure to have him back on the show. As always, see below for links to his articles and books, including the NYT article, and a link to the first time he was on the show almost three years ago.

//////////

Don't miss Debbie's Behind The Scenes essay on Substack accompanying every episode of the podcast.

//////////

Mentioned in this episode or useful:

Connect with Debbie:

Our Media Partners:

Previous Episode

undefined - Kirsten Powers on Changing the Channel From CNN Political Analyst to Easeful Living and Writing

Kirsten Powers on Changing the Channel From CNN Political Analyst to Easeful Living and Writing

Today, Debbie talks with Kirsten Powers, a New York Times bestselling author, a liberal columnist and, most recently, an on-air political analyst with CNN. In 2023, after almost two decades, she left what she calls the “media circus” to pursue a different life as a writer and a life coach. Kirsten, who is 56, is [b]old by any definition.

Prior to CNN she was at Fox (as a liberal voice) and before that she was a columnist for USA Today, The Daily Beast, American Prospect Online, and the New York Post. Her recent bestselling book is Saving Grace: Speak Your Truth, Stay Centered, and Learn to Coexist with People Who Drive You Nuts.

Currently Kirsten writes a very popular newsletter on Substack, called, appropriately, "Changing the Channel." It's about living authentically, unlearning societal conditioning, and how to actually change your life. She published an essay recently about her plan to move to Italy with her husband because, as she put it, the U.S. is unlivable, with school shootings, the frenetic pace of life and because it’s too expensive. Somehow we are societally conditioned to accept this, as if it’s normal. But it’s not, Kirsten emphasizes. The post went viral, hitting a nerve with her many readers. Now she’s working on a book proposal.

Since leaving her on-air job, Kirsten has been deliberately pursuing what she calls a "more easeful life" that is less striving and less accomplishment-oriented. It includes writing on Substack, which she loves. In this episode she also talks about her transition from evangelical christian to atheist.

Kirsten is fast thinking and provocative and Debbie loved this conversation with her.

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Don't miss the Behind The Scenes for every episode in Debbie's [B]OLD AGE newsletter.

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Mentioned in this episode or useful:

Connect with Debbie:

Our Media Partners:

  • CoGenerate (formerly Encore.org)
  • MEA and with thanks to Chip Conley
  • Next For Me (former media partner and in memory of Jeff Tidwell)

How to Support this podcast:

Next Episode

undefined - Lyn Slater on How To Be Old and Why She Is No Longer a Fashion Influencer

Lyn Slater on How To Be Old and Why She Is No Longer a Fashion Influencer

Debbie speaks with Lyn Slater, a writer and activist and former social media influencer. She spent her mid-60s becoming an icon of fashion, racking up nearly 800,000 Instagram followers, representing huge brands like Ilia Beauty, Kate Spade, Moncler, and Visa (among many others), speaking on fashion panels, and in general living a very public life. Her memoir, “How to Be Old: Lessons in Living Boldly From the Accidental Icon" is just out.

But... and there’s a big BUT, Lyn has given up that identity and is now, at 70, a writer and hands-on grandmother. She has renounced social media and no longer offers fashion or style tips. In this episode she tells Debbie that she was unhappy at the peak of her influencer career, what she learned from her mother’s decline and death, and how we have to tell the truth about old age to young women.

//////////

Don't miss the Behind The Scenes for every episode in Debbie's [B]OLD AGE newsletter.

//////////

Mentioned in this episode or useful:

Connect with Debbie:

Our Media Partners:

  • CoGenerate (formerly Encore.org)
  • MEA and with thanks to Chip Conley
  • Next For Me (former media partner and in memory of Jeff Tidwell)

How to Support this podcast:

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<a href="https://goodpods.com/podcasts/bold-age-with-debbie-weil-61575/steven-petrow-on-his-sister-julie-the-importance-of-choice-and-medical-46297693"> <img src="https://storage.googleapis.com/goodpods-images-bucket/badges/generic-badge-1.svg" alt="listen to steven petrow on his sister julie, the importance of choice, and medical aid in dying on goodpods" style="width: 225px" /> </a>

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