Steve Mencher

Biography: Steve writes about culture, politics, the news, and other subjects for AARP. He's also a jazz musician with the Willis Gidney Quintet. He has worked for Carnegie Hall, NPR and the Library of Congress as an audio, video and multimedia producer.

Subscribe to this topic via: RSS Email

Steve Mencher 'sPosts

Bright Ideas to Keep You Healthy

Posted on 05/24/2013 by Steve Mencher | News, Culture, Sights and Sounds | Comments

Bulletin Today | Personal Health | TechnologyYes, the talking companion dog stole the show at the Healthy Aging Forum on Capitol Hill May 23 (you can meet him in the video below), but there were plenty of other ideas on display from government agencies, big health care companies, foundations and entrepreneurs about improving the lives of America’s aging population. If the turnout was a bit underwhelming, the products, services and innovations on display had the power to change lives in ways both big and small. Sponsored …

Miracle In Oklahoma: ‘I Know He’s In Here Somewhere’

Posted on 05/21/2013 by Steve Mencher | News, Culture, Sights and Sounds | Comments

Bulletin Today | Home & FamilyAmid the devastation of the Oklahoma tornado, Barbara Garcia simply proceeded according to plan. As the sky darkened and the funnel cloud approached, she headed to her small bathroom with her dog. She hoped they’d be safe there. (If you can’t see the video embedded below, try reloading the page or view it here.) The reunion of Garcia and her dog is just one of the wonderful things about this report. For our money, even better is her matter-of-factness and …

Julie Andrews to Grads: ‘Go Out and Kick Butt’

Posted on 05/17/2013 by Steve Mencher | News, Culture, Sights and Sounds | Comments

Bulletin Today | Entertainment | VolunteeringGet over yourself. That was the message delivered by Julie Andrews, 77, to the graduates of the University of Colorado, Boulder last week. The late writer David Foster Wallace presented similar thoughts in his 2005 Kenyon College commencement address, the starting point for a new viral video that’s been viewed on YouTube more than five million times since being uploaded at the start of this year’s graduation season. More on that later. (Watch the two videos below and let us …

How Alligators Could Keep You Out of the Dentist’s Chair

Posted on 05/16/2013 by Steve Mencher | News, Culture, Sights and Sounds | Comments

Bulletin Today | Personal HealthYou’ve heard of royal families having “an heir and a spare” in waiting to become the next king. Well, the same is true of alligator teeth: Behind every tooth is a replacement tooth, just in case, as well as the material needed to keep more teeth coming — as many as 50 times throughout the scary reptile’s life. Why should we care, other than to know that if an alligator breaks his tooth while eating us, another will grow back? …

A Four-Time Lottery Winner Reveals His Secret

Posted on 05/15/2013 by Steve Mencher | News, Culture, Sights and Sounds | Comments

Bulletin TodayWho you gonna call for luck as tonight’s $360 million Powerball drawing approaches? (Update: the jackpot has grown to $550 million in advance of the drawing May 18 – it’s now the third largest in history.) Well, if you want someone to blow on your ticket, you could do worse than to find retired postal worker Melvyn Wilson, a four-time winner of Virginia’s scratch-off lottery games. “Mr. Lucky,” as Wilson, 72, has come to be known, just won $500,000 in …

Ground Control to Commander Chris Hadfield: ‘Hallo Spaceboy’

Posted on 05/14/2013 by Steve Mencher | News, Culture, Sights and Sounds | Comments

Bulletin Today | Entertainment | TechnologyHe’s an astronaut, and a rock star. As Commander Chris Hadfield, 53, heads back home from the International Space Station, his video of David Bowie’s Space Oddity is trending on YouTube and approaching 2 million views exceeding 10 million views in just a couple of days. It’s being called the first music video recorded in space. Bowie himself is tickled pink, tweeting ‘Hallo Spaceboy’ to the astronaut in honor of another celestial Bowie tune. Hadfield is using his new status as a …