Insights From Behind the Microphone

Longtime AARP volunteer Elaine Friesen-Strang, 71, never thought she’d be on YouTube.

But that’s where AARP members and others can find the Portland resident, serving as host of Insights by AARP Oregon, a new monthly podcast offering information and resources on topics ranging from family caregiving to disaster preparedness to fighting fraud. The roughly 30-minute episodes posted on YouTube and Spotify began airing in April, with the first focusing on volunteerism.

“We’ve had some great interviews with folks, and I hope that we’re going to reach a large audience,” says Friesen-Strang, a former AARP Oregon volunteer state president.

The podcast originated from a Shark Tank-style competition at AARP Oregon’s annual volunteer leadership summit in August 2024. State Director Bandana Shrestha tasked groups of participants to come up with new ways to engage AARP members, promote the organization and advance its priorities.

Friesen-Strang’s group proposed a podcast focusing on AARP Oregon’s priorities: caregiving, financial resilience and livable communities. The idea was a hit.

With the help of an intern, a small committee of volunteers produces the podcast on home computers. Friesen-Strang writes a script outlining when people will talk and appear on camera. She looks for guests who will be articulate and engaging and provide helpful information for listeners. While her career was in social services, she started doing some radio and TV interviews as an AARP Oregon volunteer.

“We’re just typical people talking to experts, and so we want it to be informative — but hopefully a little fun along the way,” Friesen-Strang says.

Finding stories that connect

Co-host J. Michael Schultz, AARP Oregon’s current volunteer state president, says the podcast provides an opportunity for Oregonians to hear about things they care about from people like them.

“People like stories, and the more authentic they are, the more real they are. We hope that they garner more people’s attention,” he says.

In the April episode, Schultz, 71, spoke with Friesen-Strang about volunteer opportunities for older residents. For the May episode, he talked about being thrust into a caretaker role after his wife, who has been battling metastatic breast cancer for 11 years, was suddenly unable to walk upon waking one morning in January 2024.

While his wife was hospitalized, Schultz says he accelerated a planned project to make their 100-year-old Portland home more accessible, installing a walk-in shower and wheelchair ramp. As her condition improved during months of physical therapy, Schultz says the couple has had to navigate their changing roles.

“That’s an ever-changing conversation within a relationship, and I think it’s very true for many families,” he says.

Another podcast segment focuses on the AARP Foundation Tax-Aide program, which offers free tax preparation assistance for low- to moderate-income taxpayers. Friesen-Strang interviewed the program’s assistant state coordinator, Kathy Goeddel, who has been a volunteer tax site coordinator in Northeast Portland for 41 years.

Goeddel says she told Friesen-Strang that she wanted people to “know about how tax preparation can actually be fun.”

With clients of all ages needing help, Goeddel says she also put out a call for more volunteers to join the program. “We try to make people feel comfortable and not feel bad, and we love to help them,” she says. “We know it can be a very emotional experience for them.”

With the completion of each episode, Friesen-Strang says the podcast is growing more polished. “None of our volunteers were communication majors, so we are learning as we go,” she says. “But we do have a great deal of enthusiasm and a lot of connections amongst us.”

Still, she notes with a laugh that the podcast is missing one thing.

“We don’t have a theme song — yet,” she says.

Julie Rasicot, a writer and editor in Montgomery County, Maryland, writes regularly for the Bulletin.
 

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Connecting with AARP

There are many ways to connect with AARP Oregon, from advocating in Salem to learning the latest tips from its new podcast.

Volunteering: Volunteers are needed for all positions, including members of its Executive Council. If interested, contact oraarp@aarp.org.

Advocacy: Get the latest updates on legislative and other efforts by signing up to be an e-activist, at cp.email.aarp.org/adv_masuform.

Insights by AARP Oregon: Listen or watch the new podcast on Spotify or YouTube. Find it at states.aarp.org/oregon/insights-podcast.