>> good. i'm amna nawaz. >> i'm geoff bennett. ice in greenland and antarctica melting faster than anticipated, causing potentially disastrous sealevel rise. >> house republicans push a bill to ban transgender athletes from participating in school sports. >> what the monthly holy month -- what the muslim holy month of ramadan means for those who have lost loved ones in the earthquake. >> when i sit down to eat, i remember how my children were around me, so i stop eating.

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international peace and security at carnegie.org. and with the ongoing support of these individuals and institutions. this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting and contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. geoff: welcome to the newshour. alarming new evidence out today showing once again the dramatic impact of climate change. amna: a new study shows that the massive ice sheets at the top and bottom of our planet are shrinking must faster than previously -- much faster than

previously thought. what this means for coastal communities around the world. >> this international study which compiled satellite measurements over time depict what one researcher described as a devastating trajectory. in the early to mid 1990's, the ice sheets on greenland and antarctica were losing on average 116 billion tons of ice per year. years, that has more than tripled to 410 billion tons of ice. as all of that ice ends up in the oceans, it is driving sea rise to an even greater extent. we are joined by twyla moon at the u.s. national snow and ice data center. she was not involved in this study. great to have you on the newshour. you were the researcher that i quoted as describing this as a devastating trajectory. can you explain why it feels that way to you?

>> this is something where as we are losing ice around the world, the biggest in in north america, asia, africa all around the world. seeing this continued rise in ice loss is really not good news for dealing with sealevel rise. i want to be clear that this is not an inevitable trajectory either. >> we are talking about ice that used to live up on land melting, disappearing and ending up in the oceans and driving up sea levels. sometimes i think the numbers when we talk about billions of tons, it's hard for people to fathom what we are talking about. what are the literal downstream consequences for communities all around the world? >> i understand how the numbers can seem hard to deal with. the greenland ice sheet covers the world's largest island and arctic ice sheet covers a continent.

these are very vast areas that are hard for us to imagine and as we are losing ice from these areas, what we sing arising at our coasts are things like coastal erosion where we are losing land. we might have ocean water inundating our freshwater resources or causing problems with water and sewer systems. we might see flooding in areas that have never experienced it before. even further inland from the coast and also areas that do experience flooding having that occur more and more often. so these are impacts that we will feel around the world. and for those of us who have felt very far from ice. >> you are saying this is not baked in, that we can act on this. there is an enormous amount of carbon we have already put in the atmosphere. even if we stopped today emitting carbon 100%, wouldn't there still be some of this

pollution and warming baked in? >> yes, that's correct. unfortunately we have already put a lot of polluting gases into the atmosphere so we can expect sea levels to rise over the next 20 30's, 20 40's. and that amount of sealevel level rise has been baked in due to our past actions. but it's very important to understand that sealevel rise after that time period is very highly dependent on what human actions we take, what society does to address climate change. and in those pathways, the kind of experiences our children and grandchildren will have, is deeply affected by the human actions that we are taking now and over this decade. >> i know you are let -- you are not a political scientist, but we just saw another u.n. climate summit come and go with barely

any commitment on global action. here in the u.s., leaders of the gop are trying to neuter the fledgling efforts of the biden administration climate change. is it frustrating to you that the evidence of this threat keeps growing, but our appetite to act on that evidence does not? >> it is frustrating that we are not taking stronger and more immediate actions in many cases, but i think it's important to still remember that we have made progress from where we were for example a decade ago. and that starting progress in one location can pass to another and we can really create sort of social societal tipping points in a good way. so i think we have to remember there is no expiration on climate action, every 10th of a degree that we prevent warming is worthwhile and will benefit us and we can continue to

strengthen her actions. >> twyla moon, thank you for being here. >> thank you. >> i'm stephanie sy. here are the latest headlines. bangladesh faced its worst heat in nearly half a century and another day of widespread power outages for millions of people. the average highs this week in the capital are up 12 percent from a year ago and demand has overwhelmed the electrical system. temperatures in the west of the country have neared 100 10 degrees and forecasters say there is no end in sight. much of the central u.s. braced this evening for another round of severe storms. last night tornadoes in oklahoma killed three people and injured dozens more. cellphone video showed hail hitting south avoca houma city at dusk.

a tornado spun out of this -- out of the sky. state investigators in alabama arrested two more men in saturday's fatal shooting's. all of the suspects are charged with reckless murder in the killings of four young people at a sweet 16 birthday party. police have not said what the motive was. in sudan, multiple media sources are reporting that an american citizen has died amid intense fighting. there were no further details. the army rejected negotiations with the paramilitary faction after six days of fighting. the military said it would expect nothing short of a surrender as shooting continued across khartoum. the u.n. secretary general insisted on more efforts toward a truce. >> hundreds of people have been killed and injured. fighting is particularly dangerous for civilians

including children who have repeatedly been forced to shelter in schools and evacuate from hospitals. this is completely outrageous. >> the pentagon again moving extra troops to nearby djibouti. authorities in yemen are promising investigation after a stampede killed at least 78 people on wednesday. it happened as hundreds gathered to receive financial aid. in the aftermath of the victims clothing and shoes littered the grnd. witnesses said people panicked when guards fired in the air control the crowd. nato secretary-general yet in stoltenberg declared that ukraine has a rightful place in the alliance. ukrainian president volodymyr zelenskyy pressed again for warplanes and artillery. >> i turned to mr.

secretary-general with a request to overcome the restraint of our partners. this means the lives of our fighters who haven't yet received the vital tools for defense and appropriate amounts. >> president biden's nominee for labor secretary, julie su, face republican criticism at her senate confirmation hearing today. she is now acting secretary and before that was deputy secretary but republican mitt romney charge that she unfairly favored unions and didn't meet with business groups until recently. >> i guess it's hard to understand how when we think about putting two groups together how we can have any confidence that you would be seen as an unbiased neutral arbiter. >> i think business leaders and industry associations who have worked with me would paint a different story about both my openness and my desire. >> but you've got to meet with them for them to do so.

>> several moderate democrats have declined to say if they will vote for her, leaving her prospects in doubt. a tennessee state lawmaker quit today after violating the legislature's workplace discrimination and harassment policy. republican scotty campbell was found guilty of sexually harassing at least one intern. he voted to expel two black democratic lawmakers for leading a gun-control protest on the house floor. lawyers for actor alec baldwin say prosecutors in new mexico will drop the involuntary manslaughter charges against him for now. the case stemmed from the fatal shooting of a crewmember on a movie set. the prosecutor said there examining new evidence and that charges could still be refiled. in on track to become the world's most populous nation. the latest spacex test flight fails post-launch.

working to tear down barriers for patients in rural texas. and a new book explores the joy of aging. >> this is the pbs newshour from w eth studios in washington -- weta studios in washington. >> state and federal lawmakers moved on several measures affecting young transgender peeler -- people. north dakota bans gender affirming treatment including hormones for anyone under 18. the democratic governor of kansas vetoed a bill that would have done the same and imposed bathroom restrictions. house republicans passed a ban on transgender girls playing in women's sports in school. senate democrats are expected to block that from becoming law. lisa desjardins reports. >> i think somebody needs to get a little bit of logic and

sanity. >> in the centuries-old u.s. house, a modern divide. >> republicans care about girls. >> republican women emphatically backing a ban on transgender girls in women's sports. all sides realize the stakes for young people and politics. intense house debate has been as if the parties live on different planets. >> trans kids are kids. they should be able to live for lives with unlimited opportunities including playing sports. >> we are not talking about real women competing in women's sports. we are talking about real men competing. >> the house republican bill bans federally funded schools from letting men play in women's sports and saying that sex shall be recognized based solely on a person's reproductive biology at birth.

it passed the house today on party lines. the bill is already dead in the senate, but it remains a major base issue on the right. conservatives points to the national collegiate title won by a transgender woman in swimming. >> i was forced to compete against two biological males. sthese athletes over a dozen time and they would beat me out by 20 meters. >> in 2021, the associated press found cases like this are minuscule minority. >> is a terrifying time to be a parent of a transgender child. every day things get worse. >> jamie is a mom of three who's

16-year-old daughter rebecca is a star student and field hockey player. she became an advocate when this photo of her saying she was the transgender person people feared went viral. >> when you get the good hit with the stick hitting the ball. >> she joined a campaign for trans athletes. and now has been repeatedly at the capital this year. her mom argues her daughter does not have an advantage and is not the best person on her team but that she and other trans kids shouldn't face discrimination for something that is innate. >> when she went out into the world as herself which just meant changing her name and pronouns at eight years old, nothing else, her joy exploded. >> the issue has hit powerful cross-sections of religion. >> at the beginning the creator made them male and female. >> society.

>> these bills tell se of the most vulnerable children in our country that they do not belong, shame on you. >> about how the parties see women. >> we are in the battle for the very survival of women's sports. >> and which kids are vulnerable. >> let's be clear about what this bill actually is. it's about legislating hate in the name of advancing a political agenda. >> house republicans walked out of the capital today celebrating even though this bill will not become law, it will become part of their argument in the 2024 election. amna: tomorrow is the muslim festival marking the end of the fasting month of ramadan. but in southern turkey and northwest syria, festivities have been muted by a mood of morning and calls for help.

more than two months after twin earthquakes killed at least 56,000 people and left a trail of devastation. >> during the holy month of ramadan, muslims fast from dawn to dusk. that in the evening, they feast. istanbul's bakeries are packed for a ramadan special. a soft turkish pita that people line up to buy. but it is missing in quake crushed southern turkey. turkish and syrian survivors break their fast on communal dinner tables. a grim reminder of what the city has suffered. children in the camps are like children everywhere, swinging in a state of lustful ignorance. but mothers worry. -- blissful ignorance. but mothers worry. >> everything has gotten more expensive here.

we can't buy any food. we can't do anything. turkey needs help. >> in a once vibrant city, now a ghost town. >> now we have returned to suffering. it's worse than the war. >> first displaced by the syrian war and now the earthquakes, she lost her husband and a daughter in airstrikes in syria. she still has her slain daughters bloody shirt and now worries for her surviving family. >> the kids lived all their lives in war, then we made a life here. but the earthquake came and ruined everything. >> the life she rebuilt, her bakery now a pile of rubble. >> honestly, this ramadan is the hardest we have been through our whole lives. we were displaced from syria. we didn't even have one like this in syria. >> they fled syria to protect

his wife and daughters. his eldest toddler survives serious injuries in the quake, but his wife lost her entire family. >> we are used to breaking our fast altogether with our relatives and loved ones. >> there are a lot of empty chairs at the table this year for ramadan. it's a very dark ramadan. >> the global communications director of a global crisis response organization has led relief work in seven earthquake hit districts this month, packing ramadan food boxes and meeting quake survivors. >> traditionally elders will give children money, candy. and he nearly broke down entirely when he said that he could not give that to his grandchildren. >> core along with its local partner ngo has been delivering truckloads of ramadan food kits

and cash assistance to survivors in turkey. >> a lot of our stuff -- staff who are turkish or syrian refugees lost their own family members, and when they visit it has been really difficult to see their own process of being re-traumatized. >> help it is also acutely needed across the border in northwest syria. at this cancer hospital, patients are many but resources scarce. >> before the earthquake, turkey was receiving patients but now all the crossings are closed. >> his daughter has kidney cancer. there is no treatment for her near their home. >> i appealed to the turkish government and the world to readmit patients for treatment or provide the necessary treatment for patients here in northern syria.

>> it's a dark ramadan at the camps for syrians displaced by the quakes. what is ramadan for a man who has lost his wife and seven children in the earthquake? >> when i sit down to eat, i remember how my children were around me, so i stop eating. >> the newshour caught up with the miracle child or an under the rubble on february 6. her uncle seen here rescuing her from the debris. he has adopted her. her entire immediate family died in the quake. he's now raising her with his daughter, born a few days after the quake. two two-month-olds who know so little of this calamity now but whose lives will be forever connected by it. nearby, it feels a little like ramadan at this kurdish residents in northern syria.

they are making a special cake, crafted with love for the kids so they feel festive amid the gloom. >> every ramadan, we eat this cake. we ask our parents to make it sweet for us. it's a tradition. there is sadness and the family, but our mothers still made it because we love it. >> she used to make this cake every ramadan with relatives who have since died in the quake. now through the use of simple delights, she keeps them alive be on the disaster that took them from her. -- beyond the disaster that took them fm her. geoff: india will overtake china as the world's most populous nation by the middle of this year according to united nations data released this week. india's geopolitical and economic footprint is also growing.

fears are mounting that it's all coming up the cost of the liberal democracy the country has enjoyed for decades. >> they arrive from nearby villages each morning, piling into a train to the capital. competing for space or just oxygen inside or just a firm handle to hang from outside for the hour long ride. >> for laboring people, if we didn't know, how would we educate the kids? there is no industry in our villages. that's why we have to go. >> it's the kind of scene repeated across india every day or an estimate of 400 million people work in the so-called informal sector, on days -- paid by the day on days where they actually find work. >> you can see how risky this is. >> they are coming from the

northern state. they account for about a fourth of india's 1.4 billion people and most of its population growth. india's population is not just the world's largest, it's also very young. or than 40% of the people in this country today are below the age of 25. the challenge is to find employment for them. >> we have to worry about expanding education, infrastructure, health. >> the nonprofit population foundation of india says that huge numbers represent both a challenge and opportunity for what is now the world's fifth largest economy. >> the good news is that there is a shortage of labor and the rest of the world. for india to take advantage of that, it has to be now and at a big scale. >> leading that charge is the prime minister. his push to bring global

manufacturing jobs to india. >> we have to make india a developed india in 25 years before our eyes. >> at home, he has used his commanding parliamentary majority and the country's growing digital savvyo deliver vaouris basic wel bfareenitefs. gas stoves to many rural areas to replace dirty or cooking fuels for example. he has made it easy for most citizens to open bank accounts and use them to deposit financial support for some farmers. his image is omnipresent in these campaigns and as he touts india's growing economic prowess and global footprint in a media landscape that has become largely allied with his ruling party, the bjp. india has seen solid economic growth, but overall job creation has fallen well short of the number economists say is needed for millions of young people

entering the workforce each year. the prime minister remains highly popular. >> if you don't have a job, at least he is making you feel proud about other things. >> this economist is a columnist for bloomberg >> a new population we are figuring out nations country, a combi of basic welfare, basically -- basic stability and reinforcement of how good it is to be indian. >> i'm very optimistic about india. >> a prominent member of the party. >> somehow feeling they were all god, you have an injury in -- an indian passport you have won the prize. that feeling is gone. >> he praises the prime minister for instilling new pride in a

nation whose aspirations were suppressed under british colonial rule and for centuries before it under rulers who came from central and waste -- west asia, bringing islam and a famous cultural legacy. the bjp wants to change that historical narrative. >> the belief is that india is principally but not exclusively a hindu country. >> critics charge the bjp has run on a divisive platform, especially to the muslim minority. blessing a new hindu temple built on the site of a 16th-century mosque that was demolished by a mob of protesters in 1992. there are frequent reports of lynchings for allegedly consuming beef. the cow is revered in hinduism. in 2019, the government passed a citizenship law which critics

say places a burden on many muslims to prove their loyalty to india. its detractors say the bjp has used courts and tax authorities to silence political opponents and journalists. >> it's really about the kind of division and spreading the bigotry. >> of finance minister of the southern state of tamil nadu says india's economic growth is highly uneven, aggravated by poor governance in the populous northern states where the bjp is in power. >> every measure, economically, developmentally, educationally, shows at best we are underperforming the potential by a few percentage points, at worst we are actually regressing. >> south indian states have focused on public health and education. the result, the south is seeing

declining populations and high economic growth from i.t. to automobiles to iphone manufacturing. another result, millions of northern especially lower skilled workers have migrated south to cities like bangalore. >> after my education, there were no jobs. that's why i had to come here. >> they feel alienated here linguistically and culturally they complained, but have little choice. >> we want to return. here there has been a lot of change. lots of companies have come here, what has come? not a thing. >> a third, in some cases half of people in the eighth grade in india can't add or write at a second grade level. >> this economist says india needs to replicate nationwide model of its southern states and

public health and education. >> when you have this boom generation that should be able to push you over the edge into being an upper middle income country or a rich country in fact, if that generation is not healthy and reasonably educated, you're going to run into trouble. >> the prime minister has vowed to bring in improvements. >> the overage to the muslim community must happen and i think the prime minister is fully aware of that and has made enough soundings on that basis. it should be a political priority. >> there doesn't seem to be any impetus for it. >> there is a difference between winning an election and governing the country. >> most analysts see the prime ministers party winning elections scheduled for 2024 and

may risk life and limb in the struggle to earn a living. the populous states remain an enduring stronghold for the bjp. geoff: france reporting is a partnership with the under told stories project at the university of st. thomas in minnesota. elon musk spacex today launched the first test flight of starship, it's 400 foot rocket meant to one day send people to the moon and eventually mars. the most powerful rocket ever built blasted off from its launch base in texas. >> we should have had separation by now. this does not appear to be a nominal situation. >> only to explode roughly four minutes into its flight.

the rocket was unmanned. musk says the next launch attempt will be in a few months. we should say spacex calls this a rapid unscheduled disassembly, what we would call an explosion. help us understand what happened during this test flight? >> are used to get mad at nassau forcing off nominal. this is a good turnout of phrase for sure. it appears several of the engines were not working almost on the outset. a few weren't even fired up when it left the pad and as it ascended, several more failed, at least half a dozen, maybe close to eight depending on how you are counting and when you are looking. you can imagine that would cause it to lose altitude of course. but also with 33 engines and as many as seven or eight of them out, that would cause all kinds

of stability and navigational problems for it. it got to a point where it was unstable, it did not separate. the falcon heavy craft and the starship itself did not separate and so at that point they pushed the button and it was self-destructive time. >> previous iterations of starship have failed in testing before. what's interesting about this is that spacex and elon musk say that failer -- failure really is an option. >> it's a different ecosystem that nasa has evolthere were a t blew up on the pad before alan shepard ever stepped into a space capsule. the idea of failure being an option is actually interesting. lots of tests, lots of failures, lots of lessons learned is the approach that elon musk has taken, so you had this

juxtaposition of this rocket in a million pieces way above the shoreline in texas, and the spacex crew in california and texas cheering. it was kind of hard to square that, but the idea was they got pretty far, they got a lot of data and they didn't damage the ground equipment which could have slowed things down. geoff: why is starship such a big deal? what does it mean for the future of space exploration if it does succeed? >> it's really big. it's twice as powerful as the mighty saturn five which sent astronauts to the moon. a little less than twice as powerful as the most recent space launch system, and more important it is fully reusable. full reusability is like the holy grail of spaceflight. imagine if every time you flew on a 737 they had to build a new one. imagine how cheap your ticket would be to cleveland.

this idea of being able to cover these spacecraft and reuse them is a great and significant change in the game and so ultimately if it works out, it is something that makes space more accessible to more people. geoff: let's talk about elon musk for a second, because he is a controversial figure. he has been criticized for his management of twitter, he has been accused of fostering a toxic culture of racism and sexism at the businesses he runs, he has a reputation for being a taskmaster and micromanager. how is spacex affected by that? >> as a parent my inclination is to tell him to get off social media and pay attention to something important. he's obviously got a lot of irons in the fire. there's all kinds of controversy. he is a famous or infamous micromanager on top of all of that. how that all works i don't know.

but i do know that the team he has built at spacex is pretty extraordinary. he's got a lot of great talent. his number two who makes a lot of the key decisions is an extraordinarily talented space executive. all i can say is from the outside he's got a lot of good people who are well-trained in the space world. whether he's paying full attention are not may not matter that much. geoff: when spacex says they are going to attempt another launch in a few months, how is that even possible? they have replica rockets in storage? >> they have a production facility in texas. this was not meant to be recovered. that production line still is there. those rockets are still in the

state of readiness they were before. the ground equipment wasn't damaged. so they have to figure out what went wrong and try to fix that and they have to go back to the faa and get approval once again to fly. bear in mind, nasa would like to use a derivation of starship to send from lunar orbit down to the surface in 2025. that's a short time away. geoff: absolutely. miles o'brien, thanks for being with us. amna: over the past two decades, life expectancy in verl areas has declined. one reason is the prevalence of diabetes. with support from the pulitzer center, a special correspondent

reports from the rio grande valley in texas. it's part of our ongoing series, rural rx. >> it's dinnertime in edinburgh texas. zaire age 11 is helping to lay out the plates. >> the lemonade is sugar-free. >> and they are watching the sugar because she has diabetes, diagnosed last fall. >> at first she had gotten strep throat, then she had gotten scarlet fever and just kept picking up every single virus. i just told my doctor, i can't do this anymore. you need to find out what is wrong with my daughter. >> i was super sick. >> the third day they came back and found that three months before that, her body had stopped producing insulin. now looking back and seeing all the signs when she was always

thirsty, she would get up so much in the middle of the night and i'm like, you need your full nights rest. i would have never thought this could happen to her. >> this one is the testing strip. i'm scared that's going to go to high or too low. >> 11% or 37 million americans have diabetes and it's an even bigger problem for rural areas. in places like south texas, the percentage of people with diabetes ranges from 15% to 21%. dr. yvonne melendez is a family medicine specialist and the top public health official in hit doll go county. >> can you give me example of the public health needs you look after? >> if you lived in a county, one

of the most poverty-stricken counties in the entire country, where the most diabetes, the most hypertensive, average eighth-grade education level. >> about 6% of diabetes patients have type one, an autoimmune disorder. the vast majority have type two diabetes, which is closely linked to diet and lack of activity which are both common here. >> or member that type two diabetes goes hands and hands with the incident of obesity. >> rural children are 26% more likely to be obese. >> at the fact that in south texas, there is not too much exercise. the weather, the distance is too long and we aren't used to walk like the people in new york for example. >> hispanic americans are especially vulnerable. far more likely to have type two

diabetes compared to non-hispanic whites. >> we have all the factors, obesity, very poor diet, financial and cultural reasons. here if you are not at least when percent overweight you are considered skinny. -- 20% overweight you are considered skinny. we have a 70% carbohydrate diet and then the access of quality food. i hate to use this cliche, but it's a perfect storm. >> sylvia garcia is a nurse making home visits. for a program run by ut health houston. >> the biggest problem sometimes is poverty because they don't have the money to buy their medicines. >> before gloria cortes was connected with this program, just getting to the doctor was an ordeal. >> it took about an hour. sometimes all day. >> this is a part of the country

that if you do not have a vehicle, it's extremely difficult to get about. the public bus system is murderous. it's just nonexistent. >> diabetes requires constant management. >> how do you get to your doctor? >> visiting doctors are another option. another option is a mobile unit. >> once a person has control, we need to think about the long term. >> we try to make it to areas that are more rural. >> the transportation isn't the only challenge. >> i think that we are deeper in poverty here than in many places. >> linda nelson's senior director of clinical operations for ut health rio grande valley. she oversees the mobile unit as well as a network of 30 clinics.

>> if we don't have a low-cost system for them, they don't come. a lot of our patients are day laborers. if they don't go to work, they don't get paid. >> do you commonly run into patients who are having to pick between sustaining life versus their health -- with work versus their health? >> every day. >> the third of residents are uninsured. the true proportion is even higher. >> here in the rio grande, more than 50% of the community does not have access to health insurance. 50% is a very high number. >> immigration status can be another barrier to care. many providers here don't even ask so they don't scare people away. >> there were people who didn't go to the clinic because they were afraid of being detained. we struggle a lot to get people to go to their appointments.

>> for some families with children, it's a complicated dance, says deborah franco runs the south texas juvenile diabetes association. >> the children may not be undocumented, but the parents are undocumented. that creates this crazy distrust of the system. >> undocumented or not, treating chronic illness puts a premium on lifestyle changes. >> healthy vegetables are also a bit more expensive. the places are far away. >> despite being surrounded by farmland, fresh fruit and vegetables are hard to come by. >> we have a community garden so we can also educate our families on how to have a healthier lifestyle. >> for most people, it also takes a big change in mindset. >> how do you convince a

42-year-old man with a family of three, all five of them who make $500 a week, to go get their diabetes checked? how do you feed someone who has eggs and beans and bacon in the morning and a fajita platter at lunch and a hamburger in the evening? it's a lifestyle. it's a tremendous hurtle. >> diet may not cause type one diabetes, but certain foods can lead to a dangerous spike in blood sugar. >> when you look around the cafeteria, what do you think? >> trouble trouble and trouble. sugar up. >> to your friends know what you are going through? >> yes. they are like, we support you and we love you. >> nearly half the patients go on to develop complications. by catching it early, she has a much better chance of beating the odds.

geoff: america was introduced to morrie schwartz nearly 30 years ago. the retired sociology professor gained national attention in 1995 when he spoke with ted koppel on abc's nightline about his battle with als, sharing his unflinching and awful reflections on dying. >> some mornings i'm angry and bitter. but it doesn't last too long. then i get up and say, i want to live. so i have to cry, i have to mourn, but i also have to enjoy the life i have left. geoff: of that series of interviews would later inspire the best-selling book, tuesdays with maury. in the years after his death,

his son found a manuscript his father had written but never published. he edited his father's words into the wisdom of maury, living and aging creatively and joyfully. we sat down to discuss the new book. when you discovered your dad's manuscript in his desk drawer, what was going through your mind? >> i had spoken with my father while he was writing the book. i had been traveling in asia and i came back to the united states to gather my thoughts and my things. i talked to my father a lot about this book, so it all came rushing back to me what his thoughts were and i really hadn't thought about it for decades. it was 20 years ago and i discovered it, but it was much longer before that that he was writing it, so this was really a blast from the past.

i could just hear his voice ringing through every page. it was really beautiful. >> how did you arrive at the decision to have it published? >> i immediately thought this is probably something i should do something with considering the success of tuesdays with maury, but it took me a long time to grieve for my father. i would say the first five years after he passed away i was unable to properly grieve because i missed him so much. that's the grieving process. finally i decided, we have to finish this project, get it out the door and that's where we are now. >> is this book intended to be a companion to tuesdays with maury or is the approach fundamentally different? >> the approach is somewhat different, but i do think it's kind of a companion because many of the ideas in this book are similar to the ideas in tuesdays

with maury. that's a very beautiful but very slim volume. just opinion to my father's ideas. -- dipping into my father's ideas. this is much more in-depth both in a practical sense and a psychological sense. he was a professor of social psychology and you will get that in this book. >> the book is really a thoughtful examination of living with greater joy in one's later years. how does he and his reflections confront the false notion that people are somehow made less by the aging process? >> that's exactly what i was just alluding to. he starts off examining this ageist idea and explaining how poisonous it is and how wrong it is. ageism is just like all of those other things, attitudes that people have taken on that are just wrong and poisonous.

racism, sexism. exactly the same thing. devaluing somebody for no good reason. just because someone is elderly doesn't mean there any less of a human being, any less valuable, have any less good ideas were creativity etc. just like the other isms that are really horrible. the beginning of the book, he says you need to get rid of these ideas. these ideas also infected us psychologically, so you need to get rid of that. that's the starting point. and then if you need help becoming more creative or joyous, try this or that. >> the chapters in the back of the book focus on the key components of being happy and later lives. are those key component? >> has the title suggests, he wants you to be creative and

joyful and those components have to do with finding something that interests you, getting involved with society or even a specialized interest, aching stronger connections with your family and friends. he really is against people withdrawing from society and even more against people being pushed into an old age home and forgotten about. he really wants people to participate in society at large, in the groups they are interested in and also with their family and friends. >> he also leaves us with some thoughts to live by. an older age, expect the worst. if it doesn't come, great -- be grateful. old age can be the best or worst time of our life. it depends on what we do with it. it's advice that is insightful and poignant, also really sober and straightforward is that who your dad was?

>> absolutely. he was also filled with a lot of joy and childlike wonder from the world and he really encourages people to maintain that attitude. we live in such an incredible wondrous world with so many amazing things, and he was constantly experiencing that. in one sense, that's how i see him. in another sense, he was a deep thinker. he approached things straightforwardly. he didn't buy into any ali -- ideology or anything. he looked into exactly how it affected people's lives and how he could make them more joyous. >> how did editing this manuscript change what you thought you knew about your father? >> that is an interesting question. certainly i never really thought that he would have internalized any kind of ageist ideas. he treated everybody wonderfully with respect and then in the beginning of the book, he

realize he's putting it on himself. i had these negative thoughts about aging and elderly people and i realized i had to expunge this from myself. he's really laying out something about himself and i didn't really know that about him. he always seemed so young at heart. maybe it's understandable that he didn't think of himself as an elderly person, but of course he was and that's why he wrote this book. >> the book is the wisdom of maury. thank you. >> thank you. geoff: there is a lot more online at pbs.org/newshour including a story about the long-term plans for monitoring the pollution and health risks posed by the recent train derailment in east palestine, ohio. amna: that is the newshour for tonight. i am on amna nawaz.

geoff: and i'm geoff bennett. >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by. the ongoing support of these individuals and institutions and friends of the newshour, including leonard and norma click fine. >> a proud supporter of public television. the world awaits. a world of flavor, diverse destinations, and immersive experiences. i world of entertainment. an british style. all with white star service. >> the ford foundation, working with visionaries on the frontlines lines of social change worldwide.

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