Understanding the aging brain
On Point with Meghna Chakrabarti
WBUR
4.3 • 3.9K Ratings
🗓️ 22 February 2024
⏱️ 48 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
If Joe Biden and Donald Trump are on the ballot in November, they’ll be the oldest presidential candidates in U.S. history. How does age affect our memory, cognition, and even the ability to be president? Zaldy Tan joins Deborah Becker.
About:
On Point is WBUR’s award-winning, daily public radio show and podcast. Every weekday, host Meghna Chakrabarti leads provocative conversations that help make sense of the world.
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | The United States is facing an unprecedented moment in this year's elections with the oldest presidential candidates in the nation's history expected on the ballot. |
| 0:14.0 | President Joe Biden's 81, his presumed Republican challenger, former President Donald Trump |
| 0:18.8 | is 77 years old. |
| 0:20.9 | No matter who wins in November, it's likely the U.S. will have its oldest |
| 0:25.3 | president ever. |
| 0:26.9 | The issue of age got new attention earlier this month after the release of a report on |
| 0:31.7 | Biden's handling of classified information. |
| 0:34.0 | The report described the president as a quote, well-meaning elderly man with a poor memory. |
| 0:40.8 | Biden pushed back. |
| 0:42.0 | I'm well-meaning and I'm an elderly man and I know what the hell I'm doing. |
| 0:46.4 | I've been president and I put this country back on his feet. |
| 0:49.6 | I don't need his recommendation. |
| 0:51.0 | That's totally other. |
| 0:52.0 | How bad is your memory and can you continue as president? |
| 0:55.0 | My memory is so bad I can let you speak. |
| 0:58.0 | Donald Trump has had some of his verbal gaps come under scrutiny and at a rally in Nevada last month he told |
| 1:05.1 | the crowd he's fine. |
| 1:06.1 | Tell you what I feel sharper now than I did 20 years ago I really do I don't know |
| 1:11.2 | it's probably not true. And I think anybody running for |
| 1:17.6 | president should take an aptitude or a cognitive test. Polls show Americans are worried about the age of the |
| 1:24.8 | presumptive candidates. In a recent Quinnipiac poll more than half of the |
| 1:28.6 | voters surveyed said they're concerned about the age of both men. |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from WBUR, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of WBUR and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.