Looking for the Next Champion for Elders: A Tribute to Larry Polivka and Claude Pepper

Larry Polivka spent more than a decade as executive director of the Claude Pepper Center at Florida State University before his retirement this past May. In this episode, Susan Ryan and Alex Spanko explore both leaders' powerful legacies in the fight to revolutionize eldercare in America. Pepper's life took him from extreme poverty in Alabama to a lengthy career in both the U.S. House and Senate, where his upbringing inspired him to champion government programs aimed at making life better and more dignified for all Americans. His ongoing influence includes the center that bears his name, where Polivka worked to improve the care options that are often sorely lacking for our nation's elders. In a series of powerful interview clips, Polivka calls for a new generation of leaders like Pepper to finally break through the inertia and inaction that has plagued long-term care for decades, while also displaying infectious optimism that America can once again embrace bold structural change – just like it did during the New Deal and Great Society programs.   Learn more about the Claude Pepper Center and Pepper's personal legacy: https://claudepeppercenter.fsu.edu/ Connect with Larry Polivka: https://www.linkedin.com/in/larry-polivka-27309935/ Show notes/call to action: Learn more about The Green House Project: www.thegreenhouseproject.org Register for GHP's newest in-person and virtual event, DementiaVerse: thegreenhouseproject.org/events/dementiaverse