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Progress, Potential, and Possibilities

Progress, Potential, and Possibilities

Written by: Ira Pastor
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Interviews and Discussions With Fascinating People Who are Creating A Better Tomorrow For All Of Us Host - Ira S. Pastor© 2023 Progress, Potential, and Possibilities Hygiene & Healthy Living Science
Episodes
  • How Gardening May Protect the Aging Brain - Donna Letier - Co-Founder & CEO, Gardenuity
    Feb 24 2026

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    Donna Letier is the Co-Founder and CEO of Gardenuity ( https://gardenuity.com/ ), a gardening and well-being company dedicated to helping people grow healthier lifestyles through accessible, personalized gardening experiences.

    An entrepreneur with a background spanning consumer brands, hospitality, and lifestyle innovation, Donna launched Gardenuity to bridge the gap between everyday wellness and nature — making gardening approachable even for people without outdoor space, time, or prior experience.

    Under her leadership, Gardenuity has pioneered customized container and desktop gardening systems designed to support mental health, stress reduction, nutrition, and meaningful daily rituals. Her work sits at the intersection of preventive health, behavioral wellness, and environmental connection, with growing recognition of gardening’s role in cognitive health, emotional regulation, and caregiver resilience.

    Donna is also an advocate for using gardening as a tool for intergenerational connection and memory engagement, exploring how sensory interaction with plants — from scent and touch to nurturing routines — can support individuals living with memory loss while providing caregivers with moments of restoration and purpose.

    #Alzheimers #BrainHealth #CognitiveHealth #DementiaCare #CaregiverSupport #HealthyAging #Longevity #Neuroplasticity #MentalWellness #PreventiveHealth #Gardening #HorticulturalTherapy #MemoryCare #AgingWell #LifestyleMedicine #Wellness #BrainLongevity #Caregiving #NatureHeals #ProgressPotentialPossibilities

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    36 mins
  • Revolutionizing Peptide Drugs with Radical Enzymes | Dr. Karsten Eastman, Ph.D. - CEO and Co-Founder, Sethera Therapeutics
    Feb 20 2026

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    Dr. Karsten Eastman, Ph.D. is the CEO and Co-Founder of Sethera Therapeutics ( https://setheratx.com/ ), a company focused revolutionizing peptide-based drug development with a cutting-edge enzymatic cross-linking technology, and their platform enables the synthesis of highly stable, polymacrocyclic peptides designed to engage multiple targets simultaneously, offering unparalleled precision in therapeutic design.

    Trained as a chemist at the University of Utah, where he earned his PhD in 2023, Dr. Eastman has built his career at the intersection of peptide synthesis, protein engineering, and radical enzymology. His work focuses on understanding how enzymes choreograph complex molecular transformations — and then harnessing those principles to build programmable, drug-like molecules.

    In collaboration with researchers at the University of Utah, Dr. Eastman and his team recently published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences a breakthrough discovery involving PapB, a radical S-adenosyl-L-methionine (SAM) enzyme capable of installing precise, durable thioether “staples” into peptides in a single enzymatic step. This work opens vast new chemical space for macrocyclic peptide therapeutics and offers a powerful new approach to targeting diseases long considered “undruggable.”

    At Sethera Therapeutics, Dr. Eastman is translating this enzymatic platform into next-generation peptide medicines that aim to combine the selectivity of biologics with the drug-like properties of small molecules.

    #PeptideTherapeutics #DrugDiscovery #Biotechnology #Enzymology
    #RadicalSAM #PapB #SetheraTherapeutics #UndruggableDiseases
    #MacrocyclicPeptides #Bioengineering #Therapeutics #Innovation #ScienceBreakthrough #PeptideDrugs #EnzymeTechnology

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    34 mins
  • Inside America’s Elder Care Collapse - Susie Singer Carter - Filmmaker, No Country For Old People / Caregiver Advocate, Respect Oversight Advocacy Reform for Long Term Care
    Feb 20 2026

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    Susie Singer Carter ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Susie_Singer_Carter ) is an award-winning filmmaker ( https://www.gogirlmedia.com/ ) and caregiver advocate with a powerful new docuseries, No Country For Old People ( https://www.amazon.com/gp/video/detail/B0F7D1RR5X/ref=atv_dp_share_cu_r ), a Gold Anthem Award-winning exposé on nursing home neglect and the systemic failures facing America’s elderly. Through film, podcasting, and activism, she has become one of the most compelling creative voices in Alzheimer’s awareness and elder care reform.

    Susie first captured international attention with her Oscar-qualified short film My Mom and The Girl, starring Valerie Harper in her final performance — a deeply personal story born from Susie’s own caregiving journey.

    From writing and producing Bratz the Movie, to co-producing Soul Surfer, Susie has navigated Hollywood at every level — but it’s her advocacy-driven work that has become her defining voice.

    Susie is also the creator and host of the award-winning podcast Love Conquers Alz ( https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/love-conquers-alz/id1492023291 ), and she serves as host of the 3rd & Fairfax for the Writers Guild of America West.

    Most recently, Susie wrote, directed, and produced the 3-part docuseries No Country For Old People ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Loa4tGZ3GwI ), recipient of the 2024 Gold Anthem Award for Health Awareness. The film is a searing examination of nursing home neglect, systemic healthcare failures, and the human cost of institutional indifference — a subject she knows not just as a filmmaker, but as a daughter who lost her mother to Alzheimer’s.

    Susie also leads Respect Oversight Advocacy Reform for Long Term Care ( https://www.roar4ltc.org/ ) a 501c3 nonprofit movement that is embracing the power of storytelling to engage and mobilize the public, with a strong focus on younger generations, to demand dignity, accountability, and reform in long-term care.

    Susie Singer Carter doesn’t just tell stories. She uses them to fight for change.

    Important Episode Links

    No Country For Old People; a Nursing Home Exposé -

    https://www.amazon.com/gp/video/detail/B0F7D1RR5X/ref=atv_dp_share_cu_r

    http://nocountryforoldpeople.com/

    https://www.youtube.com/@UCZGC8Htb549M2TNVSR67FOw

    My Mom and the Girl - https://vimeo.com/266772460

    Respect Oversight Advocacy Reform for Long Term Care - https://www.roar4ltc.org/

    #SusieSingerCarter #NoCountryForOldPeople #ElderCare #NursingHomeCrisis #CaregiverAdvocacy #AlzheimersAwareness
    #HealthcareReform #DementiaCare #PublicHealth #AgingPopulation
    #LongTermCare #HealthPolicy #CaregiverLife #ElderJustice #Longevity

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    1 hr and 6 mins
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