“Retirement is a false construct created a hundred years ago by the government. It was basically created when Social Security was born. Prior to that, people worked until they died — because they didn’t live as long.” — Michael Clinton
At the ripe young age of 70, Michael Clinton hiked nine days to Everest Base Camp and ran the Tenzing-Hillary Marathon down. Now 72, he is president of his own longevity consultancy, a columnist for Esquire and Men’s Health, a private pilot, part-owner of a vineyard in Argentina, and the author of Longevity Nation: The People, Ideas, and Trends Changing the Second Half of Our Lives (Atria/Beyond Words, May 5, 2026).
Rather than about living forever, Longevity Nation dares us to redefine what the second half of our lives can look like. And Clinton wants us to reinvent society accordingly. A hundred years ago, he reminds us, only seven million Americans were over 65. Today there are 62 million, which will quickly grow to 80 million. The whole world is aging, and its institutions are not keeping up. Retirement, Michael Clinton explains, is a false construct invented a century ago by industrial age governments. Rewire, the septuagenarian marathoner says. Don’t retire.
Five Takeaways
• This Is What 72 Looks Like. Clinton hiked to Everest Base Camp at 70 and ran the marathon down. His point: the cultural image of what 70 looks like hasn’t caught up with what a growing proportion of 70-year-olds actually look like. When he was 40, 72 seemed ancient. Now he is 72. It doesn’t.
• GLP-1: Hotel California or Longevity’s First Democratised Drug? Andrew’s framing: you can check in but not check out. Stop taking it and the weight returns. Clinton’s response: yes, nobody knows the long-term play. But it’s coming to Medicare this summer, price cut in half. The first truly democratised longevity drug. Exciting and uncertain in equal measure.
• Retirement Is a False Construct. Social Security was created when life expectancy was 62 and the retirement age was 65. The construct was built for a world that no longer exists. Don’t retire. Rewire. Stay engaged. Stay purposeful. Passive retirement is actively harmful to cognitive and physical health.
• Longevity Nation vs Gerontocracy. Is longevity nation actually gerontocracy? Trump, Biden, Trump. RBG. Pelosi. Clinton’s answer: he is opposed to formal retirement ages. Purpose should be redirected, not cut off. Andrew’s unspoken counter: easy to say when you’re not the one being blocked.
• Who Do You Want Around Your Deathbed? As you think about living longer, ask: who are the five people you want there at the end? And are you maintaining those relationships? Longevity without community is not longevity. It is just duration.
About the Guest
Michael Clinton is the former president of Hearst Magazines, founder of Roar Forward, and the author of Longevity Nation (Atria/Beyond Words, May 5, 2026) and Roar. He is based in New York City.
References
Longevity Nation by Michael Clinton (Atria/Beyond Words, May 5, 2026): simonandschuster.com
Stanford Center on Longevity, New Map of Life
Cara Swisher, Cara Swisher Wants to Live Forever (CNN)
About Keen On America
Nobody asks more awkward questions than the Anglo-American writer and filmmaker Andrew Keen.
Website: https://keenon.tv/ Substack: https://keenon.substack.com/ YouTube: https://youtube.com/@KeenOnShow
Chapters:
00:00:31 Introduction: Cara Swisher wants to live forever
00:01:33 72 and proud
00:01:57 Everest Base Camp at 70
00:03:15 Seven million over-65s a century ago; 62 million today
00:05:19 Is longevity a coastal privilege?
00:06:00 GLP-1 coming to Medicare
00:07:01 Hotel California: can you ever leave GLP-1?
00:10:00 Dementia: two drugs approved, 140 in pipeline
00:33:59 Gerontocratic nation: Trump, Pelosi, RBG
00:35:10 Retirement is a false construct
00:38:55 Who do you want around your deathbed?