Due South

"Building A Better Boomer" author and a "Golden Bachelor" contestant get real about getting old

Your browser doesn’t support HTML5 audio

Building a Better Boomer book cover; Patty James, contestant on "The Golden Bachelor"

Courtesy Neil Offen / Courtesy ABC / Composite by WUNC

The Baby Boom generation – like every generation – gets tagged with a lot of labels. If boomer Neil Offen is any indication, add self-deprecating and hilarious to the list.

Offen has spent decades as a reporter, editor, blogger and a humor columnist. Now he’s leaning into aging by making it funny – he just hopes he doesn’t fall over.

Patty James, a contestant on 'The Golden Bachelor,' talks to Due South co-host Leoneda Inge in studio.

Erin Keever / WUNC

Offen talks about his new book, Building a Better Boomer, with co-hosts Leoneda Inge and Jeff Tiberii.

Guest
Neil Offen, author of Building a Better Boomer

Then, Patty James of Durham talks with co-host Leoneda Inge about her journey as a contestant on "The Golden Bachelor" and what it was like to return to real life after her time on the hit reality show.

Guest
Patty James, former contestant on "The Golden Bachelor"

Due South Aging

Leoneda Inge

Leoneda Inge is the co-host of WUNC's "Due South." Leoneda has been a radio journalist for more than 30 years, spending most of her career at WUNC as the Race and Southern Culture reporter. Leoneda’s work includes stories of race, slavery, memory and monuments. She has won "Gracie" awards, an Alfred I. duPont Award and several awards from the Radio, Television, Digital News Association (RTDNA). In 2017, Leoneda was named "Journalist of Distinction" by the National Association of Black Journalists.

See stories by Leoneda Inge

Jeff Tiberii

Jeff Tiberii is the co-host of WUNC's "Due South." Jeff joined WUNC in 2011. During his 20 years in public radio, he was Morning Edition Host at WFDD and WUNC’s Greensboro Bureau Chief and later, the Capitol Bureau Chief. Jeff has covered state and federal politics, produced the radio documentary “Right Turn,” launched a podcast, and was named North Carolina Radio Reporter of the Year four times.

See stories by Jeff Tiberii

Rachel McCarthy

Rachel McCarthy is a producer for "Due South." She previously worked at WUNC as a producer for "The Story with Dick Gordon." More recently, Rachel was podcast managing editor at Capitol Broadcasting Company where she developed narrative series and edited a daily podcast. She also worked at "The Double Shift" podcast as supervising producer. Rachel learned about audio storytelling at the Salt Institute for Documentary Studies. Prior to working in audio journalism, she was a research assistant at the Aspen Institute in Washington, DC.

See stories by Rachel McCarthy