Turns Out Fighting Fascism Helps You Live Longer [View all]

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Terri Williams, who lives in northern Texas, started volunteering as a high schooler in the mid-1970s—at first for Planned Parenthood, educating people about birth control. In retirement, she hasn’t stopped.

Linda McMahon’s 2024 nomination as President Donald Trump’s Secretary of Education, a prelude to attempts in dismantling the department, led Williams to double down on her efforts, which now center on helping elementary schoolers excel.
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Williams is one of a legion of retired people responding to the tears in the country’s social fabric by volunteering in their communities, rather than staying frozen in fear—work that has taken on new urgency under the second Trump administration.

A January study in the journal Social Science & Medicine found that volunteering slows down aging in retirees: the DNA of people who volunteered the equivalent of one to four hours a week showed distinctive biomarkers associated with decelerated epigenetic aging, with the most pronounced effects among retired people.

https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2025/11/retirees-volunteering-election-democracy-study-health/?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email