Pain, loneliness, dependence – getting older can be hard. But old age also brings gratitude and contentment, says the well-known literary critic Elke Heidenreich. She speaks to Yves Bossart about her turbulent life, the general state of the world and the joy of getting older. Topics in this episode: 00:00 Age is a gift 03:35 How to let go? 11:00 What's the point of complaining? 20:48 How life teaches gratitude 26:17 Age is just a feeling 36:07 Why books move you 43:30 Heidenreich on mortality and life after death The "literary pope" and bestselling author Elke Heidenreich has had an eventful life. As a child, she was beaten and neglected by her mother. On top of that, she suffered from a serious lung disease. Books were her refuge, her comfort. She later survived cancer and two divorces. Today, at the age of 81, she looks back on her life and feels one thing above all: gratitude. The award-winning literary critic, author and presenter talks to Yves Bossart about contentment in old age, loneliness, affairs and death. Sternstunde Philosophie from August 25, 2024 ____________________ ✨ New conversations with exciting guests every week Program managers: ???? Director: Christine Rauschmeier, Editors: Jolanda Fazzone, Martina Kuhn, Producer: Sandra Roth, Management: Judith Hardegger, SRF 2024 ____________________ Subscribe to SRF Kultur Sternstunden on YouTube ???? https://www.youtube.com/srfkultur?sub... More culture on Facebook ???? / srfkultur More culture on Instagram ???? / ​​srfkultur More culture at SRF ???? https://www.srf.ch/kultur ____________________ The “Sternstunde Philosophie” cultivates the in-depth and critical exchange of ideas and gets to the bottom of the burning questions of our time. The "Sternstunde Philosophie" draws a broad arc from socio-political current affairs to the fundamental questions of philosophy: who is responsible for what, what does human freedom consist of, what determines our meaning in life? Guests include personalities from science, culture, politics and business - voices that stimulate thought and reflect on and classify our current events. ____________________ Moderation: Barbara Bleisch: / barbarableisch Yves Bossart: / bossart_yves Wolfram Eilenberger: http://www.wolfram-eilenberger.de/ ____________________ Social Media Netiquette from SRF: ► https://www.srf.ch/social-netiquette #SRFKultur #SRFKulturSternstunden #SRFSternstunde #Philosophie #Alter #Altern #älterwerden #SRF #Kultur