WASHINGTON, DC—In the December/January issue of AARP The Magazine (ATM), Oscar^®, Golden Globe^® and BAFTA^® Award-winning actress Octavia Spencer shares her thoughts on her most treasured experiences and bonds that she’s formed along her rise to fame. Spencer also discusses her unexpected turn in the new film, The Shape of Water, a romantic fairy tale. For the first time, Spencer occupies a role where she doesn’t have to talk about race and expresses her surprising thoughts on portraying the best friend of a woman who falls in love with a sea monster.

The December/January issue of ATM also includes fascinating articles about entertainment, money, travel and health.

Entertainment

• Upfront: Journalist and former NBC TODAY show cohost Ann Curry reunites people separated for years in a new six-part PBS series, We’ll Meet Again.
   
• TV For Grownups: ATM picks three new, original futuristic TV shows worth watching: Happy (Syfy), Bright (Netflix) and Counterpart (Starz). And a new documentary, Wormwood (Netflix), examines the mysterious death of a CIA scientist.

Sports

• The Coach I’ll Never Forget: Top athletes, including Olympic-gold medalist Dorothy Hamill, basketball star Charles Barkley, golfer Jack Nicklaus, tennis player Martina Navratilova, two-time Super Bowl-winning quarterback Jim Plunkett, and Olympic-gold medalist Jackie Joyner-Kersee, offer life lessons learned from coaches/mentors whose influence has lasted a lifetime.

Money

• Give Yourself a Financial Checkup: Are you fiscally healthy as you enter 2018? We asked financial planners for the questions they use to best reveal their client’s fiscal situation, and created this super-useful, five question quiz.

Fraud

• The Charity Check: ATM provides a guide for generous and responsible charitable support this holiday season. Not only are many solicitations for donations a scam but many charities are placing too high a percentage of donations into lavish fundraising and executive salaries. Learn how to verify where your money is going.

Health

• Hack Your Cough: How to recognize winter’s secret danger – and how to get it off your chest.  Learn preventive measures and recognize the symptoms and actions to take when a cough may be a sign of something serious.
   
• Medical Murder Mystery: Unconvinced that the unusual behavior and death of her husband, Deven Black, could be attributed to a midlife crisis, Jill Black’s research leads to the startling discovery of a rare medical condition.

Tech

• 29 products that solve real problems: Tech companies are moving past creating “smart” products and focusing on what matters most: being useful. Control your coffee-maker from your smartphone and enjoy an extra wafting scent feature; a gluten-free detector to verify if that dish really matches its nutritional claims; a night-light illuminated heated toilet seat to avoid cold potty breaks; and a golf ball-sized e-Motion umbrella that opens and closes by touch, are among the latest, greatest gadgetry in ATM’s 2018 tech guide.

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About AARP The Magazine
With more than 37 million readers, AARP The Magazine is the nation’s largest circulation magazine – and the definitive lifestyle publication – for Americans 50 and older. AARP The Magazine delivers targeted content in three demographic versions – for readers age 50 to 59, 60 to 69 and 70-plus – including health and fitness features, financial guidance, consumer information and tips, celebrity interviews, and book and movie reviews. AARP has been publishing a magazine for members since its founding in 1958. AARP The Magazine is published bimonthly in print and continually online. Learn more at www.aarp.org/magazine/.

About AARP
AARP is the nation’s largest nonprofit, nonpartisan organization dedicated to empowering Americans 50 and older to choose how they live as they age. With nearly 38 million members and offices in every state, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands, AARP works to strengthen communities and advocate for what matters most to families with a focus on health security, financial stability and personal fulfillment. AARP also works for individuals in the marketplace by sparking new solutions and allowing carefully chosen, high-quality products and services to carry the AARP name. As a trusted source for news and information, AARP produces the nation's largest circulation publications, AARP The Magazine and AARP Bulletin. To learn more, visit www.aarp.org or follow @AARP and @AARPadvocates on social media.