Aria Schrecker

Human lifespans could get much longer. • Most gains in life expectancy no longer come from saving children. From the 20th century on, most of the increase has come from reducing deaths in middle and old age. • Blue zones aren't real. The longest human lifespans generally come from places with bad records not special diets. • People who live longer usually stay healthy for longer too. Longevity doesn't just mean more years of being old and decrepit. • Pet dogs are now living about a year longer than they did ten years ago. • Some jellyfish can revert back to a baby state under conditions of extreme stress. • Naked mole rats are extremely weird and long-lived. They live in bee or ant-like colonies with one breeding queen and 'socially infertile' workers. Huddling to keep warm, they don't even regulate their body temperature alone. • Lobsters can live for hundreds of years. They never stop growing, getting bigger and bigger until they starve to death. Listen to the latest episode of the Works in Progress podcast. I talk with Ben Southwood and Saloni about super long lived animals, the medical and social successes that have increased lifespans so far, and what new biohacking and medicine might work to help us live even longer. Apple: Spotify: YouTube: