For my final episode as host of “Interesting Times,” I wanted a fitting finale — a conversation that encapsulates the ambition of this show: examining how seemingly radical ideas are steadily entering the mainstream of American politics, technology and culture. Few ideas are as radical as the hope of significant life extension and the quest to live forever.
My guest today thinks he can outrun death. After selling his tech company for hundreds of millions of dollars and experiencing a profound religious crisis, Bryan Johnson turned his own body into the ultimate science project, centered on an explicit mission: Don’t die.
But why does Johnson want to live forever, and what lessons can his algorithmically driven lifestyle bring to the rest of us?
It’s been an honor hosting this podcast and navigating these strange waters with you. “Interesting Times” will be back with new episodes and new hosts in the fall.
- 0:00 Why Bryan Johnson Wants to Defeat Death
- 1:18 The Core Premise of "Don't Die" vs. Immortality
- 3:26 Selling Braintree/Venmo & Personal Collapse
- 6:33 Leaving the Mormon Church & Searching for Meaning
- 7:45 Launching Project Blueprint: Body as Philosophy
- 11:35 Bryan Johnson’s Daily Longevity Routine & Biological Age Metrics
- 15:06 How AI Builds "Autonomous Health" for the Human Body
- 17:58 The Best Habits to Optimize Health: Sleep & Heart Rate
- 21:32 Blueprint Products, Supplements, & Testing
- 23:46 Reversing Biological Aging: Saunas & HBOT
- 25:24 Can Psychedelics Extend Lifespan? Psilocybin Longevity Trials
- 31:07 How Falling in Love Has Changed His Perspective
- 34:06 Diagnosed with an Incurable Autoimmune Disease
- 35:51 The Risk of Gerontocracy
- 53:53 Can Humanity Defeat Death? Societal & Philosophical Impacts
(A full transcript of this episode is available on the Times website.)
Thoughts? Email us at interestingtimes@nytimes.com. Please subscribe to our YouTube Channel, Interesting Times with Ross Douthat.
Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. You can also subscribe via your favorite podcast app here https://www.nytimes.com/activate-access/audio?source=podcatcher. For more podcasts and narrated articles, download The New York Times app at nytimes.com/app.
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