We live in an age obsessed with the prospect of ever-longer lifespans. The Wall Street Journal reports that the anti-aging industry sells longevity as “the ultimate luxury good.” Researchers are delving into the mysteries of stem cells and the human genome, discovering what causes physical aging and how to keep those processes from happening. Billionaires are betting their fortunes on laboratory advances to prove aging unnecessary and death a disease that can be cured.
Can it be done? And are we prepared for the social, familial, and personal consequences of living significantly longer lives? This session of Talking Points will explore the quest for longevity and its often-unexamined consequences from the dual perspectives of in-depth factual reporting and science-grounded speculative fiction.
Chip Walter is an author, veteran journalist, National Geographic Explorer, filmmaker, and former CNN bureau chief whose background spans both science and entertainment. His recent nonfiction book, Immortality, Inc.: Renegade Science, Silicon Valley Billions, and the Quest to Live Forever, is an in-depth portrait of the scientific and entrepreneurial leaders of the longevity quest and how they’re seeking to change the future of the human race. He has served as an adjunct professor to three departments at Carnegie Mellon University.
Keith McWalter is a writer, lawyer, and seasonal Sanibel resident whose latest novel, Lifers, follows an intergenerational cast of characters as they grapple with the personal, social, and political consequences of a sudden, engineered explosion in human longevity. Harvard University cosmologist and bestselling author Avi Loeb calls it “a stimulating, timely exposition” and “a fascinating read.” Keith’s essays have appeared in The New York Times, San Francisco Chronicle, and The Mercury News. He is a graduate of Columbia Law School and has a BA in English Literature from Denison University.
