logo
episode-header-image
Nov 2021
28m 18s

FT Weekend: How to live forever

Financial Times
About this episode

FT Weekend is a weekly Saturday show that brings the best of our weekend journalism into audio form, with everything from culture and food and the arts, to nuanced questions and big ideas. In this episode, we ask the question: what does it mean to defy death? Rock climber Leo Houlding tells us about his terrifying family holidays, scaling vertical cliff-faces with his two young kids. We also explore radical life extension with science writer Anjana Ahuja. How close are we scientifically to extending the human lifespan to 150 or 200? What are the implications when we get there? And do we really want to live forever? PLUS: inside the luxury life extension market, with How to Spend it writer Tiffanie Darke. 



Links from the episode: 


— Leo Houlding’s extreme family holiday in Wyoming’s wild west: https://www.ft.com/content/0bcba30a-bb46-4bc1-8a7d-9166dc43a5e8  


— Anjana Ahuja on whether we can live forever: https://www.ft.com/content/60d9271c-ae0a-4d44-8b11-956cd2e484a9 


— Inside the life extension market, with Tiffanie Darke: https://www.ft.com/content/867e647b-c0e8-4aeb-9777-fedff7ec3476 


Want to say hi? Email us at ftweekendpodcast@ft.com. We’re on Twitter @ftweekendpod, and Lilah is on Instagram and Twitter @lilahrap


If you want a great discount on an FT subscription or a $1/£1/€1 month-long trial, we’ve got you: http://ft.com/weekendpodcast 


Mixing and sound design by Breen Turner, with original music by Metaphor music.



See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Up next
Today
Canada’s push to become an energy superpower
The UK and France have pledged for the first time to co-ordinate the use of their nuclear weapons, the copper markets are reeling from US President Donald Trump’s threat to impose 50 per cent tariffs on the metal, and Canada has a plan to offset American energy levies by exportin ... Show More
11m 17s
Yesterday
BCG tries to limit Gaza work fallout
EU negotiators are closing in on a trade deal with Donald Trump that would cement higher tariffs than those granted to the UK, and Boston Consulting Group’s chief executive said the group’s involvement with a postwar plan for Gaza had been “reputationally very damaging”. Plus, Eu ... Show More
10m 31s
Jul 8
Liechtenstein's zombie-trust apocalypse
US President Donald Trump extended tariff deadlines, and Liechtenstein’s trust industry is in a crisis spurred by American sanctions against Russia. Plus, Shein filed for an initial public offering in Hong Kong, and Elon Musk is trying to save Tesla from Trump. Mentioned in this ... Show More
11m 18s
Recommended Episodes
Jul 2022
How to live forever
This week, we return to one of our favourite episodes to ask the question: what does it mean to defy death? Rock climber Leo Houlding tells us about his terrifying family holidays, scaling vertical cliff-faces with his two young kids. We also explore radical life extension with s ... Show More
27m 54s
May 2023
How to have a good death
This week, we consider what it means to have a good death. As nursing strikes escalate throughout the UK and Ireland, the writer Imogen Savage couldn't help but think of her mother Anne, who spent more than 45 years working in end of life care. Imogen spent her childhood watching ... Show More
17m 58s
Mar 2022
The stories we tell, with Elif Shafak
This week we bring you one of the most popular episodes from our archive: a conversation with Elif Shafak, the most widely read woman novelist in Turkey. She and Lilah discuss national identity, the generational pain of conflict, and writing in countries that don't have freedom o ... Show More
29m 46s
Feb 2022
Lea Ypi talks capitalism and freedom
This weekend, FT Weekend editor Alec Russell brings us to Albania for Lunch with the FT. He sits down with writer Lea Ypi, whose memoir ‘Free’ documents her childhood there, both under communism and after its fall. Ypi, a political theorist at the London School of Economics asks: ... Show More
32m 23s
Oct 2021
The tech billionaires trying to outmanoeuvre death
The desire to live forever is as old as life itself. Now some of the world's richest people are investing heavily in the science of immortality. Could we get to a point where dying becomes optional?This podcast was brought to you thanks to the support of readers of The Times and ... Show More
29m 23s
Jul 2022
Ep 101 Immortality: This Podcast Won't Kill You
For what was originally going to be our 100th regular season episode, we wanted to turn the vaguely threatening title of our podcast on its head by exploring a topic that’s not about something that can kill you but rather the hows and whys of staying alive, forever. That’s right, ... Show More
1h 14m
Feb 2022
The international mystery of the 'Hum'
Russia has invaded Ukraine. We begin this episode with a visit from FT Weekend editor Alec Russell, a week after he joined us to discuss his years covering the fall of communism in eastern Europe. How can we make sense of this? Then, we go searching for the Hum, a mysterious nois ... Show More
37m 5s
May 2024
Billie Eilish still doesn’t care, and it’s still working
Billie Eilish’s new album Hit Me Hard and Soft has been hailed by critics as her best album yet. She describes it as an “album-ass album”, meant to be listened to in its entirety, but it’s also provocative: it takes on fame and body-shaming ("People say I look happy just because ... Show More
23m 41s
Dec 2021
576: Kenny G Crush, Stranded Vacation, & Snapped Murders
Today we discuss our show now that another year has passed. Are we in a never-ending time warp?? We hear about a documentary on Kenny G that was surprisingly incredible. We learn why jazz purists hate him, Chinese people love him, & Sarah has a crush on him. Susie describes a new ... Show More
1h 25m
May 2024
What Happened When A Skeptical Reporter Decided To Investigate The Afterlife | Sebastian Junger
New episodes come out every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday for free, with 1-week early access for Wondery+ subscribers --- The surprisingly common experience of near death experiences and what science still can't explain about them. Sebastian Junger is the #1 New York Times Bestse ... Show More
1h 11m