Im a Mortal

Jeff Greenberg – Terror Management Theory

Episode 30: Jeff Greenberg is a Social Psychologist and a Regents Professor at the University of Arizona. He is one of the three developers of Terror Management Theory (TMT) alongside Sheldon Solomon and Tom Pyszczynski. In 2015, they authored The Worm at the Core: On the Role of Death in Life. Based on the works of Ernest Becker, TMT aims to explain why we feel death anxiety and how we manage this fear by creating meaning in our day-to-day lives. How do we attempt to deny death? In this episode, we do a deep dive into TMT and how it has shaped the world around us. Why does history have so much conflict? Why do we defend our worldviews so strongly? How has technology impacted how we cope with death? How honest are we with ourselves about our own motivations? All this and more with Jeff Greenberg.

Nina Khera – The Role of Youth in Aging

Episode 29: When did you first care about aging and longevity? For Nina, her passion for the field started at the age of 12. Join us for a conversation with the brilliant young mind of Nina Khera from when she was 16 (Recorded in 2021) and her journey in the field of Aging. In this episode we begin with a deep dive into Nina's Career by discussing what garnered her interest in the longevity and aging field, inspirations, being a prominent panel speaker and the generational differences in the focus on aging. We then dig into the age bias in aging, her perspective and experiences in the longevity field, the creation of Biotein and the motivation behind it, the overlap and prioritization of curing diseases, Artificial Intelligence and its applications, and predictions of the aging field by 2050. Finally, we wrap up by asking Nina how her peers and youth in the future can take control of their own aging and get involved.

Brian Patrick Green – The Ethics of Life Extension

Episode 28: Brian Patrick Green is the Director of Technology Ethics at the Markkula Center for Applied Ethics. Brian's work on ethics is extensive, covering transhumanism, artificial intelligence, space exploration, corporate ethics, and religion. He has published several articles and resources on ethics and also authored several books including Space Ethics (2021) and Religious Transhumanism and Its Critics (2022). In this episode, we ask Brian to share his journey into the world of ethics and the issues that face us today with the regulation of rapidly developing technologies like artificial intelligence. We also delve into the ethics of life extension therapies, questions of identity/what it means to be human, and Roman Catholic perspectives on additional life. We may have gone twice as long as the average episode but only for good reason!

John Davis – Philosophy and Life Extension

Episode 27: John Davis is a Professor of Philosophy at Cal State Fullerton and is the author of New Methuselahs: The Ethics of Life-Extension. With a book dedicated to answering all the questions about life extension, John Davis is your expert for philosophical and ethical discussion. We might commonly ask ourselves are all lives equal but John Davis asks a very different question, are all deaths equal? And can life extension make them more or less equal? How will we feel this inequality on a day-to-day basis? We cover this and more including questions of identity, generational connection, and limitations on childbirth.

Tina Woods – AI and Data Security in Aging and Healthcare

Episode 26: Tina Woods describes herself as a Healthy Longevity Champion, and after our conversation with her, we cannot help but agree. Founding Collider Health is just the beginning of her experiences with an extensive history working with AI in Healthcare, being a part of multiple collectives and funds surrounding health aging, and focusing on innovation as a whole in the field. Although recorded earlier, this episode carries just as much relevance in 2023 with us covering topics such as the Open Life Data Project, the NHS and its load on healthcare, food systems and the effects of common habits on our health, and many Worldly perspectives on Ai and public data collection. Tune in for a great conversation and introspection alongside your favourite hosts!