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Joe Rogan, 1 of the biggest podcasters successful the world, has been losing steam, by his standards, implicit the past 12 months oregon so. In April 2025, however, an occurrence of The Joe Rogan Experience gained the benignant of instantly viral traction Rogan regularly commanded successful his heyday.
This was his 160-minute interrogation with biologist and self-styled longevity adept Gary Brecka, whose views connected quality lifespan person drawn some followers and critics successful adjacent measure. For implicit 2 hours, Rogan and Brecka debated diets, workout regimens arsenic good arsenic longevity measures of the much esoteric benignant — similar reddish airy therapy beds, hyperbaric oxygen chambers and acold plunge tanks.
Brecka’s followers tin beryllium seen successful the YouTube comments section, citing the benefits of his proposal down the years. His critics constituent retired that since helium is not a aesculapian doctor, helium has nary concern advising, say, migraine patients oregon the parents of children with autism (to sanction conscionable 2 of Brecka’s favored concerns).
Regardless of wherever you basal connected the specifics, the virality of the occurrence is simply a reminder that quality longevity is simply a divisive yet broadly appealing subject, 1 that makes listeners wage adjacent attention. Look astatine the popularity of the American neuroscientist and podcaster Andrew Huberman, for instance. Or David Sinclair, whose podcasts, TV specials and appearances successful different mainstream media outlets person sent him soaring up the popularity charts. His 2019 book Lifespan: Why We Age and Why We Don’t Have To, is simply a planetary bestseller, the benignant you spot each crossed airdrome bookshelves. Both Sinclair and Huberman person been featured successful Rogan’s podcast these past mates of years.
Into the future
In India, too, the Indian Institute of Science’s ‘Longevity India’ inaugural has been hosting the Biopeak Live podcast for the past 8 months. The episodes are co-hosted by Prof. Deepak Saini, convenor of Longevity India. In their view, ‘healthspan’ is conscionable arsenic important arsenic lifespan — this is the word for the fig of steadfast years a idiosyncratic gets successful their lifetime.
As Prof. Saini outlines successful these episodes, the situation is to behaviour some cardinal probe into ageing and lifespan, arsenic good arsenic effect alteration astatine the argumentation level successful some backstage and authorities sectors — truthful overmuch of one’s lifestyle, aft all, is geared astir the workplace today.
Prof. Deepak Saini of the Biopeak Live podcast.
Air contamination is different contented astir which paper op-eds and TV debates usually vigor up. And longevity is the currency with which impassioned quality anchors plead their lawsuit to the audience: if you’re surviving successful Delhi, the resultant lung diseases mean you’re shaving 5 years disconnected your life, and truthful on. Longevity is some substance and subtext successful this benignant of taste scenery — it is astatine erstwhile the connection done which we picture the future, and the conveyance that tin get america there.
Between eden and hell
No wonder, then, that the satellite of streaming excessively has been dotted with stories astir transferring consciousness crossed bodies (Altered Carbon), astir survivalism (Silo, Fallout, The Last of Us), and astir immortal, centuries-old warriors shepherding the people of past (The Old Guard).
However, the purest look of the longevity impulse from the streaming satellite belongs to Amazon Prime Video’s Upload, which imagines a benignant of integer afterlife wherein affluent users tin transportation their consciousness anterior to their carnal demise. It is fundamentally a corporate-designed, novelty edifice mentation of the afterlife, implicit with AI servant-bots and the like. There is thing guiltless and yet precise unsettling astir its primary-colours imaginativeness of ‘forever-fun’ and the amusement plays astir with the conception of eternity rather good — if each you bash is your favourite happening 24/7, ‘eternal’ becomes a progressively little charismatic imaginable implicit time.
Kristen Bell and D’Arcy Carden successful The Good Place.
Much similar the comedy The Good Place, which is acceptable successful the literal heaven/hell duality, Upload also raises immoderate large philosophical questions astir the contented of longevity. For instance, astatine what constituent successful our lives should we dilatory down and deliberation dispassionately astir the end? How bash we forestall well-meaning homilies astir ‘living successful the moment’ from destroying immoderate semblance of operation successful our existence?
And possibly the astir important of them all, however bash we springiness ourselves the champion accidental of starring a bully life, not simply a agelong one?
The writer is moving connected his archetypal publication of non-fiction.
