On a whirlwind trip to the Bay Area, Mangesh reconnects with a childhood friend who’s experimenting with new ways to optimize his health. Then, he heads to the heart of San Francisco to meet the investors, startup founders, tinkerers, and biopunks who are taking longevity science into their own hands. Plus: Skyline Drive’s first-ever musical number, about the bizarre Honduran charter city of Próspera.

• Read more about Próspera from Wired and Bloomberg
• Visit the Frontier Tower website
• Check out Elliot Roth’s work
• Learn more about Illumicell
• Learn more about Muse Bio
• Listen to more of David Nagler’s music
• Check out Allie Oops on Tiktok

Special thanks to Azadi Records and Bliss Samsa for their beautiful tracks, and Botany for the score.

Episode collage art by Vahini Shori.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

According to “mortality curmudgeon” Dr. Stephen Cave, humans have been inventing stories about immortality since the beginning of time. On a quest to unravel some of these myths, Mangesh finds himself wrestling with a literal fountain of youth in Chicago, playing left-handed tennis with an ambidexterity expert in San Diego, and discovering the Greek way of life with an old friend from last season. Plus: Meet Mr. Wonderful.

• Watch Stephen Cave’s TED Talk and get his book, Immortality: The Quest to Live Forever and How It Drives Civilization
• Check out Jim Houliston’s website, AmbiLife, and learn more about Ambidex Fitness
• Check out George Aivaliotis’s comedy on Instagram

Special thanks to Azadi Records and Bliss Samsa for their beautiful tracks, and Botany for the score.

Episode collage art by Vahini Shori.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Mangesh hops a train to Boston, where he tries on a special suit that turns him into an 80-year-old, discovers the connection between elderly worms and high-end longevity supplements, and meets a scientist who’s growing brains in petri dishes (when she’s not throwing dance parties for mice). Plus: What really happened to Ted Williams’ frozen head?

• Learn more about AGNES and Joe Coughlin’s work at the MIT AgeLab
• Learn more about William Mair’s work with the Harvard Healthy Aging Initiative
• Read Lenny Guarante’s research on SIR2 and the mechanisms of aging
• Watch Li-Huei Tsai’s TED Talk about treating Alzheimer’s with light and sound, and learn more about the MIT Aging Brain Initiative

Special thanks to Azadi Records and Bliss Samsa for their beautiful tracks, and Botany for the score.

Episode collage art by Vahini Shori.

CORRECTION FOR THIS WEEK: Lenny was contacted by Sequoia, and a then-Sequoia partner is the co-founder and CEO of Elysium, but Sequoia is not an Elysium investor. The company is backed by other venture capital firms.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.