Summary
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss ageing. In 1900, 1% of the world’s population were over 65. In the 1990s nearly 8% are. By the year 2020, nearly 1/5th of the world’s population will be over 65 - the figure rises to 25% in the UK. We are now living longer than at any time in our history. How much do economic factors, rather than biological factors, determine what ageing really means and our attitude to it? And what are the ethical, economic and biological implications of living longer?Tom Kirkwood, is an expert on the science of ageing and he brings to bear a close study of how the ageing process is being arrested and speculates on the very great age some of us could and will reach. He has said: “Today’s older people are the vanguard of an extraordinary revolution in longevity that is radically changing the structure of society and altering our perceptions of life and death. The price for this success - and make no mistake it is a success - is that we now face the challenge of ageing.”Alan Walker is an expert in the sociology of ageing and he takes in the whole context, especially the economic dimension. With Professor Alan Walker, social gerontologist, advisor to the UN’s programme on Ageing and has chaired the European Commission’s observatory on Ageing and Older People; Professor Tom Kirkwood, Britain’s first professor of Biological Gerontology, University of Manchester and President of the British Society for Research into Ageing.
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Just before this BBC podcast gets underway, here's something you may not know. |
| 0:04.7 | My name's Linda Davies and I Commission Podcasts for BBC Sounds. |
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| 0:36.0 | Thanks for downloading the In Our Time Podcast. |
| 0:39.0 | For more details about In Our Time and for our terms of use, please go to BBC.co. UK |
| 0:44.3 | forward slash radio for. I hope you enjoy the program. |
| 0:48.6 | Hello today I'm joined by Britain's first professor of biological |
| 0:52.1 | gerontology Tom Kirkwood from Manchester University, |
| 0:55.2 | and Alan Walker, professor of social policy at the University of Sheffield, to discuss and |
| 0:59.8 | explore one of the great revolutions of our century, that of old age. In |
| 1:03.8 | 1900, 1% of the world's population was over 65 in the 1990s, nearly 8% are. By |
| 1:10.0 | the year 2020, nearly 1 5th of the world's population will be over 65 and the percentage |
| 1:15.1 | will be higher in Europe. |
| 1:16.7 | We're now living longer than at any time in our history. |
| 1:20.0 | How much do economic factors rather than biological factors determine what aging really means and |
| 1:25.2 | our attitude to it? |
| 1:26.5 | And what are the ethical, economic and biological implications of living longer? |
| 1:31.0 | Professor Alan Walker is a leading social gerontologist, together with his |
| 1:34.0 | academic work in numerous publications, he is directly involved in influencing |
... |
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