One hundred years of Sir David Attenborough
Unexpected Elements
BBC
4.4 • 565 Ratings
🗓️ 8 May 2026
⏱️ 50 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Sir David Attenborough is arguably the world’s favourite broadcaster, and this week he’s blowing out the candles on his 100th birthday cake. Inspired by his significant birthday, we decided to uncover the biology behind centenarians. What are Sir David’s secrets?
Speaking of ageing, we then find out about a little jellyfish that never gets old. Could it help us unlock immortality?
Next up, climb aboard as we chat with Dr Nadine Johnston, a marine ecologist who works on the iconic Sir David Attenborough research vessel, as she tells us about the tiny Antarctic animals that could lock up more carbon than the Amazon rainforest.
We then find out about improved landslide prediction in Nepal and how the world has changed in Sir David’s life.
All that, plus many more Unexpected Elements.
Presenter: Marnie Chesterton, with Chhavi Sachdev and Tristan Ahtone Producers: Alice Lipscombe-Southwell, with Ella Hubber and Robbie Wojciechowski
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | BBC Sounds, music, radio, podcasts. |
| 0:06.1 | Can I just say? |
| 0:07.6 | You're about to listen to a BBC podcast. |
| 0:10.1 | It's such a wonderful listen. |
| 0:11.7 | So nice. |
| 0:12.5 | There are loads more like it on BBC Sounds. |
| 0:14.8 | Different paces, different heights, the roof is buckling. |
| 0:17.9 | Where you can also listen to live sports commentary. |
| 0:20.2 | It's right foot goes for goal. |
| 0:21.6 | And then enjoy even more podcasts full of analysis and reaction to the big stories. |
| 0:27.7 | The stat that is astonishing is they ended with the lowest amount of possession. |
| 0:31.2 | And she's had to live with that. |
| 0:32.8 | So if you love sport, a passion, it's almost like a religion. |
| 0:35.8 | Listen on BBC Sounds. |
| 0:39.7 | Sort of expecting that every week now. |
| 0:53.6 | In Wales, the country where this show is recorded, in 2004, only 15 out of 100,000 people made it to their 100th birthday. By 2024, that had almost doubled 26 centenarians per 100,000 people. |
| 1:02.8 | Scientists say that this can be explained by improved living conditions, better nutrition, |
| 1:07.6 | and a general improvement in public health. In fact, if you want to feel good about |
| 1:13.2 | the age we live in now, why not take a moment to admire those advances in medicine? Better ways of |
| 1:19.9 | detecting disease, better treatments. We have vaccines that stopped millions from being picked off |
| 1:25.2 | by TB, measles, polio, flu, and, thank you, antibiotics. |
| 1:30.5 | We've also learned about the foods that spike your cholesterol and that smoking kills. |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from BBC, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of BBC and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.