It's the Brian Lear show on WNYC.

I'm Matt Katz.

I used to be a reporter here at WNYC, and today I'm keeping the seat warm for Brian.

Now we'll look at the industry forming around the quest for immortality.

Avoiding death is a very human instinct.

In prehistoric times, we ran away from the saber-tooth tiger.

Now we run a mile a day on the treadmill with the same overall goal of preserving our life in mind.

But the wealthiest among us have taken this endeavor to live longer lives much further. Prominent billionaires like Jeff Bezos and

Elon Musk, as well as those of lesser fame, are funding countless startups and biotech and

AI that promise to increase our lifespans. But has the human body already

reached its limits? That's the question New Yorker staff writer, Tad Friend investigates in his

new piece, headlined How to Live Forever and Get Rich Doing It. He joins us now to talk about

the longevity industry and what we might lose in the quest for immortality.

Tad, welcome back to WNYC.

Thanks, Matt.

I love the headline of your piece, How to Live Forever and Get Rich During It.

Your piece is largely a profile of a man named Peter Diamandis.

So why don't we start there? Who is Dea Mandis? And why did you

choose him as our guide through this quest for immortality? Peter, the reason I chose Peter is I think

he's kind of at the center of this sort of loose movement that has a number of different wings and phalanxes to it.

He's in his mid-60s.

He kind of first achieved attention by starting the X Prize for commercial spaceflight,

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