In this episode of The Bioethics podcast, CBHD Research Scholar Anna Vollema and CBHD Research Analyst Heather Zeiger join CBHD Executive Director Matthew Eppinette for a discussion of the Netflix documentary film Don’t Die: The Man Who Wants to Live Forever. 

The film is a profile of Bryan Johnson, a tech entrepreneur who is devoting his fortune to extending his life through careful and detailed monitoring of various biomarkers, as well as experimental treatments and other methods. 

Show Notes

Trailer: https://youtu.be/kf9e1o7rUeo?si=WlDYOepN3nId5BS7 

Watch on Netflix: https://www.netflix.com/title/81757532 

Katie Drummond, "Bryan Johnson Is Going to Die," Wired https://www.wired.com/story/big-interview-bryan-johnson/ 

Todd T.W. Daly, Chasing Methuselah: Theology, the Body, and Slowing Human Aging, Cascade Books, 2021, https://a.co/d/dhZLvuv 

In Chasing Methuselah, Todd Daly examines the modern biomedical anti-aging project from a Christian perspective, drawing on the ancient wisdom of the Desert Fathers, who believed that the incarnation opened a way for human life to regain the longevity of Adam and the biblical patriarchs through prayer and fasting. Daly balances these insights with the christological anthropology of Karl Barth, discussing the implications for human finitude, fear of death, and the use of anti-aging technology, weaving a path between outright condemnation and uncritical enthusiasm.

Denyse O'Leary, "A Science-Based Case for the Immortality of the Human Soul," CBHD https://www.cbhd.org/intersections/a-science-based-case-for-the-immortality-of-the-human-soul 

Kent Dunnington, Addiction and Virtue: Beyond the Models of Disease and Choice, IVP Academic, 2011, https://a.co/d/fc8bRLQ 

Neither of the two dominant models (disease or choice) adequately accounts for the experience of those who are addicted or of those who are seeking to help them. In this interdisciplinary work, Kent Dunnington brings the neglected resources of philosophical and theological analysis to bear on the problem of addiction. Drawing on the insights of Aristotle and Thomas Aquinas, he formulates an alternative to the usual reductionistic models.