An Ageing World: Simone de Beauvoir on Old Age

More from Past Present Future All episodes →

1. 

   S25 · E334 · 11 Oct 2026 · 57 minNew

   The History of Transhumanism: New Horizons

   In part two of our series about how transhumanism shaped our world, David talks to Duncan Bell about what happened when sci fi dreams started to become reality. What changed when space travel turned from fantasy to fact? Did supercomputers herald new human possibilities or the prospect of human obsolescence? Why did transhumanism move from the left to the right of the political spectrum? And who believed that freezing their own heads was a good idea? A reminder we have a pair of new educational courses to accompany two of our series – The Great Essays and The Lives of the Philosophers. These…

2. 

   S25 · E333 · 7 Oct 2026 · 1 hr 2 min

   The History of Transhumanism: Origins

   Today it’s the first episode in a new series about the weird and wonderful world of transhumanism: the idea that human beings can be transformed by technology and machines. David talks to historian of ideas Duncan Bell about transhumanism as science and as science fiction, as accurate prophecy and as outright lunacy. How did the idea have its origins in Darwinism? Why did the early transhumanists tend to be socialists? What made H. G. Wells such an influence on supposedly respectable scientists? And how does all this foreshadow the world of Silicon Valley today? A reminder that we have a…

3. 

   S24 · E331 · 30 Sep 2026 · 59 min

   An Ageing World: The Problem of Gerontocracy

   In today’s episode for our series about living in ageing societies, David talks to historian and legal scholar Samuel Moyn about the problem of gerontocracy, aka the rule of the old. Why do older generations now have so much wealth and so much power? Why is this particularly true in the United States? Is the real problem elderly politicians or elderly voters? Do the young stand a chance any more? Out tomorrow on PPF+: part two of this conversation in which David and Sam try to move from diagnosis to cure. How can older people be encouraged to stop hoarding wealth and power? Is socialised…

4. 

   S24 · E330 · 27 Sep 2026 · 58 min

   An Ageing World: The Meaning of Death

   In today’s episode of our series about the significance of longer human lives David talks to the doctor and writer Richard Coker about the meaning of the event that comes for all of us in the end: death. Are we finding it harder to talk about and face up to mortality? How do doctors think about death, having seen so much of it? Is the line between life and death getting harder to draw? What is the price we pay for putting off death as long as we can? Richard Coker’s Timor Mortis: How We Live With Death is available wherever you get your books https://bit.ly/4yTUeE4 Available now: a pair of…

5. 

   S24 · E329 · 23 Sep 2026 · 56 min

   An Ageing World: Lifespan vs Healthspan

   To start our new series about what it means to live in a world of ageing populations, David talks to geneticist Adam Rutherford about the benefits and pitfalls of increasing longevity. Are GLP-1s – drugs like Ozempic, Wegovy and Mounjaro – miracle cures that will extend human lifespans? What happens if longer lives do not coincide with better health? How far can life extension be pushed? And who wants to live forever anyway? Available now: a pair of new educational courses to accompany two of our series – The Great Essays and The Lives of the Philosophers. These courses are free for anyone…

6. 

   S23 · E328 · 20 Sep 2026 · 1 hr 5 min

   The Lives of the Philosophers: Iris Murdoch

   Today is the final episode in our series about the relationship between twentieth-century biography and philosophy. David talks to Nikhil Krishnan about the life and thought of Iris Murdoch, a deeply philosophical novelist and a fully committed philosopher. How was Murdoch influenced by the ideas of Plato? Why did she believe that metaphysics could serve as a guide to morals? What lessons did her novels try to teach about the nature of love and the sovereignty of the good? Was hers a good life? **Available now: a pair of new educational courses to accompany two of our series – The Great…

7. 

   S23 · E327 · 16 Sep 2026 · 54 min

   The Lives of the Philosophers: Hannah Arendt

   In today’s episode about the intersection between twentieth century philosophy and biography David talks to the historian and literary critic Lyndsey Stonebridge about the life and thought of Hannah Arendt. How did Arendt, who was Jewish, make sense of her passionate relationship with Martin Heidegger, who was a Nazi? How did she experience her double exile, first to France and then to the United States? What made sense of her own identity? What explained the terrible turbulence and traumas of the twentieth century? And what did it all mean for the human condition? Lyndsey Stonebridge’s We…