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Eternal: My Journey Into Longevity, Myths & Modern Obsessions
This article started as research for a documentary series I was developing, which would have seen me traipsing around the world exploring these topics. For now, here’s a long-read deep-dive into our eternal quest for living longer.
I read a line in an article in my early twenties that lodged itself somewhere between my spine and my nightmares: “Someone alive today will live to be 1000 years old.”
At the time it sounded like a dare from the future, the sort of provocation that only a certain type of brainy wacko — probably in the US — would utter after one too many Soylent martinis. But it stuck. And now, decades later, as I edge into the part of life where mirrors become a bit more honest and funerals come faster than weddings, that line has boomeranged back with suspicious confidence.
It became one of those stray, radioactive thoughts that glows a bit too brightly in the background of your life. Without a grain of exaggeration, I’ve contemplated my own mortality almost every single day since I was a teenager. It’s not melodrama. It’s not goth. It’s just a persistent mental companion — unwelcome but familiar, like a neighbour who keeps borrowing your tools but at least returns them.
None of this should surprise anyone who has listened to my podcast, 100 Things…
