{"type":"rich","version":"1.0","provider_name":"Transistor","provider_url":"https://transistor.fm","author_name":"80,000 Hours Podcast","title":"#33 Classic episode - Anders Sandberg on cryonics, solar flares, and the annual odds of nuclear war","html":"","width":"100%","height":180,"duration":5111,"description":"Rebroadcast: this episode was originally released in May 2018. \n\nJoseph Stalin had a life-extension program dedicated to making himself immortal. What if he had succeeded? \n\nAccording to Bryan Caplan in episode #32, there’s an 80% chance that Stalin would still be ruling Russia today. Today’s guest disagrees. \n\nLike Stalin he has eyes for his own immortality - including an insurance plan that will cover the cost of cryogenically freezing himself after he dies - and thinks the technology to achieve it might be around the corner. \n\nFortunately for humanity though, that guest is probably one of the nicest people on the planet: Dr Anders Sandberg of Oxford University. \n\nFull transcript of the conversation, summary, and links to learn more. \n\nThe potential availability of technology to delay or even stop ageing means this disagreement matters, so he has been trying to model what would really happen if both the very best and the very worst people in the world could live forever - among many other questions. \n\nAnders, who studies low-probability high-stakes risks and the impact of technological change at the Future of Humanity Institute, is the first guest to appear twice on the 80,000 Hours Podcast and might just be the most interesting academic at Oxford. \n\nHis research interests include more or less everything, and bucking the academic trend towards intense specialization has earned him a devoted fan base. \n\nLast time we asked him why we don’t see aliens, and how to most efficiently colonise the universe. In today’s episode we ask about Anders’ other recent papers, including: \n\n• Is it worth the money to freeze your body after death in the hope of future revival, like Anders has done? • How much is our perception of the risk of nuclear war biased by the fact that we wouldn’t be alive to think about it had one happened? • If biomedical research lets us slow down ageing would culture stagnate under the crushing weight of centenarians? • What long-shot drugs can people...","thumbnail_url":"https://img.transistorcdn.com/VO1STE7hN95RRg9QdLo4soV2VhhbR9PF5ZZlRhDYcwE/rs:fill:0:0:1/w:400/h:400/q:60/mb:500000/aHR0cHM6Ly9pbWct/dXBsb2FkLXByb2R1/Y3Rpb24udHJhbnNp/c3Rvci5mbS9zaG93/LzQxNDAyLzE2ODM1/NDQ1NDAtYXJ0d29y/ay5qcGc.webp","thumbnail_width":300,"thumbnail_height":300}