
Why We Die
The New Science of Aging and the Quest for Immortality
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Narrated by:
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John Moraitis
""Utterly fascinating."" —Bill Bryson
""An incredible journey."" —Siddhartha Mukherjee
A groundbreaking exploration of the science of longevity and mortality—from Nobel Prize-winning molecular biologist Venki Ramakrishnan
The knowledge of death is so terrifying that we live most of our lives in denial of it. One of the most difficult moments of childhood must be when each of us first realizes that not only we but all our loved ones will die—and there is nothing we can do about it.
Or at least, there hasn’t been. Today, we are living through a revolution in biology. Giant strides are being made in understanding why we age—and why some species live longer than others. Could we eventually cheat disease and death and live for a very long time, possibly many times our current lifespan?
Venki Ramakrishnan, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry and former president of the Royal Society, takes us on a riveting journey to the frontiers of biology, asking whether we must be mortal. Covering the recent breakthroughs in scientific research, he examines the cutting edge of efforts to extend lifespan by altering our physiology. But might death serve a necessary biological purpose? What are the social and ethical costs of attempting to live forever?
Why We Die is a narrative of uncommon insight and beauty from one of our leading public intellectuals.
©2024 Venki Ramakrishnan (P)2024 HarperCollins PublishersListeners also enjoyed...




















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The author does wag his finger at some researchers for their SciFi style bias and hype, which I think was very appropriate. I was however turned off by his own social and political bias, which was most pronounced in the final chapter. His belief that longer lives let the old oppress the young, which makes extended life spans a social injustice, has me question earlier opinions in this book.
The narrator was ok, but this isn't the best subject for him to read.
Good technical overview of current work and many key players, but I question his point of view.
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Fantastic Exploration of Modern Biological Research and Findings
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the reason for only 4 instead of 5 star review is his idea of "intergenerational fairness". his idea that old brains don't work as well as young ones is correct, but he also assume boomers and millennials/gen-z have same work ethics and boomers are not letting go of their positions to the younger gens. the fact is younger gens with social media influences are often unprepared and not willing to put in the work or time but demand senior pays, while expect senior staff to permanently do some of their work. even in medicine, many older docs end up taking calls for the young docs as young docs refuse to take calls because of "work life balance'. older gens can't let go of income and power, while younger gens can't wait to to stop working or retire early. life is not fair and only fools think it can be fair to all.
very well written and more objective than most
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The earlier chapters outlined research details I’m not likely to retain.
The Final Two Chapters…
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informative, thoughtful and kind
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Fear of the Reaper
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Terrible narration
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Brilliant. The book was fantastic and level headed. I appreciated also the way he criticized Sinclair.
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I wasn't crazy about the narration (though it isn't bad or anything). I did end up getting the ebook, though I'm glad there is an audiobook option to broaden the book's reach!
Will definitely go back and read Dr. Ramakrishnan's earlier book on ribosomes!
Excellent! So glad I found this book
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narrator didn't work for me
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