Do You Want to Live to Be 150?

Tonight at 10 p.m. E.D.T., ABC will broadcast a Barbara Walters special about longevity — or, really, super-longevity — that tries to sort out the many medical, social, and economic ramifications. I was interviewed for the show and apparently I appear toward the end of the hour.

Most of the questions I was asked concerned the consequences, unintended and otherwise, of the ongoing longevity boom. Most of my answers were what I would call informed speculation, since I don’t think anyone will live to 150 in my lifetime.

My research reading included papers about longevity and life-cycle savings, the voting impact of a larger elderly demographic, and the ability of elderly people to maintain expert performance. If none of that strikes you as very sexy — well, we talked bout the potential changes in elderly sex markets as well.