Conversations on Science: A Long Bright Future: The Science of Longevity

What if we could live longer, healthier, happier lives? Laura Carstensen is the founding director of the Stanford Center on Longevity and a noted expert on socioemotional selectivity theory, a life-span theory of motivation.  "Life expectancy is ballooning just as science and technology is on the cusp of solving many of the practical problems of aging. What if we could not only have added years but spend them being physically fit, mentally sharp, functionally independent, and financially secure? At that point, we no longer have a story about old age; we have a story about long life." Carstensen studies the nature and development of the human life span looking for innovative ways to use science and technology to improve the well-being of people of all ages. She is a Stanford professor in Public Policy and professor of Psychology.

Laura Carstensen will be in conversation with Roy Eisenhardt who currently teaches at UC Berkeley's Boalt Hall School of Law and previously served as the Executive Director for the California Academy of Sciences. Some of his numerous stage interviews include Stephen King, Gene Wilder, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Doris Kearns Goodwin, Desmond Tutu, David Remnick and Isabella Rosselini.