About this episode
Tom Ough discusses the various Big Things that may end humanity and the efforts to prevent them, focusing on aging as a significant risk.
Tom Ough tells us about the Big Things that may end humanity - and what we can do and in some cases have done to prevent these. Did you know that if all the risks, the one that is most likely to end you is aging? What are we doing to stop aging? Tom is a journalist and writer who is currently Senior Editor at UnHerd, a London‑based online magazine of culture and opinion. After several years working at The Telegraph, he moved into research on global catastrophic risks and wrote a nonfiction book titled The Anti‑Catastrophe League about individuals and efforts to prevent humanity’s extinction, and he also co‑hosts the Anglofuturism podcast. -- IN THIS EPISODE WE LEARN -- Why aging itself can be understood as a catastrophic risk, and what it would mean to treat it with the same seriousness as other existential threats. What it would actually take to detect, deflect, or survive an asteroid impact. Why space expansion and Mars are a part of long-term civilizational resilience. Why some catastrophic risks may be overestimated, and how to think more clearly about climate change relative to other existential threats. What we know about super-volcanoes, why they’re rare but devastating…
People in this episode
Host: Peter Ottsjö
Guest: Tom Ough
Topics covered
- existential risks
- aging
- catastrophic risks
- climate change
- nuclear war
- AI risk
- space expansion
Keywords
- humanity extinction
- catastrophic risk
- aging
- asteroid impact
- climate change
- nuclear war
- AI risk
- super-volcanoes
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: UnHerd, The Telegraph, Anglofuturism
Books & works: The Anti‑Catastrophe League
More episodes of LEVITY
- #36 How crypto is sparking a longevity frenzy · December 2, 2025 · 1h 48m
- #35 The Anti-Aging Uprising: Felix Werth’s Political Attack on Death Itself · November 11, 2025 · 1h 25m
- #34 Biomarkers of aging: How close are we, really? - A conversation with Sara Hägg · October 28, 2025 · 1h 36m
- #33 “Can death be the answer?" A conversation with philosopher Nicholas Agar · October 7, 2025 · 1h 45m
- #32 “Medical malpractice”: Matt Kaeberlein on biological age tests · September 23, 2025 · 1h 50m
- # 31 He wants to save your pet with cryo - The Kai Micah Mills interview · September 9, 2025 · 2h 9m
Explore listener stats, chart rankings, contacts and more on the LEVITY podcast page.