About this episode

This episode explores how luck and chance influence our lives and discusses the science behind aging and ways to potentially slow it down.

When you buy fruits and vegetables, how much pesticide residue is actually on them? Is it something you should worry about—or not? And does buying organic really make a meaningful difference? Recent findings offer some answers that may surprise you. https://www.consumerreports.org/health/food-contaminants/produce-without-pesticides-a5260230325/ We tend to believe that hard work and good decisions determine how life turns out. But luck and random chance play a much bigger role than most people realize. From career paths to relationships to financial success, unexpected events often shape outcomes in powerful ways. Mark Robert Rank, professor at Washington University in St. Louis and author of The Random Factor: How Chance and Luck Profoundly Shape Our Lives and the World Around Us (https://amzn.to/3W1mDb4), explains how luck operates in everyday life—and how understanding it can help you better navigate uncertainty and make smarter choices. Every living thing ages—but not at the same rate. Some organisms live for just days, while others survive for centuries. What determines how quickly we age? And is it possible to slow the process in humans? Venki Ramakrishnan, Nobel…

People in this episode

Host: Mike Carruthers

Guests: Mark Robert Rank, Venki Ramakrishnan

Topics covered

• luck
• chance
• aging
• health
• decision making
• organic food

Keywords

• pesticide residue
• organic food
• luck
• aging
• healthy lifespan
• decision making
• random chance

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Washington University in St. Louis, Consumer Reports

Books & works: The Random Factor: How Chance and Luck Profoundly Shape Our Lives and the World Around Us, Why We Die

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