The game’s afoot! Many powerful people—from world leaders to Silicon Valley billionaires—have been whispering about the possibility of living forever via organ replacement. But is their dream a reality, or is it still in the realm of sci-fi? Mangesh learns about Vladimir Putin’s longevity obsession from an exiled Russian journalist, spends an illuminating afternoon with a white-hat hacker, and meets a scientist who’s rebuilding brains, one cell at a time. Finally, he tracks down the co-founder of a mysterious start-up that’s rumored to be doing things no one ever thought possible… until now.
Read Proekt’s coverage of Putin’s health, and Foreign Policy on death rates for Russian soldiers 
Read Nakoa Po’s Sundial Therapeutics Substack
Support your local library
Visit R3 Bio’s website, and read coverage in Wired and MIT Technology Review

Special thanks to Azadi Records and Bliss Samsa for their beautiful tracks, and Botany for the score. 

Episode collage art by Vahini Shori.

The game&rsquo;s afoot! Many powerful people&mdash;from world leaders to Silicon Valley billionaires&mdash;have been whispering about the possibility of living forever via organ replacement. But is their dream a reality, or is it still in the realm of sci-fi? Mangesh learns about Vladimir Putin&rsquo;s longevity obsession from an exiled Russian journalist, spends an illuminating afternoon with a white-hat hacker, and meets a scientist who&rsquo;s rebuilding brains, one cell at a time. Finally, he tracks down the co-founder of a mysterious start-up that&rsquo;s rumored to be doing things no one ever thought possible&hellip; until now.
<ul>
<li aria-level="1">Read Proekt&rsquo;s <a href="https://www.proekt.media/en/investigation-en/putin-health/">coverage of Putin&rsquo;s health</a>, and Foreign Policy on <a href="https://foreignpolicy.com/2026/06/25/russia-ukraine-war-putin-escalation-nato-europe/">death rates for Russian soldiers</a>&nbsp;</li>
<li aria-level="1">Read Nakoa Po&rsquo;s <a href="https://sundialthera.substack.com/">Sundial Therapeutics Substack</a></li>
<li aria-level="1">Support <a href="https://www.ala.org/">your local library</a></li>
<li aria-level="1">Visit R3 Bio&rsquo;s <a href="https://www.r3-bio.com/">website</a>, and read coverage in <a href="https://www.wired.com/story/a-billionaire-backed-startup-wants-to-grow-organ-sacks-to-replace-animal-testing/">Wired</a> and <a href="https://www.technologyreview.com/2026/03/30/1134780/r3-bio-brainless-human-clones-full-body-replacement-john-schloendorn-aging-longevity/">MIT Technology Review</a></li>
</ul>
Special thanks to <a href="https://azadirecords.com/">Azadi Records</a> and <a href="https://linktr.ee/blisssamsa">Bliss Samsa</a> for their beautiful tracks, and <a href="https://botany.bandcamp.com/music">Botany</a> for the score.&nbsp;
Episode collage art by <a href="https://www.vahinishori.com/">Vahini Shori</a>.

Mangesh Hattikudur (Part-Time Genius, Mental_Floss) dives into the booming business of living forever—meeting the scientists, biopunks, and entrepreneurs trying to turn immortality into reality, and framing death as a choice. But the more he learns about an immortal future, the more he finds himself drawn to the people he loves…and wondering if an endless life can be a meaningful one.

Skyline Drive: How to Live Forever is the follow up to the beloved Skyline Drive (season 1), named a “Series Essential” — an Apple Podcasts honor for top-tier narrative podcasts — and highlighted on several Best of Year lists including NYMag, Guardian, and others. 

Mangesh Hattikudur (Part-Time Genius, Mental_Floss) dives into the booming business of living forever&mdash;meeting the scientists, biopunks, and entrepreneurs trying to turn immortality into reality, and framing death as a choice. But the more he learns about an immortal future, the more he finds himself drawn to the people he loves&hellip;and wondering if an endless life can be a meaningful one.
Skyline Drive: How to Live Forever is the follow up to the beloved Skyline Drive (season 1), named a &ldquo;Series Essential&rdquo; &mdash; an Apple Podcasts honor for top-tier narrative podcasts &mdash; and highlighted on several Best of Year lists including NYMag, Guardian, and others.&nbsp;

Skyline Drive: How to Live Forever

Skyline Drive has been selected as an Apple Podcasts Series Essential! Listen ad-free for a limited time.

When Mangesh Hattikudur (Part-Time Genius, Humans Growing Stuff) set out to do a big, sweeping show on astrology, he didn’t realize the first interview would change the course of his life. But as he tries to put his world back together, he realizes the incredible ways astrology presents itself in modern society: from NASA employees who keep their belief in astrology in the closet, to world leaders who’ve used astrologers to guide foreign policy, to moneyball statisticians who use astrology more than statistics to build baseball teams, to a little shop in India where your fortune was written for you centuries ago, and is waiting for you to come claim it. Over the course of 8 episodes, Mangesh tries to decipher why we keep looking to the stars for answers, and what happens when you don’t believe in astrology, but astrology keeps happening to you.

Skyline Drive has been selected as an Apple Podcasts Series Essential! Listen ad-free for a limited time.
When Mangesh Hattikudur (Part-Time Genius, Humans Growing Stuff) set out to do a big, sweeping show on astrology, he didn&rsquo;t realize the first interview would change the course of his life. But as he tries to put his world back together, he realizes the incredible ways astrology presents itself in modern society: from NASA employees who keep their belief in astrology in the closet, to world leaders who&rsquo;ve used astrologers to guide foreign policy, to moneyball statisticians who use astrology more than statistics to build baseball teams, to a little shop in India where your fortune was written for you centuries ago, and is waiting for you to come claim it. Over the course of 8 episodes, Mangesh tries to decipher why we keep looking to the stars for answers, and what happens when you don&rsquo;t believe in astrology, but astrology keeps happening to you.

Skyline Drive

Organ Trail

https://api.omny.fm/orgs/e73c998e-6e60-432f-8610-ae210140c5b1/clips/9f7e212d-69fa-4579-9d3e-b48700090467/transcript