Would you want to live longer and get younger?

We had a fun challenge this month from Hanna Västinsalo, our celebrity filmmaker, who leverages her PhD in genetics to entertain audiences with unexpected science stories with a human perspective. We workshopped Hanna's marketing strategy for her powerful new science-fiction film depicting the psychological experience of reverse aging, Palimpsest. To help with that task, we first read and discussed a related essay from The New Yorker by Adam Gopnik, who often writes about science-related topics, in this case: “Can We Live Longer but Stay Younger?” After reading it, we weren't so sure we could—or would want to, which is the central question addressed by Hanna's film.

After watching snippets of the film and thinking about Gopnik's article, we discussed an important practical question for science communicators: Do we necessarily even need to be explicit that we're telling a science story? Or are many stories now just human stories that inevitably involve science—and is that approach even better for reaching wider audiences?

Update

Hanna's film has been released in theaters! Read more about it and Hanna's work here.

Image: Promotional stills for the film Palimpsest.