Silicon Valley has an unhealthy fetish: As the first billionaires of the personal computer era have hit middle age, some of them have begun pouring money into dubious projects to keep them young, or possibly even stop death.
“Ageism is the first form of discrimination that many white men encounter, so I’m eager for some of those guys to get woke,” anti-ageism activist Ashton Applewhite said on the latest episode of Recode Decode.
Applewhite’s new book, “This Chair Rocks,” bills itself as a “Manifesto Against Ageism.” She told Recode’s Kara Swisher that she supports the idea of extending “healthspan” — to wit, staying as healthy as possible until we die — but she’s deeply skeptical of people trying to dramatically extend their lifespan.
“Suppose you could live forever or live to be 200?” she asked. “Do you want to age in a world that treats you like a second-class citizen? I don’t.”
The more worthy goal, she explained on the new podcast, is…
