The Longevity Project
The possibility of living for ten or more decades raises a uniquely twenty-first century question: what are we going to do with our longer lives?
Life expectancy has increased at an extraordinary rate over the past 120 years, from roughly 47 years at the beginning of the 20th century in the United States to more than 78 years today. By some estimates, half of the children born today in the developed world will live for 100 years. But with the opportunity for longer life comes the challenge of optimizing our institutions, policies and investments to support a healthier and more prosperous longevity.
Our Mission: Promote Transformation in Support of Longer Life
We foster research and public conversation to build awareness of the implications of longer life, and bring together leaders from business, government and the social sector to plan for transitions in healthcare, retirement planning, caregiving and more. Together with our lead content collaborator, the Stanford Center on Longevity, and other leading universities, think tanks and media organizations, our goal is to cultivate a new awareness of the longevity challenge and support change so that people around the world can live healthy, secure and fulfilled lives.
Recent news from the Longevity Project…
Healthy Aging is back!
The Healthy Aging Conference is back! Join us on May 5th at Stanford University and virtually for Healthy Aging 2025: Mind and Body.
More and more people have the chance of living into their 80s, 90s and even beyond, but how do you maximize the opportunities to live not just long, but in good health?
When it comes to healthy aging, it’s sometimes hard to separate fact from fiction, fad from science, advice of friends and family from the latest in evidence-based research. That’s where Healthy Aging 2025 comes in. We bring together some of the world’s leading experts on fitness and nutrition, sleep, social connection, health tech, and mindfulness at Stanford to share with you the best and latest research, ideas and tips.
Learn more about our confirmed speakers and secure your spot now by visiting our landing page. As always, we have in-person and virtual options.
GrandPeople: Third Act
Are you ready to join the movement of the “old and bold”? 💪
Third Act is a climate and democracy advocacy group that is comprised of some 70,000 volunteers in their “third act” of life. As a lifelong climate activist entering older adulthood, Bill McKibben dreamed up the idea of Third Act when he began to hear a troubling phrase time and time again: “it’s up to the younger generations.” According to Bill, “that seemed both unfair, and unrealistic.”
From staging a “Rocking Chair Rebellion” on Wall Street—urging big banks to divest from fossil fuels—to engaging celebrities like Norman Lear to use their platform to speak out, to creating hundreds of working groups nationwide, Third Act celebrates the experience, passion, and structural power of older generations to help bring forth the climate and political advocacy that the United States will ultimately need to thrive.
“As a generation we have unprecedented skills and resources that we can bring to bear. Washington and Wall Street have to listen when we speak, because we vote and because we have a large—maybe an overlarge—share of the country’s assets,” declares Third Act’s mission statement. “And many of us have kids and grandkids and great grandkids: we have, in other words, very real reasons to worry and to work.”
Check out this week’s GrandPeople video featuring Third Act founder Bill McKibben to learn more! And see how you can get involved in Third Act’s work here.
Season 7 of the award-winning podcast
“Century Lives”:
Century Lives: The 51%
Episodes 1-3 out now!
It’s a well-known fact that women live longer than men. But less well known is the fact that women live a larger percentage of their lives in poor health than men do. In Century Lives: The 51%, we explore the failures that have contributed to women’s health disadvantage for centuries: shortcomings in healthcare, research, education, policy, and social norms alike. And we tell the stories of the visionary leaders, doctors, and innovators working to level the playing field today.
The Longevity Book Club
Looking for the next great book on aging and longevity? Want to learn how to live a longer and healthier life? We’ve got the answers. Well not us, per se, but our fantastic lineup of authors sure do. Join us for The Longevity Book Club, featuring conversations with Dr. Marc Milstein, Margareta Magnusson, Myra Strober and Abby Davisson, with many more to come.
Next up…
A Conversation with Isabelle Hau, author of “Love To Learn", March 13th, 2025 @ 12 PM PT/3 PM ET
Three Not-So-Bad Things on Aging and Longevity
A weekly newsletter
Thank you for joining us at the first-ever Healthy Aging 50+ conference!
Click the video to watch Ken Stern and Dean Ornish’s conversation at the Healthy Aging 50+ Conference!
The Century Summit 2022
“What are the best predictors [of longevity]? We thought it was going to be their cholesterol level. We thought it was going to be their blood pressure. It turned out to be the quality of their relationships.”
Laura Carstensen, founding director of the Stanford Center on Longevity, chats with Bob Waldinger, Director of the Harvard Study of Adult Development, at the 2022 Century Summit. Along with Maria Shriver, Senator Tina Smith and others, Waldinger joined the conversation virtually.
Our Pillars
Longevity News
