This is an eight-part series examining why life expectancy doubled in the past 150 years. The first story examines public health initiatives that contributed to an increase in average life expectancy before about 1950. The second story is about how increased life expectancy changed human society. The third is about death in childbirth and the fight to this day between doctors and midwives. The fourth is a quirky list of surprising innovations that increased life expectancy. The fifth looks at more recent medical advances that have increased lifespan since 1950 and examines the debate about whether lifespan will continue to increase. An interactive game allows people to go back to a certain year in time, spin the wheel of fate, and see how they likely would have died in that year. A video story presents song/comedy routine send-up of mindless alternative medicine. Finally, the series ends with a collection of readers’ emails and Twitter messages about why they aren’t dead yet.
