Prospect Podcast

Devi Sridhar: How to live to 100

Devi Sridhar reflects on what we have failed to learn from Covid, and why policy matters more than individual health choices

June 04, 2025
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Everyone wants to live a long and healthy life—so what’s the best way to do it?

This week, Ellen and Alona are joined by Devi Sridhar, professor of global public health at Edinburgh University and personal trainer, whose new book, How Not to Die (Too Soon), is a guide to living longer and better, and challenges everything we think we know about personal health.

Devi argues that air quality, access to healthcare, and innovations in public policy matter more than supplements or step counts. She also discusses why life expectancy is falling, and reacts to the rise of anti-science voices like Robert F Kennedy Jr.

Five years after the pandemic upended our lives, Devi reflects on what we have failed to learn from that public health crisis—and why universal health coverage, tackling inequality, and climate resilience must be at the heart of how we rethink health.

Plus, Ellen and Alona discuss wellness influencers: “banger” or “dud”?

‘How Not to Die (Too Soon): The Lies We’ve Been Sold and the Policies That Can Save Us’ is available now