Cryonics | Immortality On Ice | S48-E1

American Innovations

Wondery

Steven Johnson, History, Kids & Family, Education For Kids, Science

4.6 • 4.1K Ratings

🗓️ 17 June 2021

⏱️ 42 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Not everyone chooses burial or cremation after death. Some believe in cryonics, freezing their bodies in the hopes of being reanimated sometime in the future. Bob Nelson, a TV repairman with no scientific background, made history when he froze the first human being. But as Nelson would discover, freezing someone is easy; keeping them frozen is a lot harder.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	You're listening to an episode of a Wondery Plus exclusive series.
0:03.6	To continue listening, join Wondery Plus and enjoy Ad Free Listening to over 40,000 episodes,
0:08.9	early access to your favorite podcasts and more.
0:11.6	Find Wondery Plus in the Wunderie app or on Apple Podcasts. Los Angeles, California, 1967.
0:25.0	30-year-old Bob Nelson stands inside a phone booth, nervously running a hand through his thinning hair.
0:35.2	Nelson has a problem, and when he does, his first call is usually to the most trustworthy person he knows,
0:42.2	his pot-smoking, hippie friend, and sometimes secretary, Sandra Stanley.
0:47.0	Hello?
0:48.0	Hey, it's me. I need a favor.
0:51.0	I know I've asked you to store some pretty weird things at your home in the past couple of years,
0:56.4	but this one's going to be the weirdest."
0:59.3	Sandra groans before Nelson can get his next words out. She already knows the nature of his request.
1:05.4	Oh no, no, come on Bob. I'm in a real fix here, and it's just temporary. Can I count on you?
1:12.3	Fine, but I want to raise.
1:14.0	We'll talk.
1:15.0	Bob!
1:16.0	With a help of an assistant,
1:18.0	Nelson loads an enormous wooden container
1:20.0	into the back of his Ford-Ranchero pickup truck and secures it with heavy rope.
1:25.0	His secretary has every reason to be concerned.
1:28.0	Inside the container is the body of Dr. James Bedford, the first human being in history to be cryonically frozen after death.
1:38.0	Elson's original plans for storing Dr. Bedford have fallen through.
	...

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