When we think of aging, we typically think of human aging, but the biological processes that cause cellular damage are shared by many species. Few people have investigated the biology of aging across the animal kingdom as deeply as researcher and author Steve Austad. In our first episode, Steve and host Gordon Lithgow explore some fundamental questions: What makes some animals live longer than others? What can we learn from other species to age better? And why do we age at all in the first place?