«I assume that when I am 85 or 90 years old, it will not yet be possible to live significantly longer. Then cryonics is a choice you can theoretically make tomorrow. Knowing that it is currently impossible to say whether I will wake up again at some point.» Dr. Emil Kendziorra, Cryonicist
One year before the Voyagers take off, David Dunbas lands his only worldwide hit with a commercial in 1976: «When I wake up in the morning light…» But what would it actually be like to wake up in the morning light of a distant future? The «freezing» of space travelers is a popular topos of sci-fi in order to bridge the inhumanly large distances of deep space. So when will this finally be happening?!
Dr. Emil Kendziorra is the founder and CEO of the Berlin start-up Tomorrow Biostasis. The company offers to preserve you after your death. Head only or whole body. Cryonics seems to be a desirable offer for humans who do not want to accept their first death – there are several hundred people on the waiting list. However, it is far from clear whether research will find a solution for safely thawing these bodies in the future. And who it will be that wakes up there.
We talked to Emil about exactly how the procedure works and clarified the question of whether we actually talk about «living on» or «re-living» in the field of cryonics. And incidentally discovered great job prospects in the future for all career changers: Welcome classes for the newly defrosted!
The conversation took place in German.
Further links to topics of the dialogue
Hendrik Otremba – Kachelbads Erbe (book)
Liu Cixin – Trisolaris-Trilogie (book)
Links to streaming platforms
Welcome to THE GOLDEN RECORD STUDIOS – It’s high time for a new world selfie! 45 years ago, NASA sent its «Golden Records» into the depths of space in the hope that distant intelligences would be able to get an idea of humanity this way. Back then, a small group of Americans curated an embellished selfie for the entire Earth: Photos as if with a retro filter, music between European classical music and Azerbaijani bagpipes, as well as nature sounds in poor sound quality – our as yet unknown alien friends will get a pretty weird impression of us. Fortunately, since the 1970s, not only the view of the world, but also the view out of the world has changed significantly.
In our podcast series THE GOLDEN RECORD STUDIOS, exosociologists, anthropologists and other alien artists put their heads together with us for this experiment to produce new recordings: How do we want to be remembered? How do we welcome alien intelligences? Which colonial structures do we have to say goodbye to in order to secure the existence of the human species? And is freezing after death really the smartest way to travel into the future? THE GOLDEN RECORD STUDIOS are an open invitation to listen in and think along, infused with sounds and music. On the first level, we deal with various questions arising from the Golden Records project. But you soon realise that we are dealing with very contemporary and local issues via the figure of the alien or the message to space.
Hosts: Alexandra Lauck und Lukas Matthaei
Creative Producer: Fabian Kuehlein
Music: Chris Umney
Produced by matthaei&konsorten 2023