10/10/2014

Atul Gawande: On Being Mortal

27:42 minutes

Modern medicine has extended our lives, but is it helping us to live better in terms of aging and dying? In his new book Being Mortal: Medicine and What Matters in the End (read an excerpt here), surgeon Atul Gawande says that we have medicalized aging. Gawande examines how we can improve end-of-life care, from developing better nursing homes to holding honest conversations in the doctor’s office.

Segment Guests

Atul Gawande

Atul Gawande is author of Being Mortal: Medicine and What Matters in the End (Metropolitan Books, 2014) and surgeon at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, Massachusetts.

Heard on the Air

Read an excerpt from Being Mortal.

Meet the Producer

About Alexa Lim

Alexa Lim was a senior producer for Science Friday. Her favorite stories involve space, sound, and strange animal discoveries.

Explore More

Facing Mortality, As a Doctor

An excerpt from "Being Mortal."

Read More