Today In History... with The Retrospectors

The Cryogenic Rush Job

Listen on

Episode notes

Dr James Bedford became the first dead body to be cryogenically frozen on 12th January, 1967 - a day still commemorated in the ‘suspended animation’ community as Bedford Day.

But in this burgeoning (pseudo)science, there were plenty of preparations yet to be made. Which meant that the freezing team - lead not by scientists but enthusiasts - ran out of ice, and forgot to drain his blood.

In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly dive into the legal cases that sprang from this early period of cryogenic freezing; consider the psychological implications of being awoken from death, generations after your grandchildren have died; and propose a controversial solution for minimising future errors in the process…

Further Reading:

• ‘Cryonics: Will These Bodies Come Back From Death?’ (The Atlantic, 2019): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8YjrQVVSSbI

• ‘Cool dude James Bedford has been cryonically frozen for 50 years’ (CNET, 2017): https://www.cnet.com/news/cool-dude-james-bedford-has-been-cryonically-frozen-for-50-years/

Photo credit: Alcor

For bonus material and to support the show, visit Patreon.com/Retrospectors

We'll be back tomorrow! Follow us wherever you get your podcasts: podfollow.com/Retrospectors

The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill.

Theme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Edit Producer: Emma Corsham.

• ‘Evaluation of the Condition of Dr. James H. Bedford After 24 Years of Cryonic Suspension’ (Alcor, 1991): https://www.alcor.org/library/bedford-condition/

#60s #Person #Science #Strange #Macabre #UK

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.