Life Beyond Blueprint - EP 30 Bryan Johnson

**Ashlee Vance** (0:00)
I am breaking my rule, because lots of people want to talk about your penis.

**Bryan Johnson** (0:04)
No, they don't.

**Ashlee Vance** (0:08)
I'm starting with the penis, but I think I'm starting with it in a different way.
Well, I feel like you need no introduction. We're here with Bryan Johnson. If anyone is, especially my audience, and then anyone on the internet, I suspect has heard of you.

**Bryan Johnson** (0:40)
You created this problem.

**Ashlee Vance** (0:41)
No, no, well, we teamed up, but you did by far the live share.

**Bryan Johnson** (0:46)
If you have too much Bryan Johnson in your life, Ashlee Vance is to blame. I'm sorry.

**Ashlee Vance** (0:52)
I'm okay with that. But that's kinda where I thought we'd get into a little bit on the show today, because I feel like you've... I don't say this in a horrible way. I mean, it's the interviewer's thing, but I feel like you've done the same interview a thousand times, because everybody comes in and they're like, what's Don't Die? Oh my God. You wanna reverse your age? What are you, a freak?
And then it goes on the sort of similar trajectory. And we've had this, we've had probably the most unique relationship, I think, of all the reporters who've written on you. So I thought that's kind of where we'd hang out today. I think some of it, if I'm getting anywhere too touchy, let me know, just cause I know your family and like I've been where you grew up.

**Bryan Johnson** (1:33)
We, Ashlee, you and I have gone everywhere. I'd say it's all on, like, don't hesitate, let's do it all.

**Ashlee Vance** (1:42)
All right, well, we'll jump in. I am, I'm breaking my rule because lots of people want to talk about your penis.

**Bryan Johnson** (1:49)
No, they don't.

**Ashlee Vance** (1:53)
I'm starting with the penis, but I think I'm starting with it in a different way.
Which is, okay, so we made a, you were the star of this film, Don't Die, that I made with the director Chris Smith, who's amazing and obviously you and Kate Tolo, who's here, your team.
But there's a moment in this movie where you talk about, right before I wrote this one big story about you, I was doing some fact checking and one of the fact checking items was this erection monitoring device. And then I remember you were like, are you going to put that in the story? I was like, yeah, of course I'm going to put that in the story. I'm not even sure that's the most outrageous thing of the story. And you'd always been pretty open, but I feel like there was this, I could sense there was a little trepidation. You'd been doing this blueprint program, and this was the first time you'd really just let all your cards on the table and let everything you did. And so I could sense there was a little, I don't think it was like, I don't know, I would be in the same position. It's like, I just told this reporter all the stuff, God knows what comes out on the other end. And in the movie, we talk about this a little bit. I don't know that we got in, I don't think the movie gets into the penis of it all. I think it was more just that the story was coming out. But, okay, so here's my question is-

**Bryan Johnson** (3:15)
I can't wait. I can't wait to hear the question.

**Ashlee Vance** (3:19)
So you had this trepidation about me mentioning this erection monitoring device, and then the next day, it was like, you kind of saw how people reacted to it, and then I was actually blown away, which was that you embraced this, and now, I don't know, it's what, like two or three years since then, and people bring it up all the time, but you also post about all these different things you do. So what flipped in your, how did you make that flip so quickly that I'm gonna go from being a little nervous about, it was, I was like, I was just in shock that you just, right away, you 180'd it. Yeah.

**Bryan Johnson** (3:59)
Yeah. What a, what an interesting perspective to hear you tell this. It takes me back because I've become so normalized to this now, but you're right.
When we first started talking, I was so nervous for our interview. I mean, when you came to the house, right, my face, now the photo people use of me to dunk on me where I'm blown up like a marshmallow.