What if science finally proved that there really is an afterlife?
And what if it also proved that not everyone gets to experience it?
That's the provocative premise behind Don Schechter's debut novel, Ascendants.
Set in 2060, the novel imagines a world transformed by a scientific discovery: certain people are genetically destined to experience an afterlife, while everyone else—the so-called "biomasses"—is condemned to oblivion.
Suddenly, the oldest human questions aren't questions of faith anymore.
They're questions of genetics.
Who gets to live forever?
Who gets left behind?
And what happens to a society when scientists can determine which people are destined for eternity?
At the center of Ascendants is a powerful research institute pushing the boundaries of consciousness and morality, along with three very different people caught in its web: the visionary scientist who began it all, a grieving husband whose beliefs are being tested, and a young woman struggling to understand the world she's inherited.
Today, Don Schechter joins us to talk about Ascendants, the future of humanity, the ethics of scientific discovery, and perhaps the most terrifying question of all:
If you knew who was destined for an afterlife—and who wasn't—would that knowledge bring humanity together, or tear it apart?
