now we are joined by helen benedict, who is the author of "the lonely soldier." professor benedict, you start your book out a quote by martha gilford. war happens to people one by one. what does that mean? >> guest: i was struck by that vote. i was following the war home to the heart of every individual fighter. i am quoting from dh lawrence. it does affect every single individual involved in it, whether they be soldiers or civilians. it is a monster that reaches deep inside every single person. it turns our lives upside down, and i thought it was a very apt quote. >> host: how many women served in the iraq war? >> guest: about 200,000, actually over two hundred thousand. >> host: is that unusual? >> guest: yes, the iraq war, in particular, set a precedent. more women served and have been wounded and killed in the iraq war. by around 2005, two years into the war, then all the american wars put together since world war ii, including afghanistan. so it was a huge difference. one in every 10 troops in iraq was a woman. >> host: did they serve in different capacities

helen benedict from colombia university. >>host: niara please to be joined by jonathan leader who has won the national book critics circle award. his most recent is long for this world. who was aubrey? >> aubrey de gray became a computer scientist to develop the idea we might live in essentially forever zero were 10,000 years. and the more time i spent with de gray i found some of his ideas about longevity to take seriously and listen to. he argues a change should be viewed something we can study or understand and perhaps fight effectively and weekend do more about aging now than we ever could before. that is what the consensus is about although extremely controversial, most people in the field of gerontology aging is something we can control better than we do now that is the news we're looking for her age years and de gray is as good as that as anybody on the planet. >>host: how have way manipulated our ability? >> the success enjoyed right now we're aging more slowly than appearance or grandparents. that is benefits of ove