Ben Zand to examine biohacking and de-transitioning in five part series

Biohacking and young men embracing female identities to make their lives easier are among the topics being examined by Zandland for Channel 4.

Oli London with Ben Zand and Alex Reid

Five-part series Life Uncovered will air on C4’s Youtube Documentaries page. It follows filmmaker Ben Zand as he immerses himself in unconventional lifestyles to understand why some people choose to live the way they do and how others react. 

In episode one, Zand meets London, a white man who is best known for spending more than £200,000 on plastic surgery to transition into a Korean woman. Having de-transitioned, London now focuses on speaking out against gender reassignment surgeries and has become a right-wing commentator on US talk shows.  

In other episodes, Zand will meet a biohacker attempting to live forever by increasingly extreme means and a person who practices ‘transmaxxing’, which is when young men embrace female identities, not because they identify as a woman but because they think it will improve their lives. The presenter and producer will also meet with people opting to donate sperm via physical donation.  

Life Uncovered was commissioned by Laura Marks, senior digital commissioning editor. It is exec produced by Zand and Josh Reynolds for Zandland.  

Marks said: “Life Uncovered offers an impartial and unparalleled look under the skin of some of the most hidden communities in modern society, driving conversations that are rarely had. Bold and deeply thought-provoking, we hope each film will encourage viewers to shape their own opinions as well as scrutinise the societal norms that inform their own life decisions.” 

Zand added: “The series sets out to find the nuance that’s sometimes missed in hot-button issues and to have conversations in a way that will make the audience think differently. The result is a series that’s educational, entertaining and avoids being judgmental or overly opinionated.” 

The first episode will be available to watch from 5pm on Monday 11 December on C4’s Youtube Documentaries page. 

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