The Death Studies Podcast

What's the episode about? In this episode, hear Professor Douglas Davies on thedevelopment of death studies, ‘words against death’, the ‘dividual’, religion, ‘sacred secrets’, the ‘opacity of the self’ and the ‘curated everything’, keeping a dream diaries since 1979, the over-optimism of posthumanism, wealth inequality, & the privilege of intellectuals as ‘people who think’.Who is Douglas?...

What's the episode about? In this episode, hear Dr Jessica Young on assisteddying, the New Zealand End of Life Choice Bill, culturally responsive research, end of life care and decision making, and sociological approaches.Who is Jessica?Dr Jessica Young is a Senior Research Fellow at Victoria University of Wellington and the University of Auckland, and an adjunct senior lecturer in the Australian...

What's the episode about?In this episode, get an overview of the 2025 Death, Dying and Disposal Conference held in Utrecht in the Netherlands What was the conference about? The below information was taken from the conference website.'Death is political and performs the political. This is evident not only in death itself, but also in the dead (who can become political actors), their bodies, the...

What's the episode about? In this episode, hear Kaylee Alexander discuss the digital humanities, being a research data librarian, visual culture, cemeteries, French cemetery laws, cemetery sculpture, ethically sound data visualisation and survival bias Who is Kaylee?Dr. Kaylee P. Alexander is a Research Data Librarian at the University of Utah’s J. Willard Marriott Library. She holds a Ph.D. in...

What's the episode about?In this episode, hear Patricia MacCormack on philosophy, death activism, veganism, antinatalism, necrosexuality, the Anthropocene, dudebros in academia, and a loving and vitalist relationship to deathWho is Patricia?Professor Patricia MacCormack is Professor of Continental Philosophy. She is the author of Cinesexuality (Routledge2008) and Posthuman Ethics (Routledge 2012)...

What's the episode about?In this episode, hear Dr. Terri Daniel on toxic theology, healthy theology, complicated grief, being a non-religious chaplain, hospice and loss.Who is Terri?Dr. Terri Daniel is an inter-spiritual hospice chaplain, end-of-life educator, and grief counselor certified in death, dying and bereavement by the Association of Death Education and Counseling and in family-focused...

What's the episode about? In this episode, hear Sydney Campbell on Medical Assistance in Dying for mature minors, children’s participation, policy, assisted dying, childism, participatory research and end-of-life contexts Who is Sydney? Dr. Sydney Campbell is a Postdoctoral Fellow in the Faculty of Medicine at Dalhousie University. She completed her PhD in the Institute of Health Policy,...

What's the episode about?In this episode, hear Claire Nally on literature, Goth, Steampunk, death memoirs, representations of dead women, death positive libraries & working in academiaWho is Claire? Claire Nally is Professor of Modern and Contemporary Literature at Northumbria University, UK, where sheresearches Irish Studies, Neo-Victorianism, Gender and Subcultures. She published her first...

What's the episode about?In this episode, get an overview of the 2025 Edited Collection Death and Institutions: Processes, Places and the Past What is the Book About?Institutions play a crucial role in shaping experiences of end-of-life care, dying, death, body disposal and bereavement. However, there has been little holistic or multidisciplinary research in this area, with studies typically...

What's the episode about?In this episode, hear highlights from the 7th International Symposium of the Death Online Research Network (DORS#7) and Tamara Kneese on digital death, genAI, ethics, moving from academia to the private sector, data, society & collective actionWhat was DORS#7?The 7th International Symposium of the Death Online ResearchNetwork (DORS#7) on October 3rd–5th, 2024 was...