Let’s get spooky. Venture below Parisian streets and into the catacombs: hundreds of miles of subterranean tunnels housing millions of human skeletons, some fashioned into sculpture. Alie tracked down Dr. Erin-Marie Legacey – author of “Making Space for the Dead,” professor of French history and one of the world’s foremost experts on this eerie place. We chat about everything from miasmas to sinkholes, boggling cemetery history, smells, skulls, hidden chambers, (very) underground parties, and how we view our bodies post-life. Also: Alie takes a trip to see them herself.
Dr. Legacy’s book, “Making Space for the Dead: Catacombs, Cemeteries, and the Reimagining of Paris, 1780-1830” on Bookshop.org and Amazon
A donation went to: Planned Parenthood of Greater Texas
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Other episodes you may enjoy: Taphology (GRAVESITES), Osteology (SKELETONS/BODY FARMS), Thanatology (DEATH & DYING) Updated Encore, FIELD TRIP: I Go France, Desairology (MORTUARY MAKE-UP), Anthropodermic Biocodicology (HUMAN LEATHER BOOKS)
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Sound editing by Jarrett Sleeper of MindJam Media
Transcripts by Emily White of The Wordary
Website by Kelly R. Dwyer
Theme song by Nick Thorburn