Playwright Naomi Westerman was an anthropology graduate student studying death rituals around the world when her whole family died, turning the end of lives from an academic pursuit into something deeply personal. She became fascinated by the concept of loss and grief, the multiple ways we experience it across cultures, history, and art.
Happy Death Club: Es ... Show More
Apr 2025
Amy Zhang, "Circular Ecologies: Environmentalism and Waste Politics in Urban China" (Stanford UP, 2024)
After four decades of reform and development, China is confronting a domestic waste crisis. As the world's largest waste-generating nation, the World Economic Forum projects that by 2030, the volume of household waste in China will be double that of the United States. Starting in ... Show More
1h 7m
Sep 15
Tom Hulme, "Belfastmen: An Intimate History of Life Before Gay Liberation" (Cornell UP, 2026)
Professor Tom Hulme's second book reconstructs the erotic and romantic lives of queer men in Belfast across roughly seventy years, from the recriminalisation of sex between men in the 1880s to the emergence of a mainstream public debate about homosexuality in the 1950s. It follow ... Show More
48m 1s
May 2026
Arely M. Zimmerman, "Contentious Citizenship: Salvadoran Activism and Belonging Across Borders" (U Arizona Press, 2026)
Contentious Citizenship: Salvadoran Activism and Belonging Across Borders (U Arizona Press, 2026) reshapes how we understand belonging, identity, and political participation in the context of migration. Drawing on decades of Salvadoran activism from the 1980s solidarity movement ... Show More
23m 24s
Mar 2024
A Journey Through Death with Joanna Ebenstein
<p>Friend of the show Joanna Ebenstein tells us about her enduring fascination with death, how it led her to create the Morbid Anatomy Museum and, after some setbacks, why she eventually settled on her new home of Mexico City.</p><p><strong>READ MORE IN THE ATLAS:</strong> If you ... Show More
15m 35s
Aug 2021
"Tía Abuela's Face, Ten Ways" by Lisa M. Bradley
An anthropologist copes with the passing of her beloved tía abuela, experimenting with her own method of honoring her. This story was first published in SPECULATIVE FICTION FOR DREAMERS. Content advisory: Death, surgery Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.co ... Show More
34m 49s
Sep 2024
Exploration of Life, Love, and Grief
Brittani Ard shares her interview on Peaceful Exit, a podcast about death, dying, and grief. Brittani and host Sarah Cavanaugh discuss how grief and loss shaped who she is and how she views the world. They also dive into the power of sharing personal narrative on the path to heal ... Show More
45m 48s
Mar 2023
Checking Out: The Industry That Takes Care Of The Dead
Ever since she was a young child, journalist Hayley Campbell has been fascinated by death. It's the theme of her new book, All the Living and the Dead: An Exploration of the People Who Make Death Their Life’s Work, which has been acclaimed by the likes of Neil Gaiman, Nigella Law ... Show More
48m 45s
Jun 2021
How to support yourself (and others) through grief | Nina Westbrook
In big and small ways, we all experience loss: whether it’s the passing of a loved one, the close of a career or even the end of a dream. Explaining how to process many types of sorrow, marriage and family therapist Nina Westbrook highlights the importance of grief as a natural e ... Show More
7m 13s
Apr 2019
The Order Of The Good Death w/ Caitlin Doughty
What consists of a good death? According to Caitlin Doughty, It is staring down your death fears—whether it be your own death, the death of those you love, the pain of dying, the afterlife (or lack thereof), grief, corpses, bodily decomposition, or all of the above. Accepting tha ... Show More
1h 6m