About the Episode

A thoroughly interesting and enlightening conversation about the possibilities, expectations and choices in a modern funeral.

Carrie Weekes is one half of the A Natural Undertaking, funeral directors in Kings Heath, Birmingham. Carrie and Fran founded the business together on the principal ‘that choice and the power to take greater control are important  when saying our final farewells’. You can find out more about them at their website: https://www.anaturalundertaking.co.uk.

You can also find the links below to the resources that Carrie mentioned in our chat:

The Natural Death Centre - http://www.naturaldeath.org.uk/

The Natural Death Handbook - http://www.naturaldeath.org.uk/index.php?page=book-shop

The Good Funeral Guide - https://www.goodfuneralguide.co.uk/

About the Podcast 

Exploring and improving our relationship with death through respectful enquiry.

Here you’ll find conversations with those who work with the dead and grieving, in addition to episodes examining death through a lens of history & the arts, folklore and food. 

We’ll take you from ancient funerary rituals to forensic anthropologists via green burials, disaster recovery and Persephone’s pomegranates. We hope the journey & stories will provide you with some of the knowledge and empathy you need to navigate this vast hidden world as well as shine a light on the kindness and tenderness displayed by those professionals who truly take care of our dead. 

Contact: ⁠A Question of Death

About the Episode

A fascinating conversation about Corpse Roads with the amazing Icy Sedgwick, folklore blogger and host of the Fabulous Folklore podcast.

You can also buy her wonderful book: Rebel Folklore: Empowering Tales of Spirits, Witches and Other Misfits from Anansi to Baba Yaga

About the Podcast 

Exploring and improving our relationship with death through respectful enquiry. Here you’ll find conversations with those who work with the dead and grieving, in addition to episodes examining death through a lens of history & the arts, folklore and food. 

We’ll take you from ancient funerary rituals to forensic anthropologists via green burials, disaster recovery and Persephone’s pomegranates. We hope the journey & stories will provide you with some of the knowledge and empathy you need to navigate this vast hidden world as well as shine a light on the kindness and tenderness displayed by those professionals who truly take care of our dead. 

Contact: A Question of Death

About the Episode

A wonderful warm conversation with Celebrant Ruth Graham who describes her role as: “an independent celebrant is free to conduct all kinds of services. From humanist (no religion whatsoever), through to a service with maybe a prayer or a hymn (or several), through to more spiritually-orientated content.”

Ruth is also the author of two books ‘A Thousand Goodbyes: The Surprising Life Of A Funeral Celebrant’ and Coffins & Confetti: (A Celebrant's Memoir Of Life, Loss & Love)

Ruth shares some wonderful memories and the valuable role a good celebrant can play in creating a wonderfully recognisablely rounded picture of the person being memorialised, often with little material to work from.

You can find Ruth at her website: https://www.westmidscelebrant.co.uk/

About the Podcast 

Exploring and improving our relationship with death through respectful enquiry. Here you’ll find conversations with those who work with the dead and grieving, in addition to episodes examining death through a lens of history & the arts, folklore and food. 

We’ll take you from ancient funerary rituals to forensic anthropologists via green burials, disaster recovery and Persephone’s pomegranates. We hope the journey & stories will provide you with some of the knowledge and empathy you need to navigate this vast hidden world as well as shine a light on the kindness and tenderness displayed by those professionals who truly take care of our dead. 

Contact: https://linktr.ee/aquestionofdeath

About the Episode

A conversation with Ashley-Anne Masters. We spoke about Food, Funerals and Mourning in the Deep South of America which is well known for its traditions and rituals around food and funerals. We discussed food and humour and how both can bring us together and help us in moments of grief and pain.

Ashley Anne is a wonderfully warm, incredibly kind human being and I cannot thank her enough for taking the time to share thoughts, experiences and memories with me.

You can find more about Ashley-Anne on Instagram or on her blog.

About the Podcast

Exploring and improving our relationship with death through respectful enquiry. Here you’ll find conversations with those who work with the dead and grieving, in addition to episodes examining death through a lens of history & the arts, folklore and food. 

We’ll take you from ancient funerary rituals to forensic anthropologists via green burials, disaster recovery and Persephone’s pomegranates. We hope the journey & stories will provide you with some of the knowledge and empathy you need to navigate this vast hidden world as well as shine a light on the kindness and tenderness displayed by those professionals who truly take care of our dead. 

Contact: https://linktr.ee/aquestionofdeath

First Episode out Monday 11 March - Subscribe Now

Exploring and improving our relationship with death through respectful enquiry. Here you’ll find conversations with those who work with the dead and grieving, in addition to episodes examining death through a lens of history & the arts, folklore and food. 

We’ll take you from ancient funerary rituals to forensic anthropologists via green burials and Persephone’s pomegranates. We hope the journey & stories will provide you with some of the knowledge and empathy you need to navigate this vast hidden world as well as shine a light on the kindness and tenderness displayed by those professionals who truly take care of our dead.