Elizabeth looks into how she can make her dream a reality and become a tree after she dies.

References:

The Appalachian Son Instagram reel that started this journey

Return Home Terramation responds to Steve-O

Australian Academy of Science, "Deadly secrets—the science of decomposition"

⁠⁠New Scientist article, "Grave soil whispers time of death tip-off"⁠⁠

TW: Pics of deceased pig ⁠Wiki page on decomposition and its stages⁠

TikTok about Transcend

TikTok from Transcend explaining their process

Welcome to season 4!

In this episode we briefly catch up on what's been happening in our lives since last year, followed by Phoebe talking about the three cemeteries she visited over the summer: Zion Chapel of Ease Cemetery in Hilton Head, SC; the Illinois State Training School cemetery in Geneva, IL; and Forest Home Cemetery in Forest Park, IL.

References:

Heritage Library site about Zion Chapel of Ease

Southern Gothic Podcast about the Baynard Mausoleum

Atlas Obscura page for the Illinois State Training School Cemetery

Cherie Bombell’s Blog about the Illinois State Training School

More details about “Radical Row” at Forest Home Cemetery

Website of the Illinois Labor History Society

Here we come with a 4th season of Communist Plot! We're launching a Patreon for this season AND a Ko-fi shop! For $3 you get a bonus mini-episode each week in October and a discount code for the shop. Both will launch October 1st. And new episodes start on October 4th!

Patreon @ patreon.com/CommunistPlot

Ko-fi @ ko-fi.com/communistplot

In our final episode of the season we cover some more Appalachian death customs and superstitions. Then Elizabeth tells us about all the horror movies she's watched (as of October 28th).

Thanks for listening to us ramble for another season! We might come at you with some random mini-episodes here and there. Be sure to follow our Instagram account so you don't miss a single compelling moment!

References:

Sitting Up With the Dead: Lost Appalachian Burial Customs

Death Superstitions and Traditions in Appalachia

We hope everyone had a great Halloween!

This is our next to the last episode, where we start our discussion of Appalachian death customs. Enjoy!

References/Further Reading

Burial Practices in Southern Appalachia by Donna W. Stansberry

How To Create a Family Cemetery: A Step By Step Guide

I'm flying solo with this episode about three area cemeteries I've been to and a few interesting historical figures buried in each one! The three cemeteries are Madronia Cemetery (I keep saying "Madrona" in the episode), Santa Clara Mission Cemetery, and Oak Hill Memorial Park.

Here’s the link to the gofundme I’m running for Elizabeth.

Some further reading:

Pushing Up Daisies: Why Grave Gardening Should be the Latest Gardening Trend

In this episode we discuss the need for alternative burial options and take a look at a few green burial options including human composting, aquamation, and natural burial.

The sound quality on this one is not fantastic and we go majorly off topic in the last 20 minutes, so there’s a lot to look forward to in this episode!

Articles mentioned/further reading:

COVID-19 is overcrowding cemeteries and causing heavy metal pollution

The funeral industry turns people into toxic waste. California needs green burial options

Could Water Cremation Become the New American Way of Death?

Larkspur Conservation

Part II of our exploration of goth origins gets into the history of the term "goth" and brings us up through the ages to the birth of the contemporary goth subculture. 

Elizabeth would like to direct you to The Ghoul Guides for more in depth goth history and information.

If you aren't following us on Instagram yet please do! I'm going to be posting some pics to go along with our episodes and pulling some cemetery shots from the archives for y'all.

To start off our new season we're talking about our own goth origin stories. There is a lot of death talk in this one (my dad passed away earlier this year and we talk about that a bit), though nothing graphic, but skip if you need to. 

I foolishly thought this wasn't going to be a two parter but Elizabeth called it. Next week's part II will be about the goth subculture's origins.

Get hyped! A new season of Communist Plot is coming soon!

I'll have a new episode edited and coming at your ears this Wednesday (if I remember how to edit audio files)!