Conversations on Death

Megan Miller, PhD, RN (she/they) is a Registered Nurse and a faculty member in the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Nursing. Megan’s work focuses on providing holistic, compassionate, and equitable palliative and supportive care. Her research examines the role of spirituality in supporting management of common cancer-related symptoms, and explores equitable, human-centered approaches to psilocybin-assisted therapy in the context of serious illness. She is the founder of the Creative Dying Project, a Death Café facilitator and a recent grad of the California Institute of Integral Studies Certificate in Psychedelic-Assisted Therapies and Research program.

We chat about palliative care; psychedelic-assisted therapy as a supportive tool for facing illness, death, and grief; her preparation in working on a project (Creative Dying) to build a dying center where psychedelic therapy and other integrative therapies can be offered; and lastly, we chat about a conversation game about death that she co-created/launched.

*Episode recorded in 2022*
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Connect with Megan!

Website: https://sites.google.com/view/megan-miller-phd-rn/home
Creative Dying Game: https://www.creativedying.org/game
Creative Dying Project: https://www.creativedying.org/
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Get in touch!

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/conversationsondeathpodcast/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/conversationsondeath/
Email: [email protected]

Check out Fiama Lore, my brand & web design studio for disruptors in sex-positive and death-positive spaces 🖤

Dr. Elaine Kasket is an expert on technology’s role within our work, individual psychology, and relationships. In a tech-dominated world, she helps her audiences and clients centre their humanity, nurture their connections with others, and maximize mindful, values-aligned personal and relational agency. She's a leading cyberpsychologist, inspiring keynote speaker, effective psychological/transformational coach, and seasoned storyteller.

On this episode we dive into what our digital footprint is, the implications of having such a thing, its ethical concerns, and what we can do take back control of our data. 

Elaine is the author of All the Ghosts in the Machine: The Digital Afterlife of Your Personal Data (Robinson, 2019), in which she argues that what happens to our data when we die is the perfect lens for understanding the true power big tech wields over our information and our identities.

Her latest book is REBOOT: Reclaiming Your Life in a Tech-Obsessed World, in which Elaine explores how we can reclaim much of that power. At this juncture, with AI growing in strength and influence, Elaine explores how we can retain our fundamental humanity and nurture our relationships at every stage of life, and live more mindfully with and through technology.

*Episode recorded in 2021* 
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Connect with Elaine!

Website: https://www.elainekasket.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/elainekasketauthor/
Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/elainekasket
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@drelainekasket
LinkedIn: https://uk.linkedin.com/in/elaine-kasket
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/elainekasket
Coaching and Therapy Practice Website: https://www.drelainekasket.com
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Get in touch!

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/conversationsondeathpodcast/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/conversationsondeath/
Email: [email protected]

Check out Fiama Lore, my brand & web design studio for disruptors in sex-positive and death-positive spaces 🖤

Podcast is coming back in December looking fresh with a new branddd! Woooo!

Check out the new brand: https://www.instagram.com/conversationsondeath/

Check out my brand + web design stuffs: https://www.instagram.com/design.by.lorena/

Alsooo say hello! Hit me up and let me know what topics or which people you wanna hear next! :) 

Check out Fiama Lore, my brand & web design studio for disruptors in sex-positive and death-positive spaces 🖤

I shall return soon! Meanwhile, enjoy listening to episodes you haven't checked out yet! 

SHARE & LEAVE A REVIEW IF YOU DIG WHAT YOU HEARD! ;)

Kathy Benjamin is the author of Funerals to Die For: The Craziest, Creepiest, and Most Bizarre Funeral Traditions and Practices Ever and, her latest book, It's Your Funeral!: Plan the Celebration of a Lifetime -- Before It's Too Late. Kathy’s writing has received more than 100 million hits across some of the most popular humor and trivia websites in the world, including Mental Floss, Cracked, Grunge, The Smoking Jacket, and Uproxx. 

We talked about some of the gems found in her new book - the history of funerals, creative ideas for cremains, alkaline hydrolysis, cryonics, body donation, mummification, building your own coffin, renting a mourner, funeral crashers, unconventional funeral venues, and so much more! Make sure to check out her book for a fun, personalized way to help you put together your wishes while also learning about unique options outside the standard funeral, with a little humor sprinkled on top. Enjoy the episode! 

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Connect with Kathy!

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/kathythewriter
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kabenjamin18
Twitter: https://twitter.com/kathybenjamin

BUY HER BOOK HERE!
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Get in touch!

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/conversationsondeathpodcast/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/conversationsondeath/
Email: [email protected]

Check out Fiama Lore, my brand & web design studio for disruptors in sex-positive and death-positive spaces 🖤

George Deliopoulos has 30 years of experience in forensic investigations. He is certified in death investigations, homicide investigations, blood splatter, and drug and narcotics investigations among other things. George served as the Chief Deputy Coroner for 17 years in Indiana. Over his lengthy career, he processed over 3,500 death cases. 

In today’s episode we talked about his training, a day in the life of the Chief Deputy Coroner, challenges originating from the job, cases he was involved in, lessons learned from working with death in close proximity, as well as his new job - a flight attendant - and yes, we’re coworkers! Enjoy! 

Check out Fiama Lore, my brand & web design studio for disruptors in sex-positive and death-positive spaces 🖤

Dr. John Troyer is the Director of the Centre for Death and Society at the University of Bath. The Centre for Death & Society is the UK's only centre devoted to the study and research of social aspects of death, dying and bereavement. It provides a centre for the social study of death, dying and bereavement and acts as a catalyst and facilitator for research, education and training, policy development, media, and community awareness. He is a co-founder of the Death Reference Desk website, the Future Cemetery Project, and a frequent commentator for the BBC. His most recent book Technologies of the Human Corpse was published by The MIT Press in May 2020. 

We talked about the taboo of death, death movements in the 70s, embalming, cremation, technology & death, Facebook becoming the world’s biggest digital cemetery, the Black Mirror episode ‘Be Right Back’ and its implications, plastination, COVID, and the list goes on and on… such a fun and entertaining episode! Enjoy! 

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Connect with John!

Website: www.johntroyer.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/deathref

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Get in touch!

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/conversationsondeathpodcast/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/conversationsondeath/
Email: [email protected]

Check out Fiama Lore, my brand & web design studio for disruptors in sex-positive and death-positive spaces 🖤

Jessica Reis, also known as The Death Empath, a Death Doula who specializes in grief, loss, and shadow work. Jessica received her training through INELDA and has expansions in grief recovery, pregnancy/infancy loss, pet hospice and shadow work.

We talked about suicide ideation, her experience as an empath and downloads she receives, energetic and living deaths, dancing through emotions, and many different topics surrounding grief and grieving. Enjoy this delight of a human! 

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Connect with Jessica!

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/the.death.empath/
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Get in touch!

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/conversationsondeathpodcast/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/conversationsondeath/
Email: [email protected]

Check out Fiama Lore, my brand & web design studio for disruptors in sex-positive and death-positive spaces 🖤

Piero Calvi-Parisetti is a medical doctor, a long-time university
lecturer, and a member of the Society for Psychical Research and the International
Association for Near-Death Studies. His particular area of interest is applied
psychical research, that is the practical application of research findings, in
particular for the benefit of the bereaved and the dying. He has written four
books on these subjects, his latest being Step into the Light: Transform Your Fear of Death by Learning About Life After Life.

We discussed some of the evidence he has found of the afterlife: near-death experiences (NDEs), psychic communication, deathbed visions, reincarnation - and how gathering all this research has led him to rule out skeptics' explanations to conclude that there's indeed, undoubtedly, an afterlife. 

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Connect with Piero!

Website: https://www.drparisetti.com/

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Get in touch!

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/conversationsondeathpodcast/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/conversationsondeath/
Email: [email protected]

Check out Fiama Lore, my brand & web design studio for disruptors in sex-positive and death-positive spaces 🖤

Olivia Bareham, is a Death Midwife, Energy Healer, Ordained Interfaith Minister, Master Teacher and Founder of Sacred Crossings -The Institute for Conscious Dying and Alternative Funeral Home in Los Angeles. She holds a BA in Education from the University of London and a Bachelors in Natural Theology and Sacred Healing from the Healing Light Seminary in California. 

We talked about her long career as a death midwife, the history and implementation of current day home funerals, living funerals, and her lengthy offerings to help you prepare for death. 

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Connect with Olivia!

Website: http://www.sacredcrossings.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Sacred-Crossings-214677251959029

Instagram:  https://www.instagram.com/sacred_crossings/

Death Care Directive: http://deathcaredirective.com/

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Get in touch!

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/conversationsondeathpodcast/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/conversationsondeath/
Email: [email protected]

Check out Fiama Lore, my brand & web design studio for disruptors in sex-positive and death-positive spaces 🖤