In Episode 19 of The Final Word, Rob and Jordan dive into the strange and unsettling rise of AI “dead relative” apps, debating whether digital avatars of loved ones are a helpful grief tool or a dystopian step too far. They also unpack the bizarre story of a man who disguised himself as his deceased mother to collect her pension and the even darker discovery that followed. Finally, they explore a 23andMe family bombshell involving a $28.8 million malpractice settlement awarded after the sisters’ father died from a misdiagnosed aneurysm and a newly discovered half-sister who later surfaced asking for a share.

In this episode, acclaimed cartoonist and author Anders Nilsen joins to talk about how death and loss have shaped both his life and creative work. He reflects on losing his fiancée, Cheryl Weaver, to cancer and how that experience led to his books Don’t Go Where I Can’t Follow and The End. Anders shares how grief evolved from something deeply personal to a universal artistic theme, how his views on death and the afterlife have shifted over 20 years, and the power of art and music in healing.

Learn more about Anders and his work here.

On the anniversary of Ted Bundy’s execution, Obsessed With Death revisits the moment veteran correspondent John Koch witnessed his first execution in 1989, the death of Ted Bundy. Koch reflects on covering Bundy’s crimes and the events leading up to that night, and how experiencing his first execution at the center of such a notorious case shaped his approach to journalism.

The Final Word returns from hiatus with a new co-host, Jordan. In their first episode together, Rob and Jordan dive into death-related stories, including Jesse Eisenberg donating a kidney to a stranger, Julia Fox’s Jackie Kennedy costume, and why millennials in America are dying at higher rates than their peers abroad, while exploring why talking openly about death can be both comforting and strangely fun.

In this episode of Obsessed With Death, Rob sits down with creator Sidney Raz for a deeply honest and often darkly funny conversation about grief, mortality, and survival. Sidney opens up about losing all three of his parents before turning 30, the devastating loss of his daughter, and how that tragedy ultimately led to the discovery of a genetic mutation and an early stomach cancer diagnosis that saved his life.

In this episode, Jordan shares the remarkable story of discovering her late father’s handwritten Alcoholics Anonymous notes a decade after his death and how reading them on TikTok has built a community of connection, reflection, and healing in her own journey through sobriety.

In this episode of Obsessed with Death, Rob talks with Mary McGreevy, creator of Tips From Dead People, a social media project born from her lifelong fascination with obituaries. Mary shares how a childhood habit of clipping obits evolved into a viral exploration of how we live, die, and tell our stories.

From the Victorian terror of being buried alive to the rise of spiritualist séances, haunted science experiments, and Houdini’s crusade against fake mediums, this episode digs into the true and truly bizarre history behind our fascination with the dead. Happy Halloween!

In this episode of Obsessed With Death, Rob talks with author and artist FREAKBAiT about how mortality fuels creativity, using death as motivation, balancing humor with darker themes, psychedelic experiences, and the idea of leaving behind unfinished work to be shared after death.

Bestselling author Mary Roach joins Obsessed With Death to talk about her new book Replaceable You, the fears of aging vs. dying, what it’s like to step inside a 1950s iron lung, and why she originally fought against the now iconic toe-tag cover of Stiff.