Play This At My Funeral

💐 Episode Summary

When music isn’t your life, but food drives everything, how do you create a set of songs that mean something to you? In this episode, food influencer and film producer Jeremy Jacobowitz shares his funeral playlist (light on the funeral, heavy on the playlist). We talk about controversial music artists, middle school memories, angsty teenage boyhood, and some live music experiences that have shaped Jeremy’s life. 

💿 Songs Mentioned

1. ​“Coloratura” by Coldplay
2. ​“Daylight” by Coldplay
3. ​“I’ll be Missing You” by Diddy, 112, and Faith Evans 
4. ​“Coldest Winter” by Kanye West
5. ​“Unwell” by Matchbox Twenty
6. ​“All Night Days” by Rob Thomas
7. ​“Bodies” by Drowning Pool
8. ​“99 Problems” by Jay-Z and Linkin Park (Note: From Collision Course not Hybrid Theory like we said on the episode)
9. ​“Hard Knock Life” by by Jay-Z
10. ​“I. The Worst Guys” by Childish Gambino
11. ​“Heartbeat” by Childish Gambino
12. ​“Nookie” by Limp Bizkit
13. ​“Over My Dead Body” by Drake

You can listen to Jeremy’s’s playlist on Spotify here:   https://open.spotify.com/playlist/6yGv6sqjfdYTMisTsdOawQ?si=GKSid_7aQB2giwTXAw-3dw&pi=8KtcbNDgSAK5j&nd=1&dlsi=8eac500876b94158 

The Grey Album by DJ Danger Mouse that Jeremy mentioned can be found on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ez_C1ECS0bk 

🎙 About the Guest

Jeremy Jacobowitz brings along his over 1 million followers on his food adventures all over the world. Whether that’s finding that hidden gem in NYC, the best omakase in Japan, or creating a fun recipe in his home kitchen studio, his audience is obsessed with all parts of his life. And there is good reason for that trust and admiration. That only has he had an online presence for nearly a decade, but he has worked in food TV as an assistant for Bobby Flay and as a producer for years, before moving fulltime to online content. Along with his daily videos on his own channels, he hosted and appeared on programs for Food Network, MSG Networks, Thrillist, Pix11 Morning News, Seamless, Disney World, the Yankees, and more! So whether it’s Food, Travel, Fitness, Cooking, Lifestyle, Cameras, Tech, and more, Jeremy has something to say and his audience is there to listen. 

*Host Dinah likes to describe Jeremy as a modern-day, Millennial Anthony Bourdain.  

🙏🏽 Thank You to Our Supporters

TremFit — Kara Tremel’s boutique online training experience helping every body feel strong, confident, and cared for.Second Home First — The hit podcast rethinking homeownership and wealth-building. What if your 401(k) came with a fire pit and a lake view?

🌹 About Play This At My FuneralPlay This At My Funeral is a deeply fun, slightly macabre, always heartwarming podcast about the songs that shape our lives — including the ones we’d play at our funerals. Each episode, Dinah invites a guest to curate their hypothetical send-off playlist and share the stories behind the music. Think Desert Island Discs meets Films To Be Buried With — with more vibes and fewer survival scenarios.

Created and hosted by Dinah Susan Alobeid. Edited and co-produced by Alice Marcondes.

💜 Stay ConnectedSubscribe wherever you listen to podcasts, leave a 5-star review, and share with someone building their own “funeral playlist.”

Follow on IG @PlayThisAtMyFuneralPodcast, TikTok @PlayThisAtMyFuneralPod, and Dinah @DinahSusanAlobeidWrites.

Watch the full video episodes on YouTube and join Dinah’s Substack community, Write, Dance, Repeat.

🎙 About the Host

Dinah Susan Alobeid is a writer, dancer, and VP of Communications & Content. Her writing appears in Porter House Review, Five on the Fifth, Reverie Literary Magazine, Spectrum Magazine, and more. She lives in New Jersey with her partner and their rambunctious toddler.

I hearby declare that I do not own the rights to any music or lyrics played during the recording of this podcast. All rights to the music and audio belong to their respective owner(s).

💐 Episode Summary

Host Dinah takes stock of season 1 of the pod and attempts to curate her own playlist with just 30, or maybe 40, songs. Themes of dance, family, and of course the 1990s makes this an especially fun one. 

💿 Songs Mentioned

1. “End of Beginning” by Djo

2. “Whenever, Wherever” by Shakira

3. “Brown Eyed Girl” by Van Morrison

4. Fairuz songs

5. “Dancing Queen” by ABBA

6. “Dancing in the Moonlight” by King Harvest (also Toploader version mentioned)

7. “Moon River” by Henry Mancini

8. “See Her Out (That’s Just Life)” by Francis and The Lights

9. “May I Have This Dance” by Francis and The Lights featuring Chance the Rapper

10. “A Sorta Fairytale” by Tori Amos

11. “What Was I Made For” by Billie Eilish

12. “Strike It Up” by Black Box

13. “Youth” by Daughter

14. “Hands” by Jewel

15. “I Know The End” by Phoebe Bridgers

16. “This Bitter Earth (On The Nature Of Daylight)” by Max Richter and Clyde Otis and Dinah Washington

17. “Spiegel am Spiegel” by Arvo Part

18. “How It Ends” by Devotchka

19. “Never Let Me Go” by Florence and The Machine

You can listen to the Play This At My Funeral x The 40 Portal Playlist here: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/7GdLxIDRIbhdfL4D0kmRno?si=n39QhKHpQYGfg6aZjtcdrQ   

🙏🏽 Thank You to Our SupportersHuge thanks to our show supporters:

TremFit — Kara Tremel’s boutique online training experience helping every body feel strong, confident, and cared for.Second Home First — The hit podcast rethinking homeownership and wealth-building. What if your 401(k) came with a fire pit and a lake view?

🌹 About Play This At My FuneralPlay This At My Funeral is a deeply fun, slightly macabre, always heartwarming podcast about the songs that shape our lives — including the ones we’d play at our funerals. Each episode, host Dinah invites a guest to curate their hypothetical send-off playlist and share the stories behind the music. Think Desert Island Discs meets Films To Be Buried With — with more vibes and fewer survival scenarios.

Created and hosted by Dinah Susan Alobeid. Edited and co-produced by Alice Marcondes.

💜 Stay ConnectedSubscribe wherever you listen to podcasts, leave a 5-star review, and share with someone building their own “funeral playlist.”

Follow on IG @PlayThisAtMyFuneralPodcast, TikTok @PlayThisAtMyFuneralPod, and Dinah @DinahSusanAlobeidWrites.

Watch the full video episodes on YouTube and join Dinah’s Substack community, Write, Dance, Repeat.

🎙 About the Host

Dinah Susan Alobeid is a writer, dancer, and VP of Communications & Content. Her writing appears in Porter House Review, Five on the Fifth, Reverie Literary Magazine, Spectrum Magazine, and more. She lives in New Jersey with her partner and their rambunctious toddler.

I hearby declare that I do not own the rights to any music or lyrics played during the recording of this podcast. All rights to the music and audio belong to their respective owner(s).

💐 Episode Summary

Surprise! I hope you enjoy this special bonus episode of host Dinah Susan Alobeid chatting about the music and ideal funeral playlist offerings in two of her favorite holiday movies – Love Actually and The Holiday. From Aretha Franklin and The Beatles to the constantly-mentioned-on-this-show Frou Frou, let’s dig into a festive examination of music that would feel right at a funeral from these two treasured holiday films. 

Note: Mentioned in the show is the late, great singer Lynden David Hall who appeared in the wedding surprise band scene at the beginning of Love Actually. 

💿 Songs Mentioned

1. “Christmas Is All Around” by Billy Mack

2. “All You Need Is Love” by The Beatles

3. “Both Sides Now” by Joni Mitchell

4. “God Only Knows” by The Beach Boys

5. “Bye Bye Baby” by The Bay City Rollers

6. “Here With Me” by Dido

7. “Mr. Brightside” by The Killers

8. “Let Go” by Frou Frou

9. “Just For Now” by Imogen Heap

10. “You Send Me” by Aretha Franklin

You can listen to the Love Actually and The Holiday playlists on Spotify here: 

• Love Actually: https://open.spotify.com/album/19RPbTaPIFbnAgjsjrmd6L

• The Holiday: https://open.spotify.com/album/1wJZSN3VrWTR8OcFJ4lp9I

🙏🏽Thank You to Our Supporters

TremFit: Discover Tremfit by Kara Tremel, a boutique online training experience designed to help every body feel strong, confident, and cared for. 

Second Home First: What if your 401(k) came with a fire pit and alake view? That’s the question behind the hit podcast, Second Home First, which explores an untraditional approach to homeownership and wealth-building. If you thought owning any home, let alone a ‘second’ home was out of reach, this is the show for you. 

🌹 About Play This At My Funeral

Play This At My Funeral is a deeply fun, slightly macabre, always heartwarming show about the songs that shape our lives — and the ones we’d play at our funerals. Each episode invites a guest to curate the playlist for their own (hypothetical) send-off and share the stories that made those songs matter. 

In each episode, host Dinah invites a guest on to talk through the soundtrack of their life: the songs that have held them in moments of anguish, haunted them on the regular, and maybe just maybe even saved them. It’s a cozy, 45-minute-ish journey through meaningful lyrics, vivid memories, and the emotional mixtapes that mark our most human moments.

Think Desert Island Discs meets Films To Be Buried With — but with more vibes and fewer survival scenarios.

The show is created and hosted by Dinah Susan Alobeid and is edited and co-produced by Alice Marcondes. 

💜 Stay Connected

• Subscribe to the show wherever you listen to podcasts

• Please leave a 5-star review and share with someone who’s quietly building their own “funeral playlist” (or should be!)

• You can follow the show on Instagram at @PlayThisAtMyFuneralPodcast and TikTok at @PlayThisAtMyFuneralPod and Dinah on IG @DinahSusanAlobeidWrites

• You can watch the podcast video episodes on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@WriteDanceRepeat/playlists 

• Stay in touch with Dinah by joining her Substack community at Write, Dance, Repeat

🎙 About the Host

Dinah Susan Alobeid is a writer, dancer, and VP of Communications & Content by day (not always in that order). She’s the creator and host of the  “Play This At My Funeral” podcast. Her fiction has appeared in Porter House Review, Five on the Fifth, and Reverie Literary Magazine and her nonfiction and poetry can be found in Spectrum Magazine, MediaPost, and more. She lives in New Jersey (even though she’s a born and bred New Yorker) with her partner and their rambunctious toddler. 

💐 Episode Summary

In our season 1 finale, Dinah and John bond over their mutual emotional depth, sharing the same birthday, and being weepy. The music choices will touch your heart and make you nostalgic for what was yet keep you hopeful about what can possibly be in the future. John doesn’t shy away from the deep grief and tragedy that have touched his life, and gives us all some much needed wisdom on what’s important and how to capture the joy in the every day moments. We’ll talk Billy Joel, Bette Midler, the soundtrack to “Coco” and so much more. 

💿 Songs Mentioned

1. “Summer, Highland Falls” by Billy Joel 

2. “One For My Baby (And One More For The Road)” by Bette Midler

3. “Closing Time” by Semisonic 

4. “Copperline” by James Taylor

5. “Times Of Your Life” by Paul Anka

6. “All I Want Is You” by U2

7. “Remember Me” by Gael Garcia Bernal

8. “The Freshman” by The Verve Pipe

9. “In My Life” by The Beatles

10. “It’s Such A Good Feeling” by Fred Rogers

11. “Time Of My Life” by Bill Medley and Jennifer Warnes

John's Playlist: https://tinyurl.com/537pwvfn

🎙 About the Guest

With over 30 years of experience in human resources, John remains deeply passionate about empowering individuals and organizations to achieve success. As a sought-after keynote speaker at both U.S. and international conferences, John delivers impactful insights on leadership, collaboration and innovation, employee success, organizational design and development, and diversity and inclusion. John’s expertise has been featured in The Wall Street Journal, Fast Company, and SHRM Publications, and he is a regular contributor to the Humareso Blog, where he shares thought leadership on HR trends and strategies. Additionally, he co-hosts the wildly popular LinkedIn Live webcast, “But First Coffee,” where he engages audiences with dynamic discussions on workplace culture and leadership.

Currently, John serves as the President of Humareso, a global human resource consulting firm dedicated to helping organizations align their people strategies with business goals. Beyond his professional accomplishments, John is proud to be the husband of one awesome wife and the father of three amazing young adults.

🙏🏽Thank You to Our Supporters

Major shoutout to our show’s supporters:

TremFit: Discover Tremfit by Kara Tremel, a boutique online training experience designed to help every body feel strong, confident, and cared for. 

Second Home First: What if your 401(k) came with a fire pit and alake view? That’s the question behind the hit podcast, Second Home First, which explores an untraditional approach to homeownership and wealth-building. If you thought owning any home, let alone a ‘second’ home was out of reach, this is the show for you. 

🌹 About Play This At My Funeral

Play This At My Funeral is a deeply fun, slightly macabre, always heartwarming show about the songs that shape our lives — and the ones we’d play at our funerals. Each episode invites a guest to curate the playlist for their own (hypothetical) send-off and share the stories that made those songs matter. 

Host Dinah and the guest talk through the soundtrack of their life: the songs that have held them in moments of anguish, haunted them on the regular, and maybe just maybe even saved them. It’s a cozy journey through meaningful lyrics, vivid memories, and the emotional mixtapes that mark our most human moments.

The show is created and hosted by Dinah Susan Alobeid and is edited and co-produced by Alice Marcondes. 

💜 Stay Connected

• Subscribe to the show wherever you listen to podcasts

• Please leave a 5-star review and share with someone who’s quietly building their own “funeral playlist” (or should be!)

• You can watch the podcast video episodes on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@WriteDanceRepeat/playlists 

💐 Episode Summary

A singer, pianist, guitarist, all around lover of all things musical, Laura Noelle bestows upon us nearly two dozen amazing music recommendations in the episode (to say nothing of her three amazing playlists she’s also sharing). When it comes to creating the mood and tone for a funeral playlist, no one has thought as long and as hard about this as Laura has. We’ll talk emo screamo memories, how certain songs encapsulate a decade perfectly, and we’ll hear the full gamut of artists and genres from Barbra Streisand to The Beatles, from Death Cab For Cutie to Jimmy Eat World.

💿 Songs Mentioned

1. “Do You Miss Me” by Jocelyn Enriquez

2. “I’d Do It All Again” by Corinne Bailey Rae

3. Songs from the Broadway Musical “Maybe Happy Ending”

4. “Bittersweet” by Lianne La Havas

5. “Courage” by Lianne La Havas

6. “Echo” by Incubus 

7. “Your Hands in Mine” by Explosions in the Sky

8. “Transatlanticism” by Death Can for Cutie 

9. “The Way We Were” by Barbra Streisand

10. “Yesterday” by The Beatles 

11. “Let Go” by Frou Frou

12. “Broke down - Parts 1 and 2” by The California Honeydrops 

13. “True Colors” by Cyndi Lauper (not on Laura’s list but mentioned)

14. “Cross Out The Eyes” by Thursday 

15. “Sweetness” by Jimmy Eat World

16. “Everything” by Mary J. Blige

17. “Everything to Nothing” by Manchester Orchestra

18. “Surprise Yourself” by Jack Garratt

19. “Angel Standing By” by Jewel  

20. “Hands” by Jewel

Laura's Funeral Playlist:

Laura’s Funeral Wildcard playlist

Laura’s What’s The Prettiest Song You’ve Ever Heard? Playlist

🎙 About the Guest

Laura Noelle is a multidisciplinary artist and musician based in Asbury Park, NJ. Outside of her day job as a marketer in tech, she loves discovering new music, going to shows, debating “shows” vs “concerts”, and exploring new places with her husband and their dog. She agonized writing this bio, too. Follow her on IG @lauran0elle

🙏🏽Thank You to Our Supporters

TremFit: Discover Tremfit by Kara Tremel, a boutique online training experience designed to help every body feel strong, confident, and cared for. 

Second Home First: What if your 401(k) came with a fire pit and alake view? That’s the question behind the hit podcast, Second Home First, which explores an untraditional approach to homeownership and wealth-building. If you thought owning any home, let alone a ‘second’ home was out of reach, this is the show for you. 

🌹 About Play This At My Funeral

Play This At My Funeral is a deeply fun, slightly macabre, always heartwarming show about the songs that shape our lives — and the ones we’d play at our funerals. Each episode invites a guest to curate the playlist for their own (hypothetical) send-off and share the stories that made those songs matter. 

Host Dinah and the guest talk through the soundtrack of their life: the songs that have held them in moments of anguish, haunted them on the regular, and maybe just maybe even saved them. It’s a cozy journey through meaningful lyrics, vivid memories, and the emotional mixtapes that mark our most human moments.

The show is created and hosted by Dinah Susan Alobeid and is edited and co-produced by Alice Marcondes. 

💜 Stay Connected

• Subscribe to the show wherever you listen to podcasts

• Please leave a 5-star review and share with someone who’s quietly building their own “funeral playlist” (or should be!)

• Follow the show:

  Instagram @PlayThisAtMyFuneralPodcast

  TikTok at @PlayThisAtMyFuneralPod

  Dinah on IG @DinahSusanAlobeidWrites

• You can watch the podcast video episodes on YouTube

• Stay in touch with Dinah by joining her Substack community at Write, Dance, Repeat

🎙 About the Host

Dinah Susan Alobeid is a writer, dancer, and VP of Communications & Content by day (not always in that order). Her fiction has appeared in Porter House Review, Five on the Fifth, and Reverie Literary Magazine and her nonfiction and poetry can be found in Spectrum Magazine, MediaPost, and more. She lives in New Jersey (even though she’s a born and bred New Yorker) with her partner and their rambunctious toddler. 

💐 Episode Summary

A departure from previous episodes, this week’s guest Nicki Izakson doles out plenty of musical theory lessons and gets into the reality of how to contend with the grief of losing one of the most important people in your lives and how to honor them with grace and integrity. Concert violinist and behavior analyst and special education teacher Nicki is a New Yorker with so much know-how. On violin, on Beethoven and Mozart, but also on what it means to be an authentic human who is true to themselves (especially when that human is a “basic classical b****”. This episode dives into how classical music tells a story that still resonates centuries later, which is no small feat. These are the real funeral classics that you won’t want to miss learning about and hearing.  

💿 Songs Mentioned

1. Beethoven’s Symphony 7 in A Major, Op. 92 in Allegretto

2. Mozart’s Requiem in D Minor

3. “Dancing Barefoot” by Patti Smith

4. “In The Aeroplane Over The Sea” by Neutral Milk Hotel

5. “We Belong” by Pat Benatar

6. “I Love Rock and Roll” by Joan Jett

You can listen to Nicki’s’s playlist on Spotify here: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0ZmHeGUs54Eotc3Q0DxxKS

🎙 About the Guest

Nicki Izakson is a board certified behavior analyst and special educator, as well as a violinist with the Brooklyn Symphony Orchestra. She lives in Brooklyn with her husband and daughter. 

🌹 About Play This At My Funeral

Play This At My Funeral is a deeply fun, slightly macabre, always heartwarming show about the songs that shape our lives — and the ones we’d play at our funerals. Each episode invites a guest to curate the playlist for their own (hypothetical) send-off and share the stories that made those songs matter. 

In each episode, host Dinah invites a guest on to talk through the soundtrack of their life: the songs that have held them in moments of anguish, haunted them on the regular, and maybe just maybe even saved them. It’s a cozy, 45-minute-ish journey through meaningful lyrics, vivid memories, and the emotional mixtapes that mark our most human moments.

Think Desert Island Discs meets Films To Be Buried With — but with more vibes and fewer survival scenarios.

The show is created and hosted by Dinah Susan Alobeid and is edited and co-produced by Alice Marcondes. 

💜 Stay Connected

• Subscribe to the show wherever you listen to podcasts

• Please leave a 5-star review and share with someone who’s quietly building their own “funeral playlist” (or should be!)

• You can follow the show on Instagram at @PlayThisAtMyFuneralPodcast and TikTok at @PlayThisAtMyFuneralPod and Dinah on IG @DinahSusanAlobeidWrites

• You can watch the podcast video episodes on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@WriteDanceRepeat/playlists 

• Stay in touch with Dinah by joining her Substack community at Write, Dance, Repeat

🎙 About the Host

Dinah Susan Alobeid is a writer, dancer, and VP of Communications & Content by day (not always in that order). She’s the creator and host of the newly launched “Play This At My Funeral” podcast. Her fiction has appeared in Porter House Review, Five on the Fifth, and Reverie Literary Magazine and her nonfiction and poetry can be found in Spectrum Magazine, MediaPost, and more. She lives in New Jersey (even though she’s a born and bred New Yorker) with her partner and their rambunctious toddler. 

I hearby declare that I do not own the rights to any music or lyrics played during the recording of this podcast. All rights to the music and audio belong to their respective owner(s).

💐 Episode Summary

Two comms queens wax nostalgic about their dance team roots and mutual TypeA tendencies. Our seventh guest Katie Cline (award-winning publicist, podcast host, and short-term rental expert) brings realness, and reveals why we have to bring humor and levity into even the darkest moments. Will you get plenty of music recommendations and hear songs you haven’t thought about in maybe twenty years? Absolutely. But you’ll also walk away with a new respect for facing the sad, scary moments with honesty.

💿 Songs Mentioned

1. ​“Cherry On Top” by Jake Owen
2. ​ “You Are The Best Thing” by Ray LaMontagne 
3. ​“Unsteady – Justin Caruso Remix” by X Ambassadors, Justin Caruso
4. ​“Dancing On Glass” by St. Lucia
5. ​“Hands Down” by Dashboard Confessional
6. ​“Helena” by My Chemical Romance
7. ​“B.O.B. (Bombs Over Baghdad)” by OutKast
8. ​“The Real” by Busty and the Bass
9. ​“Scenes From An Italian Restaurant” by Billy Joel

You can listen to Katie’s playlist on Spotify.

🎙 About the Guest

Katie Cline is an award-winning publicist, hospitality veteran and short-term rental expert. She’s the host of two podcasts—Second Home First and Suite Success: Masters of Hospitality—and the creator of the free weekly newsletter at BuyYourSecondHomeFirst.com, where she helps readers turn their dream of owning a vacation home into a practical wealth-building strategy. Katie led global communications for iconic hotel brands including The Ritz-Carlton, St. Regis, & W Hotels in both New York and London. Today, she brings those five-star insights to her own short-term rentals in upstate NY: Trout Landing (near Lake George), Gallant Fox (in Saratoga Springs), & The Lazy Oar (on Seneca Lake). An obsessive traveler and dual citizen of the U.S. and Ireland, Katie can typically be found trying a new restaurant in Astoria (NYC) with her husband; schooling her British-born toddler on the magnificence of NY bagels; or researching her next investment property while snuggling her newborn son.

🌹 About Play This At My Funeral

Play This At My Funeral is a deeply fun, slightly macabre, always heartwarming show about the songs that shape our lives — and the ones we’d play at our funerals. Each episode invites a guest to curate the playlist for their own (hypothetical) send-off and share the stories that made those songs matter. 

In each episode, host Dinah invites a guest on to talk through the soundtrack of their life: the songs that have held them in moments of anguish, haunted them on the regular, and maybe just maybe even saved them. It’s a cozy, 45-minute-ish journey through meaningful lyrics, vivid memories, and the emotional mixtapes that mark our most human moments.

Think Desert Island Discs meets Films To Be Buried With — but with more vibes and fewer survival scenarios.

The show is created and hosted by Dinah Susan Alobeid and is edited and co-produced by Alice Marcondes. 

💜 Stay Connected

• ​Subscribe to the show wherever you listen to podcasts
• ​Please leave a 5-star review and share with someone who’s quietly building their own “funeral playlist” (or should be!)
• ​Follow the show: Instagram @PlayThisAtMyFuneralPodcast TikTok @PlayThisAtMyFuneralPod Dinah on IG @DinahSusanAlobeidWrites
• ​Watch all episodes on YouTube.
• ​Stay in touch with Dinah by joining her Substack at Write, Dance, Repeat

🎙 About the Host

Dinah Susan Alobeid is a writer, dancer, and VP of Communications & Content by day (not always in that order). She’s the creator and host of the newly launched “Play This At My Funeral” podcast. Her fiction has appeared in Porter House Review, Five on the Fifth, and Reverie Literary Magazine and her nonfiction and poetry can be found in Spectrum Magazine, MediaPost, and more. She lives in New Jersey (even though she’s a born and bred New Yorker) with her partner and their rambunctious toddler. 

I hearby declare that I do not own the rights to any music or lyrics played during the recording of this podcast. All rights to the music and audio belong to their respective owner(s).

💐 Episode Summary

In this episode host Dinah Alobeid delves into one of her most existential conversations yet. This episode’s guest is author, speaker, Punk Rock HR podcast host, and all around bad ass Laurie Ruettimann. Her playlist is short but powerful, reflecting a genre, a milestone, or a belief system for Laurie. And this guest’s unconventional approach to life, and death, will make you sit up, stop, think, smile, and reflect upon the way you live your own life. Waxing poetic (and nostalgic) about Nine Inch Nails, The Killers, John Cougar Mellencamp, and more. This one’s full of life lessons you won’t want to miss. 

💿 Laurie’s Playlist

1. “More Than This” by Roxy Music

2.  “Head Like a Hole” by Nine Inch Nails

3. “The Other Side of Summer” by Elvis Costello

4.  “Atomic” by Blondie

5. “Life on a Chain” by Pete Yorn

6. “I Summon You” by Spoon

7. “Cough Syrup” by Young the Giant

8. “Human” by The Killers

9.  “Hurts So Good” by John Cougar Mellencamp

10. “I Say a Little Prayer” by Aretha Franklin (Burt Bacharach original)

🎙 About the Guest

Laurie Ruettimann is a former human resources leader turned writer, entrepreneur, and speaker. She has one of the most popular leadership training courses on LinkedIn Learning, and CNN recognized her as one of the top five career advisors in the United States. Her work has been featured on NPR, the New Yorker, USA Today, the Wall Street Journal, and Vox. She frequently delivers keynote speeches at business and management events around the world and hosts the popular podcast Punk Rock HR. When she’s not up in the air, she lives with her husband and cats in Raleigh, North Carolina.

🌹 About Play This At My Funeral

Play This At My Funeral is a deeply fun, slightly macabre, always heartwarming show about the songs that shape our lives — and the ones we’d play at our funerals. Each episode invites a guest to curate the playlist for their own (hypothetical) send-off and share the stories that made those songs matter. 

In each episode, host Dinah invites a guest on to talk through the soundtrack of their life: the songs that have held them in moments of anguish, haunted them on the regular, and maybe just maybe even saved them. It’s a cozy, 45-minute-ish journey through meaningful lyrics, vivid memories, and the emotional mixtapes that mark our most human moments.

Think Desert Island Discs meets Films To Be Buried With — but with more vibes and fewer survival scenarios.

The show is created and hosted by Dinah Susan Alobeid and is edited and co-produced by Alice Marcondes. 

💜 Stay Connected

• Subscribe to the show wherever you listen to podcasts

• Please leave a 5-star review and share with someone who’s quietly building their own “funeral playlist” (or should be!)

• You can follow the show on Instagram at @PlayThisAtMyFuneralPodcast and TikTok at @PlayThisAtMyFuneralPod and Dinah on IG @DinahSusanAlobeidWrites

• You can watch the podcast video episodes on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@WriteDanceRepeat/playlists 

• Stay in touch with Dinah by joining her Substack community at Write, Dance, Repeat

🎙 About the Host

Dinah Susan Alobeid is a writer, dancer, and VP of Communications & Content by day (not always in that order). She’s the creator and host of the newly launched “Play This At My Funeral” podcast. Her fiction has appeared in Porter House Review, Five on the Fifth, and Reverie Literary Magazine and her nonfiction and poetry can be found in Spectrum Magazine, MediaPost, and more. She lives in New Jersey (even though she’s a born and bred New Yorker) with her partner and their rambunctious toddler. 

I hearby declare that I do not own the rights to any music or lyrics played during the recording of this podcast. All rights to the music and audio belong to their respective owner(s).

💐 Episode Summary

In this episode host Dinah Alobeid talks to her confidante and friend of over 20 years, Elyse Merlo, one of the hosts of Genre’d podcast. With a chronological breakdown of her favorite music that she wants played at her funeral, this episode features a walk through some of the best music you may have never heard of. This convo highlights fun and surprising b-sides from No Doubt, Billy Joel, Hanson, and more,  and Elyse’s love of lyrically dense, powerhouse singers. You can expect to walk away with some strong opinions and an inside look into the glam open casket dreams of this fabulous, theme-loving, craft queen herself, Elyse. 

💿 Songs Mentioned

1. “Eleanor Rigby” by The Beatles

2. “Like A Prayer” by Madonna

3. “Mine” by Taylor Swift

4. “Misery Business” by Paramore

5. “The Smallest Man Who Ever Lived” by Taylor Swift

6. “I Lost A Friend” by FINNEAS

7. “Golden” from KPOP Demon Hunters

8. “Black Sheep” by Metric 

9. “Burn” from The Hamilton Soundtrack (sung by Phillipa Soo)

10. “Bad Romance” by Lady Gaga

11. “Me and Mia” by Ted Leo and The Pharmacists

12. “Sunday Morning” by No Doubt

13. “Portions For Foxes” by Rilo Kiley

14. “Yearbook” by Hanson

15. “Ocean Eyes” by Billie Eilish

16. “Man From Milwaukee” by Hanson

17. “Mr. Brightside” by The Killers

You can listen to Elyse’s playlist on Spotify.

🎙 About the Guest

Elyse Merlo is a recovered English major, sometimes professor, and keeper of a million hobbies. She’s also the host of Genre’d, a book podcast she co-hosts with her sister where they love to read, rant, and recommend.

🌹 About Play This At My Funeral

Play This At My Funeral is a deeply fun, slightly macabre, always heartwarming show about the songs that shape our lives — and the ones we’d play at our funerals. Each episode invites a guest to curate the playlist for their own (hypothetical) send-off and share the stories that made those songs matter. 

In each episode, host Dinah invites a guest on to talk through the soundtrack of their life: the songs that have held them in moments of anguish, haunted them on the regular, and maybe just maybe even saved them. It’s a cozy, 45-minute-ish journey through meaningful lyrics, vivid memories, and the emotional mixtapes that mark our most human moments.

Think Desert Island Discs meets Films To Be Buried With — but with more vibes and fewer survival scenarios.

The show is created and hosted by Dinah Susan Alobeid and is edited and co-produced by Alice Marcondes. 

💜 Stay Connected

• Subscribe to the show wherever you listen to podcasts

• Please leave a 5-star review and share with someone who’s quietly building their own “funeral playlist” (or should be!)

• You can follow the show on Instagram at @PlayThisAtMyFuneralPodcast and TikTok at @PlayThisAtMyFuneralPod and Dinah on IG @DinahSusanAlobeidWrites

• You can watch the podcast video episodes on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@WriteDanceRepeat/playlists 

• Stay in touch with Dinah by joining her Substack community at Write, Dance, Repeat

🎙 About the Host

Dinah Susan Alobeid is a writer, dancer, and VP of Communications & Content by day (not always in that order). She’s the creator and host of the newly launched “Play This At My Funeral” podcast. Her fiction has appeared in Porter House Review, Five on the Fifth, and Reverie Literary Magazine and her nonfiction and poetry can be found in Spectrum Magazine, MediaPost, and more. She lives in New Jersey (even though she’s a born and bred New Yorker) with her partner and their rambunctious toddler. 

I hearby declare that I do not own the rights to any music or lyrics played during the recording of this podcast. All rights to the music and audio belong to their respective owner(s).

💐 Episode Summary

In this episode of “Play This At My Funeral,” host Dinah sits down with her dear friend and writing comrade, author Nicolas DiDomizio. Get ready for some surprising sidetracks (squeals in excitement!), a defense of all things Mariah Carey, and a deep discussion on the rich storytelling roots of country music. And maybe one or two diatribes on the meaning of life and how death can upend our daily living. Nic’s tight playlist of a mere 31 songs holds meaning and wishes for a long life well lived, and a life full of love and laughter. You’ll discover songs from artists you might’ve heard of (but our host hadn’t) like Lauren Alaina and Janine. Get ready to get super existential in this episode. 

💿 Songs Mentioned

1. ​“Sober” by Little Big Town
2. ​“Getting Good” by Lauren Alaina
3. ​“Where Rainbows Never Die” by The Steeldrivers
4. ​“Nonstop” from The Hamilton Soundtrack
5. ​“Close My Eyes” by Mariah Carey
6. ​“The Roof” by Mariah Carey
7. ​“Wildflowers” by Tom Petty
8. ​“I Don’t Want To Wait” by Paula Cole 
9. ​“Friends” by Janine
10. ​“Nothing Else Matters” by Metallica
11. ​“Let It Flow” by Toni Braxton (from the Waiting to Exhale soundtrack):

You can listen to Nic’s playlist on Spotify. 

🎙 About the Guest

Nicolas DiDomizio is the author of the forthcoming novel A Murder Most Camp (out May 2026), Nearlywed, The Gay Best Friend, and Burn It All Down, which was praised as “unforgettable” by James Patterson. He holds a bachelor’s degree from Western Connecticut State University and a master’s degree from NYU. He lives in upstate New York with his partner, Graig, and their smooshy bulldog, Rocco. 

🌹 About Play This At My Funeral

Play This At My Funeral is a deeply fun, slightly macabre, always heartwarming show about the songs that shape our lives — and the ones we’d play at our funerals. Each episode invites a guest to curate the playlist for their own (hypothetical) send-off and share the stories that made those songs matter. 

In each episode, host Dinah invites a guest on to talk through the soundtrack of their life: the songs that have held them in moments of anguish, haunted them on the regular, and maybe just maybe even saved them. It’s a cozy, 45-minute-ish journey through meaningful lyrics, vivid memories, and the emotional mixtapes that mark our most human moments.

Think Desert Island Discs meets Films To Be Buried With — but with more vibes and fewer survival scenarios.

The show is created and hosted by Dinah Susan Alobeid and is edited and co-produced by Alice Marcondes. 

💜 Stay Connected

• ​Subscribe to the show wherever you listen to podcasts
• ​Please leave a 5-star review and share with someone who’s quietly building their own “funeral playlist” (or should be!)
• ​You can follow the show on Instagram and TikTok at @PlayThisAtMyFuneralPodcast and Dinah on IG @DinahSusanAlobeidWrites
• ​You can watch the podcast video episodes on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@WriteDanceRepeat/playlists 
• ​Stay in touch with Dinah by joining her Substack community at Write, Dance, Repeat

🎙 About the Host

Dinah Susan Alobeid is a writer, dancer, and VP of Communications & Content by day (not always in that order). She’s the creator and host of the newly launched “Play This At My Funeral” podcast. Her fiction has appeared in Porter House Review, Five on the Fifth, and Reverie Literary Magazine and her nonfiction and poetry can be found in Spectrum Magazine, MediaPost, and more. She lives in New Jersey (even though she’s a born and bred New Yorker) with her partner and their rambunctious toddler. 

I hearby declare that I do not own the rights to any music or lyrics played during the recording of this podcast. All rights to the music and audio belong to their respective owner(s).