This Is Your Afterlife

Jacoby Cochran (The Moth, Snap Judgment, City Cast Chicago) is a damn delight talking about discovering his love of performing, the small moments full of love he'd relive on a loop if he could, and the hell of not being able to correct someone you know is wrong. He's got the smoothest deep voice of any guest I've had, and he uses it to harmonize with me the song that changed his life.

Check out Jacoby's extended episode at patreon.com/davemaher, and make it so I can continue to produce This Is Your Afterlife ad-free!

Follow Jacoby on IG: @cobycochran

Visit his website: www.jacobycochran.com

Listen and subscribe to City Cast Chicago: chicago.citycast.fm

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Follow me @thisisdavemaher on Instagram and Twitter, and subscribe to my weekly newsletter, Hella Immaculate, at thisisdavemaher.com.

Want to learn more about or sign up for my Unblock or Personal Story Workshops? Email [email protected].

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Intro Song = Future: "Use Me"

Transitional Music = James Blackshaw: "The Cloud of Unknowing"

Outro Song = Johnnie Frierson: "Miracles"

The song Jacoby sings (and I sorta join in) = Erykah Badu feat. Andre 3000: "Hello"

In-your-face, feminist, political, party rap duo Glitter Moneyyy (TayyySlayyy and Queen Trashley) join me to talk about DRUUUUUUGS. Their funeral planning includes mandatory drug-taking, and their visions of the afterlife get pretty stoner-y. They also talk about the break-up (an old one) and pandemic (the current one) that rearranged their lives.

Check out Glitter Moneyyy's extended episode at patreon.com/davemaher, and make it so I can continue to produce This Is Your Afterlife ad-free!

Follow Glitter Moneyyy: @glittermoneyyy on Twitter and Instagram.

Follow them on Spotify, Apple Music, and Bandcamp.

And GO TO THEIR SHOW AT LINCOLN HALL IN CHICAGO ON NOVEMBER 6!

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Follow me @thisisdavemaher on Instagram and Twitter, and subscribe to my weekly newsletter, Hella Immaculate, at thisisdavemaher.com.

Want to learn more about or sign up for my Unblock or Personal Story Workshops? Email [email protected].

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Intro Song = Future: "Use Me"

Transitional Music = James Blackshaw: "The Cloud of Unknowing"

Outro Song = Johnnie Frierson: "Miracles"

New show alert!!!

Comedians, friends, former guests, and fans of the podcast Claire Favret and Meaghan Strickland join me for This Is Your Aftershow, a new, sporadically released This Is Your Afterlife debrief show.

On this Low Aftershow, we talk about:

• worst parenthood fears
• our exact yearly earnings
• holiday supremacy
• prison abolition

Get all future episodes of This Is Your Aftershow at patreon.com/davemaher!

Follow me @thisisdavemaher on Instagram and Twitter, and subscribe to my weekly newsletter, Hella Immaculate, at thisisdavemaher.com.

Follow Meaghan on Twitter: @MeaghanStrick and Instagram: @stricklygram, and go to her website: meaghanstrickland.com.

Follow Claire @clairefavs on Twitter and Instagram.

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Low the band, the band Low (making sure I get my SEO straight there) is one of the greatest rock bands of the past 30 years and a perfect fit for a show talking about death, life, and transformation.

Most Low interviews touch on their Mormon faith, and there's a bit of that here. But I was more interested in the personal feelings and faiths of Alan Sparhawk and Mimi Parker (the married couple who form Low's consistent core), so we veer in the direction of doubts, breakdowns, the joy and obligation of Christmas, and whether or not justice is punitive. Alan also requests highly specific funeral plans while Mimi takes notes, and we laugh a bunch (which I consider a huge personal win).

Check out Low's extended episode at patreon.com/davemaher, and make it so I can continue to produce This Is Your Afterlife ad-free!

Want an introduction to Low's music, or a refresher? I've made a playlist of my favorite Low songs! Here: bit.ly/thisisyourafterlow

Follow Low on Twitter: @lowtheband

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Want to learn more about or sign up for my Unblock or Personal Story Workshops? Email [email protected].

Follow me @thisisdavemaher on Instagram and Twitter, and subscribe to my weekly newsletter, Hella Immaculate, at thisisdavemaher.com.

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Intro Song = Future: "Use Me"

Transitional Music = James Blackshaw: "The Cloud of Unknowing"

Outro Song = Johnnie Frierson: "Miracles"

Part 2 of the best or worst introduction to this podcast is here! Comedians, past guests, and friends of mine Meaghan Strickland and Claire Favret continue the utterly, definitely-everyone's-saying-it's-classic-and-not-just-a-word-we-made-up "reversaroo" format asking my own questions of me, Dave Maher (This American Life).

In this part, I give the most horrific response to "Paint Your Hell" I can, give away the secrets of my future "How to Use the Sidewalk" one-man show, and stand in awe of Claire and Meaghan asking me, "Is your coma still your 'coma'?"

Check out the extended episode, with an extra segment of "Claire and Meaghan questions," at patreon.com/davemaher.

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Want to learn more about or sign up for my Unblock or Personal Story Workshops? Email [email protected].

Follow me @thisisdavemaher on Instagram and Twitter, and subscribe to my weekly newsletter, Hella Immaculate, at thisisdavemaher.com.

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Intro Song = Future: "Use Me"

Transitional Music = James Blackshaw: "The Cloud of Unknowing"

Outro Song = Johnnie Frierson: "Miracles"

This episode is either the best or the worst introduction to this podcast. I, Dave Maher (This American Life), talk to my friends, fellow comedians, former guests and still-current fans of the show, Meaghan Strickland and Claire Favret, as they turn the tables and ask me all the questions I normally ask guests. A classic "reversaroo," of course!

The episode comes in two parts. In this one, I relay an embarrassing childhood anecdote that explains my personality and invent the "destination funeral."

This was seriously a blast. I hope you enjoy it. I hope you catch the conclusion next week, and I hope you join my Patreon to check out the extended episodes (for both parts!) at patreon.com/davemaher.

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Want to learn more about or sign up for my Unblock or Personal Story Workshops? Email [email protected].

Come to my next show opening for Cigarette Sandwich at the Annoyance on Saturday, 9/25 at 9:30pm!

Follow me @thisisdavemaher on Instagram and Twitter, and subscribe to my weekly newsletter, Hella Immaculate, at thisisdavemaher.com.

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Intro Song = Future: "Use Me"

Transitional Music = James Blackshaw: "The Cloud of Unknowing"

Outro Song = Johnnie Frierson: "Miracles"

Adwoa Agyepong (organizer with #DefundCPD, Chicago AfroSOC, and Chicago DSA) shares the Ghanaian pop music she'd have play at her funeral, her perfectly relivable memory of drinking sunset mimosas in New Orleans, and a good old-fashioned self-acceptance journey from being the person she hated the most to the person she loves the most.

This episode is wholesome, warm, and inviting, just like Adwoa!

Check out Adwoa's extended episode at patreon.com/davemaher.

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Adwoa would love you to read and sign these petitions!

Cancel ShotSpotter and support community-led solutions to address gun violence in Chicago

Pass the Peace Book ordinance now! (Peace Book = "a restorative justice centered violence prevention ordinance")

Follow me @thisisdavemaher on Instagram and Twitter, and subscribe to my weekly newsletter, Hella Immaculate, at thisisdavemaher.com.

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Intro Song = Future: "Use Me"

Transitional Music = James Blackshaw: "The Cloud of Unknowing"

Outro Song = Johnnie Frierson: "Miracles"

Connor (The Neo-Futurists) and I ponder the possibility of handing out T-Mobile gift cards at your funeral. He talks about what a hassle life is. And he's the first guest not to bring a concrete "coma" to the table, so instead we talk through what waiting for one of these drastic life-rearranging moments is like.

There are also a couple long silences. Nothing's wrong. That's just Connor thinking.

Content warning: There's talk of suicidal ideation. We're not therapists, we don't solve anything, but we've both had SI before, and hopefully anyone who can relate feels a little less alone from the casual way we talk about it rather than alienated. But if you're sensitive now, that's okay!

Check out Connor's extended episode at patreon.com/davemaher.

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Learn more about the Neo-Futurists: neofuturists.org

See the Neos in Chicago when they return to doing live performances of their show The Infinite Wrench starting September 18!

Listen to Connor's band, PRECARIAT: precariat.us

Follow me @thisisdavemaher on Instagram and Twitter, and subscribe to my weekly newsletter, Hella Immaculate, at thisisdavemaher.com.

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Intro Song = Future: "Use Me"

Transitional Music = James Blackshaw: "The Cloud of Unknowing"

Outro Song = Johnnie Frierson: "Miracles"

Matt Sage and Fuubutsushi put out four records—aligned with the seasons—that helped keep me sane in quarantine. Until this conversation, I had no idea he and I had so much in common, including:

• obsession with naming things, especially bands
• nondenominational Christian background
• knowledge of the Christian ska band Five Iron Frenzy
• type one diabetes
• surviving comas

And these similarities aren't even the whole story of an episode that covers memory palaces, the terrible beauty of fatherhood, and the legality of funeral pyres vs. mushroom suits. Enjoy!!

Check out Matt's extended episode at patreon.com/davemaher.

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Follow Matt on Instagram: @matthewjsage

Visit his website: matthewjsage.com

Listen to Fuubutsushi on the cached.media Bandcamp.

Read about Fuubutsushi in the Chicago Reader.

Follow me @thisisdavemaher on Instagram and Twitter, and subscribe to my weekly newsletter, Hella Immaculate, at thisisdavemaher.com.

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Intro Song = Future: "Use Me"

Transitional Music = James Blackshaw: "The Cloud of Unknowing"

Outro Song = Johnnie Frierson: "Miracles"

Poem = Walt Whitman: "This Compost"

Poem Reading Bed Music = Fuubutsushi: "I Hold Dearly (for Miles)"

Alex Stone (comedian, co-creator of The Movie Show on SYFY) is a pin-point precise standup who graduated from my high school (Sycamore) a few years after me. He surprised himself with his openness and vulnerability in this conversation, sharing a memory of a dogpile while watching soccer with a now-departed friend. He also talked about a disappointing rabbi, an embarrassingly touching Kenny Chesney song, and whether it's more embarrassing to bomb in front of someone you despise or admire.

Check out Alex's extended episode at patreon.com/davemaher.

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Follow Alex on Instagram: @alexstone11

Watch The Movie Show on SYFY.com

Follow me @thisisdavemaher on Instagram and Twitter, and subscribe to my weekly newsletter, Hella Immaculate, at thisisdavemaher.com.

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Intro Song = Future: "Use Me"

Transitional Music = James Blackshaw: "The Cloud of Unknowing"

Outro Song = Johnnie Frierson: "Miracles"