Season 5, Episode 4: Clay Risen from the NYT Obit Pages

This is a conversation about death, who gets remembered and how we write stories about the departed. We are joined by Clay Risen who writes for The New York Times Obituaries page so expect a lot of your host nerding out about obits and the big issues they brings up during a pandemic and in everyday life. Who gets remembered by the first draft of history? Why? Find out from one of the writers making these choices.

Guest Website: ClayRisen.com

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New: Ask Death Advice Column

Sounds by James Mercer

Season 5, Episode 3: Emily Nagoski PHD on Burnout

This is a conversation about how everything is connected. We speak with Emily Nagoski about burnout, that feeling of overwork and overwhelm and how it connects to things far outside of stressful jobs and schedules. It comes down to, she argues, how we buy into major wrong assumptions about our world. Nagoski wrote this book with women in mind but we think the book and this conversation is for everyone.

Guest Website: EmilyNagoski.com

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New: Ask Death Advice Column

Sounds by James Mercer

Season 5, Episode 2: Dr. René Najera on the History of Vaccines

When we forget our history, we lose our context for the present and the future. The past year has been a return to humankind’s historic relationship with mass death caused by disease. Early vaccines were a breakthrough that picked winners in fights for global power and helped a lot of people reach adulthood and live healthier happier lives. I thought I knew a lot of history but this conversation blew my mind.

Guest Website: History Of Vaccines

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New: Ask Death Advice Column

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Season 5, Episode 1: Dr. Nikki Mirghafori on Death & Mindfulness Retreats

Today we talk about Buddhism, Technology and why you might want to go to a seven day death and mindfulness retreat with meditation teacher Dr. Nikki Mirghafori. 

Guest Website: NikkiMirghafori.com

Guest Website: One Day Retreat: Jan 30, 2021

Guest Website: Five Day Retreat: Feb 11 – Feb 15, 2021

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New: Ask Death Advice Column

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Season 4, Episode 5: Casper ter Kuile on The Power of Ritual

Six years ago, Casper Ter Kuile started reading the Harry Potter series as a sacred text on his hit podcast downloaded over 22 million times. Now he has a whole lot more rituals inspired by practice that can be adapted to our more secular lives in his new book. We talk about the benefits and the downsides of DIY ritual and why the phenomenon is here to stay.

Guest Website: Caspertk.com

Guest Website, Pre-order: Ritual Life Planner

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New: Ask Death Advice Column

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Season 4, Episode 4: Heather Christle on Crying

In this conversation we look at crying and tears in countless ways good and bad with poet Heather Christle. It’s about why we do it, what it feels like, and how tears bring out both the best and the worst in us. 

Further Reading: The Crying Book

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New: Ask Death Advice Column

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Season 4, Episode 3: Massimo Riva on The Decameron

In 1348 the Black Death Plague took as a third of the population. In Florence Italy, Giovanni Boccaccio wrote The Decameron in response to the plague, a classic that has lasted down the ages. We have on Professor Massimo Riva to talk about this book which has so much wisdom for the present day. 

Further Reading: Decameron Web

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New: Ask Death Advice Column

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Season 4, Episode 2: Long Litt Woon on Mushrooming and Mourning

This is a conversation about grief and how Long Litt Woon found her way back to feeling alive by following forest paths looking for mushrooms. It’s about how only knowledge can protect you from a poisonous mushroom and how one needs all the senses to find the delicacies they seek on this path. Really, it is a personal discussion about finding our way again once everything is upended. 

Further Reading: The Way Through the Woods: On Mushrooms and Mourning By Long Litt Woon

Guest Website: Long Litt Woon

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New: Ask Death Advice Column

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Season 4, Episode 1: Donald Robertson on How to Think Like a Roman Emperor

You know who else thought about death often? Ancient Roman Stoics including the Emperor Marcus Aurelius. In this episode we chat about what practical philosophy meant to these powerful practitioners and why it feels so modern. A not to be missed discussion.

Coming up October 17, 2020: StoicCon

Further Reading: How to Think Like a Roman Emperor: The Stoic Philosophy of Marcus Aurelius By Donald Robertson

Guest Website: Donald Robertson

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New: Ask Death Advice Column

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Season 3, Episode 8: Dr. Sunita Puri Talks That Good Night

Dr. Sunita Puri is the Medical Director of the Palliative Medicine and Supportive Care Service at the Keck Hospital and Norris Cancer Center of the University of Southern California. We talk on this episode about her new book, “That Good Night: Life and Medicine in the Eleventh Hour.” The conversation is about how medicine is changing to meet new challenges like Covid19 and how it must change to serve the living and dying better. 

Further Reading: “That Good Night: Life and Medicine in the Eleventh Hour.” By Dr. Sunita Puri

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Sounds by James Mercer