What can philosophy teach us about death?Since you could say the goal of philosophy is to help us think and communicate clearly and critically about fundamental aspects of nature and humanity, the answer seems to be—a whole lot.That’s why I’v

Revisiting the first Covid wave with NYC funeral director Caroline Schrank

Dec 16th, 2020 31m 4s

Back in the Spring, when the first wave of Covid-19 in the U.S. hit New York City like a tsunami, there were so many deaths in a such a short period of time that the normally seamless process of transporting, burying and cremating, and memorial

The deadly roots of Thanksgiving

Dec 1st, 2020 6m 20s

Whoops, I’m a few days late on this one.Or just think of it as incredibly early for Turkey Day 2021.Either way, this is an entry in my Bucket Nuggets series, which are short episodes about things like a great quote I came across, a fact I fin

Mortal Chats with writer and podcaster Jule Kucera

Nov 25th, 2020 1h 9m

When Jule came home from work one day and found her partner, Trent—who had post traumatic stress disorder and was suicidal—dead at the age of 46, her world imploded. Eventually, she began blogging to help herself through the wilderness of grie

Dying is no biggie (says Stoic philosopher Seneca)

Nov 16th, 2020 11m 26s

This is a new type of episode I’m calling Bucket Nuggets, which are death-related tidbits about things like a great quote I came across, a fact I find interesting, or maybe just a weird thought I had recently.And I have no shortage of off-kilt

How reminders of death affect our politics

Nov 10th, 2020 28m 23s

We’ve just finished an incredibly contentious presidential election in the U.S.* so it’s the perfect time to look at one of the most important aspects of politics: advertising. Political ads urge us to vote one way or another, of course. But a

Mortal Chats with musician Richie

Nov 1st, 2020 32m 25s

“When you really feel it (your own mortality), it’s a visceral feeling…it’s like a punch in the face or a punch in the chest. It kind of just wakes you up.”Richie is a musician and soon-to-be recovery coach for substance abusers from Brooklyn,

Día de Muertos rising and the tiny mightiness of tardigrades

Oct 25th, 2020 15m 8s

In this episode—part of my End Points series, a mix of end-of-life topics intersecting with culture, science, and more—I explore: Día de Muertos, or Day of the Dead, a Mexican holiday honoring ancestors and celebrating death as a natural part

For Tara Sroka, death planning is personal

Oct 18th, 2020 42m 40s

Tara Sroka helps people create online memorials, manage their digital legacies, and more through her end-of-life planning service, Bringing Death Into Life.I spoke with Tara about why she feels called to this work—especially her launch of vir

Digging into vaccines and the possibility of an afterlife

Oct 13th, 2020 32m 32s

Are vaccines a life-saving technology contributing to an unintended consequence of innovations that ultimately make us more anxious about death? (Spoiler: Probably.)Are we headed to an afterlife or a void after we die? (Spoiler: Stop being so

Mortal Chats with artist Jak Ruiz

Oct 5th, 2020 59m 7s

Jak Ruiz is a Brooklyn-based artist focusing on abstract and expressionist paintings. I spoke with him as part of my Mortal Chats series, a collection of wide-ranging conversations with people of all stripes about mortality and its corollaries:

A candid look at suicide—and suicide prevention

Sep 28th, 2020 21m 19s

Suicide is a leading cause of death and major public health problem in the United States.Its consequences often go well beyond the person who acts to take their own life: it can have a lasting effect on family, friends, and communities.Since

Catharine DeLong on music as medicine at the end of life

Sep 27th, 2020 45m 47s

Catharine DeLong is a music thanatologist—thanatology is the interdisciplinary study of dying, death, and grief—who plays the harp and sings for hospice patients as they approach the end of life.She's also the facilitator of the Integrative Th

What is Mortality Minded?

Sep 27th, 2020 27m 1s

Episode one of Mortality Minded is here!Find out how the podcast will work, what it means to be mortality minded, and why we generally have so much trouble thinking and talking about the end of life—yet how that’s been slowly changing in recen

Trailer

Mortality Minded trailer

Aug 25th, 2020 1m 18s

A preview of Mortality Minded, a podcast that explores life, death, and whatever's next through culture, science, personal growth, and more to shed light on this universal yet deeply personal subject. Hosted by Thomas Gaudio, whose endless mort

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