Death, et seq. literally means "Death and what follows." This podcast addresses all aspects of death care in the United States -- options for funerals and disposition, the ways in which "traditions" are being disrupted, and where death care is headed. A broad range of experts within the funeral industry and various reform communities are invited to share their views. Listeners are invited to actively participate by submitting questions and topics of interest.
On today’s episode, I’m joined by Anna Jordan. Anna is a funeral director and a certified life cycle celebrant and a member of the board of the Home Funeral Alliance. I’ve had the opportunity to work with Anna on a couple of projects with the Home Funeral Alliance. For the past couple of years, a group of students at Wake Forest Law School have researched and assembled state statutes relevant to…
If you’ve been listening to this podcast for a while, you’ve heard from a lot of what I’ll characterize as “progressive” or “new” entrants in the death care space. We’ve had episodes on green burial, death doulas, natural organic reduction, home funerals, and more. The conventional wisdom that I hear a lot from critics of the funeral industry is that “traditional” funeral directors are rigid and…
Anatomical dissection is a fundamental part of medical education. In this episode, medical student Emma Sherman walks us through the use and treatment of donor bodies in medical education in the United States.
Sam Perry is an Associate Lecturer at Southern Illinois University at Carbondale, teaching in the Mortuary Science and Funeral Science program. He is also the President of the Green Burial Council International, 501(c)(3).
Alex Gracia, a third-year student at Wake Forest Law School, discusses the intersection between the Catholic practice of creating relics and keeping them in churches and the laws in the United States that forbid "abuse of corpse."
Do you have your documents in order to allow for a trusted person to make decisions about your health care and property if you become incapacitated? This episode walks through four important kinds of documents and explains what each does: (1) power of attorney; (2) health care power of attorney; (3) advance directive or living will; and (4) funeral planning declaration. Whether you have an estate…
In today's episode, I talk to Stephanie Hopp, EdD, RN, CPN, an Associate Professor in the Undergraduate Nursing Program at Clarkson College in Omaha, Nebraska. Professor Hopp talks about her experience as a nurse at Children's Nebraska Hospital and her scholarship on empathy in health care.
In this episode of Death et seq., Professor Marsh talks to Wake Law student Spencer Maher about Jeremy DeWitte, the man who turned a Florida funeral escort service into a viral masterclass in policy impersonation. As the owner of Metro State Special Services, DeWitte patrolled Orlando streets on decommissioned police motorcycles, wearing a badge nearly identical to the LAPD's and carrying a…