#151: In Search of the Good Death

Caitlin Doughty is the death professional behind the Internet’s favorite show about death, Ask a Mortician, and founder of the Order of the Good Death, which works to overcome our culture’s anxiety about dying, grief, and the afterlife. She runs her own funeral home, Undertaking LA, which offers alternatives to traditional, formaldehyde-soaked approaches to burial. In her book From Here to Eternity, she travels the world in search of the good death, from Mexico and North Carolina to Japan and Bolivia, learning about the ways in which other cultures have approached the end of life. We originally spoke to her in 2017, digging in to the subjects of corpse interaction, alternatives to the casket, and what death means to her.Go beyond the episode on our website: https://theamericanscholar.org/in-search-of-the-good-death/Caitlin Doughty’s From Here to EternityCheck out Landis Blair’s illustrations for the book on our episode pageAsk a Mortician all about coffin birth, ghost marriage, and the iconic corpses of the world on Caitlin’s YouTube channelRead more about the Order of the Good Death, an organization of funeral professionals working to change attitudes about deathVirtually visit the high-tech Ruriden Columbarium in Tokyo, Japan with head monk Yajima TaijunTune in every week to catch interviews with the liveliest voices from literature, the arts, sciences, history, and public affairs; reports on cutting-edge works in progress; long-form narratives; and compelling excerpts from new books. Hosted by Stephanie Bastek.Subscribe: iTunes • Feedburner • Stitcher • Google Play • AcastHave suggestions for projects you’d like us to catch up on, or writers you want to hear from? Send us a note: podcast [at] theamericanscholar [dot] org. And rate us on iTunes! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.