Death Podcasts Now Available

Tanya Marsh (Wake Forest University School of Law) recently launched a new podcast called Death, et seq. (Death, and what follows).  Marsh writes about the law of human remains and teaches a course on Funeral and Cemetery Law and regards this podcast as an extension of her scholarship and teaching.  Show notes for each episode and links to subscribe to the podcast can be found on the website wwwdeathetseq.com.

New episodes are released on Monday mornings and range from 30 to 50 minutes in length.  Recent episodes include:

Episode 7: A Preview of Dark Archives with Megan Rosenbloom.  USC medical librarian Rosenbloom is writing a book about “anthropodermic bibliopegy,” or books that are allegedly bound in human skin.  This episode discusses the use of cadavers in medical education, the disposition of unclaimed human remains in the U.S. and the U.K., and the development of medical ethics. 

Episode 5: An Introduction to Funeral and Disposition Planning is a conversation between Marsh and fellow Wake Forest Professor Rebecca Morrow about the importance of planning for a funeral and the disposition of human remains in conjunction with estate planning.  The options available to American funeral consumers (including emerging choices like green burial and home funerals) and the appropriate methods for documenting choices are discussed.  The show notes contain links to resources with additional details. 

Episode 4: Caitlin Doughty and the Death Positive Movement is a conversation between Marsh and Doughty, a funeral director and author of two New York Times best-selling books about changing consumer preferences for funerals and the disposition of human remains. 

Episode 2: What Happens to Human Remains in the U.S.? addresses a number of legal doctrines relevant to the status and disposition of human remains and serves as a good overview of some of the issues that will be discussed in more depth throughout the podcast.