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’ve decided to take this philosophy of death class, offered by Yale University through its free Open Yale Courses program, and turn my education into podcast episodes we can all learn from. In this introduction episode, I break down how it will work, and we ...
Feb 08, 2021•1 hr 6 min•Ep. 15
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 memorializing the dead was upended. Funeral directors, typically poised managers of these end-of-life services, suddenly found themselves scrambling to adapt to a threefold conundrum: 1. How to dispose of the dead amid a logistical logjam 2. How to support the liv...
Dec 16, 2020•31 min•Ep. 14
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 find interesting, or maybe just a weird thought I had recently. Bucket as in “kicked the bucket,” a euphemism for death. And nugget as in a small bit of knowledge or wisdom. Not bucket nuggets as in, say, an obscene amount of McDonald’s McNuggets. Speaking of...
Dec 01, 2020•6 min•Ep. 13
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 grief and then turned that writing into a memoir, Sweet Baby Lover. Most recently, she launched Hard Times & Hope, a podcast about life’s toughest challenges and how to navigate them. For this episode of my Mortal Chat series, Jule and I dove deep into some...
Nov 25, 2020•1 hr 10 min•Ep. 12
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-kilter thoughts so I’ll have plenty to choose from. Today I’m exploring a nugget of wisdom from Stoic philosopher Lucius Annaeus Seneca, commonly known as Seneca. Yep, he’s achieved single-name status. He’s kind of like the Adele or Kanye of philosophy. In thi...
Nov 16, 2020•11 min•Ep. 11
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 an intriguing area of social psychology called terror management theory argues that a primal, hidden force is often at work in these messages—mortality reminders that trigger our emotions, particularly our primitive, unconscious fear of death. In this episod...
Nov 10, 2020•28 min•Ep. 10
“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, New York. I spoke with him for my Mortal Chats series of wide-ranging conversations about mortality and its corollaries with people of all stripes. Richie and I dig into the vehicular roots of his growing mortality awareness, his acceptance of the pandemi...
Nov 01, 2020•32 min•Ep. 9
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 of life that takes place every year on the first two or three days of November. I wanted to learn more about this increasingly popular holiday, so I looked into why it’s becoming more widely celebrated, how it works, and what inspired its start. My latest f...
Oct 25, 2020•15 min•Ep. 8
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 virtual funeral offerings amid the Covid-19 pandemic—other ways technology is changing how we mourn and honor our dead, and the downside of immortality. To learn more about Tara and end-of-life planning, connect with her on Bringing Death Into Life and @Bringi...
Oct 18, 2020•43 min•Ep. 7
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 binary.) If there is an afterlife and it turns out our bio-less selves can travel freely through spacetime, I am definitely checking out some dinosaurs and doing belly flops into black holes. (Minus the belly because I wouldn’t have a body, but you get my ...
Oct 13, 2020•33 min•Ep. 6
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: dying, death, grief, and the possibility of an afterlife. Jak and I had an interesting chat about a plethora of topics under this umbrella, including how his mortality awareness catalyzes his creativity, the significant role suicide has played in his life...
Oct 05, 2020•59 min•Ep. 5
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 September is Suicide Prevention Awareness Month here in the U.S., it’s a good time to shed light on this topic, which can be especially difficult for many people to talk about. In this episode—part of my End Points series, a mix of end-of-life topics inter...
Sep 28, 2020•21 min•Ep. 4
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 Thanatology Certificate Program, which I completed last year, at The Open Center in New York City. In this episode, I speak with Catharine about her compassionate and compelling work at the bedside of people who are dying, including her visit with my grandmo...
Sep 27, 2020•46 min•Ep. 3
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 recent years. You’ll also get to know me, Thomas Gaudio, and how I became interested in a subject most people avoid. Below are links to some things and people I mention in this episode: Books: The Death of Ivan Ilyich by Leo Tolstoy The American Way of Death by...
Sep 27, 2020•27 min•Ep. 2
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 mortal curiosity as a writer, journalist, and student of thanatology—the interdisciplinary study of the end of life—has led him here. Connect Enjoying Mortality Minded? Please take a moment to rate the podcast and share this episode. It would be helpful and mu...
Aug 25, 2020•1 min
