What's the episode about?

In this episode, hear Professor Douglas Davies on thedevelopment of death studies, ‘words against death’, the ‘dividual’, religion, ‘sacred secrets’, the ‘opacity of the self’ and the ‘curated everything’, keeping a dream diaries since 1979, the over-optimism of posthumanism, wealth inequality, & the privilege of intellectuals as ‘people who think’.

Who is Douglas?

This introduction to Douglas Davies was written by DrGeorgina Robinson, who awarded Douglas with the Lifetime Achievement Award at the 2025 Death, dying and Disposal Conference in Utrecht, the Netherlands.

Douglas Davies is a name known to all who work in theinterdisciplinary field of Death Studies. From early career scholars, fresh in the field, through to senior colleagues who have themselves deeply influenced the field, the stories that people tell of their experiences of Douglas are always warm and encouraging, yet unique to the individual: the time and careDouglas gives to all who encounter him is a true testament of his character.

As a founding member of ASDS and editorial board member ofMortality Douglas has always offered a home to Death Studies scholars, having hosted numerous Death Studies events, including the International Conference onthe Social Context of Death, Dying, and Disposal and the inaugural International Symposium of the Death Online Research Network (DORS#1), as well as events for funerary professionals, including numerous Summer Schools of theNational Association of Funeral Directors.

Alongside these external events, Douglas has also welcomedcountless students, researchers, and professional colleagues to Durham during his time as Director of Durham University’s Centre for Death and Life Studies through visiting professorships, library scholarships to work in the Archivesof the Cremation Society of Great Britain, alongside conferences hosted by the Centre. What is unique about Douglas is that despite his countless works whichhave deeply influenced scholarly thinking within the field, more often than not, it is a conversation or engagement with him that sticks with Death Studies scholars: his kindness and encouraging nature are second-to-none.

Nevertheless, the significant impact that his countlessworks have had – both academically and practically, with his work impacting policy changes and the funeral sector itself – must not be understated (e.g., Mors Britannica, 2015; Death, Ritual and Belief, 3 editions 1997, 2002, 2017;Natural Burial, 2012; A Brief History of Death, 2005; Theology of Death, 2008). Significantly, 2025 marks 50 years of Douglas's career in academia: how fitting that the association he was formative in establishing would award him with thehonour of Lifetime Achievement Award this year.

How do I cite the episode in my research and reading lists?

To cite this episode, you can use the following citation:

Davies, D. (2025) Interview on The Death StudiesPodcast hosted by Michael-Fox, B. and Visser, R. Published 1 December 2025.Available at: www.thedeathstudiespodcast.com, DOI: 10.6084/m9.figshare.30752183

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What's the episode about?

In this episode, hear Dr Jessica Young on assisteddying, the New Zealand End of Life Choice Bill, culturally responsive research, end of life care and decision making, and sociological approaches.
Who is Jessica?

Dr Jessica Young is a Senior Research Fellow at Victoria University of Wellington and the University of Auckland, and an adjunct senior lecturer in the Australian Centre for Health Law Research, Queensland University of Technology.

She is a sociologist specialising in death, dying andassisted dying. She completed her PhD in 2020 at the University of Otago and received a prestigious post-doctoral fellowship from the Cancer Society of New Zealand.

Since the End of Life Choice Bill was introduced in NewZealand, Dr Young has been building a programme of research to investigate multiple facets of assisted dying.

She leads and contributes to several projects on assisteddying, most recently ‘Exploring the early experiences of the assisted dying service in Aotearoa’, funded by the Health Research Council. Dr Young has led impactful research in end-of-life care, securing over $3 million in competitive funding.

She is the founder and co-chair of New Zealand’sAssisted Dying Research Network and was appointed by the Director-General of Health to the Support and Consultation for End of Life in NZ (SCENZ) Group (2021–2023). Her work has directly shaped national policy: 13 of her team’s recommendations were adopted in the Ministry of Health’s 2024 End of Life Choice Act Review.

She has published over 40 peer-reviewed articles, six editorials, and three book chapters.

To ensure her research goes beyond academia, she activelyengages with media. She is passionate about improving end-of-life experiences for patients, whānau/families and health practitioners. Committed to ethical, inclusive, and culturally responsive research, she seeks to involve tangatawhenua (indigenous people of NZ), stakeholders and communities.

You can find Jessica on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/jessica-young-7097a722/

The book introduced in the episode introduction is Death, Commemoration, and Cultural Meaning Past and PresentEdited by Robert Spinelli and Robyn S. Lacy.

How do I cite the episode in my research and reading lists?

To cite this episode, you can use thefollowing citation:

Young, J. (2025) Interview on The Death Studies Podcast hosted by Michael-Fox, B. and Visser, R. Published 1 November 2025. Available at: www.thedeathstudiespodcast.com, DOI: 10.6084/m9.figshare.30507878

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What's the episode about?

In this episode, get an overview of the 2025 Death, Dying and Disposal Conference held in Utrecht in the Netherlands

What was the conference about?

The below information was taken from the conference website.

'Death is political and performs the political. This is evident not only in death itself, but also in the dead (who can become political actors), their bodies, the process of dying (which is, amongst others, infrastructurally related to political discourse and inequalities), and bereavement (which can also become apolitical act). The political aspects of this theme extend beyond national or international political institutions (such as governments, state actors, multinational corporations, or political or religious alliances) to encompass everybody and everything that has to do with (the exercise of) power andmoralities, e.g., families, kin, neighbourhoods, friendship networks.

Our time together at DDD17 – as a short, but hopefully (partly)lasting DDD17 community – has come to a close. Over these past days, we’ve explored, listened, debated, and imagined — and we want to thank you for bringing such openness and curiosity to the theme of the Politics of Death. This may be the end of the conference, but we hope it is only the beginning of conversations on this theme. Let’s continue them in whatever ways we can — in our research, our writing, our teaching, our work, our communities. We hope you are leaving as inspired as we are.

Thanks to everybody who made this conference what is has been. A conference is made by its participants – together we were a fantastic community.'

How do I cite the episode in my research and reading lists?

To cite this episode, you can use the following citation:

Michael-Fox, B. and Visser, R. (2025) DDD17. The DeathStudies Podcast hosted by Michael-Fox, B. and Visser, R. Published 1October 2025. Available at: www.thedeathstudiespodcast.com,DOI: 10.6084/m9.figshare.30256387

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What's the episode about?

In this episode, hear Kaylee Alexander discuss the digital humanities, being a research data librarian, visual culture, cemeteries, French cemetery laws, cemetery sculpture, ethically sound data visualisation and survival bias

Who is Kaylee?

Dr. Kaylee P. Alexander is a Research Data Librarian at the University of Utah’s J. Willard Marriott Library.

She holds a Ph.D. in Art History and Visual Culture from Duke University and specializes in nineteenth-century visual culture, monuments, and funerary material culture.

Her research is embedded in transdisciplinary practices at the intersection of visual studies, cultural economics, sociology, and data science.

You can find a list of her publications on her website.

She is the author of A Data-Driven Analysis of Cemeteries and Social Reform in Paris, 1804–1924 (Routledge 2024).

How do I cite the episode in my research and reading lists?

To cite this episode, you can use the following citation:

Alexander, K. (2025) Interview on The Death Studies Podcast hosted by Michael-Fox, B. and Visser, R. Published 1 August 2025. Available at: www.thedeathstudiespodcast.com, DOI: 10.6084/m9.figshare.29763560

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What's the episode about?

In this episode, hear Patricia MacCormack on philosophy, death activism, veganism, antinatalism, necrosexuality, the Anthropocene, dudebros in academia, and a loving and vitalist relationship to death

Who is Patricia?

Professor Patricia MacCormack is Professor of Continental Philosophy. She is the author of Cinesexuality (Routledge2008) and Posthuman Ethics (Routledge 2012) and the editorof The Animal Catalyst (Bloomsbury 2014), Deleuze andthe Animal (EUP 2017), Deleuze and the Schizoanalysis ofCinema (Continuum 2008) and Ecosophical Aesthetics (Bloomsbury 2018) and The Ahuman Manifesto: Activisms for the End of the Anthropocene.

She recently completed a Leverhulme Fellow researching and developing Death Activism and completing the monograph Death Activism for Bloomsbury (2025), which we will talk about today. She is also the author of numerus journalarticles and anthology chapters and the author of fiction.

Patricia’s photo is of her on Mary Wollstonecraft's former grave.

How do I cite the episode in my research and reading lists?

To cite this episode, you can use the following citation:

MacCormack, P. (2025) Interview on The Death Studies Podcast hosted by Michael-Fox, B. and Visser, R. Published 3 July 2025. Available at: www.thedeathstudiespodcast.com, DOI: 10.6084/m9.figshare.29473577

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What's the episode about?

In this episode, hear Dr. Terri Daniel on toxic theology, healthy theology, complicated grief, being a non-religious chaplain, hospice and loss.
Who is Terri?

Dr. Terri Daniel is an inter-spiritual hospice chaplain, end-of-life educator, and grief counselor certified in death, dying and bereavement by the Association of Death Education and Counseling and in family-focused grief therapy by ThePortland Institute for Loss and Transition. She conducts workshops throughout the U.S. and is an adjunct instructor in thanatology and chaplaincy at Marian University, the University of Maryland and the Graduate Theological Union. She is also the founder of The Conference on Death, Grief andBelief, and the Ask Doctor Death podcast.

Terri's academic credentials include a B.A. in Religious Studies from Marylhurst University, an M.A. in Pastoral Care from Fordham University, and a DMin from the San Francisco Theological Seminary.

Over the years Terri has helped hundreds of people learn to live, die and grieve more consciously. Her work is acclaimed by hospice professionals, spiritual seekers, counselors, theologians, and academics worldwide.

She is the author of four books on death, grief and beyond.
​A Swan in Heaven: Conversations Between Two Worlds (2007)
Embracing Death: A New Look at Grief, Gratitude andGod (2010)
Turning the Corner on Grief Street: Loss and Traumaas a Journey to Awakening (2014)
Grief and God: When Religion Does More Harm ThanHealing (2019)

Want to complete the compassionate communities, atlas survey mentioned at the start of the episode? See below for more information!

This atlas will showcase local and global efforts, connect like-minded communities, and inspire others around the world. We invite you and your members to take part in a short survey (approx. 10 minutes) about your experiences. Your inputwill help. Participation is anonymous and voluntary, and you can stop at any time. The survey can also be translated into your preferred language. For more information and toparticipate, click here.

How do I cite the episode in my research and reading lists?

To cite this episode, you can use thefollowing citation:

Daniel, T. (2025) Interview on The Death Studies Podcast hosted by Michael-Fox, B. and Visser, R. Published 1 June 2025. Available at: www.thedeathstudiespodcast.com, DOI: 10.6084/m9.figshare.29207024

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What's the episode about?

In this episode, hear Sydney Campbell on Medical Assistance in Dying for mature minors, children’s participation, policy, assisted dying, childism, participatory research and end-of-life contexts

Who is Sydney?

Dr. Sydney Campbell is a Postdoctoral Fellow in the Faculty of Medicine at Dalhousie University.

She completed her PhD in the Institute of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation at the University of Toronto wherein she generated conceptual and empirical evidence to inform ongoing discussions related to Medical Assistance in Dying for mature minors in Canada.

As a whole, Sydney’s work aims to advance perspectives on the participation and engagement of young people, rethinking policy action and analysis with a child-inclusive lens, and improving children’s overall health and well-being inseveral facets of their lives, including in end-of-life contexts.

What was the conference mentioned at the start of the episode?

The conference 'Funeral and Death Ritual for the Modern World. Co-creation, participation, exploration' is on 14th June 2025 at Natural Endings in Todmorden, West Yorkshire, UK. It's a gathering of undertakers , ceremonialists, writers/authors, artists and theatre makers.

How do I cite the episode in my research and reading lists?

To cite this episode, you can use thefollowing citation:

Campbell, S. (2025) Interview on The Death Studies Podcast hosted by Michael-Fox, B. and Visser, R. Published 1 May 2025. Available at: www.thedeathstudiespodcast.com, DOI: 10.6084/m9.figshare.28911446

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What's the episode about?

In this episode, hear Claire Nally on literature, Goth, Steampunk, death memoirs, representations of dead women, death positive libraries & working in academia
Who is Claire?

Claire Nally is Professor of Modern and Contemporary Literature at Northumbria University, UK, where sheresearches Irish Studies, Neo-Victorianism, Gender and Subcultures.

She published her first monograph, Envisioning Ireland: W. B. Yeats’s Occult Nationalism, in 2009, followed by her secondbook, Selling Ireland: Advertising, Literature and Irish Print Culture 1891–1922 (written with John Strachan).

She has co-edited a volume on Yeats, and two volumes on gender, as well as the international library series ‘Gender and Popular Culture’ for Bloomsbury (with Angela Smith).

She has written widely on a number of modern and contemporary topics, and her most recent monograph is Steampunk: Gender, Subculture and the Neo-Victorian, published by Bloomsbury in 2019.

She was co-I (with Stacey Pitsillides) on the Death Positive Library Project.

Her next book is entitled The Death Memoir in ContemporaryCulture.

How do I cite the episode in my research and reading lists?To cite this episode, you can use the following citation:

Nally, C. (2025) Interview on The Death Studies Podcast hosted by Michael-Fox, B. and Visser, R. Published 1 April 2025. Available at: www.thedeathstudiespodcast.com, DOI: 10.6084/m9.figshare.28704131

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