Mortality and the Morgue

Happy Pride Month! Rachelle sits down with death doula, reiki practitioner and writer, meital yaniv (they/them) to discuss what goes into a dead name ritual, especially for trans folks who have given themselves a new name since their transition, true name anointing - a process of ritualizing and crowning a new chosen name, the on-going violence in Palestine at the hands of the Israeli (and American-funded) government and why meital decided to shed their "Israeli" identity as a step towards the freedom of Palestine.

Rachelle sits down with Death Doula, Divorce Doula and Writer, Resham Mantri (she/they) to discuss their background as a nonprofit lawyer and working in a flawed system, how the death of her father and grandmother led to death care work, and how the grief of their divorce inspired her to offer support surrounding relationship loss.

Rachelle sits down with podcast host, multi-passionate, multidisciplinary storyteller, death doula and witch Emmy C-G (she/they) to discuss the intersections and nuances of identity in the death care space, being witchy and using tarot as a tool for self-exploration, seeing a ghost at a slumber party, their podcast The Violet Vulture and so much more!

Rachelle sits down with Internal Medicine Physician Dr. Matthew Boulos (he/him) to discuss his path in medical training that led to him beginning a critical care and pulmonary fellowship in the first few months of the COVID-19 pandemic, how he made the difficult decision to leave the fellowship, reflecting on his mortality through his work and podcast, Modern Mortality, and so much more!

Rachelle sits down with Social Designer Clara Roth (she/her) to discuss her Master's Thesis on how death is socially designed in her home country of Germany, how the German death industry compares to North America, and how losing both of her parents to cancer within five years inspired her to delve into this important work.

Rachelle sits down with her Partner, Web Developer, Musician and Generative Artist, Xander Low (he/him) to discuss who will die first, the logistics of having your spouse's skeleton hanging in your living room, whether or not sleep paralysis demons are ghosts and so much more!

Rachelle sits down with Stand-Up Comedian Ben Wasserman (he/him) to discuss his comedy show, Live After Death, losing seven loved ones over the course of three years, having his audience engage with their own loss and grief, performing in funeral homes, what he's learned after experiencing so much death, and so much more!

Rachelle sits down with Genealogist and Grave Cleaner Alicia Williams (aka Lady Taphos) (she/her) to discuss the dark period of her life that inspired her to clean graves, the supplies needed to safely clean different types of grave materials, cleaning graves of people with problematic pasts, uncovering the messy history of the United States and so much more!

Rachelle sits down with New York City's premiere award-winning Taxidermist Divya Anantharaman (she/they) to discuss what taxidermy is and the process of making a taxidermied animal, common misconceptions about her work, how they got into taxidermy, the intersection of art and science, reclaiming the word "morbid" and so much more!

Rachelle sits down with award-winning Author and Interfaith Minister Barbara Becker (she/her) to discuss her book, Heartwood: The Art of Living with the End in Mind, how loss can strengthen us, volunteering with hospice, how facing death can lead us to engage more fully with life and so much more! 

Welcome to Season Two of Mortality and the Morgue! Rachelle does some housekeeping at the top of the episode to give news about the podcast network and the show's new format (bi-weekly episodes from now on!). Then she discusses the late actor, Heath Ledger, who died 15 years ago on January 22nd, 2008 when he was 28 years old. 

Having just turned 28 herself, Rachelle reflects on the impact of Heath's death and career, his cause of death and misinformation surrounding his accidental overdose, her favourite movies of his, including The Dark Knight, Candy, and Knights Tale, and how film can immortalize artists. 

Rachelle sits down with Artist and Jeweler Margaret Cross (she/her) to discuss the history of memento mori and mourning jewelry, how the profound loss of her best friend at the age of 24 led to her making mourning jewelry, her experience being diagnosed with prolonged grief disorder, growing up in a haunted house and so much more!

Rachelle sits down with Actor and Filmmaker Rosie Choo Pidcock (she/her), the recipient of the Voice With Impact 2021 grant on immigration and mental health for her short film ‘Esther & Sai’ which won Best Director at the Vancouver Short Film Festival 2022 and is currently in development with Corus Entertainment for a series adaptation.

Rachelle and Rosie discuss losing her mother, Sai, to suicide in 2017, seeking out suicide-specific loss groups, honouring her mother's story and memory through her short film and upcoming cookbook, the stigma and complex grief around talking openly about suicide loss, the challenges of losing her Chinese mother as a biracial person and so much more!

Rachelle sits down with Artist and Illustrator Laurie A. Conley (she/her) to discuss the inspiration behind her gently spooky illustrations of ghosts, flying pumpkins and the Grim Reaper's son, using ghosts to tell stories and whether or not they exist, their mutual love of cemeteries and so much more!

Rachelle sits down with Holistic Advance Care Specialist, End-of-Life Doula, Educator, and Licensed Funeral Director/Embalmer Christa Ovenell (she/her) to discuss the state of the funeral industry, what needs to change and what changes are currently happening, introducing the topic of death to children, the four pillars of advance care planning and so much more!

Rachelle sits down with Trans Death Care Advocate and End of Life Care Provider, Anton King-Rose (they/him) to discuss how the death of his trans friend introduced them to the ways the death industry is failing trans people, the importance of trans people (and everyone!) to have a legal will so that their wishes are met after death, and the changes he hopes to see in the death care industry.

Rachelle sits down (virtually) with Green Funeral Director and Death Educator Lauren Carroll (she/her) and Death Doula, Educator and Ceremonialist Erin Merelli (she/her), the Co-Founders of Deathwives, a collective working to widen the narrative around death and dying. 

Rachelle, Lauren and Erin discuss what death doulas do and who could benefit from their services, how their own experiences of profound loss and grief have informed their work, the harms of the "cookie-cutter" funeral industry, how their workshops and courses are helping people navigate death and grief in their lives and so much more!

Rachelle sits down (virtually) with Tracy Wheeler (she/her), the Executive Director of End Well Project, a nonprofit dedicated to the belief that all people should experience the end of life in a way that matches their values and goals. 

Rachelle and Tracy discuss the live events and speakers that Tracy and her team curate, the importance of having open and nuanced conversations surrounding the end of life, End Well's upcoming podcast (stay tuned!), the critical role community plays in end-of-life planning and so much more!

Rachelle sits down (virtually) with Comedian and Writer Joanne Tsung (she/her) to discuss thinking about death through being suicidal (TW!), writing about her experience taking LSD and seeing her grandmother and friend who had died, being reincarnated as a rich white family's dog, and so much more!

Rachelle sits down (virtually) with Julie McFadden aka Hospice Nurse Julie (she/her), a Registered Hospice Nurse who is passionate about normalizing death through education on TikTok, Instagram, Facebook and YouTube where she has accrued over 1 million followers across platforms! 

We discuss what hospice is and what kind of patients enter hospice care, the stages a person goes through as their body naturally dies in hospice, advice for people entering hospice or have a loved one in hospice, and so much more!

Rachelle sits down (virtually) with L.A. based Artist, Host and Producer, Ethan Lipsitz (he/him) to discuss his mortality-checking brain cancer diagnosis, approaching his diagnosis from a place of gratitude, processing his mortality through art, creating Camp Death through his project Love Extremist, and so much more! You don't wanna miss this episode!

Rachelle sits down with friend and Artist, Katie So (she/they) to discuss what decomposition does to tattoos, how autism has made her unafraid of death and understand how they fit in the world, using psychedelics to cope with suicidality (TW!), advice for new artists and ghost stories!

Rachelle reflects on the one-year anniversary since leaving the morgue, the struggles of being a self-employed artist, what she's been working on - including directing her first music video (coming soon!), exciting guests coming up on the pod (stay tuned!), and seeing live shows (including John Mulaney and Phoebe Bridgers!) It's a life catch-up/recap (aka DeathCap!), enjoy!

Rachelle sits down with her friend, Artist and Strategist, Anna Shkuratoff (she/her), to discuss her experience living with health anxiety and hypochondria, how it is treated similar to Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) with ERP (Exposure and Response Prevention), what she's done to understand and manage her condition, and living large as an antidote to death. Rachelle finishes the episode by discussing her experience living with OCD.

If you or someone you know is living with health anxiety and/or OCD check out these resources below!

Rachelle sits down with her friend, local Comedian, Writer and Producer, Emily Poulin (they/them) to discuss the passing of their beloved cat Murphy, serving pizza at their celebration of life, why they may or may not have hooves - plus a lot more terrible bits. We're sorry and you're welcome. Enjoy!

Rachelle answers some questions from Instagram including what happens to our bodies when we die, what weird things dead bodies do including the stages of decomposition, and how religion has come up with families who have donated loved ones to the body donation program.

In this episode, Rachelle sits down with Harper Sinclare - aka Nova Rose (she/her) a queer composer, producer, podcaster, writer, filmmaker and sex worker to discuss her father's sudden death, turning her ashes into a vinyl record, spirituality through Buddhism and Lord of the Rings and so much more!

A special thank you to Harper for editing this episode and making it sound so good! Stay tuned for Harper's podcast coming soon!

In this episode, Rachelle sits down (virtually) with the Host of the Obsessed With Death Podcast, Rob Petrillo (he/him), to discuss his anxiety and obsession with death that led to creating a podcast, dying by being eaten by a whale, using humour to cope with grief and so much more! 

In this episode, Rachelle sits down (virtually) with Artist (Writer, Producer, Actor, Model) Nic Altobelli (they/them) to discuss losing pets and loved ones at a young age, how grief evolves over time, having conversations about death through art and so much more! 

In this episode, Rachelle does a life catch-up on how and why she ended up working in a morgue, medical school application woes, switching careers during the pandemic, writing a TV show and getting it accepted into the Women in TV and Film Emerging TV Producer program!

In this episode, Rachelle sits down (virtually) with Funeral Director/Mortician Amber Carvaly (she/her) to discuss the inspiration behind "Mortician in the Kitchen," including how she uses cooking to process grief and how food connects us to those we have loved and lost, the many hats she wears as a funeral director, the role of women in death care and brewing alcohol and literally so! much! more! 

In this episode, Rachelle sits down with her dear friend and graphic designer Ciarán Boyle (he/him) to discuss death anxiety in the form of "death shakes," having a monumental burial site, how he's grieved losses in the last few years, not being a crier and so much more!

In this episode, Rachelle sits down (virtually) with 14-year-old Lina Nada Maach (she/her) to discuss how philosophy has helped her process and understand death, leaving an impact with technology and innovation, the importance of having conversations about death with young people and so much more!

Lina is an entrepreneur, builder, innovator, AI, Blockchain and BCI enthusiast. Outside of tech and business, she is incredibly passionate about empowering youth and recognizes the importance of inviting young people to have the hard but valuable conversations that need to be had.

To share her passion with those around her, Lina started Innostation, a student-led community aiming to empower students to create a positive impact through innovation while addressing the scarcity of volunteering opportunities by creating meaningful initiatives for students to take part in.

In this episode, Rachelle sits down with her dear friend and Social Worker-in-the-making, Kerry Ryan (she/her) to discuss working in Vancouver's Downtown East Side, writing music to process grief, night terrors, and seeing ghosts in her childhood, and so much more!

In this episode, Rachelle sits down with her friend, Occupational Hygienist and Chemist, Dr. Ben Loosley (he/him) to debate the utility of cemeteries, the health risks of working in morgues, and what he finds helpful and unhelpful when grieving a death, and more!

In this episode, Rachelle discusses the surgery she will have just had by the time you listen to this, her surgical history, risk factors and surgeries with the highest mortality rates, and what she wants to be done with her body and stuff if she dies on the table.

In this Mother's Day episode, Rachelle sits down with her Mom, Lisa Younie (she/her) to discuss the importance of having a Will at any age, what songs she wants to be played at her celebration of life, a ghost story from her childhood, and more!

In this spoiler-free episode, Rachelle discusses one of her favourite TV shows of all time: HBO's Six Feet Under (2001 - 2005). She talks about how the show explores repression and burying of emotions among people in the death industry, the representation of nuanced queer characters in television, and how this show informed much of her personality.

In this episode, Rachelle sits down (virtually) with Forensic Pathologist Dr. Jason Morin (he/him) to discuss what a forensic pathologist is and how to become one, his favourite and least favourite parts of his job, some of the most memorable and shocking autopsy cases he's had, how he copes with the job, and so! much! more!

In this episode, Rachelle sits down with her dear friend and analyst Fora Wong (she/her) to discuss our culture's fear and denial surrounding death, finding comfort in confronting our mortality, alkaline hydrolysis and sky burials, and so much more!

In this episode, Rachelle discusses her research on the use of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) as a diagnosis through a sociological lens. She discusses SIDS as a wastebasket diagnosis and the lack of conclusive medical findings surrounding the diagnosis, social diagnoses, and what functions a label or diagnosis serves in our society, especially in the context of infant death.

In this episode, Rachelle discusses what it was like to be working in a morgue when the COVID-19 pandemic began, what safety precautions were put in place, the risks involved with handling bodies with infectious diseases, and more!

In this episode, Rachelle sits down with her dear friend and first-year medical student Chad Brown (he/him) to discuss his Grandmother's experience in a hospice facility, how he grieved and processed her death, and how her time in hospice inspired him to become a hospice volunteer.

In this episode, Rachelle discusses what has made her laugh while working in the morgue, dark/gallows humour, the music she would listen to during autopsies and embalmings (Alt-J, Phoebe Bridgers), personality types of people who work in morgues and more!

In this episode, Rachelle discusses the differences between funeral home and anatomy lab embalmings, how to embalm a cadaver for medical schools, and her favourite and least favourite parts of the process!