Death and Other Stories: End of Life Planning

Technology is transforming our relationship with dying and grief. Michelle Desmond is a successful corporate business leader turned thanatologist (expert in death and all types of bereavement) who has experienced a lifetime of close personal losses. Michelle has a passion for the impact tech has (and will have) on these essential human experiences. Through engaging conversations on a range of topics, as well as science-backed analysis, she uncovers the stories, ideas, and innovations changing the way we approach grief and death.  In this episode, she speaks with Adrienne Dewey. Adrienne is an executive with a young family and a personal brand she manages. Michelle and Adrienne discuss what it looks like to plan for one's end of life in the digital age, followed by a deep dive into the theoretical implications of what it means to plan for one's digital remains as well as the possibilities technology offers for new ways to commemorate the dead. Much is yet to be defined decades into the age of the Internet, and innovation offers solutions the might help, or might hinder, the grief process.      References:  Bassett, D. (2015). Who wants to live forever? Living, dying, and grieving in our digital society. Social Sciences, 4(4), 1127–1139. https://doi.org/10.3390/socsci4041127 Daniels, G., Klein, H. (Executive Producers). (2020-present). Upload [TV Series]. Deedle Dee Productions; 3 Arts Entertainment; Reunion Pacific Entertainment; Amazon Studios. Dark-Freudeman, A., Terry, C., Fleming, J., Hollander, J., & Bensadon, B. (2021). Planning in advance: Exploring end-of-life hopes and fears among healthy young people. Mortality, 26(3), 316–325. https://doi.org/10.1080/13576275.2020.1796612 Jandric, P. (2020). Postdigital afterlife: A philosophical framework. In M. Savin-Baden & V. Mason-Robbie (Eds.), Digital afterlife: Death matters in a digital age (pp.173-187). CRC Press. Kelly, C., Masters, J., & DeViney, S. (2013). End-of-Life planning activities: An integrated process. Death Studies, 37(6), 529–551. https://doi.org/10.1080/07481187.2011.653081 Klass, D., Silverman, P., & Nickman, S. (1996). Continuing bonds: New understandings of grief. Washington, D.C.: Taylor & Francis. Mali, P., Prakash G, A. (2019). Death in the era of perpetual digital afterlife: Digital assets, posthumous legacy, ownership, and its legal implications. National Law School Journal. Meese, J., Nansen, B., Kohn, T., Arnold, M., & Gibbs, M. (2015). Posthumous personhood and the affordances of digital media. Mortality, 20(4), 408–420. https://doi.org/10.1080/13576275.2015.1083724 Moorman, S. M. & Inoue, M. (2013). Persistent problems in end-of-life planning among young- and middle-aged American couples. The Journals of Gerontology Series B: Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences, 68(1), 97–106. https://doi.org/10.1093/geronb/gbs103 Morse, T., Birnhack, M. (2020). Digital remains: The users' perspectives. In M. Savin-Baden & V. Mason-Robbie (Eds.). Digital afterlife: Death matters in a digital age (pp. 108-126). CRC Press Obenshain, M., & Leftwich, J. (2015). Protecting the Digital Afterlife: Virginia's Privacy Expectation Afterlife and Choices Act. Rich. JL & Pub. Int., 19, 39. Öhman, C., & Floridi, L. (2018). An ethical framework for the digital afterlife industry. Nature Human Behaviour, 2(5), 318–320. Özdemir, V., Springer, S., Yıldırım, A., Biçer, Ş., Kendirci, A., Şardaş, S., Kılıç, H., Hekim, N., Kunej, T., & Arga, K. Y. (2021). Thanatechnology and the living dead: New concepts in digital transformation and human-computer interaction. OMICS: A Journal of Integrative Biology, 25(7), 401–407. Savin-Baden, M., Mason-Robbie, V. (2020). Perspectives on digital afterlife. In M. Savin-Baden & V. Mason-Robbie (Eds.). Digital afterlife: Death matters in a digital age (pp. 11-25). CRC Press. Woosley, A., Danes, S., & Stum, M. (2017). Utilizing a family decision-making lens to examine adults' end-of-life planning actions. Journal of Family & Economic Issues, 38(1), 33–44. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10834-016-9497-0