PODCAST · society
Memento Morbid
by Memento Morbid
Fascinating, poignant, and surprisingly life-affirming conversations about death, the human condition, and life’s great mysteries. Join Joanna Ebenstein, founder of Morbid Anatomy, for Memento Morbid, a series of surprisingly life-affirming conversations around topics that tend to be deemed morbid- including death, grief and spirituality. Meet a wide range of fascinating individuals including death workers, artists, New York Times bestselling authors, a practicing witch, Hollywood actors, and a former crematorium worker- all exploring the rituals, stories, and delightfully strange ways humans confront the unknowable. Each episode is curious, insightful, and often striking, revealing the beauty, humor, and meaning we can find in life by confronting death head on. 📢Listeners! You are invited to share your own offerings: voice notes on death, dying, ritual and the beauty of finitude. Include your first name and location
Episodes
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17: ‘Spiritual Gumbo’ - Lilith Dorsey
"Voodoo dolls are the one thing I'm always on my high horse about." In this episode, Joanna is joined by author, filmmaker, anthropologist and initiated New Orleans Voodoo priestess Lilith Dorsey for a rich conversation that dismantles centuries of myth while exploring the profound spiritual...
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16: Reality TV: A Poison and a Pox? - Evan Michelson
"I don't keep the most valuable things. I keep the things that sing to me." — Evan Michelson What makes an object into a portal for memory, grief, beauty, and the sacred? This week, Joanna Ebenstein is joined by Evan Michelson—collector, curator, television personality and co-founder of the...
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15: ‘The Deathosphere’ – Joanna Ebenstein & Producer Jess
"It's the death of organisms that creates the fertility of the soil." When a storm in Mexico forces a last-minute change of plans, host Joanna Ebenstein is joined by Memento Morbid's Series Producer, Jess Gunasekara, for a special behind-the-scenes conversation reflecting on the remarkable first...
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14: ‘Death Makes Creativity Possible’- Dylan Thuras
What happens when the project that defined your life suddenly no longer belongs to you? This week, Joanna Ebenstein is joined by her longtime friend Dylan Thuras, co-founder of Atlas Obscura, to explore wonder, grief, creativity, and what it means to let go of the work that has shaped your...
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13: Hoodoo: Healing & Harm - Yvonne Chireau
What if the dead are not gone at all, but woven into the fabric of everyday life? Historian, scholar of religion and Black studies, and Sinners consultant Yvonne Chireau joins Joanna Ebenstein for a rich conversation about African American conjure, hoodoo, ancestry, and the many ways we...
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12: From Pixar to Peculiars - Lee Unkrich
Academy Award-winning filmmaker Lee Unkrich—director of Coco, Toy Story 3, and longtime Pixar creative—joins Joanna Ebenstein for a deeply personal conversation about collecting, mortality, and the unexpected ways art can reshape our relationship with loss. Long before Coco brought Día de Muertos...
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11: ‘Living Persons Guide to the Dead’- Tiffany Hopkins
What if mediumship and creativity trace back to the same roots? In this episode of Memento Morbid, Joanna Ebenstein is joined by medium, researcher, educator and author Tiffany Hopkins for a wide-ranging conversation that moves between science, spirituality, and the porous edges of perception.…
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10: Sparkling Skeletons and Costumed Cats - Paul Koudournaris
What happens when a lifelong fascination with mortality leads you into crypts, catacombs, pet cemeteries, and skull festivals across the world? Photographer, writer, and art historian Paul Koudounaris joins Joanna Ebenstein for a wide-ranging conversation about death, beauty, human remains, and…
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9: ‘Ectoplasm? It looks like cheesecloth’ – Shannon Taggart
What happens when a photographer spends 25 years documenting people who believe they can speak with the dead? Photographer Shannon Taggart joins Joanna Ebenstein for a fascinating conversation about spiritualism, séance culture, spirit photography, and the enduring human desire to remain…
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8: Mysticism, Sex, and the Impossible- Jeffrey Kripal
Is Reality Stranger Than We’re Willing to Admit? Religious scholar and author Jeffrey J. Kripal joins Joanna Ebenstein for an engrossing conversation exploring mysticism, sexuality, death, and the edges of what we call “real.” Kripal reflects on his early years in a Catholic seminary, where...
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7: ‘Impossible Bodies’ - Asti Hustvedt
In this episode of Memento Morbid, Joanna Ebenstein speaks with independent scholar, historian, and author Asti Hustvedt about hysteria, gender, spiritualism, and the uneasy territory where medicine meets the uncanny. What happens when the body refuses to behave according to science? Beginning in...
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6: ‘I've never not known death’ - John Troyer
What happens when a lifetime spent studying death collides with personal loss? Death scholar, writer, and educator John Troyer joins Joanna Ebenstein for a conversation about mortality, grief, funeral culture, and the sometimes uneasy relationship between intellectual understanding and lived...
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5: ‘Darkness is Healthy and Holy’ - Pam Grossman
What happens when we recognise creativity as a form of magic? Writer, curator, and cultural critic Pam Grossman joins Joanna Ebenstein for a conversation about witchcraft, creativity, death, and the unseen forces that shape our lives. Best known for her books Magic Maker and Waking the Witch,...
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4: ‘Death isn’t a problem to fix’ - Oliver Burkeman
What does it mean to live well, knowing our time is finite? Author Oliver Burkeman joins Joanna Ebenstein for a conversation about time, mortality, and what it means to live well inside finite lives. Best known for Four Thousand Weeks, Burkeman reflects on his shift from scepticism about…
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3: 'Grave Dirt & Mud Pies' - Leila Taylor
Grave dirt makes the best mud pies… Leila Taylor, writer, designer, cultural critic and Creative Director of Brooklyn Public Library, joins Joanna Ebenstein for a rich, wide-ranging conversation about the Gothic as both a cultural form and a lived sensibility—one that moves through memory…
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2: 'I'm a Monster Now'- Paul Giamatti
What Does It Mean to Become Someone Else? Award-winning actor and producer Paul Giamatti joins Joanna Ebenstein for a wide-ranging, eerie, and often amusing conversation about monsters, performance, and the porous boundary between life and death. From childhood fascinations with werewolves and...
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1: 'Corpse Girl' - Caitlin Doughty
What Happens to a Body After Death? Mortician, author and death care reformer Caitlin Doughty joins Joanna Ebenstein for a candid, curious and surprisingly funny conversation about what really happens to our bodies after we die and why modern Western culture would rather not think about it. From...
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Welcome to Memento Morbid….
Memento Morbid Fascinating, poignant, and surprisingly life-affirming conversations about death, the human condition, and life’s great mysteries. Join Joanna Ebenstein, founder of Morbid Anatomy, for Memento Morbid, a series of surprisingly life-affirming conversations around topics that tend to…
more
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ABOUT THIS SHOW
Fascinating, poignant, and surprisingly life-affirming conversations about death, the human condition, and life’s great mysteries.
Join Joanna Ebenstein, founder of Morbid Anatomy, for Memento Morbid, a series of surprisingly life-affirming conversations around topics that tend to be deemed morbid- including death, grief and spirituality. Meet a wide range of fascinating individuals including death workers, artists, New York Times bestselling authors, a practicing witch, Hollywood actors, and a former crematorium worker- all exploring the rituals, stories, and delightfully strange ways humans confront the unknowable. Each episode is curious, insightful, and often striking, revealing the beauty, humor, and meaning we can find in life by confronting death head on.
📢Listeners! You are invited to share your own offerings: voice notes on death, dying, ritual and the beauty of finitude. Include your first name and location
HOSTED BY
Memento Morbid
CATEGORIES
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Frequently Asked Questions
How many episodes does Memento Morbid have?
Memento Morbid currently has 18 episodes available on PodParley. New episodes are automatically indexed when they're published to the podcast feed.
What is Memento Morbid about?
Fascinating, poignant, and surprisingly life-affirming conversations about death, the human condition, and life’s great mysteries. Join Joanna Ebenstein, founder of Morbid Anatomy, for Memento Morbid, a series of surprisingly life-affirming conversations around topics that tend to be deemed morbid-...
How often does Memento Morbid release new episodes?
Memento Morbid has 18 episodes. Check the episode list to see recent publication dates and frequency.
Where can I listen to Memento Morbid?
You can listen to Memento Morbid on PodParley by clicking any episode. We provide an embedded audio player for direct listening, and you can also subscribe via your preferred podcast app using the RSS feed.
Who hosts Memento Morbid?
Memento Morbid is created and hosted by Memento Morbid.
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