Looking Death Right in the Eye w/ Sarah Doumar

August 5
1h 21m

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Episode Description

Julia is joined by bestina and hospital chaplain Sarah Doumar to confront the only thing we are unfortunately promised in this lifetime: death. Together the girlies deconstruct how dying transformed from an intimate, familiar occurence to a hidden and medicalized taboo, unpacking the predatory funeral industry, the West's treatment of elders, and society's obsession with immortality. Plus, Sarah shares what sitting with dying patients has taught her about grief, fear, and spirituality. Digressions include tyrannical choir teachers, a sacred dream about Heath Ledger, and smoking hookah at the retirement village.

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This episode was produced by Julia Hava and Kylie Finnigan and edited by Livi Burdette. 

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SOURCES

A Third of Young Adults Are Still Living With Their Parents—as Old Taboo 

Aging Out by Lucy Schiller

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Becomes the New Normal Amid Soaring Costs 

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Death Is Having a Moment 

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Does The Internet Change How We Die And Mourn? Overview And Analysis 

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Mid-Late Victorian Mourning Dress

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New study challenges notion that aging means decline, finds many older adults improve over time 

Place of Death Before and During the COVID-19 Pandemic 

Poor Relief and the Almshouse 

Senior Living History: 1930 - 1939 

TERROR MANAGEMENT THEORY 

The American Way of Death Revisited by Jessica Mitford 

The Denial of Death and the Practice of Dying 

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The other side of sadness: What the new science of bereavement tells us about life after loss. 

The Trouble with Nursing Homes 

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U.S. centenarian population is projected to quadruple over the next 30 years 

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When Breath Becomes Air by Paul Kalanithi

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