Why We Avoid Death

Lent and The North Side Skull and Bone Gang

Lent begins this week with Ash Wednesday, a day on the Christian calendar that emphasizes our mortality. Christiana and Matthew talk about what this liturgical season can teach us about death. They also dive into New Orleans' famous group The Northside Skull and Bone Gang who have been waking the dead and impacting the living for over 200 years. Links to things they discuss in this episode: * "The Beginning of Lent" at Christianity Today [https://www.christianitytoday.com/history/2008/august/beginning-of-lent.html] * Andrew Peterson’s Resurrection Letters [https://www.andrew-peterson.com/resurrection-letters] * “Was it a morning like this?” by Jim Croegaert [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r0H2EPYAR8k] * St. Louis cemetery No. 3 [https://nolacatholiccemeteries.org/st-louis-cemetery-3] * The North Side Skull and Bone Gang: The Atlantic film [https://www.theatlantic.com/video/index/553130/skull-and-bone-gang/]

Memento Mori

Christiana and Matthew talk about the origins of Memento mori and why practicing Memento Mori can actually help us become more compassionate to those suffering across the world. They also share a few things that have made them remember their death. Links: Terror managment theory [https://aeon.co/essays/how-to-apply-terror-management-theory-to-improve-human-lives] No small endeavor with Azim Khamisa [https://nosmallendeavor.com/blog/azim-khamisa] and Amy Grant [https://nosmallendeavor.com/blog/Amy-grant] Cynthia Bourgeault [https://earthandaltarmag.com/posts/8yyp7vmlcojr7tgxu053shc1vgoxh8] Dorothy Day: Beauty Will Save the World by Kate Hennessy [https://catholicworker.org/book-review-dorothy-day-the-world-will-be-saved-by-beauty/] Christiana's IG account [https://www.instagram.com/ChristianaNPete/]

Does the Body Matter?

From incorruptible saints of the Catholic Church to Diogenes the Cynic, Christiana and Matthew discuss the question that has been debated for centuries: Do the bodies of the dead matter? *Warning: Frank discussion of corpses and dead bodies. Links to things discussed in the podcast or *used in their research: * Sister Wilhelmina [https://www.nytimes.com/2023/09/09/us/missouri-nun-habit.html] * St. Anthony of Padua [https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/st-anthonys-tongue] * Video: How to tell if your saint is corrupt [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jN4SvtRje2I] * The Body Keeps the Score [https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/313183/the-body-keeps-the-score-by-bessel-van-der-kolk-md/] * The Cult of the Beheaded by Elizabeth Harper [https://imagejournal.org/article/beheaded/] * Mutilated, Mystic, Heretic by Christiana Peterson [https://imagejournal.org/2019/10/21/mutilated-mystic-heretic-the-inquisitions-victims-are-the-folk-saints-of-palermo/] * Horror Movie Mom by Jessica Mesman [https://www.christiancentury.org/article/features/horror-movie-mom] * The Changeling movie trailer [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UwUI7d5TgGA] * *The Work of the Dead: A Cultural History of Mortal Remains by Thomas Laqueur [https://press.princeton.edu/books/hardcover/9780691157788/the-work-of-the-dead]

Halloween: Skulls, Bones, and Memento Mori

Christiana talks about the origins of Halloween and what Halloween might have to teach us about death. Links mentioned: * Samhain [https://www.patheos.com/blogs/panmankey/2014/10/samhain/] * The Unreal Story of Halloween [https://www.thepitchkc.com/the-singular-story-of-samhain-and-the-unreal-history-of-halloween/] * The Day of the Dead, Halloween, and the Quest for Mexican National Identity [https://www.jstor.org/stable/541045] * Mocking Death [https://mereorthodoxy.com/mocking-death] * Awakened By Death: Life-Giving Lessons From the Mystics [https://www.broadleafbooks.com/store/product/9781506461168/Awakened-by-Death]

Why We Avoid Death

Why do people tend to avoid thinking about death in our Euro-western culture? Christiana and Matthew discuss some of these reasons and also why avoiding death increases our anxiety, our loneliness, and our fears. Here are some things they discuss in the show: * 100 Ways to Avoid Dying [https://www.almanac.com/content/100-ways-avoid-dying ] * Want to Avoid Death? Maybe Cryogenics Isn't Crazy [https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/want-to-avoid-death-maybe-cryonics-isnt-crazy/2023/01/08/a59b5ada-8f33-11ed-b86a-2e3a77336b8e_story.html#] * Doubting Death: How Our Brains Shield Us From Mortal Truth [https://www.theguardian.com/science/2019/oct/19/doubting-death-how-our-brains-shield-us-from-mortal-truth#:~:text=“The%20brain%20does%20not%20accept,shouldn%27t%20believe%20it.”] * The Man Who Thinks He Can Live Forever [https://time.com/6315607/bryan-johnsons-quest-for-immortality/] * Death Anxiety and Its Role in Psychopathology [https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0272735814001354] * J.R.R Tolkien talking about Death [https://www.instagram.com/reel/CxWKsVQpxpH/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igshid=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==]