Death, et seq.

Episode 46: Demystifying End of Life Planning Documents

Do you have your documents in order to allow for a trusted person to make decisions about your health care and property if you become incapacitated? This episode walks through four important kinds of documents and explains what each does: (1) power of attorney; (2) health care power of attorney; (3) advance directive or living will; and (4) funeral planning declaration. Whether you have an estate planning attorney or you are DIY-ing, this is an episode that will give you a great baseline understanding of these vitally important documents! Check out the Death, et seq. Substack for more information.

Episode 45: Empathy and End of Life with Stephanie Hopp

In today's episode, I talk to Stephanie Hopp, EdD, RN, CPN, an Associate Professor in the Undergraduate Nursing Program at Clarkson College in Omaha, Nebraska. Professor Hopp talks about her experience as a nurse at Children's Nebraska Hospital and her scholarship on empathy in health care.

Episode 44: The Strange Case of Jeremy DeWitte

In this episode of Death et seq., Professor Marsh talks to Wake Law student Spencer Maher about Jeremy DeWitte, the man who turned a Florida funeral escort service into a viral masterclass in policy impersonation. As the owner of Metro State Special Services, DeWitte patrolled Orlando streets on decommissioned police motorcycles, wearing a badge nearly identical to the LAPD's and carrying a pepperball gun that looked exactly like a service Glock. Find out what happened to a man who took "playing cop" way too far.

Episode 43: Regulating the Funeral Industry

In this episode of the Death Esq. podcast, Professor Marsh welcomes Jay Doshi to discuss the outdated regulatory structures of the American funeral industry. Doshi explains how the industry stubbornly protects traditional, full-service embalmed funerals while consumer preference is rapidly shifting toward cremation and non-traditional burials. This disconnect is largely fueled by outdated single-license frameworks that force funeral directors to become licensed embalmers, creating significant barriers to entry. Doshi highlights how expensive mortuary school tuition and low-wage apprenticeships have led to an employment crisis, with only 1,600 graduates available to fill 5,700 annual job openings. To revitalize the industry, Doshi discusses pragmatic solutions like dual-licensing frameworks and externship programs. He even advocates for the complete elimination of occupational licensing requirements, arguing that a market-driven approach would lower consumer costs, spark innovation in deathcare, and naturally weed out bad actors through reputation and tort liability.

Episode 42: Green Burial with Suzanne Kelly

On this episode, I talk to Suzanne Kelly, chair of the Town of Rhinebeck, New York Cemetery Committee about green burial. The Town of Rhinebeck Cemetery opened a Natural Burial Ground in 2014, only the second municipal natural burial ground in New York. Suzanne is also the author of the 2017 book "Greening Death – Reclaiming Burial Practices and Restoring our Tie to Earth." The research for this episode was developed by Wake Law student Madison Chance.