Death is an experience that all humans will share, yet this experience is both deeply individual and shaped by the societies we live in. While historically religion offered a framework for understanding death and the afterlife, with the rise of nonreligion, our attitudes toward death are changing. In this episode, we learn about how obituaries have changed over time, how beliefs about the afterlife are being reshaped, and how death cafés offer places to talk intentionally about death and dying.

We hear from Chris Miller, a postdoctoral fellow with the Nonreligion in a Complex Future Project, Christel Manning, a professor of sociology at Sacred Heart University, and Martina Steiger, a death café facilitator.

For further reading on this episode, see: https://nonreligionproject.ca/episode-5-further-reading/

The Lifestances Podcast is part of the Nonreligion in a Complex Future (NCF) Project, a SSHRC-funded, international research project based at the University of Ottawa, Canada. For more on the NCF, see our website: ⁠⁠⁠https://nonreligionproject.ca/⁠⁠ ⁠

The Lifestances Podcast is hosted by Lori G. Beaman and produced by Nathan Alexander.

In the face of the environmental crisis, rethinking human relationships with the natural world is becoming more important than ever. While some religious and nonreligious narratives have placed humans on top of a hierarchy of beings, in this episode, we explore alternative ways of thinking about our relationship with the natural world.

To address these issues, we’re joined by Nancy Menning, a visiting scholar at Ithaca College, Victoria Enkvist, an associate professor of law at Uppsala University in Sweden, and Anita Krajnc, a Toronto-based activist who is the co-founder of Toronto Pig Save and the global Animal Save Movement.

The Lifestances Podcast is part of the Nonreligion in a Complex Future (NCF) Project, a SSHRC-funded, international research project based at the University of Ottawa, Canada. For more on the NCF, see our website: ⁠⁠https://nonreligionproject.ca/⁠⁠ 

The Lifestances Podcast is hosted by Lori G. Beaman and produced by Nathan Alexander.

What do you want to do with your body after death? For many people, this is a choice between cremation or casket burial. But in this episode, we learn about other options. Margit Warburg, a sociologist from the University of Copenhagen, tells us about the growing practice of forest burials in Denmark. Maria Recchia, an activist in eastern Canada, describes her efforts to introduce green burial practices in funeral homes and cemeteries. And Christian Lomsdalen, the president of the Norwegian Humanist Association, explains how he wants to be composted in his garden. 

The Lifestances Podcast is part of the Nonreligion in a Complex Future (NCF) Project, a SSHRC-funded, international research project based at the University of Ottawa, Canada. For more on the NCF, see our website: ⁠https://nonreligionproject.ca/⁠ 

The Lifestances Podcast is hosted by Lori G. Beaman and produced by Nathan Alexander.