Death, et seq.
Episodes
Episode 42: Green Burial with Suzanne Kelly
30 Mar 2026
Contributed by Lukas
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 Cemete...
Episode 41: Grave Goods
23 Mar 2026
Contributed by Lukas
“Riches do not so much exhilarate us with their possession, as they torment us with their loss.” This quotation comes from Robert Burton, a 17th...
Episode 39: Evidentiary Body Parts
16 Mar 2026
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode, we discuss the retention and disposition of human remains after they are seized by law enforcement as part of a criminal investigatio...
Episode 38: Disposition of the Remains of Incarcerated Individuals
02 Mar 2026
Contributed by Lukas
When a person dies while incarcerated, what happens to their remains? Do incarcerated individuals receive as much respect in death as other individual...
Episode 37: Cremated Remains and What to Do With Them
23 Feb 2026
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode, third year Wake Forest Law student Connor Crotty compares the processes of cremation and alkaline hydrolysis (water cremation), discu...
Episode 36: Early American Protestantism and Death
16 Feb 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Tanya talks to Erik Seeman, a history Professor at University at Buffalo and the author of several books on early American attitudes towards death and...
Episode 35: Catholicism and Death
09 Feb 2026
Contributed by Lukas
What death care practices are in line with the teachings of the Catholic Church? In this episode, Tanya talks to Wake Law student Andrea St. Paul abou...
Episode 34: The Ancient Law of Death
02 Feb 2026
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode, Tanya talks to Vivian Bolen about the law and death customs in Ancient Rome and Greece, and to Lillian Remler about death customs in ...
Episode 33: Burn, Bury or Biodegrade Me
26 Jan 2026
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode, Tanya talks to her friend Holly Swenson, walking her through the options for the disposition of her remains (cremation, casket burial...
Episode 32: AI Memorialization and Digital Grief
19 Jan 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Since emerging tools like AI memorialization, grief bots, and digital afterlife platforms can essentially allow us to virtually resurrect the dead, th...
Episode 31: Military Burials with Professor Ellie Morales
12 Jan 2026
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode, Tanya talks to Professor Ellie Morales, who directs the Veteran's Legal Clinic at Wake Forest Law School, about the funeral benefits ...
Episode 30: Cemetery GPR with Dr. David Leslie
05 Jan 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Ground penetrating radar (or GPR) is one of the geophysical techniques that archaeologists like Dr. David Leslie of Terrasearch Geophysical use to ima...
Episode 29: Buying and Selling Human Remains
29 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
For more information about the laws at issue in the so-called "Harvard Morgue Case," check out my article in The Conversation.
Episode 28: The Wake Forest Law Review & The Future of Death Care
22 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Will Boyce, the current Editor in Chief of The Wake Forest Law Review is the guest. He and Tanya discuss the legal scholarship created in connection w...
Episode 27: Cremation Fireworks
12 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Wake Law Student Jannine Huby organized this episode. She explains how cremation fireworks work and introduces Jason Diemer and Clay Adams of Greenlaw...
Episode 26: Barbara Kemmis on Consumer Preferences in Death Care
03 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode, Tanya and Barbara Kemmis, the Executive Director of the Cremation Association of North America, discuss research conducted by Wake Fo...
Episode 25: Multi-Jurisdictional Death with Bill Marsh
31 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode, Professor Tanya Marsh discusses the legal complexities of multi-jurisdictional death with her father, Professor Bill Marsh. They expl...
Episode 24: Cryonics with Susan Hubbard
21 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode, Tanya Marsh and Susan Hubbard discuss the law of cryonics and the five states which have either enacted a statute or considered a cas...
Episode 23: The Laws of the Dead (Legal Deac Podcast)
10 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
I really enjoyed being a part of this episode of the Legal Deac podcast — hope you enjoy it too! Death in the US can be one of the most complex asp...
Episode 22: NYC Cemeteries & Crematories in the COVID 19 Pandemic
26 Apr 2020
Contributed by Lukas
The death care system in the New York City metropolitan area is overwhelmed. In this episode, we speak with Phil Tassi, President of the New York Stat...
Episode 21: Death Care in the Time of COVID 19 with Amy Cunningham
19 Apr 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Recorded on April 18, 2020, Brooklyn funeral director Amy Cunningham explains how death care is being handled in New York City a month into the COVID-...
Episode 20: Planning for Incapacity with Jonah Bamel and Greg Volk
04 Feb 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Estate planning should involve more than simply creating the appropriate documents to address who will receive your property after your death. Modern ...
Episode 19: Discussing Cremation with Barbara Kemmis of CANA
14 Jan 2019
Contributed by Lukas
On this week’s episode, I am happy to share with you a conversation that I recently had with Barbara Kemmis, the Executive Director of the Cremation...
Episode 18: Music & Mortality: Murder Ballads and The Couldn't Be Happiers
07 Jan 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Jodi Hildebran Lee and Jordan Crosby Lee are the Couldn't Be Happiers. Check them out at www.couldbehappiers.com. On this episode, they play murder b...
Episode 17: The Impact of the Protestant Reformation on Burial Practices (with Jordan Artrip)
07 Jan 2019
Contributed by Lukas
The Protestant Reformation of the early 16th century changed countless aspects of everyday life for every kind of person across Europe. One of the th...
Episode 16: Music, Mortality & The Avett Brothers with Tim Mossberger
03 Nov 2018
Contributed by Lukas
About a month ago, I sat down with my friend Tim Mossberger in Champaign, Illinois to talk about our mutual favorite band, The Avett Brothers, and a b...
Episode 15: Death Related Holidays with Tyler Cunningham
29 Oct 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Death is celebrated all over the world on annual basis. More than 175 million Americans will celebrate Halloween this year, with total spending in 201...
Episode 14: Cemetery Tourism in Philadelphia and Music by Dan Zlotnick
26 Oct 2018
Contributed by Lukas
This hybrid episode combines Cemetery Tourism in Philadelphia and the music of recording artist Dan Zlotnick. In Part I, I discuss the history and so...
Episode 13: Sarah Crews on Conservation Burial, Home Funerals, Music & Mortality
08 Oct 2018
Contributed by Lukas
This is Tanya Marsh and you’re listening to Death, et seq. My guest this week is Sarah Crews, the director of Heart Land Prairie Cemetery in Salina...
Episode 12: Josh Slocum of The Funeral Consumers Alliance
24 Sep 2018
Contributed by Lukas
My guest this week is my friend Josh Slocum, who is the Executive Director of Funeral Consumers Alliance and the co-author of Final Rights: Reclaiming...
Episode 11: Amy Cunningham and the Meaningful Funeral
27 Aug 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Amy Cunningham is a progressive funeral director and the owner of Fitting Tribute Funeral Services in New York City. A former journalist, Amy co-auth...
Episode 10: Cemetery Tourism in NYC and Boston
15 Aug 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Episode Transcript: My name is Tanya Marsh and you’re listening to Death, et seq. We’ve been talking about funerals a lot on this podcast so far,...
Episode 9: Lee Webster on Home Funerals, Green Burials & Social Justice
30 Jul 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Lee Webster discusses her educational and advocacy efforts in the "neo-traditional" home funeral and green burial movements. Links to organi...
Episode 8: Bob Fells of ICCFA on The Value of the Traditional Funeral
23 Jul 2018
Contributed by Lukas
One of my major goals with this podcast is to introduce listeners to a variety of perspectives on the funeral industry and changing death practices. ...
Episode 7: A Preview of Dark Archives with Megan Rosenbloom
16 Jul 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Megan Rosenbloom is Associate Director for Instruction Services at the Norris Medical Library of the University of Southern California in Los Angeles,...
Episode 6: History, Music, and Mortality with David Childers and Phil Chaney
09 Jul 2018
Contributed by Lukas
In this week’s episode of Death, et seq., I am talking to two of my favorite people about two very different topics. First, I’ll be talking to my...
Episode 5: Introduction to Funeral & Disposition Planning (with Prof. Rebecca Morrow)
02 Jul 2018
Contributed by Lukas
This episode discusses funeral and disposition planning in the context of estate planning, explains why pre-planning is a good idea, and discusses the...
Episode 4: Caitlin Doughty and the Death Positive Movement
25 Jun 2018
Contributed by Lukas
I am so happy to have Caitlin Doughty as my guest on Episode 4. Caitlin is a licensed funeral director and the owner of Undertaking LA, a funeral ho...
Episode 3: Dan Isard and the State of the Modern Funeral Industry
25 Jun 2018
Contributed by Lukas
In the United States today, most funerals are arranged by licensed funeral directors, most bodies are prepared for disposition by licensed embalmers, ...
Episode 2: "What Happens to Human Remains in the U.S.?"
25 Jun 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Whenever people ask me what I do, and I tell them that I research, teach, and write about the law of human remains, their first response is to say “...
Death, et seq. is Coming Soon!
19 Jun 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Subscribe on iTunes, Stitcher, or Google Play. Thanks! My name is Tanya Marsh and I teach Funeral and Cemetery law at Wake Forest University School o...