Grave Matters
Episodes
Dead Sexy: Navigating Intimacy, Grief and Terminal Illness
10 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
While some may assume that grief and terminal illness are the ultimate turn offs, the truth can be far more complicated. Sexual desire is fluid, and d...
Curing Death: A Philosopher’s Case for Immortality
03 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Death is inevitable, the natural fate of all living things. Right? Well, not exactly. There’s a growing movement of anti-ageing scientists, longevit...
True Crime High: The Sociology Class Solving Murders
27 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Is it possible to protect today’s teens from the evils of the world? Are high schools adequately preparing them for adulthood in the age of AI? In s...
End of Life Yarning: An Indigenous Perspective on Dying
19 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people were practising end of life care for thousands of years prior to colonisation. But with the loss of tradi...
Death by Robot: Homo Digitalis and the AI Revolution
12 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
From driving cars to drafting emails, retail therapy to disease diagnosis, artificial intelligence now permeates almost every aspect of our lives. But...
Crime Seen: Meet the Reigning Queen of Forensic Cleaning
06 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Ever wondered who has to clean up after a murder? Or who to call about a relative’s hoarding? After 25 years of mopping up such messes, one forensic...
Zombies and Vampires: Lessons on Death from the Undead
29 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
You may see zombies and vampires as little more than cultural fodder for your horror-filled delight. But for centuries, undead creatures have been use...
The Right to Die: Dr Philip Nitschke on Voluntary Assisted Dying
22 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Do we have a fundamental right to die? Should everyone have access to Voluntary Assisted Dying? Dr Philip Nitschke has been at the forefront of VAD ad...
Gay Abandon: Ageing and Dying in the LGBTQI Community
16 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Members of the LGBTQI community face unique, often invisible challenges when it comes to ageing and dying. They are also creating new and joyful ways ...
Bodies R Us: What Really Happens to Bodies Donated to Science?
08 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Have you ever wondered what type of people donate their bodies to science? Or if body supply equals demand? Organ donation may be increasing but the n...
Grave Matters is back for Season 2!
02 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Death — we all have to face it, but nobody wants to talk about it. Anthony Levin and Nadine J. Cohen are back to explore the unexpected, the eerie, ...
Ray of light: Ray Martin ponders death & the afterlife
07 Aug 2024
Contributed by Lukas
American broadcaster Diane Sawyer once said that a good journalist follows their curiosity like a cat. If the adage is true, then Ray Martin has nine ...
Saying Fur-well: Pets, Vets & the Afterlife
14 May 2024
Contributed by Lukas
We're back with a special bonus episode to cap off the series. We’ve spent the season exploring the myriad ways we respond to people dying and what ...
Everybody Dies: Ben Lee on Life, Death, and Ayahuasca, Baby
07 May 2024
Contributed by Lukas
You may know him as the singer songwriter behind worldwide hits including Catch My Disease and We’re All In This Together. But there’s more to Ben...
No Planet B: Coming to Terms with Climate Collapse
29 Apr 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Would you live your life differently if you thought humanity was doomed? You don’t have to be a nihilist to wonder whether we can survive the climat...
Trauma’s Children: Life in the shadow of massive loss
23 Apr 2024
Contributed by Lukas
We inherit many things from our families - heirlooms, habits, humour. But what about psychological wounds? In this episode, we discuss epigenetics, in...
Rise of the Death Robots: Will Death Tech change the way we die?
16 Apr 2024
Contributed by Lukas
In this Golden Age of Innovation, we’re accustomed to making room for new technologies in daily life. But what about when we die? It turns out that ...
Weird Science: How Chemistry is Helping One Woman Solve Crimes
09 Apr 2024
Contributed by Lukas
You know how in TV crime shows, the police can always pinpoint a body’s exact time of death? Well, it seems we’ve been lied to. Forensic science h...
21st-Century Plague: Has COVID-19 Changed Us Forever?
02 Apr 2024
Contributed by Lukas
How has coronavirus changed our experience and perceptions of dying? We look at some of the socio-political implications of the pandemic and whether i...
Panning for Gold: A Death Doula’s Guide to Living and Dying
28 Mar 2024
Contributed by Lukas
We introduced you to the concept of death doulas in the first episode of Grave Matters. But what do they actually do? We asked Sarah Tolmie, consummat...
Hospitals and Hijabs: One Woman’s Mission to Raise Death Literacy in Her Community
26 Mar 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Have you had a near-death experience? Was there a bright light? A shadowy figure? Did your life flash before your eyes? A terrifying near-death experi...
Body and Soil: Exploring a Greener Alternative to Burial and Cremation
19 Mar 2024
Contributed by Lukas
It’s no secret that burial and cremation are environmentally unsustainable. So how can we dispose of bodies in new, climate-friendly ways? Alternati...
Good Grief: The Importance of Rituals for Healing After Loss
12 Mar 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Over thousands of years, cultures around the world have developed rituals to express and process grief. Research shows that these rituals are crucial ...
Dead Curious: How Can We Do Death and Dying Better?
05 Mar 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Life as we know it is changing, and so too is death. From death doulas to death cafes, bespoke funerals, and human composting, Grave Matters is your c...
Introducing Grave Matters
21 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
From death doulas to death cafes, bespoke family-led funerals, and climate-friendly cremation, there's a lot of disruption happening in the business o...