Caitlin Doughty (2017)

Alright, I got my coffee and I AM READY FOR THIS. BRING ON THE DEATH.

Just realize that most of the industry is still run by old dudes with their old dudes ideas. If you suggest "we should let that family come help us dress mom" or "maybe we should advertise the natural burial ground two towns over" they might think it's a hippie crap (real quote). Understand that you're up against an industry that doesn't want to change, and you have to be a death warrior in the trenches!

That people used to camp out in beached rotting whales for days for medicinal purposes.

http://www.wired.co.uk/article/whale-bath

I think you need to try a little more tough love with your boyfriend. Say, "you know that I have this condition that I live with everyday, and of course having this condition means I don't have the luxury not to think about death. It hurts my feelings that you won't talk to me about what might happen. I know how hard it is, but it would mean a lot if we could have an open conversation about this." If he shuts you down keep trying! You deserve to have this conversation and you're not weird for wanting it.

I would love to come back to Ireland.

If I told you where I keep the cache of corpse secrets I wouldn't have a bag of corpse secrets to enthrall and delight!

One time in college I dressed up as "normal" with sweatpants and pink nail polish and a baseball cap and no one recognized me. I don't know what I'll be this year, any suggestions?

Thanks for the assist, CurryPotatoes.

I love the idea of decomposing when I die. Getting put in the cozy earth and having little microbes and fungi chomp away at me, going back into the natural world. That brings me a lot of comfort. If you can get to that place, wonderful! But remember you have so many options. Does cremation make you feel better, preserving your body, donating it to science? Choose what makes you feel comfy about dying!

Re: your mom, it depends on all kind of factors like soil, temp, etc. But with no embalming, most likely, yes.

This is an incredible idea, and obviously I would watch it.

The flaw I see in your evil plan for TV domination is that part of the beauty of the mummy is the potential for long term preservation. Sure, your mummy looks great NOW, two weeks later, but what about two years? Two decades? Two centuries?

Ashes of the guy's dog in a tiny dog urn. They wanted me to sneak the ashes into the casket, since it's not technically allowed. I won't say if I did it or not (heh heh heh wink).

You had a dream about meeting me, and here we are, meeting. Hello. We're best of friends now. Can you loan me $5?

I call the mummified bodies of South Suluwesi in Indonesia the "holy grail of corpse interaction." Seeing families take the mummies out of their graves to clean and dress them was an experience I will never forget. Especially since it was so normal! You think it would be freaky, but there were teenagers uploading pictures of their mummy grandpa to Instagram and Facebook.

I'm sorry to inform you yarnicles, but the bangs are, in fact, required.

Kidding.

I've had this hair since 2001, so I may not be the right one to ask. Proof: https://www.instagram.com/p/BVJP95bDUO-/

Congrats on your mom's (eventual, hopefully not soon) cremation!

I don't like to rank funeral customs, though it's well known I shoot the side eye to America quite often.

Both the US and UK have some serious denial issues. In the US we chemically preserve the body and put makeup on it and display it, making the body look "lifelike." In the UK you tend to not see the body at all, watching the closed coffin go straight in for cremation. Neither of these options really get us involved in the process! Just hang out with the natural dead body, folks! I promise you'll like it.

Ok, I like where you're going with this.

Writing a book. It's suuuuuuccckkkkksssss. Don't do it. Paint a picture. Meditate. Go outside. Meet your friends for coffee. Don't write a book if you don't have to it's hard. (This isn't very inspirational advice, sorry.)

I'm sorry to break it to you, my friend: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FQJOs8rm6xM

This is such a complicated question, but an important one.

I'm all for science and discovery and research. We've learned so much about humanity from the long dead.

However, it's a problem if there are still relatives who don't agree with the disinterment. There's especially a problem if the bodies are put on display in the museum setting.

This gets into some of the same issues as zoos. Why would you lock up a majestic animal? But, if conservation and learning and funding can happen to save a species, is it worth it on balance?

I could talk about this all day, I'll leave it at that for now.

I didn't realize that we would be practicing embalming on the unclaimed dead of Los Angeles. I wasn't comfortable with it then, and still am not comfortable with it.

DON'T DO THIS TO ME MY BOOK CAME OUT TUESDAY. I'm going into one of those chambers Han Solo was in in Star Wars for the next few months and maybe I'll emerge with a clever idea.

I feel bad that so many people in the death industry get reactions like "UGH MORBID, why would you do that?"

Honestly, no one really says that to me. Maybe it's because I'm already known for doing this, or I'm so enthusiastic about it. But for the most part people say "what? cool! tell me about your favorite decomposing body!"

Huh, I think they're about the same temperature, 1,900 degrees F plus. I WONDER if anyone has ever attempted to place pottery in a cremation machine at the same time as, say, the body of a sculptor? There's probably a crucial logistics aspect that I'm missing here, but I think that's a lovely idea.

Sure! You want books, cultural practices, movies? Whatcha want, my dear?

Can I be both? A simple cleric with a dark side?

I want to visit Elvis at Graceland! I can also visit Dollywood while I'm in Tennessee. I should just do that. That sounds fun. Vacation- planned.

Yikes, ixnay on the living forever. The fact that I'm going to die is what gives my life urgency and meaning.

How would I like to die? Somewhat quickly, feeling loved and generally positive about what I've accomplished for the world. Maybe eating a brownie as it happens. "She died doing what she loved."

Not any that identified themselves to me, no.

Fun facts about necrophilia: A small amount of the people who engage intimately with a dead body are actually attracted to corpses. It's mostly (men) looking for an unresisting partner because they've had a difficult time being intimate with living people. But even then it's incredibly rare.

Hi Kermit!

A pro is the feeling like you're TRULY taking care of the dead, my land, my dead body, my process. A con would be.... ummm... what if you move when you have that third kid and whoops, grandpa is in the backyard.

That's why there should be natural burial grounds (or conservation burial grounds, like you mention) in EVERY community if possible. Where you can go and be involved and help dig the grave and place the body in and plant a shrub and feel like this is your communal place to keep your dead.

Stiff, by Mary Roach, of course.
Ghostland by Colin Dickey
The American Way of Death by Jessica Mitford
Death to Dust by Kenneth Iserson

The list goes on!

Ha! Good answer.

No! When I first moved to LA there were giant billboards along the freeway that said "DOUGHTY." It's such an unusual name that it was strange to see it in giant print.

He pronounces it wrong though ;)