Dead and Buried

What if instead of rows of headstones, our cemeteries looked more like prairies? Here in the US, Natural burials or “Green Burials” are slowly growing as an eco-friendly alternative to traditional burial or cremation. These burial practices are not a new concept, however, and have been used for years around the world. So how did we get to a point where green burials have seen a rise in interest?

There’s a movement afoot to remove the stigma around end-of-life, in unusual and unorthodox ways. From Death Cafes to #DeathTok to Fake Funerals, the overarching goal of all of these efforts is to destigmatize death, to take away the dread and avoidance. When we accept that we all die and ‘embrace’ the end of life, we can plan a better end AND a better life.

Gen Z is the first generation to have grown up wholly in the digital era. The omnipresence of social media in Gen Z’s lives, with its non-stop feed of real events, has made death more visual and present to younger people. Curly explores how platforms that feed these violent images also offer places for people to discuss death in unconventional ways.

Across cultures and time, humanity has sought to make meaning of death through ritual, art, myths, and religion. So how has this belief, or lack thereof, helped humans process death? Our host, Curly Velasquez, seeks to explore this question through expert anthropological perspective, and his own origins - by sharing a grieving tradition carried through generations by the women in his family.

Although grief is a universal human experience, we tend to think of it as something very private and individual. In this episode of Dead and Buried, Curly Velasquez explores how every society has culturally prescribed ways of mourning, and how we handle the experience of grief in today's world.

Chatbots can extend our existence beyond the physical realm, but if our digital footprint could be considered a new kind of immortality, how can we ever “rest in peace”? Curly Velasquez speaks with cyber-psychologist, Elaine Kasket, and research scientist and chatbot creator, Muhammad Ahmad, to explore the two sides of this AI generated coin.

What lies behind the wish to hasten the end of your life? And what does that process involve for someone with a terminal prognosis? In this episode, Curly Velasquez explores current legal parameters, surprising facts, common myths, and a brief history of medical aid in dying. Curly Velasquez explores current legal parameters, facts, common myths, and a brief history of medical aid in dying.

All around the world, and primarily within Black and Brown communities in the U.S., individuals have created wearable and visual memorialization such as jewelry, shoes and shirts. In our final episode of Dead and Buried, Curly Velasquez explores the rise of R.I.P T-Shirts in the U.S., how they've functioned as a tool for social activism, a way to keep loved ones close, and their memory alive.