Topic: Death

[ Episode #80 // Dying Wisdom ]

Though death is an inevitable part of life, do we really act as if we know we're going to die? In a culture that glorifies youth and technology, the true acknowledgement of death can come as an affront to our perceived ability to negotiate with limits. Can we each acknowledge the role of death in our lives to create a wiser life, throughout and at its end?

Stephen Jenkinson returns in Extraenvironmentalist #80 to discuss the wisdom that death can bring to our distaste of limits. Then, we talk to hospice nurse Meg Smith about the epidemic of cognitive impairment among the elderly and speak with Caitlin Doughty of the Order of the Good Death about alternative death rituals.

 

// Extended Clips (in order of appearance)

[First Break] - 37m

Peter Saul - Dying in 21st Century
"What should we think about death?" Narrated by Stephen Fry

[Second Break] - 51m

Alan Watts - Death
Stephen Jenkinson from Extraenvironmentalist #51

[End]

Shane Koyczan - The Crickets Have Arthritis

// Music (in order of appearance)

Thrupence - Don't You Mind via Portals
Rising Appalachia - Sunu
Panama - Always via Beatport
Buffy Sainte-Marie - Little Wheel Spin and Spin via IndieShuffle
I Am Oak - On Trees and Birds and Fire (Sam Feldt Bloombox Remix)

// Production Credits and Notes

Our correspondent and editor Kevin via Sustainable Guidance Youtube Channel

Thanks also to our guest producers Liz and Stacy for their work on this episode.

Note: This is the first of a new ongoing series of more concise episodes. We'll be back to our regular format with our next episode.

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[ Episode #51 // Culture of Dying ]

The globally dominant culture is suffering from an economic, ecological and social crisis that has deeper roots than failing budgets and environmental degradation. Do we have a role to play if our culture is headed towards its eventual death? Though our economic system has trained us to be needy, can we approach these challenges as if we were needed?

In Extraenvironmentalist #51 we speak with Stephen Jenkinson about our cultural difficulty with death. Stephen draws on lessons learned from decades of working with death to describe how we can frame our civilization's trajectory. We ask how to find sanity in a time of alienation and if we can be a human in difficult circumstances. Stephen describes the distinct jobs given to us as our family members die. Also, John Michael Greer joins us briefly to talk about the death of Western culture.

You can stream Griefwalker, the film made about Stephen's work.

// Music (in order of appearance)

Van She - Don't Fear the Reaper via The Fader
Kaki King - Bowen Island via KCRW
Trails and Ways - Animal (Miike Snow Cover) via IndieShuffle
Elle Goulding - Anything Could Happen (Blood Diamonds Remix) via Salacious Sound
Crystal Fighters - At Home (Passion Pit Remix) via Fist In the Air

// Extended Clips (in order of appearance)

[Break] - 40m
John Michael Greer speaks on death

// Production Credits
Kevin via Sustainable Guidance Youtube Channel

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