Death and dying
Ageing
idea
Efforts to expand the lifespan ignore what it’s like to get old
As modern medicine extends the human lifespan, quality of life is not keeping up, raising thorny ethical dilemmas
by Robert S Gable
Death and dying
idea
Why ancient Mesopotamians buried their dead beneath the floor
In an age before photos or audio recordings, people found other ways to stay sensorially connected to their deceased
by Nicola Laneri
Anxiety
guide
How to get more comfortable with death
Angst about mortality is part of being human, but if it’s interfering with your life, there are proven ways to dial it down
by Rachel Menzies
Rituals and celebrations
film
Come on this painterly journey to Madagascar’s ‘turning of the dead’
Directed by Bastien Dubois
Death and dying
idea
I thought I knew everything about death. Then grief struck me
Even though I grew up in Death World, and still live there, it couldn’t prepare me for being my family’s sole survivor
by John Troyer
Thinkers and theories
idea
For Nietzsche, nihilism goes deeper than ‘life is pointless’
For Friedrich Nietzsche, nihilism is a terrible psychological problem – a coping mechanism with deadly consequences
by Kaitlyn Creasy
Death and dying
guide
How to not fear your death
You exist, but one day you won’t. An Epicurean perspective can help you feel less afraid, and even grateful for life’s finitude
by Sam Dresser
Death and dying
film
At India’s ‘death hotels’, devout Hindus seek liberation from cycles of rebirth
Directed by Dan Braga Ulvestad
History of ideas
idea
How the ancient philosophers imagined the end of the world
How the ancient Greeks and Romans imagined the end of the world, and what we can learn from them today about catastrophe
by Christopher Star
Death and dying
idea
Should assisted death be available for intractable mental illness?
As a psychiatrist I am extremely wary of even the most careful provisions of assisted dying for people with mental illness
by Marie Nicolini
Sacred places
film
From the rhythms of the dying day to a cosmic journey of transformation
Directed by Simon Feat