Death and Dying in the Digital Age

What happens to your mind when you watch your child lose every skill they ever learned—from walking and talking to the simple act of eating—over a decade-long "absolute train" of a degenerative disease? In this deeply moving episode of The Digital Legacy Podcast, host Niki Weiss, Digital Thanatologist, sits down with Morgan Motsinger, host of the P.S. We Expire podcast. Morgan shares the raw reali...

What happens when the "6-month" clock starts ticking—and you realize you don't actually know what your loved one wants? In this episode of The Digital Legacy Podcast, host Niki Weiss, Digital Thanatologist, sits down with Holly Vossel, Senior Reporter at Hospice News. They strip away the myths surrounding end-of-life care, explain why "palliative" is not a dirty word, and discuss how technology is...

What happens when the "Black Diamond" skier you love suffers a stroke and a terminal brain cancer diagnosis—just two weeks after your engagement? In this episode of The Digital Legacy Podcast, host Niki Weiss, Digital Thanatologist, sits down with a very special guest: her daughter, Anna Myers. Anna shares the harrowing journey of caregiving for her husband, James, who has been battling a rare bra...

What happens when the "soul" in the machine begins to speak with the voice of someone you’ve lost? In this mind-bending episode of The Digital Legacy Podcast, host Niki Weiss, Digital Thanatologist, sits down with Dr. Jason D. Batt, a technological philosopher, mythologist, and futurist. They dive deep into the ethics of "Dead Bots"—AI avatars trained on the recordings and data of the deceased—and...

What happens when the "best day possible" is also a family's darkest moment? In this moving and high-stakes episode of The Digital Legacy Podcast, host Niki Weiss, Digital Thanatologist, sits down with Dr. Justin Baker, Director of Pediatric Palliative Care at Stanford University. They peel back the curtain on a reality many refuse to acknowledge: that children, too, face serious illness, and that...

What happens when the "worst thing you’ve ever done" is the only way society defines you, even as you face your final breath? In this moving episode of The Digital Legacy Podcast, host Niki Weiss, Digital Thanatologist, sits down with Fernando Murillo, a lead trainer for the Humane Prison Hospice Project. Fernando shares his remarkable journey from being incarcerated at age 16 to serving as a peer...

What happens when a lifetime of digital memories—thousands of photos, videos, and stories—is scattered across social media and hidden in locked phones? In this episode of The Digital Legacy Podcast, host Niki Weiss, Digital Thanatologist, sits down with Cameron Labrecque, the 24-year-old CEO of Rememery. They discuss how a single Christmas gift (a cardinal snow globe) sparked a mission to fix the...

What happens when you can no longer afford to age in place in the United States? For many Americans, a single illness can become a "financial death sentence," with health insurance quotes reaching $4,000 a month for healthy individuals. In this episode of the Digital Legacy Podcast, host Niki Weiss sits down with attorney Maryam Greenidge, author of Chaos to Clarity, to discuss a radical but incre...

Does your employment contract allow your boss to create an AI clone of you that keeps working after you quit—or even after you die? In this episode of The Digital Legacy Podcast, host Niki Weiss sits down with HR executive and AI governance expert Malvika Jethmalani to uncover the ethical minefield of "Digital Twins" in the workplace. They discuss the terrifying legal gaps regarding who owns your...

What happens when your doctor relies on an AI to listen to you—or worse, when an algorithm decides if you are "economically viable" enough for life support? In this episode of The Digital Legacy Podcast, host Niki Weiss, Digital Thanatologist, sits down with Brian M. Green, an expert in AI governance and responsibility, to unpack the "empathy trap" of artificial intelligence and why the healthcare...

What happens when the burden of caregiving falls entirely on one person—and that person breaks? In this episode of The Digital Legacy Podcast, host Niki Weiss, Digital Thanatologist and Final Playbook coach, sits down with Dr. Ashley Blackington, Occupational Therapist and founder of Dovetail, to unpack the "default caregiver" trap and why the modern family structure is buckling under the pressure...

What happens to your family’s financial stability and emotional well-being when a sudden death leaves them with a $15,000 bill and no way to ask for help? In this episode of The Digital Legacy Podcast, host Niki Weiss, Digital Thanatologist and Final Playbook coach, sits down with Janet Turkula and Ryan Oliveira from Give Willow to unpack the broken system of funeral support. They discuss why send...

What if the way we’ve been taught to “handle” death is actually keeping us disconnected from the very thing we need most: closure, participation, and meaning? In this episode of The Digital Legacy Podcast, host Niki Weiss, Digital Thanatologist and Final Playbook coach, sits down with Melissa, “The Modern Mortician”, a death-care educator about what modern end-of-life care can look like when famil...

What if the grief of losing someone didn’t have to be compounded by chaos, unanswered questions, and a digital life that won’t shut off? In this deeply human episode of the Digital Legacy Podcast, host Niki Weiss sits down with somatic therapist Mirta Peña to talk about what happens when someone you love struggles in silence… and leaves no plan behind. Mirta reveals that the aftermath became its o...

Do you know what happens to your crypto, life insurance, and long-term care plan if no one you love can access the right documents when you die? In this episode, Digital Thanatologist Niki Weiss sits down with Marimer Cruz  to break down how easily assets become “lost” when there’s no clear plan, especially in Web3, DeFi, and crypto, where one missing seed phrase can mean everything disappears for...

Facing death doesn’t just raise medical questions—it opens up deep emotional, spiritual, and existential ones, too. In this episode of the Digital Legacy Podcast, host Niki Weiss, Digital Thanatologist, sits down with Christine Caldwell, an end-of-life psychedelic care educator and the Founder of End of Life Psychedelic Care, to explore how psychedelic-assisted experiences can support people livin...

When loss reshapes your life, what do you choose to build from it? In this episode, host Niki Weiss, creator of The Digital Legacy Podcast and My Final Playbook, sits down with Estrella Quiroz, life enthusiast and co-founder of Last Farewells, an emotional end-of-life planning platform designed for the messages we don’t want to leave unsaid. Together they explore how an unexpected tragedy transfor...

What happens when your “final gift” to your family is actually a legal and emotional mess? This episode explores the hidden weight of being an executor and how you can make that role kinder, clearer, and less chaotic for the people you leave behind. Host Niki Weiss, digital legacy planner and creator of My Final Playbook, is joined by David Edey, Certified Executor Advisor and author of Executor H...

We all know we should plan for the inevitable — yet most of us avoid it until crisis hits. In this heartfelt episode of the Digital Legacy Podcast, host Niki Weiss sits down with Paula Harris, Financial Advisor and Co-Founder of WH Cornerstone Investments, to explore why so many families delay end-of-life and financial planning — and what happens when they don’t. Paula shares deeply personal and p...

What if you could carry your loved one’s memory — quite literally — close to your heart? 💫 In this deeply moving episode of the Digital Legacy Podcast, host Niki Weiss speaks with David Trump and Sébastien Roy, co-founders of Nia Emberley, a memorial jewelry company transforming cremated ashes into handcrafted ceramic art. What began as one man’s search to stay connected to his beloved dog has ev...

What if the future of work wasn’t just about efficiency — but empathy? In this inspiring episode of the Digital Legacy Podcast, host Niki Weiss speaks with Mercedes Sullivan — End-of-Life Doula, Cultural Strategist, and HR Leader — about reimagining Human Resources as a force for healing, not just hiring. Mercedes shares how her personal experience with loss reshaped her understanding of workplace...

What happens when you look at death, dying, and legacy the same way you would approach a major project? In this episode of the Digital Legacy Podcast, host Niki Weiss sits down with fellow project manager Mark Rozner to explore how project management principles can transform end-of-life planning from overwhelming chaos into a clear, compassionate process. Together, they share personal stories and...

What does compassionate, culturally aware death care look like in a digital world? In this episode of the Digital Legacy Podcast, host Niki Weiss talks with Joe’l Simone Anthony (known globally as The Grave Woman) — licensed funeral director, embalmer, and founder of the Multicultural Death & Grief Care Academy. From childhood days in the funeral home to pioneering culturally competent education f...

Making that first call to a funeral director can feel overwhelming. In this episode of the Digital Legacy Podcast, Niki Weiss speaks with Matthew Grieco — Progressive Funeral Director & Certified Celebrant — about how Ai technology is reshaping funeral services and grief support. Matthew shares how his team integrated EverGrace. Ai, a voice-activated chatbot, into their funeral home website. Famil...

What if your digital self could outlive your physical body? In this mind-opening episode of Death and Dying in the Digital Age, host Niki Weiss talks with Joshua Orsak—AI developer, spiritual thinker, and grief survivor—about the intersection of consciousness, artificial intelligence, and end-of-life legacy. Together, they explore questions many of us quietly carry: Where does our consciousness go...