How To Die

Reincarnation, cremation, the sacred passage of the soul.... this is an in-depth discussion of Hindu rites and rituals around death and dying, and why these are so important in the cycle of life. A deeply literate and erudite guest, Lokesh Maharajh has intimate understanding of the importance of these rituals and the correct way they should be performed for maximum karmic effect…

South Africa has just 50-60 state forensic pathologists serving almost 60 million people, plus a massive amount of unnatural death. What’s it like to work in this profession, and what does being so close to death teach you about life? Dr Linda Liebenberg has some great ideas about how NOT to die.

The Undertaker is a candid interview with a man who spends most of his days either fetching the deceased and transporting them, helping families face their grief, or preparing people for the final stage in their earthly journey. He shares his insights, challenges, and a bunch of no-no’s in dispelling myths and stereotypes about his craft, and teaches us that respecting the dead means respecting th...

Providing compassionate professional care for twenty-five years in a well-known local hospice, Sr. Margot van der Wielen understands the challenges people and their families face with life-limiting illness. She shares her valuable perspective to help us apprehend our inevitable demise…

An insider account of life as a paramedic, with decades of experience. Compassionate, insightful, passionate. What happens when the worst thing happens? Bradley Klein is the type of person you would trust with your life.

How To Die is a death-positive podcast that promotes the idea that talking about death is good for life - it’s life-enhancing. Season 2 features a mortician, a forensic pathologist and others, launching on 8 April and thereafter every fortnight for three months.

Sheikh Sayed Imraan provides an incredibly detailed account of what happens when someone from the Islamic faith dies. In this episode, recorded in the mosque, he reveals not only what happens, but why, with compassion and an ever-present twinkle in his eye. From receiving the body and washing it, to shrouding it and burying it and praying over it at every step of the way, Sayed Imraan's generous e...

Imagine being the principal on the scene of a road accident where there are multiple fatalities. When I sat down to interview Lloyd Castle, I had no idea that this is what he’d been responsible for, for many years, as a traffic officer. After a while he'd seen enough, to answer a new calling - teaching people how to stay safe on the roads - specifically, on motorcycles. In this episode, Lloyd disc...

It was in the blood - a powerful call from the spirit world. Heeding it, Lindy Dlamini left her 'old life' and, in a kind of rebirth, became initiated as a sangoma, or African traditional healer. She describes her work as a 'facilitator of healing', alert to the signs she's been both gifted and trained to read, always emphasizing the importance of our relationship with our ancestors, whether we ar...

Ivor Gardiner's father opened the family business in the 1930s, making tombstones. Today, Ivor does the same... out of granite, marble and sandstone. This very gentle man has heard a few stories in his time. Together, I was privileged to reflect with him about his work and the deep meaning he derives from it, helping people find something solid in the time of their grief, and a way to dignify a li...

Mark Wortman blends his natural affinity for conducting interpersonal relationships with great integrity, with a rare sensitivity and understanding about death and loss. His experience, blended with a lively spark and easy demeanour, generates a freshness to his perspective about the world of funerals - what happens, what to be watchful of, what to celebrate. His background in psychology also equi...

Spiwo Xapile is a self-described 'victim of exposure', someone who straddles different worlds and makes sense of them with gentle eloquence. He is frank and honest about some of the perverse anomalies thrown up by Christianity in the context of Apartheid, and the struggle to forge enabling narratives for community development. Spiwo shares his insight and experience of black South African death ri...

Ezelle Theunnisen has a contagious zest for life which derives from a unique South African heritage, coupled with a Buddhist approach to death and funerary practices. She radiates an aura of physical health and spiritual well-being, sharing her insight with humility and an energetic kindness. She also has a brilliant local solution for the growing shortage of space for our earthly human remains! A...

Christine is a professional tea-drinker and part-time photographer who provides palliative counseling with such insight it will restore your breath. She discusses her experience living and working in Cape Town and shares a particularly lovely range of insights into the very meaningful relationships she enters into with those fortunate enough to spend time with her.

Susan Brice manages to blend compassion with practicality when it comes to burial, and is acutely aware of the challenges facing our communities when death comes.

Sean O'Connor chats with Peter Fox about his experience providing end-of-life spiritual companionship and support.