Obsessed With Death

Shampoooty returns to  Obsessed With Death  one year after his first appearance to catch up on everything that's happened since. Rob and Shampoooty revisit the unexpected impact of their custom urn giveaway, share stories from listeners who found comfort through the project, brainstorm new ideas for future collaborations, and dive into the launch of Shampoooty Medical, his satirical line of me...

In this episode of The Final Word, Rob and Jordan discuss a tarot card influencer who falsely accused a University of Idaho professor of murder and was hit with a multi-million-dollar defamation verdict. They also react to a hantavirus outbreak linked to a research cruise ship, leading to an absurd and dark conversation about cruise culture and how they would handle a floating public health crisis...

In this episode, Rob speaks with writer and editor Charley Burlock about the rise of AI-powered grief bots. The conversation examines the emotional complexity of using AI as a tool for mourning, the ethical risks of monetizing grief, and the ways this technology could reshape or potentially isolate the human experience of loss.  Read the full article here .

In this episode, Rob speaks with Janelle Ketcher, founder of Postal Service for the Dead, a community art and grief project inviting people to send handwritten letters to those they’ve lost. Janelle shares how her mother’s illness and passing shaped her relationship with death, the origins of the project, and the emotional power of snail mail in a digital world. She also reads part of an unrelease...

In this episode of  The Final Word , Rob and Jordan catch up on life, sobriety milestones, and the documentaries they can’t stop thinking about. They unpack the shocking Elizabeth Smart Netflix documentary and explore how someone survives and rebuilds after unimaginable trauma. The conversation drifts into the psychology of suspects, and why it’s almost impossible to get away with murder today. Th...

In this episode of Obsessed With Death, Rob sits down with educator and Kid Talk creator Katie Plunkett to explore how we talk to children about death and why so many adults struggle to do it. Katie breaks down how kids understand death at different ages, why honesty matters more than protecting them, and how avoiding the conversation can actually create more confusion and fear. Follow Katie’s wor...

In this episode of Obsessed With Death, Rob sits down with psychiatrist and dream researcher Dr. Erik Goodwyn for a deep dive into mortality, ritual, grief, and the strange intelligence of the dreaming mind.

In Episode 19 of  The Final Word , Rob and Jordan dive into the strange and unsettling rise of AI “dead relative” apps, debating whether digital avatars of loved ones are a helpful grief tool or a dystopian step too far. They also unpack the bizarre story of a man who disguised himself as his deceased mother to collect her pension and the even darker discovery that followed. Finally, they explore...

In this episode, acclaimed cartoonist and author Anders Nilsen joins to talk about how death and loss have shaped both his life and creative work. He reflects on losing his fiancée, Cheryl Weaver, to cancer and how that experience led to his books  Don’t Go Where I Can’t Follow  and  The End.  Anders shares how grief evolved from something deeply personal to a universal artistic theme, how his vie...

On the anniversary of Ted Bundy’s execution,  Obsessed With Death  revisits the moment veteran correspondent John Koch witnessed his first execution in 1989, the death of Ted Bundy. Koch reflects on covering Bundy’s crimes and the events leading up to that night, and how experiencing his first execution at the center of such a notorious case shaped his approach to journalism.

The Final Word returns from hiatus with a new co-host, Jordan. In their first episode together, Rob and Jordan dive into death-related stories, including Jesse Eisenberg donating a kidney to a stranger, Julia Fox’s Jackie Kennedy costume, and why millennials in America are dying at higher rates than their peers abroad, while exploring why talking openly about death can be both comforting and stran...

In this episode of  Obsessed With Death , Rob sits down with creator Sidney Raz for a deeply honest and often darkly funny conversation about grief, mortality, and survival. Sidney opens up about losing all three of his parents before turning 30, the devastating loss of his daughter, and how that tragedy ultimately led to the discovery of a genetic mutation and an early stomach cancer diagnosis th...

In this episode, Jordan shares the remarkable story of discovering her late father’s handwritten Alcoholics Anonymous notes a decade after his death and how reading them on TikTok has built a community of connection, reflection, and healing in her own journey through sobriety.

In this episode of  Obsessed with Death , Rob talks with Mary McGreevy, creator of  Tips From Dead People , a social media project born from her lifelong fascination with obituaries. Mary shares how a childhood habit of clipping obits evolved into a viral exploration of how we live, die, and tell our stories.

From the Victorian terror of being buried alive to the rise of spiritualist séances, haunted science experiments, and Houdini’s crusade against fake mediums, this episode digs into the true and truly bizarre history behind our fascination with the dead. Happy Halloween!

In this episode of  Obsessed With Death , Rob talks with author and artist FREAKBAiT about how mortality fuels creativity, using death as motivation, balancing humor with darker themes, psychedelic experiences, and the idea of leaving behind unfinished work to be shared after death.

Bestselling author Mary Roach joins  Obsessed With Death  to talk about her new book  Replaceable You , the fears of aging vs. dying, what it’s like to step inside a 1950s iron lung, and why she originally fought against the now iconic toe-tag cover of Stiff .

We’re revisiting powerful conversations as part of our Archive Spotlight , where we highlight meaningful conversations from the past. In this episode we dive into the complex and often misunderstood world of assisted death, exploring the emotional, ethical, and deeply human sides of end-of-life choices. From eligibility requirements and shifting legislation to powerful stories of final moments. Or...

In this episode, Rob is joined by Grace, whose lifelong fascination with death and cemeteries led her to an unexpected career documenting grave sites and sharing the stories of those who’ve passed. Grace shares how her connection to the other side evolved into a meaningful mission to honor the forgotten, support grieving families, and keep memories alive.

Comedian Jay Larson joins  Obsessed with Death  to talk about growing up with an older family, random chest pains, why being a dad makes him want to stick around a lot longer, and how dark thoughts can still come from a good place.

We’re revisiting powerful conversations as part of our Archive Spotlight , where we highlight meaningful conversations from the past. In this episode, Rob chats with bestselling author Sam Kean about the dark, bizarre history of grave robbing in the name of science. From drunken med students digging up fresh corpses to the riot-inducing public backlash, they explore how anatomy’s early days were f...

In this episode of  Obsessed with Death , Rob sits down with artist Shampoooty, known for creating nostalgic, adult-themed toys that explore death, addiction, and the messiness of adulthood through humor and physical art. They discuss how a childhood panic about death evolved into a creative mission to spark conversations about mortality using playful objects like toy hearses and funeral sets, eve...

We’re revisiting a powerful conversation as part of our Archive Spotlight , where we highlight meaningful conversations from the past. In this episode of  Obsessed with Death , we talk with Joshua, who used AI to create a chatbot modeled after his late fiancée, Jessica—a striking and deeply personal attempt to process long-buried grief. Originally published July 29, 2021

In this episode of Obsessed with Death, Rob is joined by writer and artist Z.G. Burnett, who unexpectedly won a colonial-era gravestone at an auction and is now on a mission to uncover its origins and return it to its rightful resting place. Together, they explore the ethics of buying and selling grave markers, the cultural disconnect from death in America, and the deep and sometimes unconventiona...

Comedian Anthony DeVito joins Rob and Greg for a hilarious and deeply personal conversation about mortality, family secrets, and their lifelong flirtation with hypochondria. Anthony opens up about learning in adulthood that his father was killed in a mob-related murder, and how a childhood filled with loss shaped his outlook on life and death. They also spiral into absurd territory, debating ethic...