TalkDeath

Resting in the Reef: Memorials Reefs and the Ethics of Ocean-Based Deathcare Memorial reefs reflect the current shift in ecological deathcare away from conventional ceremonies and cremation rituals.

However, memorial reefs may also bring up complicated questions around access and ritual. Are we reframing personal memorialization as environmental activism? talkdeath.com/resting-in-t...

Memorial reefs are an alternative deathcare practice that gets to the core of what it means to be remembered as part of a living ecosystem. Memorial reefs reflect the current shift in ecological deathcare away from conventional ceremonies and cremation rituals.

In North America, interest in green burial practices has grown significantly over the last decade. There are many ecological products and services to help us honor our loved ones. One example of a sustainable, nature-connected practice is the memorial reef.

Embalming Isn’t the Enemy: How a Green Mortician Found the Good in a Polarizing Practice Our resistance to embalming often reveals deeper cultural discomfort with death itself, and with the realities of caring for the dead.

In our latest opinion piece, guest writer Christa Ovenell explores how she came to see the good in the polarizing practice of embalming- talkdeath.com/embalming-is...

ICE Denies Detainee's Request to Attend His Son's Funeral, Attorney Says Maher Tarabishi was the primary caretaker of his son, Wael Tarabishi, 30, who died on Friday, Jan. 23, from complication

Maher Tarabishi was detained in October during a scheduled check-in at an ICE facility.

He was the primary caretaker of his son, who died last week.

The family is seeking Maher's release so he can attend his son's funeral.

ICE reportedly denied the request.

Unimaginable cruelty.

All death is political. How we live defines how we die and the structures forged to control and kill one are used against all.

This is what is meant when you hear ‘none of us are free until all of us are free.’

Césaire argued that by dehumanising the other, they dehumanise themselves.

This is to say, the way a government kills groups viewed as ‘others’ they will also use to kill their ‘own.’

With an Imperial boomerang, the manners in which regimes and systems of power enact violence against and sanction the deaths of one group can and will be used against their other populations as well.

The Imperial boomerang is defined as the theory that “governments that develop repressive techniques to control colonial territories will eventually deploy those same techniques domestically against their own citizens.”

Meaningful Sympathy Gifts: A Complete Memorial Gift Guide Find meaningful memorial gifts for grieving loved ones. Expert tips on choosing thoughtful bereavement and sympathy gifts, plus 12 unique ideas from blankets to memorial diamonds.

Remembrance gifts and sympathy gifts can be a meaningful way to offer comfort during a difficult time. But they can also be challenging to shop for and there are some important factors to which you will need to be sensitive. Check out our guide with tips and suggestions talkdeath.com/unique-memor...

TalkDeath’s Readers’ Choice Awards 2025 – WINNERS ANNOUNCED! We’re thrilled to announce the winners!!
We hope that taking a moment to cherish one another and ground in the good can inspire hope, resilience, and strength 🌹🌹🌹🌹 talkdeath.com/best25/

☠️ #cemetery

Hosting an event about death or grief? Submit it to our community events calendar! Whether it be a death cafe, a workshop related to sitting with grief, cemetery tour, a class on home funerals, and more. It’s free to submit and find events!

Talkdeath.com/events

When the dead visit you in dreams it isn’t always pleasant 😂
Fruma-Sarah from Fiddler on the Roof is nothing less than iconic. What are some of your favorite ghosts and spectres on screen?

From Fiddler on the Roof (1971)

What do you want your obituary to say? What kind of life do you hope is reflected in those words? How do you want to be remembered?

What are you burying in 2025? What are you letting die at the end of this calendar year?

Image: Vasilisa at the Hut of Baba Yaga by Ivan Bilibin

Dead Houses: Burying the Dead in Frozen Ground Have you ever wondered how it is possible to dig a 6ft grave when the ground is frozen solid? In the dead of winter, what do we do with our dead?

Why are winter burials different in colder locations, such as areas in Canada and the Northern United States? Learn all about the history of dead houses here!

Can you name these famous poets and writers (who I can only assume imagined that their works would one day be paired with Japanese mascots getting stuck on their commutes)?

Christmas Zombies, Spirits and Goblins: The Dark and Chilling History of Ghost Stories at Christmastime The days are getting shorter in the Northern Hemisphere, and December 21st will be the longest night of the year. Many of our readers will associate this time of year with Christmas…

Brew yourself a warm drink, light a fire in the hearth, and curl up with your loved ones as we share the history of telling ghost stories at Christmastime.

The lighting of ice candles at graves can be a moment to reflect on loss and grief during the holidays and colder winter months.

Photos by Emily Poschner at Lake of the Woods Cemetery in Kenora, Canada

Have you ever participated in an ice candle ceremony? Many cold-weather places claim the invention of ice candles or ice lanterns, while it is probably an instance of simultaneous invention. Regardless, ice candles continue to be in many winter rituals around the world- especially for cemeteries.

Embracing the Season of Dying It’s December. You step out for a walk and immediately sense something different from the busy world you left behind. The quiet. The stillness. Your nervous system settles. You realize this peace…

You can read the article here! talkdeath.com/embracing-th...

In our latest article, guest writer Kaitlyn Pietras explores explores approaching the quiet and stillness of winter as an opportunity for reflection and ritual.

"It’s December. You step out for a walk and immediately sense something different from the busy world you left behind...You realize this peace comes from the simple fact that nearly everything is dead. You are walking through a temporary graveyard, a landscape in the midst of necessary dying."

TalkDeath’s Readers’ Choice Awards 2025 Long time readers of TalkDeath will recognize that we typically put together a ‘Best Popular Media and Death and Grief’ guide around this time of year. As 2025 comes to an end, we wanted to take a…

There will be a two week nomination period following, so stay tuned!

Vote and Nominate using the form below: talkdeath.com/best25/

Not only that, but we’re inviting all of you to be an important part of the process! We want to welcome all of you to nominate the best pieces of art, favorite death care workers, and more that you think have made generative contributions to the fields of and discussions around death and loss

We’re expanding to include death care workers, funeral homes, cemeteries, mission driven or mutual aid projects, and more who made generative contributions to the landscape of death care and grief care this year. We want to celebrate folks and give them their roses while they are still here.

Long time readers of TalkDeath will recognize that we typically put together a ‘Best Popular Media and Death and Grief’ guide around this time of year. But this year we’re doing things a little differently!

The poet Emily Dickinson was born #OTD 10 December 1830.

'Because I could not stop for Death
He kindly stopped for me
The Carriage held but just Ourselves
And Immortality'

A shrouded skeleton and hourglass on the 1640 Crosby pew, Little Barningham, Norfolk, a modern replica of one stolen in 1995.