Tell Me About It, Humboldt features short conversations with Humboldt County, California residents about their niche interests and obsessions. You know that thing you can't stop talking about at parties, even after everyone has walked away? That’s what we want to hear. The subject you geek out about? Let’s discuss! Come one, come all and let’s learn about our neighbors through these far ranging topics.
This week’s episode focuses on death and dying with Megan from McKinleyville. Megan’s interest comes from a place of believing that death is something that ties us all together; by discussing it more openly and with honesty, we can actually make our lives, and the lives of the people we love, better. She elaborates on different practices around death, the politics of it, what a “good” death might feel like, the politics and the various ways bodies can be handled after someone has passed.
If you are interested in this topic, check out the local D(eat)h Lunch event at Froth Cafe, usually held on the second Saturday each month.
And Megan has no time to waste on AI, as mentioned at the beginning of the episode!
This show is supported and produced by Cal Poly Humboldt’s College of Arts, Humanities & Social Sciences. Interested in being on the show or do you have someone you want to recommend? Email podcasts@humboldt.edu.
>>Abigail Smithson: Welcome back to Tell Me About It Humboldt, on KHSU. This is a show dedicated to building community by showcasing the amazing, eclectic, deep, and sometimes weird expertise and passions of people living in Humboldt County. And here's your host, Joice.
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>>Joice Chang: And before we get to what you do care about, I want to talk a little bit about something that maybe you don't care too much about and why?
>>Megan Watson: I don't care about AI.
>>Joice Chang: As in artificial intelligence?
>>Megan Watson: Yes.
>>Joice Chang: You know this is controversial?
>>Megan Watson: I know.
>>Joice Chang: Okay, tell us why you don't care about it.
>>Megan Watson: I think it could potentially be the end of humanity. I just don't have the time to invest in that particular battle.
>>Joice Chang: But you do have time to invest in something that you care deeply about?
>>Megan Watson: I do.
>>Joice Chang: And that is?
>>Megan Watson: And that is, and I will preface this by saying I know a lot of your listeners will probably skip right over this once I say this, but please don't. Because today I came to talk about death and dying.
>>Joice Chang: And these are really important topics, okay? And tell us a little bit about why you think this is important to talk about.
>>Megan Watson: Yeah, I think it's really important to talk about death and dying. I think it's one of the only guarantees in life. It is something that every single one of us will do eventually. And I think that if we don't talk about it, we're actually missing a lot of wonderful opportunities.
>>Joice Chang: How do we talk about death and dying in a way that is meaningful?
>>Megan Watson: Death is something that really pushes us to live full lives and to take chances and to say how we feel, to, you know, live our truths. I think the more we talk about it, the more opportunities we have for that. And I also think that if we don't talk about it, then we're kind of denying our loved ones one of the biggest gifts we can leave for them after we're gone, which is to let them know what we want to see happen to our bodies. When we don't have these conversations, we're leaving all of these unanswered questions for our loved ones to try to answer while they're in the middle of grieving. So that can be a huge gift to the people we care about if we actually have these hard conversations.
>>Joice Chang: If someone is like, "I'm really uncomfortable talking about it, but I think I see your point," how might they approach the topic with loved ones?
>>Megan Watson: There are ways to have these conversations that sort of ease people in. And I have found that a lot of people actually do really want to have these conversations. They're maybe afraid to have them because they're afraid people are going to have negative reactions. But once you start unwrapping that package, the conversations sort of just happen naturally. Everybody's had some experience with it. And so it really sort of, like, once you start pulling the thread, that sweater sort of unravels on its own. You'd be surprised just, like, asking one question.
>>Joice Chang: Ask me a question.
>>Megan Watson: Sure. Um, what do you want to happen to your body after you die? Do you have a plan?
>>Joice Chang: Oh, I haven't thought about it.
>>Megan Watson: At all?
>>Joice Chang: At all. Oh, no. Should I think about it?
>>Megan Watson: Absolutely! There's so many options now. You know, there's the traditional burial, there's natural burial, cremation, aquamation, human composting...
>>Joice Chang: Human composting?
>>Megan Watson: Yes. You can actually have your body composted, and you can have the compost given to your family, and they can use it to plant a garden, grow a tree that maybe delivers fruit that then they can, you know, share with the community. There's so many wonderful things that you can do. And if you don't have those conversations, then your family is just going to have to guess at what you would have wanted.
>>Joice Chang: Yeah, and I think that maybe there are also quite a bit of cultural and religious and spiritual aspects that come into what do you do with one's body when the person is gone? How do you think about those different aspects and perhaps other things that might come into play?
>>Megan Watson: It is such a personal choice, and I know that religion and spiritual beliefs play such a huge part in that. There's really no right or wrong way to go about it, and it really is up to every individual to make that decision for themselves. I personally love the idea of a natural burial. I like the idea of going back into the soil. To me, you know, looking back at human history, that is how we have traditionally done things. And so I think getting to be put back into the ground and be a part of the ecosystem sounds really lovely. But that's just my personal choice, and that's not for everyone.
>>Joice Chang: And is that something you have talked about with your loved ones? What you want, like, your remains to be handled?
>>Megan Watson: Yeah, definitely. I've had that conversation. There's actually a new Green burial cemetery that is opening up in Humboldt, but they're all over the country. And so if that's something you're interested in, you can find one locally, I'm sure. And I'd be remiss if I didn't, you know, bring up the fact that, like, death is very political. There's this concept of a good death. To most people, that's something like, you know, being free from pain, passing away, maybe surrounded by your loved ones. A lot of people bring up dying at home being, like, one of their, you know, last wishes, not dying in a hospital bed, surrounded by, you know, machines. And if we talk about that, we, you know, create opportunities for more people to have good deaths, whatever that means to them, because that's also very personal. But there are just so many people in the world that are not afforded a good death. Death is unfortunately very political. People who have less economic standing aren't always afforded a good death. Death is very much who gets a good death is very much dictated by race, gender, country of origin, all kinds of other factors. As much as I consider myself to be a death advocate and I would like to advocate for everybody to have a good death, I also recognize that that's just not possible, particularly because of the culture and society that we live in. But I don't think we can address those issues if we don't talk about it.
>>Joice Chang: So this is a good starting point to start talking about and really viewing death and dying as something that is deeply personal, but at the same time, political, social, economic, etc. And, you know, this is a heavy topic, as you mentioned, but is there a positive note that you can leave us with as we end this conversation?
>>Megan Watson: Death can be community building as well. Traditionally, death has been done in community with other people. It brings people together. It gives people an opportunity to say how they feel about each other. And so if we really embrace the fact that death creates community and death encourages us to live full lives, then I think that is a really positive aspect of it.
>>Joice Chang: It is. Yeah. Thank you for that reminder. It's that death is about community building. It's a wonderful way to end this conversation.
>>Megan Watson: Yeah.
>>Joice Chang: Thank you, Megan.
>>Megan Watson: No problem.
>>Joice Chang: Okay, that is a wrap for Tell Me About It Humboldt, brought to you by the College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences at Cal Poly Humboldt. If you want to be featured on the show or have a local guest to recommend, email us at podcasts@humboldt.edu with your idea and check out the show notes on khsu.org for more information about today's topic. Thanks for listening.
>>Abigail Smithson: Produced at Cal Poly Humboldt.