“The race to optimize grief”

Mihika Agarwal writes for Vox on the rise of AI-assisted grief processing: In the spring of 2023, Sunshine Henle texted her mother. She asked where she had gone, told her that she missed her, and soon received a response: “Honey, I wish I could give you a definite answer, but what I do know is … Read more“The race to optimize grief”

“What Justifies a Life? In Memory of Liam McCarty”

Jared Morningstar writes for Medium in memoriam of his friend Liam, and on the intrinsic value of life in relation to death: To be is also to experience, and the conscious experience of human life is something of both irreducible individuality and incomparable richness. In merely experiencing life as ourselves — in all its complexity … Read more“What Justifies a Life? In Memory of Liam McCarty”

The Sky Meadow Wind Phone

I’ve just returned from the first annual Sacred Harvest event at Sky Meadow, an idyllic 115-acre spiritual retreat in the mountainous Northeast Kingdom of Vermont. The Harvest was a wonderful three days of wholesome work, exploration and soul-talk, and provided me with the opportunity to fulfil my long-term ambition of creating and installing a wind … Read moreThe Sky Meadow Wind Phone

“How to plan a sustainable funeral”

In this article for the BBC, Becca Warner explores a variety of ecologically sustainable funeral options: “In the face of death, we seek consolation. And it’s been really interesting seeing how there’s been a conflict, in some cases, between what is sustainable and what people find consoling,” she says. Bags of bone ash and compost … Read more“How to plan a sustainable funeral”

The Rogers Park Black Lives Matter Shrine, revisited

I ducked out of the annual Glenwood Avenue Arts Fair in our old Chicago neighborhood of Rogers Park today to visit the Black Lives Matter shrine, which I had started to document back in July of 2020, when it was brand new. By April, 2021 the simple shrine area had been elaborated with the addition … Read moreThe Rogers Park Black Lives Matter Shrine, revisited

“The Experience of Grief Is Changing”

Kate Lindsay writes for The Atlantic on digital afterlives: As the author Marisa Renee Lee noted in this magazine last year, “Grief is the repeated experience of learning to live after loss.” Today, with our ever-expanding digital and technological reach, loved ones left behind must encounter more reminders of that loss than ever before. Memory endures through … Read more“The Experience of Grief Is Changing”