Don't Be Caught Dead: Grief, Loss, Death Literacy and Getting Prepared
Real conversations about death, dying, grief, life, and everything in between.
Hosted by Catherine Ashton, founder of Australian social enterprise Critical Info, Don’t Be Caught Dead explores the conversations most of us avoid until we have no choice.
After surviving a serious car accident in 2019 and losing a close friend suddenly in 2023, Catherine discovered how difficult it can be to know what to do when life changes without warning.
Each episode brings honest, often deeply personal conversations with people who have experienced grief, sudden illness, caring and loss, alongside people with expertise and lived experience across aged care, palliative care, end-of-life care, estate planning, funeral planning, memorialisation, rituals, grief, bereavement and the many practical and deeply human decisions that arise when life changes.
It’s about being better prepared for the moments that can change everything.
You don’t have to know everything. You just need to know what to do next.
Don't Be Caught Dead: Grief, Loss, Death Literacy and Getting Prepared
Latest Episodes
What Our Phones Know About Grief with Larissa Hjorth
What if the phone in your pocket is one of the most meaningful grief objects you own?In this episode, I'm joined by Distinguished Professor Larissa Hjorth, a digital ethnographer and socially engaged artist at RMIT University here in Mel...
Why the Stages of Grief Were Never Meant for You: Dr Candice Mace on Grief, Trauma and Evidence-Based Care
Losing a child, a parent, a distant cousin: the data says your grief isn't the same, and neither is what helps.In this episode, I'm speaking with Dr Candice Mace, a clinical psychologist, research supervisor and sessional academic at Dea...
Walking Between Two Worlds: Wayapa, Identity and the Grief of Reconnecting to Country with Nikki Domeney
What if you spent your whole childhood feeling something you couldn’t name, only to discover the answer on your mother’s deathbed?In this episode, I sit down with Nikki Domeney, a Project Coordinator at Social Engine and board ...
The Fight to Be Buried on Country: Prue Vines on Wills, Death and Family
Did you know that around sixty percent of burial disputes that end up in Australian courts involve an Aboriginal person, and that appointing an executor can be the one thing that prevents it?In this episode, I'm speaking with Professor P...
Beyond the Grave: Ben Kelly on Cemeteries, Cremation and the Fight for Burial Space
In this episode, I'm joined by Ben Kelly, CEO of the Australasian Cemeteries and Crematoria Association (ACCA), the peak body representing the cemetery and crematoria sector across Australia and New Zealand.Ben takes us behind the gates of ...
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