Listen to the third episode of this academic year’s Open Thanatology Talks! Podcast series. Recorded during The Open Thanatology and University College London (UCL) Marie Curie Palliative Care Department’s joint conferenceon the 25th June 2025, this episode features a panel discussion around the question of (how) does the public engage with Advance Care Planning?Our regular podcast hosts, Dr Joanne Jordan (Research Fellow and co-chair for Open Thanatology) and Professor Erica Borgstrom (Professor of Medical Anthropology and co-chair for Open Thanatology) were joined by fourpanellists. On the panel were Joanna de Sousa (Lecturer in Palliative Care Nursing at King’s College, London), LisaGraham Wisener (Reader in Health Psychology inthe School of Psychology at Queens University, Belfast) , Nancy Preston (Professor of Supportive and Palliative Careand Co-director of the International Observatory on End of Life Care at Lancaster University) and RekhaVijayshankar (Palliative Care Nurse, Churchill fellow and visiting fellow at both The Open University and UCL). We were also joined by a large online audience who contributed their thoughts, questions, and experiences in the chat box. The full webinar recording is available on the Open Thanatology ORDO repository here. You can find out more about Open Thanatology here and you can join our news mailing list to hear about new episodes, events, new publications, and much more here. You can also follow OpenThanatology on Bluesky here.

Listen to the second episode of this academic year’s OpenThanatology Talks! Podcast series.

Recorded on the 11th March 2025, this episode features a panel discussion about the recently published ‘To Know Dying’report. The report showcases five research areas for social sciences and humanities in the context of palliative and end of life care and is designed to be used by researchers and funders to shape the future of research in this field. The report is part of a larger initiative to identify research priorities for palliative and end of life care, rooted in what patient, carers, and professionals have expressed as areas ofimportance via a James Lind Alliance Priority Setting Partnership. The ‘To Know Dying’ report is based on a project funded by Marie Curie (Grant: MCSGS-23-202).Hosts Dr Joanne Jordan (Research Fellow and Co-Chair of Open Thanatology) and Professor Erica Borgstrom (Professor of Medical Anthropology and Chair of Open Thanatology) are joined by five panellists. On the panel representing the project report are John MacArtney (Marie Curie Associate Professor ofSociology of Dying and Palliative Care at the University of Warwick), Briony Hudson (Associate Director, Internal Research Development, Marie Curie), Mari Greenfield, (Research Fellow, The Open University) and guests, Andrew Tibbles ( PhD student, University of Liverpool) and Dr Brooke Swash (Senior Lecturer in Psychology, University of Chester). Comments and questions from a large online audience contribute to the discussion. Several documents and links are mentioned throughout the podcast. You will find the links to these documents below.

You can find a copy of the To Know Dying report here.

You can find a copy of the protocol for the project workshop here.

The wider Priority Setting activity information is here.

You can find out more about Open Thanatology hereand you can join our news mailing list to hear about new episodes, events, new publications, and much more here. Youcan follow Open Thanatology on Bluesky here. We look forward to hearing from you about the podcast and welcome you to our future events.

Listen to the first episode of this academic years Open Thanatology Talks! Podcast series. Recorded from a live webinar on the 29h January 2025, this episode features a panel discussion around the question of what are the tensions in seeking to ‘decolonise’ ‘bereavement andgrief’? Our regular podcast hosts, Dr Joanne Jordan (Research Fellow and co-chair for Open Thanatology) and Professor Erica Borgstrom (Professor of Medical Anthropology and co-chair for Open Thanatology) invited guest host DrJane McCarthy (Honorary Associate at The OpenUniversity) to introduce this topic. Jane is currently leading an Open Societal Challenge at the university about the intersection between decolonisation,bereavement studies, and the climate emergency, known as Existential Dis/Connection. The conversation featured: Janet Wildman (volunteer/ supporter of community action around social injustice), who chaired the discussion, and Samira Ben Omar (a community organiser with over 25 years’ experience of working in the public, community and voluntary sector), who was the discussant. Joining Janet and Samira were Hady Kamar (an integrative intercultural psychotherapist working in private practice and with the NHS Grenfell Health and Wellbeing Service as a Senior Therapist); Chukumeka Maxwell (a Social Entrepreneur; Registered Community Social Worker UK & Mentor Founder /co-Director Consulting & Solutions Ltd; Founder/Advisor, CEO at Goodwill in Action To Prevent Suicide CIO) and Jacqui Stedmon (an Emerita Professor at the University of Plymouth, co-founder, trustee and clinical volunteer at the children’s bereavement support service, Jeremiah’s Journey based in Plymouth). We were also joined by a large online audience who contributed their thoughts, questions, and experiences in the chat box. The full webinar recording is available on the Open Thanatology ORDO repository here. A previous presentation by Jane on this topic can be found here.