In this episode, we step inside the world of deathcare through the eyes of the people who do the work every day. Longtime MPG funeral director Macey Duncan speaks candidly about the emotional weight of her role, the mental challenges it brings, and the sense of meaning she finds in helping families through their hardest moments.

We also meet Natasha Bryan—a funeral director and embalmer by day, and DJ Tasha Rozez by night. After two decades in social services and behind the turntables, Natasha shares how she built a career that bridges care, creativity, and community, and how both sides of her life feed into the other.

Links & Resources

• Visit the Mount Pleasant Group website for more information and resources.
• Read more about Consumer Sentiments Towards End-of-Life Planning in this 2024 study.
• Learn more about Natasha Bryan: Funeral Director by Day, DJ by Night

Please note that the opinions expressed by the hosts and guests are their own and do not necessarily represent the views or beliefs of Mount Pleasant Group.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode, we explore how death shapes family dynamics across generations and cultures. Funeral director Linda Lee reflects on 30 years of guiding families through the practical and emotional realities of funerals, from disputes over eulogies and heirlooms to questions of inheritance and who’s included—or left out—of the will.

Author Katherine Ashenburg shares her own experiences of mourning and insights from her book The Mourner’s Dance:What We Do When People Die, tracing the history of rituals like wearing black and covering mirrors, and showing how cultural traditions have long helped families carry grief together.

Katherine Ashenburg’s book is both a personal reflection about her daughter’s creation of rituals around her fiancé’s death, and a broader consideration of both the history and the current state of death-related practices around the world. In the conversation with Katherine Ashenburg in this episode many of the examples discussed pertain to British or Western European traditions, but of course they represent only a tiny sliver of the world’s experience.

Links & Resources

• Visit the Mount Pleasant Group website for more information and resources.
• The Mourner’s Dance: What We Do When People Die by Katherine Ashenburg
• Grieving Beyond Gender: Understanding Diverse Grieving Styles by Kenneth Doka and Terry Martin
• See the MPG Pre-Planning Guide to learn more about your options and steps to take.
• Learn more about Linda Lee’s historical journey in death care
• The BAO's Memorial Planning Guide is a useful tool to collect information to plan services.

Please note that the opinions expressed by the hosts and guests are their own and do not necessarily represent the views or beliefs of Mount Pleasant Group.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

What does a good death look like, and who helps make it possible? In our first episode of Sorry For Your Loss, Denise and John explore the role of end-of-life doulas through the story of Shelley Carr, who cared for her partner Daniel after his glioblastoma diagnosis. With the support of end-of-life doula Sue Phillips, Shelley navigated the emotional and practical challenges of Daniel’s final days. Sue, who is the former vice president of the End-Of-Life Doula Association of Canada, shares how she came to this work, why talking about death matters, and how doulas offer presence, guidance, and comfort during life’s most difficult moments.

Visit the Mount Pleasant Group website for more information and resources.

Learn more about the End-Of-Life Doula Association of Canada

Check out Sue Philips’ recommendations: Hsien Seow and Dr. Sammy Winemaker’s book, Hope For The Best, Plan For The Rest and their podcast, The Waiting Room Revolution.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.