death | The Walrus

A child in a yellow raincoat stands in a field full of puddles beside a lake. Rain outlines the invisible silhouette of an adult putting their hand on top of the child’s head.

July/August 2023 / Society

Notes from Grief Camp

August 9, 2023August 9, 2023 - by Mitchell Consky

Every summer, more than a hundred kids spend a weekend at Camp Erin swimming and canoeing. They also learn to deal with death

The Death Dilemma: Are Hospitals Overtreating Patients Nearing the End?

October 4, 2022October 7, 2022 - by Blair Bigham

An ER physician on the heavy costs of keeping patients alive when death is inevitable

A gothic woman with a veil and dark eye makeup in front of a background that fades from dark pink to black.

Society

Gothic Revival: Embracing Dark Times

May 26, 2022May 31, 2022 - by Sadaf Ahsan

Why a 1970s subculture that championed rebellion is back—and more morbid than ever

Podcasts

Students of Death: Episode 16 of The Deep Dive

May 5, 2022June 5, 2022 - by The Walrus Staff

What makes teenagers sign up for a degree program about dealing with death?

Illustration of a school desk featuring a butterfly landing on an apple shaped like a skull. Below the apple is lined paper covered in school supplies intertwined with leaves, flowers and a caterpillar.

Education / May 2022

Death 101: Life Lessons from the Country’s Only Degree Devoted to the End

April 18, 2022May 9, 2022 - by David Swick

Some first-year arts students are asked to write papers about Plato or Jane Austen; thanatology students need an existential sensibility

An illustration of Spanish books and lessons.

Uncategorized

Grief Struck Me Speechless. Learning a New Language Helped Me Open Up

April 7, 2022April 7, 2022 - by Shawn Hitchins

An impulsive decision to take Spanish classes became a turning point after the deaths of loved ones

Illustration of a wave crashing against people on a subway platform.

Fiction / September/October 2021

Seahorse

August 26, 2021October 18, 2021 - by Alix Ohlin

Mr. Simbatye’s body had not yet begun to wither, but she opened the window in case his soul required an avenue of escape. Also because of the smell

Uncategorized

Life and Death on Two Wheels

May 28, 2021May 29, 2021 - by Max Mertens

Cycling can be a joyous, community-building experience. But, as my family recently came to understand, it can also be fatal

Illustration of a copper jug amidst yellow and white and purple flowers.

March/April 2021 / Memoir

Death in the Age of Facebook

February 23, 2021July 20, 2021 - by Sandy Pool

What it’s like to mourn a mother via social media

Illustration of a woman lying in bed in a dark room, reaching out to touch the ghost of a man standing beside it and smiling down at her. His image is two translucent poses overlaid for a ghostly effect.

January/February 2021 / Society

Why Do We See Dead People?

October 27, 2020January 29, 2021 - by Patricia Pearson

Humans have always sensed the ghosts of loved ones. It’s only in the last century that we convinced ourselves this was a problem

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