In Episode 5, host Melissa Gismondi speaks with Chris Miller. Talking about death is never easy, but how we handle it says a lot about how we live. Miller examines the rise of natural burials, from simple shrouds to human composting, and what these eco-friendly practices reveal about our relationship with death and nature. His work invites us to see endings as part of a wider cycle of life. Chris Miller was our 2024-25 CDHI/JHI Digital Humanities Postdoctoral Fellow.
Series 2—Undergrounds/Underworlds
Undergrounds have figured powerfully in human histories and imaginations as places of alterity, concealment, exploration, and discovery; of fear, transition, transportation, and transmutation. They have also figured as spaces of hope, refuge, and fugitivity that weave them into radical traditions and visions of the future. From the Epic of Gilgamesh, through the Greek katabasis and Dante, to crime rings and chthonic gods, infrastructures and escape routes, DJs and the Dark Web: our languages are fascinated with depth. But our surface worlds depend crucially on subterranean networks of extraction, exploitation, and disposal. Now more than ever, we need to understand the place of underworlds in human pasts, presents, and futures. What might a descent into the underworlds reveal?
Humanities at Large is a podcast from the Jackman Humanities Institute that features conversations with our Fellows—scholars, artists and thinkers—who explore how the humanities can offer fresh perspectives on historic and contemporary issues. Organized around an annual theme, Humanities at Large is a must-listen for anyone passionate about the power of ideas!
Host Melissa Gismondi (she/her) is an award-winning writer and audio producer. She holds a PhD in American history and was the 2020-2021 New Media Public Humanities Fellow at the Jackman Humanities Institute.
Listen now above or on Apple, Spotify, Amazon Music, iHeartRadio, YouTube, Deezer or Player FM. For a full list of all available episodes visit out podcast page.