Lydia Dugdale: the lost art of dying

New GodPod episode. How well do we deal with our own death? What is a ‘technology-dependant death’, and should we want it?

Nick Jones

Nick is the senior editor of Seen & Unseen.

A medieval book illustration of a person dying in bed.

A 15th Century ars moriendi, or ‘art of dying’ image.

Basel University, via WikiCommons.

How well do we deal with our own death? What is a ‘technology-dependant death’, and should we want it? Just because we can prolong our lives, should we?

These are just some of the questions pondered by our three presenters – Jane Williams, Micheal Lloyd and Graham Tomlin – along with physician and ethicist, Dr Lydia Dugdale.

Lydia talks the presenters through the historical shifts that have caused us to go from speaking about death openly and honestly, to having a newfound societal imagination that tells us that ‘death won’t come to us’ – and why that’s a problem.

This is one of the most thought-provoking episodes of GodPod yet.

For more about Lydia and her bestselling book – The Lost Art of Dying: Lydia S. Dugdale (lydiadugdale.com)

Podcast

Hospitality

Podcasts

Re-enchanting

26 February 2025

1 min read

Jo Swinney: re-enchanting... hospitality

Jo talks about how sharing food is at the heart of a shared life.

Nick Jones

Nick is the senior editor of Seen & Unseen.

A woman sits at a table and talks with a microphone on a stand in front if her,

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Jo Swinney is director of communications for the Christian environmental conservation charity A Rocha International.

Jo's parents Miranda and Peter Harris were the founders of A Rocha. Miranda's tragic death in 2019 was a shock to all those who knew her. Jo’s book ‘A Place At The Table: Faith, hope and hospitality’ pairs her own words with writings she discovered of her mother’s to celebrate her life and to explore how sharing food is at the heart of a shared life.

Justin and Belle hear about the events the led up to Jo writing the book and how we can re-enchant the gift of hospitality in an increasingly lonely world.