At the end of our lives, what do we most wish for? For many, it's simply comfort, respect, love. BJ Miller is a hospice and palliative medicine physician who thinks deeply about how to create a dignified, graceful end of life for his patients. Take the time to savor this moving talk, which asks big questions about how we think on death and honor life.
This talk was presented at an official TED conference, and was featured by our editors on the home page.

Filmed
​March 2015 at TED2015
A Finger, Two Dots Then Me - The Short Film
Posted to this website on December 20, 2012

Published on Oct 11, 2012

Produced by Duality Filmworks and Write Bloody Publishing

Written and performed by Derrick Brown
Shot, cut and directed by David and Daniel Holechek
Let's talk about death: 
Stephen Cave at TEDxBratislava
Posted to this website on February 16, 2014
Published on August 28, 2013

Death. It's kind of a heavy subject. And, according to Stephen Cave, we fear it so much that we avoid thinking about it at all costs -- even when death is exactly what we think we're talking about. At TEDxBratislava, he outlines the four common narratives cultures throughout history have used to dodge thinking about dying, and gives us a reason to stop getting caught up on dying and start focusing on living.
A Good Day to Die:
Fake Funerals in South Korea
Posted to this website on July 17, 2013

Uploaded on July 12, 2013

Whilst the rest of the world gorges itself on K-Pop, cool Korean movies and smart phones produced by Korean tech giants Samsung, Koreans themselves have never been more bummed out. With an average of 43 people per day taking their own lives, today, South Korea is the suicide capital of the developed world, despite it's rampant economy and booming prosperity. 

The deaths have caused much soul searching in the national psyche and with 16,000 people per year topping them-selves, the suicide trend show's no sign of abating. In response, a new craze has arisen - the 'Well Dying' or 'Near Death' movement aims to help people appreciate their lives and thus reduce the number of suicides. 

The most bizarre manifestation of this movement is the rise of 'Fake Funeral' services where people are lectured by a philosophical guru, told to write out their own eulogy's and ultimately climb into a coffin to mediate for 30 minutes so as to experience the afterlife. Vice Japan correspondent Yuka Uchida headed to Seoul to try and find out why so many Koreans are taking their own lives and to experience her own 'death' at a fake funeral ceremony.
Google chat with Death Cafe founder, Jon Underwood, and Australian Death Cafe facilitators, Kerrie Noonan, Ava Reyerson, April Lewis, Vicki Barry and Kay

Published on June 05, 2014

Founder of the Death Cafe movement, Jon Underwood, chats with current Death Cafe facilitators across Australia.
Dia de los Muertos
Published on Aug 15, 2013

Please watch this beautifully animated, and heart felt, short film about a little girl who visits the land of the dead, where she learns the true meaning of the Mexican holiday, Dia de los Muertos.
Student Academy Award Gold Medal winner, 2013!!
Produced by Ashley Graham, Kate Reynolds, and Lindsey St. Pierre at Ringling College of Art and Design as their senior thesis. 
Score by Corey Wallace, sound by Mauricio D'Orey
Elisabeth Kubler-Ross Speaks to a dying patient, Nova Interview

Uploaded on Apr 8, 2011

Dr. Elisabeth Kubler-Ross speaking to a dying patient. Taken from NOVA interview, 1983, (DVD# T008)
The Last Taboo: Karrie Kohlhaas at TEDxRainier
Posted to this website on December 20, 2012

Published on Dec 6, 2012

With a background in cultural anthropology and business development, Karrie Kohlhaas founded Suspended Fruit (http://suspendedfruit.com ) , a supportive and inspiring online and offline portal that encourages thought, conversation and action regarding one's own death.
"BEYOND” is an exclusive documentary featuring photographer Joey L. Set in Varanasi, India. The documentary by filmmaker Cale Glendening follows Joey and his assistant Ryan as they complete their latest photo series- “Holy Men.”

Almost every major religion breeds ascetics; wandering monks who have renounced all earthly possessions, dedicating their lives to the pursuit of spiritual liberation.Their reality is dictated only by the mind, not material objects. Even death is not a fearsome concept, but a passing from the world of illusion.

Created by: Cale Glendening, Joey L., Ryan McCarney
Directed by: Cale Glendening
Edit/Color: Chris Dowsett, Cale Glendening, Joey L., Megan Miller, John Carrington 
Graphic/Titles: James Zanoni
Original Score: Stephen Keech,Tony Anderson
All Photographs: Joey L.
Guiding/Translation: Raju Verma, Tejinder Singh

Special Thanks: Jesica Bruzzi / BH Photo, Kessler Crane
--
Varanasi, India:Beyond Trailer
vimeo.com/55249039
caleglendening.com
joeyL.com
The Meaning of Death - Stephen Jenkinson
Published on May 20, 2013

Shot & directed by IAN MACKENZIE - http://ianmack.com

Stephen Jenkinson, The Griefwalker, shares his wisdom about death and humanity's meaning for life and living.

Taken from the documentary, Griefwalker...(Stephen Jenkinson, once the leader of a palliative care counselling team at Toronto's Mount Sinai Hospital. Through his daytime job, he has been at the deathbed of well over 1,000 people. What he sees over and over, he says, is "a wretched anxiety and an existential terror" even when there is no pain. Indicting the practice of palliative care itself, he has made it his life's mission to change the way we die - to turn the act of dying from denial and resistance into an essential part of life.)