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WBEZ Tech Shift Podcasts on Death in the Digital Age

techshift

A couple weeks ago, Chicago’s public radio station WBEZ 91.5 FM, ran a series of four short podcasts on its ‘Tech Shift’ channel on the subject of death in the digital age and how technology is changing the way we handle death.

The topics included a new Cook County ‘digital cemetery’ program, a discussion on the Uniform Fiduciary Access to Digital Assets act and social media accounts after death.

Here are links to the podcasts and related sites.

1. Cook County’s Digital Cemetery — This new program from the Cook County Medical Examiner’s Office is an example of government putting web/tech to good use. The county data portal lists information related to indigent burials in the hopes that family members can more easily find and claim a loved one.

WBEZ Tech Shift Podcast: Cook County’s Digital Cemetery
WBEZ Article: Cook County posting indigent burials in ‘virtual cemetery’
Cook County Medical Examiner – Burial Locations
Cook County Medical Examiner list of ‘unclaimed persons’
Cook County Medical Examiner list of ‘unidentified persons’
 

2. The Uniform Fiduciary Access to Digital Assets Act – I’ve written about this recently here and here. In the podcast, legislative counsel for the Uniform Law Commission, Chicago-based Benjamin Orzeske, provides an excellent overview of the issues and goals of the uniform law commission’s suggested legislation. Orzeske also discusses prospects for legislation in Illinois.

WBEZ Tech Shift Podcast: The Uniform Fiduciary Access to Digital Assets Act
WBEZ Article: The Digital Afterlife
 

3. Social Media After DeathKelly McBride of Poynter.org discusses the unique issues surrounding social media and digital records after death.

WBEZ Tech Shift Podcast: Social Media After Death

4. YouTube Mortician on Death in the Digital Age — Caitlin Doughty, founder of ‘The Order of the Good Death‘ and host of the YouTube series ‘Ask a Mortician,‘ discusses mortality and death in the digital age.

WBEZ Tech Shift Podcast: YouTube Mortician on Death in the Digital Age

Bonus: CBS News Sunday Morning recently ran a piece on “Protecting your afterlife in the digital realm.”