{{Short description|YouTube personality, author and mortician (born 1984)}} {{Use mdy dates|date=July 2020}} {{Infobox youtuber | name = Caitlin Doughty | image = Caitlin Doughty in red evergreen background.jpg | caption = Doughty in June 2014 | birth_date = {{birth date and age|1984|8|19}} | birth_place = [[Oʻahu, Hawaii]], U.S.<ref name=YourMortician /> | death_date = | death_place = | education = [[University of Chicago]] ([[Bachelor of Arts|BA]])<br/>[[Cypress College]] ([[Associate of Science|AS]]) | occupation = {{flatlist| * [[YouTuber]] * [[mortician]] * author * [[Blogger (person)|blogger]] * advocate}} | notable_works = {{plainlist| * ''Smoke Gets in Your Eyes & Other Lessons from the Crematory'' * ''From Here to Eternity; Traveling the World to Find the Good Death'' * ''Will My Cat Eat My Eyeballs?: Big Questions from Tiny Mortals About Death''}} | website = {{URL|caitlindoughty.com}}<br/>{{URL|orderofthegooddeath.com}} | youtube_handle = AskAMortician | youtube_display_name = Caitlin Doughty | youtube_years_active = 2011–present | youtube_genre = Death education | youtube_subscribers = 2.09 million<!-- PLEASE DO NOT CHANGE WITHOUT UPDATING stats_update BELOW --> | youtube_views = 291 million<!-- PLEASE DO NOT CHANGE WITHOUT UPDATING stats_update BELOW --> | stats_update = May 17, 2025 }} '''Caitlin Marie Doughty''' (born August 19, 1984)<ref name=RedditAMA/><ref name=YourMortician/> is an American [[mortician]], author, [[Blogger (person)|blogger]], [[YouTuber]], and advocate for [[death anxiety|death acceptance]] and the reform of Western funeral [[funeral industry|industry]] practices. She is the owner of Clarity Funerals and Cremation of Los Angeles, creator of the Web series ''Ask a Mortician'', founder of [[The Order of the Good Death]], and author of three bestselling books, ''Smoke Gets in Your Eyes & Other Lessons from the Crematory'' (2014), ''From Here to Eternity; Traveling the World to Find the Good Death'' (2017), and ''Will My Cat Eat My Eyeballs?: Big Questions from Tiny Mortals About Death'' (2019).
==Early life== Doughty grew up in [[Kaneohe, Hawaii|Kaneohe]],<ref name="Kaneohe">{{cite web|url=https://mag.uchicago.edu/law-policy-society/decomposure|title=Decomposure|first=Michael|last=Washburn|date=April 13, 2012|periodical=The University of Chicago Magazine|access-date=5 August 2020|archive-date=September 27, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200927213520/https://mag.uchicago.edu/law-policy-society/decomposure|url-status=live}}</ref> [[Oahu]], Hawaii, where she had no exposure to death until, at age 8, she witnessed another child fall to her death from a balcony at a shopping mall.<ref name=Palet2014/> She was quickly taken from the scene of the accident and it was never spoken of again. For several years, she became obsessed with fears of her own or her family's deaths.<ref name=Rabe2014/> Doughty says she could have recovered better from the incident if she had been given the opportunity to face the reality of the child's death.
Doughty attended [[St. Andrew's Priory School]], a private [[Episcopal Church (United States)|Episcopal]] all-girls [[university-preparatory school|college prep school]] in [[Honolulu]].<ref name=Mark2014/> In college she majored in [[medieval history]] at the [[University of Chicago]], focusing on [[death and culture]], graduating in 2006.<ref name=YourMortician/> She studied the European [[witch trials in the early modern period]], and directed a play she had written based on the works of [[Edgar Allan Poe]] and the [[Christina Rossetti]] poem "[[Goblin Market]]".<ref name=Staniforth2012/>
==Early career in the death industry== [[File:Hauptfriedhof-ffm-krematoriums-ofen-kammer-001.jpg|thumb|upright=0.8|Furnace chamber of a [[crematory|retort or crematory]] ]] After graduation and moving to San Francisco in 2006, at age 22, she sought hands-on exposure to modern death practices in [[funeral home]]s, and was hired in the [[crematory]] of Pacific Interment (called Westwind Cremation & Burial in her book) despite her lack of any experience in the funeral industry.<ref name=Palet2014/><ref name=Staniforth2012/><ref name=Lam2014/><ref name=PWreview/> Pacific Interment could be called "the anti-[[Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Hollywood Hills)|Forest Lawn]]", referring to what Doughty sees as the theme-park-like, kitschy corporate funeral behemoth that much of modern American funeral practice is modeled on.<ref name=Lubitz2014/> She picked up [[Cadaver|corpses]] from homes and hospitals in a van, prepared them for [[viewing (funeral)|viewing]]s, cremated them, and delivered the cremains to the families.<ref name=Palet2014/><ref name=Lam2014/> Dealing with bureaucracy, such as acquiring [[death certificate]]s or obtaining the release of a body from the [[coroner]], occupied much of her work.<ref name=Lam2014/> Her supervisor and coworkers at Pacific Interment often tested her with hands-on assignments, as on her first day at work she had to shave a corpse, and Doughty accepted any task.<ref name=PWreview/><ref name=Lubitz2014/>
Doughty has said she knew almost from the beginning of her work in the death industry that she wanted to change attitudes about death and find a way to offer alternative funeral arrangements.<ref name=Lam2014/> After one year at the crematory, Doughty attended [[Cypress College]]'s [[Mortuary Science]] program and graduated as a certified mortician,<ref name=Palet2014/> though in California there are paths to becoming licensed without attending mortuary college.<ref name=Lam2014/> She founded The Order of the Good Death, an association of like-minded death professionals, along with artists, writers, and academics who shared her goals of reforming Western attitudes about death, funerals, and mourning.<ref name=Palet2014/>
==Advocacy== [[File:Plancha embalsamamiento.jpg|thumb|upright=0.95|Embalming table and instruments]] Doughty's main inspiration for her advocacy work was the frequent absence of the decedents' families in the process, which she attributed to the Western [[death anxiety]] and [[Necrophobia|death phobia]].<ref name=Palet2014/> She wanted to encourage death acceptance, and a return to such practices as ''[[memento mori]]'', reminders of one's own [[Mortality salience|mortality]], resulting in healthier [[Grief|grieving]], [[mourning]], and [[closure (psychology)|closure]] after the inevitable deaths of people around us, as well as starting a movement to broaden the funeral industry to offer more funeral options, such as [[natural burial]], [[sky burial]], and [[Alkaline hydrolysis (death custom)|alkaline hydrolysis]] (liquid cremation).<ref name=RedditAMA/><ref name=Palet2014/><ref name=Staniforth2012/> [[Embalming]] began to dominate in the US after the [[American Civil War|Civil War]]. A century later, in the 1960s, Americans began to turn away from embalming and burial, as [[cremation]] became increasingly popular, so that today it is used in almost half of deaths in urban areas.<ref name=Lam2014/> Cremation is seen as a threat to the traditional funeral industry, but has a reputation as the more [[environmentally friendly]] option.<ref name=Lam2014/> This change can be traced to the lifting of the ban on cremation by [[Pope Paul VI]] in 1963, and to the publication in the same year of ''[[The American Way of Death]]'' by [[Jessica Mitford]], documenting abuses in the funeral industry and criticizing the excessive cost of funerals. Mitford's book, and the movement it started, was one of Doughty's inspirations, but Doughty feels that while Mitford had the right target, the profit-driven funeral industry, Mitford erred in sharing the industry's, and the public's, unhealthy desire to push out of sight and avoid thinking about the corpse itself.<ref name=Rabin2014/> Doughty seeks to build on Mitford's reforms but in a direction that embraces the reality of death and returns to funeral and mourning practices that include spending time with and having contact with the dead body itself.<ref name=Rabin2014/> [[File:Pashupatinath Temple Cremation.jpg|thumb|Funeral pyre in Nepal]] Doughty advocates [[Reappropriation|reappropriating]] pejoratives like 'morbid', and wants to reverse the attitude that "talking about death is deviant".<ref name=Lam2014/> She says, "Death is not deviant, it's actually the most normal and universal act there is."<ref name=Lam2014/> She is working to overcome the belief that dead bodies are dangerous and can only be handled by trained professionals using technical equipment and specialized facilities.<ref name=Lam2014/> She says the most important thing she wants the public to know is that the corpse is the family's legal [[quasi-property]], and that, "you have the power over what happens to that body. Don't let anyone, funeral home, hospital, coroner, etc., pressure you into making a quick decision you might regret. Take the time to do your research and understand your options. The dead person will still be dead in 24 hours; you have time to make the right decision for you."<ref name="Verma2014" />
While a body is not commercial property, which can be transferred or held for a debt, for purposes of burial the body is treated as the next of kin's property.<ref name=Gross2014/><ref name=Hardcastle2007/> The highest priority changes that Doughty would like to see in US law are the repeal of the laws in eight states that require a funeral home for at least some part of the process, and making alkaline hydrolysis available in more than the current eight states.<ref name=RedditAMA/>
One funeral industry professional of 40 years experience lauded the goal of greater family involvement in funerals, but said it was "virtually impossible" for many families today to return to preparing bodies themselves or hosting [[wake (ceremony)|wake]]s in their own homes, citing the challenges of moving a body themselves, or dealing with a body that had been [[Autopsy|autopsied]], or, especially, the innate fear of contact with the dead, which he did not think would "ever change".<ref name=Palet2014/> Doughty says her "dream funeral is one where the family is involved, washing and dressing the body and keeping it at home. When they've taken the time they need with the dead person, transporting the person to a natural burial cemetery and putting them straight into the ground, no heavy sealed casket or vault. Just food for worms."<ref name="Lam2014" /> [[File:Open casket and mourners in Florida.jpg|thumb|Mourners viewing a body in Florida]] NPR interviewer [[Terry Gross]] said to Doughty that if she spent time at home with a loved one's body in a natural state, she feared she would be left with her last memory of them as a corpse, growing cold and showing subtle changes that indicate the permanence of the end of life, the very things Doughty said are the goal of closer involvement in the death process.<ref name=Gross2014/> Doughty said she has never heard regrets from anyone who has done it; rather, they said it was a positive experience where they felt empowered and that they were "giving something back to this person that you loved." Conversely, Doughty has heard from many who only briefly saw the body in a hospital, and later in an artificial, embalmed state, and they regret not having more time to grieve close to the corpse.<ref name=Gross2014/>
Gross asked Doughty if people seeking out and witnessing death in [[beheading video]]s is comparable to the comfortability with death that she advocates, and Doughty said they were in no way similar, one "a form of psychological terror" and the other "a dead body in its natural state."<ref name=Gross2014/> But, Doughty said, terrorists know how strong the modern fear and denial of death is, and they are exploiting that to heighten the force of the terror they cause.<ref name=Gross2014/>
==''Ask a Mortician''== Doughty's YouTube series ''Ask a Mortician'' began in 2011,<ref name=Lam2014/> humorously explores morbid and sometimes taboo death topics such as [[decomposition]] and [[necrophilia]].<ref name=Palet2014/> By 2012, after 12 episodes, ''Ask a Mortician'' had 434,000 views,<ref name=Staniforth2012/> and by January 2022 the channel had 258 clips with a total of 215,000,000 views.<ref name=Ask/> Doughty uses an irreverent, offbeat and surreal tone to attract the largest possible audience for a subject that is otherwise off-putting and depressing to many potential viewers.<ref name=Palet2014/><ref name=Lam2014/> Doughty said, "I take my job and this whole movement incredibly seriously. I do [the videos] with a sense of humor, but it's my life, and it's really important to me that a positive death message gets across."<ref name=Staniforth2012/>
Fans of ''Ask a Mortician'' have told Doughty they were shamed for wanting to view the corpse of someone they lost, which Doughty says is the result of the death industry "whitewashing death".<ref name=Staniforth2012/> Doughty instead advocates spending time with the body, not just hours, but around two days, to fully accept the death. She also encourages rituals and personal participation in the preparation of the corpse, including washing or dressing it.<ref name=Staniforth2012/>
Originally focused on answering questions from viewers, the ''Ask a Mortician'' series has largely shifted focus to a series of short form documentaries where Doughty speaks about notable historical events involving death. These have varied from a series on funeral home malfeasance called “Cadaver Crimes” to stories about famous shipwrecks such as the disaster of the [[SS Eastland|SS ''Eastland'']].
==Writing== ===''Smoke Gets in Your Eyes''=== [[File:Caitlin Doughty University Bookstore 2014-09-18 2.JPG|thumb|Reading in Seattle in 2014]] In September 2014, Doughty's first book, ''Smoke Gets in Your Eyes & Other Lessons from the Crematory'' was published by W. W. Norton & Company. It is a memoir of her experiences that serves as a manifesto of her goals.<ref name=Palet2014/> The book is named for the 20th-century pop song "[[Smoke Gets in Your Eyes]]", in reference to both the literal smoke of cremation and the associated emotions.<ref name=Lam2014/> W. W. Norton's Tom Mayer outbid seven other publishers for the worldwide rights to ''Smoke Gets in Your Eyes'' in 2012.<ref name=Deahl2014/> The book debuted at No. 14 on [[The New York Times Best Seller list|''The New York Times'']] and at No. 10 on the ''[[Los Angeles Times]]'' bestseller lists of hardcover nonfiction for the week ending October 5, 2014.<ref name=NYTBestseller/><ref name=LATbestsellers/>
Doughty's intention with the book was to combine "memoir, science, and manifesto" in an entertaining way that would attract a wide readership to the unpleasant topics of death, decay, and corpse handling, to challenge the reader to confront their own mortality.<ref name=Verma2014/> Doughty says readers have told her that they themselves are fascinated by the graphic descriptions of such things as "stomach-content removal" or the "bubblating" of human fat during a cremation, yet they are "not sure other people will be able to handle it."<ref name=Verma2014/> Doughty said, "I think we need to admit that, as a group, as humans, we are all drawn to the gory details. When reality is hidden from us, we crave it."<ref name=Verma2014/>
''[[The Washington Post]]'' noted that while Doughty's "endearingly anxious inner workings take up a large part" of the book, there are also portraits of her three eccentric coworkers at Pacific Interment, who each teach lessons she carries after leaving to attend mortuary school.<ref name=Lubitz2014/> "What holds ''Smoke Gets in Your Eyes'' together," the ''Post'' said, is Doughty's overarching goal to increase the reader's awareness of their own mortality and face their fear of death, and the book's effective use of humor keeps it from being too sorrowful or gruesome, in spite of its graphic descriptions.<ref name=Lubitz2014/> ''[[The Boston Globe]]''{{'}}s review of ''Smoke Gets in Your Eyes'' said that, "If at times Doughty's voice is a bit too breezy ... her observations are solid."<ref name=Tuttle2014/> The [[Fredericksburg, Virginia]] ''[[Free Lance-Star]]'' said the book was engrossing and "fulfills all its pre-pub hype, jacket blurbs and positive advance reviews".<ref name=Rabin2014/> [[Natalie Kusz]] wrote in ''[[The New York Times Book Review]]'' that, "the book is more consequential than its spin potential, [...] more cultural critique than exposé," using Doughty's personal narrative to lead the public to a new relationship with death.<ref name=Kusz2014/>
Since writing the book, Doughty began working to launch Undertaking LA, a funeral service alternative to the mainstream funeral options.<ref name=Palet2014/> It started as a seminar series meant to educate the public on their death options under California law.<ref name=Verma2014/> As of 2014, the service consisted of "two licensed morticians telling the public, 'you don't need us!'", instead advocating [[DIY]] funerals.<ref name=Lam2014/>
===''From Here to Eternity''=== Doughty's second book, ''From Here to Eternity: Traveling the World to Find the Good Death'', illustrated by [[Landis Blair]], was published in October 2017. It chronicles Doughty's travels to see first-hand death customs in Mexico, Indonesia, Japan, Spain, and Bolivia, as well as at home in the US, at an open air funeral pyre and a [[body farm]]. In the book's introduction, Doughty said Americans too often spend more than they need to on funerals for things they do not really want or need, and have a less healthy grieving process because of a culture of avoiding conversations about death, avoiding the subject as taboo. She said the establishment funeral industry benefits from public's ignorance of the options and rights they have in how to handle the death, having no incentive to correct the perception that handing the body over to a funeral home for a traditional funeral is the best or only option. The book's goal is to change that culture by, "witnessing firsthand how death is handled in other cultures" in the hope that she can "demonstrate that there is no one prescribed way to 'do' or understand death."<ref>{{Citation |title=From Here to Eternity: Traveling the World to Find the Good Death |date=October 2017 |publisher=[[W. W. Norton & Company]] |isbn=978-0-393-24989-7 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TT9HDgAAQBAJ&pg=PT11 |chapter=Introduction |access-date=March 18, 2023 |archive-date=July 10, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230710084518/https://books.google.com/books?id=TT9HDgAAQBAJ&pg=PT11 |url-status=live }}</ref> The book reached No. 7 on the ''Los Angeles Times'' Bestseller list and No. 9 on ''The New York Times'' list.<ref name=Doughty2017/><ref name=LATbest2017/><ref name=NYTBestseller2/><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.orderofthegooddeath.com/faces-death-landis-blair|title=Faces of Death: Landis Blair|date=October 7, 2017|website=The Order of the Good Death|access-date=June 13, 2018|archive-date=June 13, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180613091605/http://www.orderofthegooddeath.com/faces-death-landis-blair|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url= http://www.cultofweird.com/books/caitlin-doughty-eternity-book/|title= From Here to Eternity: Traveling the World to Find the Good Death|date= March 9, 2017|access-date= June 13, 2018|archive-date= June 13, 2018|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20180613041126/http://www.cultofweird.com/books/caitlin-doughty-eternity-book/|url-status= live}}</ref>
===''Will My Cat Eat My Eyeballs?''=== Doughty's third book, ''Will My Cat Eat My Eyeballs?: Big Questions from Tiny Mortals About Death'', answers 35 questions sourced from children. The book originated from Doughty's observation that most adults she encountered had not received adequate death education.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2019/sep/12/will-my-cat-eat-my-eyeballs-how-caitlin-doughty-teaches-kids-about-death|title=Will my cat eat my eyeballs? How Caitlin Doughty teaches kids about death|website=The Guardian|language=en|date=September 12, 2019|access-date=October 27, 2019|archive-date=October 27, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191027095258/https://www.theguardian.com/books/2019/sep/12/will-my-cat-eat-my-eyeballs-how-caitlin-doughty-teaches-kids-about-death|url-status=live}}</ref>
An excerpt, read by Doughty, will appear on the new [[Lit Hub]]/Podglomerate ''[[Storybound (podcast)|Storybound]]'' podcast, accompanied by an original score from singer-songwriter Stephanie Strange.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://radioink.com/2019/10/22/the-return-of-radio-theater/|title=The Return Of Radio Theater|website=Radio Ink|language=en|date=October 22, 2019|access-date=October 27, 2019|archive-date=August 22, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220822003830/https://radioink.com/2019/10/22/the-return-of-radio-theater/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://lithub.com/introducing-the-storybound-podcast/|title=Introducing the Storybound Podcast|website=Literary Hub|language=en|date=October 22, 2019|access-date=October 27, 2019|archive-date=October 22, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191022162741/https://lithub.com/introducing-the-storybound-podcast/|url-status=live}}</ref>
==The Order of the Good Death== {{main|The Order of the Good Death}} Doughty is the founder of "The Order of the Good Death", an inclusive community of funeral industry professionals, academics, as well as artists who advocate for and make possible, a more death informed society.<ref name=Palet2014/> "The Order of the Good Death" is presented to the public as a website that shares articles and information by prominent figures in the death industry that make individuals more informed about the inevitable conclusion of one's life.<ref name=Washburn2014/> In previous years the public had an engagement with the cemetery as a community place, which people do not have anymore.<ref name=Washburn2014/> The Order of the Good Death is Doughty's way of creating a community while teaching individuals to accept death.<ref name=Washburn2014/> Doughty's work has a strong focus on ways of "making death a part of one's life".<ref name=Washburn2014/> "If Doughty and the Order's death-care revolution is successful, Americans will be more comfortable contemplating mortality and [[dying]]— thus preparing for it, seriously considering alternatives such as [[green burial]], [[composting]], and using [[crematorium|crematoria]] that have [[carbon-offset]] policies".<ref name=Kiley2014/>
==Published works== ===Books=== * ''Smoke Gets in Your Eyes: And Other Lessons from the Crematory'' (2014)<ref>{{cite book |title=Smoke Gets in Your Eyes: And Other Lessons from the Crematory |url=|publisher= [[W. W. Norton & Company]] |year= 2014 |isbn= 978-0-393-24023-8 }}</ref> * ''From Here to Eternity: Traveling the World to Find the Good Death'' (2017) <ref>{{cite book |title= From Here to Eternity: Traveling the World to Find the Good Death |url= http://books.wwnorton.com/books/978-0-393-24989-7/ |date=October 2017 |publisher=[[W. W. Norton & Company]] |isbn=978-0-393-24989-7 }}</ref> * ''Will My Cat Eat My Eyeballs? Big Questions About Death'' (2019) <ref>{{cite book |title=Will My Cat Eat My Eyeballs? Big Questions About Death |url=https://www.wwnorton.co.uk/books/9780393652703-will-my-cat-eat-my-eyeballs |date=September 2019 |publisher=[[W. W. Norton & Company]] |isbn=978-0-393-65270-3 |access-date=July 11, 2019 |archive-date=July 11, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190711145303/https://www.wwnorton.co.uk/books/9780393652703-will-my-cat-eat-my-eyeballs |url-status=dead }}</ref>
===Articles=== * {{cite news |title=The battle over Tamerlan's body; As a mortician, I see how people care most about corpses when they want revenge on them |date= May 10, 2013 |work= [[Salon.com]] |url= http://www.salon.com/2013/05/10/tamerlans_corpse_and_ours/ }} * {{cite news |title=We must consider Gaza images: It's OK to wonder about the lives of the dead — it makes us human, and it makes us understand; Don't let the photos make you afraid of dying. Let them make you afraid of how we're living |date= August 3, 2014 |work= [[Salon.com]] |url= http://www.salon.com/2014/08/03/we_must_consider_gaza_images_its_ok_to_wonder_about_the_lives_of_the_dead_it_makes_us_human_and_it_makes_us_understand/}} * {{cite news |title= The Practical Nobility of Donating One's Body to Science; A crematory employee explores the many ways one's remains can go. [excerpt from ''Smoke Gets in Your Eyes''] |date=September 15, 2014 |magazine=[[The Atlantic]] |url= https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2014/09/smoke-gets-in-your-eyes/378685/ }} *{{cite news |url= http://jezebel.com/that-time-my-job-involved-tossing-dead-babies-into-a-cr-1634795809 |title= That Time My Job Involved Tossing Dead Babies Into a Crematory [excerpt from ''Smoke Gets in Your Eyes'']|date= September 19, 2014 |work=[[Jezebel (website)|Jezebel]] }} * {{cite news |title= Secrets of the crematory: "Hey, come in here and help me get this big guy on the table" [excerpt from ''Smoke Gets in Your Eyes''] |date= September 27, 2014 |work= [[Salon.com]] |url= http://www.salon.com/2014/09/27/secrets_of_the_crematory_%E2%80%9Chey_come_in_here_and_help_me_get_this_big_guy_on_the_table%E2%80%9D/ }} ===Film and video=== *{{IMDb title | id= tt2115402 | title= The Animals}} (2011 short film, dir. Angeline Gragasin) *{{IMDb title |id=tt5595704 |title=The Ecstasy of Decay }} (2011 2-part documentary series, dir. Angeline Gragasin)
==Appearances== * [[TED (conference)|TED Talk]]: {{YouTube|id=zcMj4Az1MwE|title=A burial practice that nourishes the planet}}. April 3, 2017
===Podcasts=== {| class="wikitable" |+ !Year !Podcast !Host !Episode !Notes |- |rowspan="2" |2012 |''[[Skepticality]]'' |[[Derek Colanduno]] |"A Good Death" |<ref>{{cite podcast|url=http://www.skepticality.com/a-good-death/|title=A Good Death|number= 194 |website= [[Skepticality]] |host=|date=October 30, 2012 }}</ref> |- |rowspan="3" | ''[[Savage Love (podcast)|Savage Love]]'' |rowspan="3" |[[Dan Savage]] |"Face-eating zombies, infested snacks, and buckets and buckets of blood!" |<ref>{{cite podcast|url=http://www.savagelovecast.com/episodes/314 |title=Face-eating zombies, infested snacks, and buckets and buckets of blood! It's the Lovecast Halloween show, featuring true tales of sex-related horror. Plus an interview with Caitlin Doughty of Ask a Mortician. Listen only if you dare. |number=314 | website = [[Savage Love]] |host= [[Dan Savage]]|date=October 29, 2012 }}</ref> |- |2013 |"Dan and the mortician talk about DEATH" |<ref>{{cite podcast|url= http://www.savagelovecast.com/episodes/366 |title=Dan and the mortician talk about DEATH |number= 366 | website = [[Savage Love]] |host= [[Dan Savage]] |date=October 29, 2013 }}</ref> |- |rowspan="2" |2014 |"The LIVE Valentine's Day Show!" |<ref>{{cite podcast|url=http://www.savagelovecast.com/episodes/382 |title=The LIVE Valentine's Day Show! |number= 382 |website= [[Savage Love]] |host= [[Dan Savage]] |date=February 18, 2014 }}</ref> |- |''[[Skepticality]]'' | Derek Colanduno |"Death Business" |<ref>{{cite podcast|url=http://www.skepticality.com/death-business/|title=Death Business|number= 242 | website = [[Skepticality]] |host=[[Derek Colanduno]]|date=October 28, 2014 }}</ref> |}
===Television=== {| class="wikitable" |+ !Year !Title !Role !Notes |- | 2020 | [[The Midnight Gospel]] | [[Personifications of death|Death]] | Episode 7, "Turtles of the Eclipse"<ref>{{IMDb title | id= tt12176320 | title= The Midnight Gospel | description= Episode: Turtles of the Eclipse}}</ref> |}
==Notes== {{Reflist|30em|refs=
<ref name=YourMortician>{{Citation |url= http://www.orderofthegooddeath.com/members/your-mortician |title= Your Mortician; Caitlin Doughty is a Los Angeles-based mortician, death theorist, and the founder of The Order of the Good Death. |publisher= The Order of the Good Death |access-date= September 18, 2014 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20170606073620/http://www.orderofthegooddeath.com/members/your-mortician |archive-date=June 6, 2017 }}</ref>
<ref name=Palet2014>{{Citation |title= A Cheerful Mortician Tackles The Lighter Side Of Death |first= Laura |last= Secorun Palet |date= September 13, 2014 |publisher= [[NPR]] |url= https://www.npr.org/2014/09/13/348223758/a-cheerful-mortician-tackles-the-lighter-side-of-death |access-date= September 18, 2014 |archive-date= October 26, 2019 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20191026064319/https://www.npr.org/2014/09/13/348223758/a-cheerful-mortician-tackles-the-lighter-side-of-death |url-status= live }}</ref>
<ref name=Lam2014>{{Citation |title= How to Make a Living in the Death Industry; Mortician and writer Caitlin Doughty discusses working with dead bodies, her dream funeral, and how cremation got so popular |first= Bourree |last= Lam |date= September 22, 2014 |magazine= [[The Atlantic]] |url= https://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2014/09/how-to-make-a-living-in-the-death-industry/380536/ |access-date= September 22, 2014 |archive-date= July 28, 2019 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20190728133855/https://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2014/09/how-to-make-a-living-in-the-death-industry/380536/ |url-status= live }}</ref>
<ref name=Staniforth2012>{{Citation |title= America's next top mortician: "It really improves your life to be around corpses" |url= http://www.salon.com/2012/10/27/americas_next_top_mortician_it_really_improves_your_life_to_be_around_corpses/ |date= October 27, 2012 |first= J. B. |last= Staniforth |magazine= [[Salon.com]] |access-date= September 23, 2014 |archive-date= October 13, 2014 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20141013150730/http://www.salon.com/2012/10/27/americas_next_top_mortician_it_really_improves_your_life_to_be_around_corpses/ |url-status= live }}</ref>
<ref name=Ask>{{YouTube| u = OrderoftheGoodDeath }}</ref>
<ref name=NYTBestseller>{{Citation |url= https://www.nytimes.com/best-sellers-books/2014-10-05/hardcover-nonfiction/list.html |title= Best Sellers; September 28, 2014; Hardcover Nonfiction |date= September 26, 2014 |newspaper= [[The New York Times]] |access-date= September 26, 2014 |archive-date= March 23, 2016 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20160323012643/https://www.nytimes.com/best-sellers-books/2014-10-05/hardcover-nonfiction/list.html |url-status= live }}</ref>
<ref name=Verma2014>{{Citation |last= Verma |first= Henrietta |title=Caitlin Doughty |magazine=[[Library Journal]] |date= September 15, 2014 |page= 111 |publisher=[[Media Source Inc.]] {{Subscription required|via=[[General OneFile]]}} }}</ref>
<ref name=Deahl2014>{{Citation |last= Deahl |first= Rachel |title=Norton gets morbid for mortician's memoir |magazine=[[Publishers Weekly]] |date= October 1, 2012 |page=10 |publisher={{Subscription required|via=[[General OneFile]]}} }}</ref>
<ref name=PWreview>{{Citation |title= Smoke Gets in Your Eyes and Other Lessons from the Crematory |magazine=[[Publishers Weekly]] |date= August 11, 2012 |page=60 |publisher=PWxyz LLC {{Subscription required|via=[[General OneFile]]}} }}</ref>
<ref name=Rabin2014>{{Citation |last= Rabin |first= Kurt |title= Ever Wonder |newspaper=[[The Free Lance-Star]] |location= [[Fredericksburg, Virginia]] |publisher= Gene M. Carr {{Subscription required|via=eLibrary }} |date= September 21, 2014 }}</ref>
<ref name=LATbestsellers>{{Citation |title=Los Angeles Times Bestsellers; Hardcover Nonfiction |date=October 5, 2014 |url=http://projects.latimes.com/bestsellers/lists/2014/10/05/ |newspaper=[[Los Angeles Times]] |access-date=October 3, 2014 |archive-date=October 4, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141004133623/http://projects.latimes.com/bestsellers/lists/2014/10/05/ |url-status=live }}</ref>
<ref name=RedditAMA>{{Citation |title= Hi. I am Caitlin Doughty, licensed mortician, Ask a Mortician, and author of Smoke Gets in Your Eyes! AMA! |date= October 23, 2014 |url= https://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/2k4m0j/hi_i_am_caitlin_doughty_licensed_mortician_ask_a/ |access-date= October 23, 2014 |work= [[Reddit]] |archive-date= October 24, 2014 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20141024020734/https://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/2k4m0j/hi_i_am_caitlin_doughty_licensed_mortician_ask_a/ |url-status= live }}</ref> <!-- verified via Twitter at https://twitter.com/TheGoodDeath/status/525378609952071681 -->
<ref name=Tuttle2014>{{Citation |title= 'Fire Shut Up in My Bones', 'The Human Age', and more |first= Kate |last= Tuttle |newspaper= [[The Boston Globe]] |url= https://www.bostonglobe.com/arts/books/2014/09/27/brief-capsule-reviews-four-recent-nonfiction-titles/kPCgU51hEZdiShZDEF2TyM/story.html |access-date= October 25, 2014 |date= September 27, 2014 |archive-date= October 26, 2014 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20141026044537/http://www.bostonglobe.com/arts/books/2014/09/27/brief-capsule-reviews-four-recent-nonfiction-titles/kPCgU51hEZdiShZDEF2TyM/story.html |url-status= dead }}</ref>
<ref name=Lubitz2014>{{Citation |title= Book review: 'Smoke Gets in Your Eyes,' life in a crematory, by Caitlin Doughty |first= Rachel |last= Lubitz |date= October 17, 2014 |newspaper= [[The Washington Post]] |access-date= October 25, 2014 |url= https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/book-review-smoke-gets-in-your-eyes-life-in-a-crematory-by-caitlin-doughty/2014/10/17/f8fa0ff8-4f06-11e4-aa5e-7153e466a02d_story.html |archive-date= October 24, 2014 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20141024222436/http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/book-review-smoke-gets-in-your-eyes-life-in-a-crematory-by-caitlin-doughty/2014/10/17/f8fa0ff8-4f06-11e4-aa5e-7153e466a02d_story.html |url-status= live }}</ref>
<ref name=Rabe2014>{{Citation |title= Caitlin Doughty turns early trauma into a life helping bring 'the good death' |first= John |last= Rabe |work= Off-Ramp |date= October 23, 2014 |publisher= [[KPCC (radio station)|KPCC]] |url= http://www.scpr.org/programs/offramp/2014/10/23/39953/caitlin-doughty-turns-early-trauma-into-a-life-hel/ |access-date= October 25, 2014 |archive-date= October 26, 2014 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20141026045848/http://www.scpr.org/programs/offramp/2014/10/23/39953/caitlin-doughty-turns-early-trauma-into-a-life-hel/ |url-status= live }}</ref>
<ref name=Gross2014>{{Citation |url= https://www.npr.org/templates/transcript/transcript.php?storyId=352765943 |title= A Mortician Talks Openly About Death, And Wants You To, Too [interview transcript] |publisher= [[NPR]] |last= Gross |first= Terry |author-link= Terry Gross |date= October 8, 2014 |access-date= October 29, 2014 |archive-date= October 29, 2014 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20141029223356/http://www.npr.org/templates/transcript/transcript.php?storyId=352765943 |url-status= live }}</ref>
<ref name=Hardcastle2007>{{Citation |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=l-PbBAAAQBAJ&pg=PA51 |title= Law and the Human Body: Property Rights, Ownership and Control |first= Rohan |last= Hardcastle |publisher=[[Bloomsbury Publishing]] |year= 2007 |isbn= 9781847313577 |page= 51 }}</ref>
<ref name=Kusz2014>{{Citation |last= Kusz |first= Natalie |author-link= Natalie Kusz |title= Memoirs; Caitlin Doughty's 'Smoke Gets in Your Eyes,' and More |url= https://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/09/books/review/caitlin-doughtys-smoke-gets-in-your-eyes-and-more.html |magazine= [[The New York Times Book Review]] |date= November 9, 2014 |access-date= November 9, 2014 |archive-date= November 10, 2014 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20141110094049/http://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/09/books/review/caitlin-doughtys-smoke-gets-in-your-eyes-and-more.html |url-status= live }}</ref>
<ref name=Mark2014>{{Citation |last =Mark |first= Steven |title= Mortician Hopes to Educate the Public |newspaper=[[Honolulu Star-Advertiser]] |date=December 23, 2014 |publisher=Dennis Francis {{Subscription required|via=[[General OneFile]]}} }}</ref>
<ref name=Washburn2014>{{Citation |last= Washburn |title= Decomposure |first= Michael |magazine= University of Chicago Magazine |date= March–April 2013 |url= http://mag.uchicago.edu/decomposure |access-date= September 18, 2014 |archive-date= December 27, 2014 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20141227022347/http://mag.uchicago.edu/decomposure |url-status= live }}</ref>
<ref name=Kiley2014>{{Citation |last= Kiley |title= It's Time to Think About Your Demise; An Interview with Caitlin Doughty, Author of Smoke Gets in Your Eyes and Doyenne of Death |first= Brendan |newspaper= [[The Stranger (newspaper)|The Stranger]] |date= September 17, 2014 |url= http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/its-time-to-think-about-your-demise/Content?oid=20613253 |access-date= September 18, 2014 |archive-date= September 21, 2014 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20140921024638/http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/its-time-to-think-about-your-demise/Content?oid=20613253 |url-status= live }}</ref>
<ref name=Doughty2017>{{Citation |title=From Here to Eternity; Traveling the World to Find the Good Death |url=http://books.wwnorton.com/books/978-0-393-24989-7/ |date=October 2017 |publisher=[[W. W. Norton & Company]] |isbn=978-0-393-24989-7 |first=Caitlin |last=Doughty |access-date=December 4, 2017 |archive-date=March 5, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180305061608/http://books.wwnorton.com/books/978-0-393-24989-7/ |url-status=live }}</ref>
<ref name=LATbest2017>{{Citation |url=http://projects.latimes.com/bestsellers/lists/2017/10/22/#here-eternity |title=Los Angeles Times Bestsellers, Oct. 22, 2017, Hardcover Nonfiction |newspaper=[[Los Angeles Times]] |date=October 22, 2017 |access-date=December 4, 2017 |archive-date=December 4, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171204222839/http://projects.latimes.com/bestsellers/lists/2017/10/22/#here-eternity |url-status=live }}</ref>
<ref name=NYTBestseller2>{{Citation |url= https://www.nytimes.com/books/best-sellers/2017/10/22/hardcover-nonfiction/ |title= Best Sellers; October 22, 2017; Hardcover Nonfiction |date= October 22, 2017 |newspaper= [[The New York Times]] |access-date= December 3, 2017 |archive-date= November 15, 2017 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20171115083414/https://www.nytimes.com/books/best-sellers/2017/10/22/hardcover-nonfiction/ |url-status= live }}</ref> }}
==References== {{Portal|Biography}} {{Refbegin}} *{{Citation |title= Hey, Death Revolutionary, How'd You Get That Job? |magazine= [[Forbes]] |date= October 18, 2012 |url= https://www.forbes.com/sites/susannahbreslin/2012/10/18/funeral-director-jobs/ |access-date= September 18, 2014 |first= Susannah |last= Breslin |author-link= Susannah Breslin |archive-date= June 30, 2015 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20150630061634/http://www.forbes.com/sites/susannahbreslin/2012/10/18/funeral-director-jobs/ |url-status= live }} * {{Citation |last= Cowles |first= Gregory |title= Inside the List |date= September 26, 2014 |url= https://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/05/books/review/inside-the-list.html?ref=books |newspaper= [[The New York Times]] |access-date= September 26, 2014 |archive-date= October 24, 2014 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20141024120339/http://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/05/books/review/inside-the-list.html?ref=books |url-status= live }} * {{Citation |last= Eveld |title= Mortuary memoir 'Smoke Gets in Your Eyes' tackles a subject we'd rather avoid: death |first= Edward M. |newspaper= [[The Kansas City Star]] |date= September 5, 2014 |url= http://www.kansascity.com/entertainment/books/article1598154.html#storylink=cpy |access-date= September 18, 2014 |archive-date= September 15, 2014 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20140915000954/http://www.kansascity.com/entertainment/books/article1598154.html#storylink=cpy |url-status= live }} * {{Citation |last= Firger |first= Jessica |work= [[CBS News]] |date= September 18, 2014 |title= Mortician wants to start a death revolution |url= http://www.cbsnews.com/news/mortician-wants-to-start-death-revolution/ |access-date= September 18, 2014 |archive-date= September 18, 2014 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20140918103341/http://www.cbsnews.com/news/mortician-wants-to-start-death-revolution/ |url-status= live }} * {{Citation |last= Hayasaki |first= Erika |magazine= [[The Atlantic]] |url= https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2013/10/death-is-having-a-moment/280777/?single_page=true |access-date= September 28, 2014 |title= Death Is Having a Moment; Fueled by social networking, the growing "death movement" is a reaction against the sanitization of death that has persisted in American culture since the 1800s |date= October 25, 2013 |archive-date= October 18, 2014 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20141018142200/http://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2013/10/death-is-having-a-moment/280777/?single_page=true |url-status= live }} * {{Citation |last= Kearl |title= Funerary Ritual & the Funeral Industry |website= Kearl's Guide to the Sociology of Death: Death's Personal Impacts |access-date= October 26, 2016 |url= http://www.trinity.edu/mkearl/funerals.html |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20160302035408/http://www.trinity.edu/mkearl/funerals.html |archive-date= March 2, 2016 }} * {{Citation |last= Kelly |title= This Mortician Thinks You Should Spend More Time With Corpses |first= Tiffany |magazine= [[Wired (magazine)|Wired]] |date= September 17, 2014 |url= https://www.wired.com/2014/09/caitlin-doughty/ |access-date= September 18, 2014 |archive-date= September 18, 2014 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20140918031335/http://www.wired.com/2014/09/caitlin-doughty/ |url-status= live }} *{{Citation |url=http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2015/11/30/our-bodies-ourselves |title=Our Bodies, Ourselves; A funeral director wants to bring death back home |date=November 30, 2015 |magazine=[[The New Yorker]] |first=Rebecca |last=Mead |access-date=November 28, 2015 |archive-date=November 29, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151129041258/http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2015/11/30/our-bodies-ourselves |url-status=live }} * {{Citation |last= North |first= Anna |title= How Fear of Death Could Make You Splurge |newspaper= [[The New York Times]] |date= September 24, 2014 |url= http://op-talk.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/09/24/how-fear-of-death-could-make-you-splurge/ |access-date= September 24, 2014 |archive-date= September 24, 2014 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20140924152606/http://op-talk.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/09/24/how-fear-of-death-could-make-you-splurge/ |url-status= live }} * {{Citation |last= Scutti |first= Susan |author-link= Susan Scutti |title= Mortician Caitlin Doughty Wants To End Cremation, Burial Status Quo With Alternative Funerals |date= September 19, 2014 |magazine= Medical Daily |url= http://www.medicaldaily.com/mortician-caitlin-doughty-wants-end-cremation-burial-status-quo-alternative-funerals-304054 |access-date= September 22, 2014 |archive-date= September 22, 2014 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20140922004024/http://www.medicaldaily.com/mortician-caitlin-doughty-wants-end-cremation-burial-status-quo-alternative-funerals-304054 |url-status= live }} * {{Citation |last= Seligsonmarch |first= Hannah |title= An Online Generation Redefines Mourning |newspaper= [[The New York Times]] |date= September 21, 2014 |url= https://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/23/fashion/an-online-generation-redefines-mourning.html |access-date= September 24, 2014 |archive-date= July 16, 2014 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20140716141016/http://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/23/fashion/an-online-generation-redefines-mourning.html |url-status= live }} * {{Citation|last=Tradii|first=Laura|title=Death, Technology, and the "Return to Nature"|work=Dilettantearmy|access-date=November 20, 2016|url=http://www.dilettantearmy.com/facts/death-technology-return-nature|archive-date=December 20, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161220030513/http://www.dilettantearmy.com/facts/death-technology-return-nature|url-status=live}} {{Refend}}
==External links== {{Commons category|Caitlin Doughty}} * {{Official website|http://www.caitlindoughty.com/}} * {{Library resources by |viaf=308233227 |label=Caitlin Doughty}}
{{Death}} {{authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Doughty, Caitlin}} [[Category:1984 births]] [[Category:21st-century American women]] [[Category:American non-fiction writers]] [[Category:American women non-fiction writers]] [[Category:Cypress College alumni]] [[Category:Educational and science YouTubers]] [[Category:American funeral directors]] [[Category:Living people]] [[Category:American people in the death industry]] [[Category:University of Chicago alumni]] [[Category:Women and death]] [[Category:Writers from Hawaii]] [[Category:YouTubers from Hawaii]] [[Category:People from Oahu]]