How To Write the Perfect Obituary
How To! with Mike Pesca
Peach Fish Projects
4.3 • 2K Ratings
🗓️ 30 March 2021
⏱️ 33 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Laura's dad lived an unusual life. He raised 12 children on a farm without running water in the Texas countryside while also programming his own website that connected families, for free, with help when they were going through difficult times. Ever since he passed away this January, Laura has been searching for a way to tell his story, hoping to ultimately post what she writes about her father on Facebook. On this episode of How To!, we bring on Glenn Rifkin, author of Future Forward and veteran obituary writer at the New York Times, to help Laura craft the perfect remembrance. A good place for Laura to start, Glenn says, is to interview the many members of her family, acting as a reporter to gather as many stories about her dad as she can.
If you liked this episode, check out "How To Say the Right Thing at the Worst Time."
Do you have a problem that needs solving? Send us a note at howto@slate.com or leave us a voicemail at 646-495-4001 and we might have you on the show.
Slate Plus members get bonus segments and ad-free podcast feeds. Sign up now.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | If you're looking for a new podcast, might I recommend our podcast? |
| 0:09.3 | Hi, I'm Gabe Dunn, and I'm Allison Raskin. |
| 0:12.6 | We have a weekly show called Just Between Us where we explore every kind of topic out |
| 0:17.5 | there. |
| 0:18.5 | From mental health to sexuality, to animal behavior, to science, we love to interview |
| 0:25.6 | fascinating people about their various expertise. |
| 0:29.1 | We also answer listener questions and play a very silly game called hypotheticals. |
| 0:34.6 | You're not going to want to miss it, it's unhinged. |
| 0:37.4 | And if you don't want to trust our word for it because it's our show, you should know |
| 0:40.8 | that the IHAR podcast awards nominated us for Best Ensemble for 2023. |
| 0:47.1 | That means that we are good at our jobs. |
| 0:49.7 | Or we have good chemistry? |
| 0:51.7 | Oh, so check out Just Between Us every Wednesday. |
| 1:02.2 | I'm Jonathan Braylock, I'm Draw Milligan, and I'm James III. |
| 1:06.2 | And we're those of Black Mink and Jump in Hollywood, it's a comedic podcast that reviews |
| 1:09.9 | films with leading actors of color and analyze them in the context of race and Hollywood's |
| 1:14.3 | diversity issues. |
| 1:15.3 | Yeah, listen to new episodes on Mondays, find us wherever you get your podcasts. |
| 1:20.1 | I don't care where you get them. |
| 1:21.6 | I just want you to listen, don't threaten the people we need them to listen. |
| 1:25.2 | Okay, okay, okay, sorry guys, listen, listen to us, yeah, yeah, put on a happy voice. |
| 1:38.3 | Welcome to How To, I'm David Epstein. |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Peach Fish Projects, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of Peach Fish Projects and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.