Interview with Maria & Ammo from Philotimo Life

Today my guests are Maria and Ammo from the podcast Philotimo Life, a podcast that aims to open up the conversation around death in order better come to terms with our own mortality, help us support those grieving, and to live a happier life.

In this episode we talk about:

How we as grievers shelter other people from the reality of our feelings
People think grief is contagious
What it’s like studying thanatology
Ammo gives insight into death in Punjabi culture
Generational trauma
Maria gives insight into her Greek-Canadian upbringing and how that influenced her views on death
Not being able to get life insurance as a terminally ill person
Being saddled with over $50k in debt as a widow
Why dark humor is so taboo in North America
Toxic positivity doesn’t allow us to feel anything but happiness
The monetization and exploitation of Pride Month
Just because something is “better” doesn’t mean it’s “good”


More on Philotimo Life:

Maria's mom died when she was two. From an early age, she realized that talking about death was a huge no-no because people got really weird about it. As a way to avoid uncomfortable situations, she hardly spoke about her mom– let alone the way the loss impacted her. As she got older, she began to ask herself, "Why aren't I talking about this? Why aren't we talking about it?" This is what led to Philotimo Life– a place that breathes life into the conversation around death.

As she was explaining it to Ammo, his response was one of the firsts that wasn't "that's kind of morbid." This led to him joining the project. His approach to the conversation around death was refreshing and helped shape Philotimo into what it is today.

Together, they want you to share your experiences around death with family, friends, coworkers, and even strangers, with the goal that we change our policies around bereavement, and how we educate people about life, death, dying, and grief. By opening up this dialogue, they help others embrace the reality that everybody dies, and that's ok!

https://www.philotimolife.com/about

@philotimolife on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok.

For more information about Death Is Hilarious, visit deathishilarious.com To get in touch, email [email protected]. You can support the podcast by subscribing, becoming a patron at patreon.com/deathishilarious, or by simply sharing the show with your friends and on social media.