Sparkling Skeletons and Costumed Cats - Paul Koudournaris

What happens when a lifelong fascination with mortality leads you into crypts, catacombs, pet cemeteries, and skull festivals across the world?

Photographer, writer, and art historian Paul Koudounaris joins Joanna Ebenstein for a wide-ranging conversation about death, beauty, human remains, and the stories we tell through the dead. Best known for his acclaimed books Empire of Death, Heavenly Bodies, Memento Mori, A Cat’s Tale, and Faithful Unto Death, Paul has spent decades documenting extraordinary death traditions and sacred remains around the globe.

Together, Paul and Joanna explore why some people are drawn to mortality from an early age, the role death has played in shaping Paul's creative life, and what it means to spend years in the company of thousands of skeletons. Paul reflects on his journey from art historian to author and photographer, revealing the painstaking process behind some of his most iconic images, including the jeweled skeleton saints of Heavenly Bodies.

The conversation journeys from Baroque-era relics and bone churches to pet cemeteries, famous feline heroes, and the surprising story of how Paul's cat Baba became the star of her own bestselling history book. Along the way, Paul shares stories from his travels through Peru and Bolivia, where communities maintain living relationships with ancestral skulls, blurring the boundaries between remembrance, devotion, and daily life.

With characteristic humour and warmth, Paul reflects on mortality, creativity, and the profound equality found in death.

📢Listeners! You are invited to share your own offerings: voice notes on death, dying, ritual and the beauty of finitude. Include your first name and location if you want them shared- you might be featured in an upcoming episode. Send your offering via WhatsApp to +44 2921 690468

🖤 Enjoying Memento Morbid? Explore our collection of apparel and accessories in the Memento Morbid shop: mementomorbidmerch.dashery.com   

💀 Memento Morbid is produced by Overcoat Media in partnership with Morbid Anatomy.

Host: Joanna Ebenstein
Series Producer: Jess Gunasekara
Studio Engineer: Fernando Velazco Vargas
Additional Production and Sound Design: Katie Hill
Production Coordinator: Janice Jardine 
Executive Producer: Steven Rajam
Artwork: Lauren Seeley

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