Morbid Curiosities - M is for Medicine and Mummies

We’ve finally arrived at our favourite letter of the alphabet! So we’re lingering on the letter M for a little while, because there’s SO SO MUCH to say about it. Corpse Medicine and Mummies are two of the topics we’ve most been looking forward to, and we think you’re going to love love LOVE this episode…

Your hosts enjoy a tasty snack – George explains how a linguistic misunderstanding led to popularised cannibalism – Rosie introduces the delights of desiccation by nature and nurture – George ponders the definition of death – Rosie laments a destructive form of public entertainment.

Don’t forget we’d love to see you at MORIBUND! Which opens Tuesday 22nd at Crazy Coqs in London’s Piccadilly – a joyful and macabre tour of the world of death! Find tickets here:
https://yplanapp.com/london/moribund-53296/

Sawbones: A Marital Tour of Misguided Medicine – one of our favourite edupodcasts!
http://www.maximumfun.org/shows/sawbones

Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers, by Mary Roach
http://maryroach.net/stiff.html

Fascinating BBC article on beating heart cadavers
http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20161103-the-macabre-fate-of-beating-heart-corpses

Mummies at the British Museum in London, and at the Metropolitan Museum in New York:
https://www.britishmuseum.org/visiting/family_visits/night_at_the_museum/mummies_in_the_museum.aspx
http://www.metmuseum.org/about-the-met/curatorial-departments/egyptian-art

Getty Museum video of the mummification process:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-MQ5dL9cQX0

The Mummy’s Curse: The True History of a Dark Fantasy, by Roger Luckhurst
http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/15853917-the-mummy-s-curse

https://ia601505.us.archive.org/30/items/MorbidCuriositiesEpisode8GCEd/Morbid%20Curiosities%20Episode%208%20-%20GC%20Ed.mp3

Morbid Curiosities - I is for Incorrupt, J is for Jewellery

Back from their more-than-usually sombre episode last week, Rosie and George delve into the bizarre world of Incorrupt Saints, and the delicious tongue-twister of memento mori and mourning and memorial jewellery.
George tries to sell Rosie a preserved head - Rosie shows off her mortal bling - George introduces a different kind of waxwork - Rosie suggests some strangely elegant uses for your lover's hair...

Thank you for listening! Find out more about Gimcrack Productions and our work, including what we look like, at: www.gimcrackproductions.com


References:

Beautiful examples of, and information on, memento mori:

http://artofmourning.com/category/other/symbolism/

An article about Victorian mourning practice and attitudes toward death:

https://remembermeproject.wordpress.com/2016/10/20/cult-of-the-dead-versus-phobic-of-the-dead-the-role-of-victorian-mourning-ephemera-in-death-acceptance/

The Order of the Good Death's Youtube series Ask A Mortician, one of our favourite all-round suppliers of death information:
https://www.youtube.com/user/OrderoftheGoodDeath




https://ia601505.us.archive.org/0/items/Episode5IncorruptJewellery/Episode%205%20-%20Incorrupt,%20Jewellery.mp3