Uploaded May 2025 | Updated September 2026, 1 week ago
Death comes for all of us, and while the A-list ones dominate history books – think beheaded queens and assassinated archdukes – for Molly Conisbee, author of 'No Ordinary Deaths: A People’s History of Mortality', there was a lingering question: what was death like for everyone else? Find out more about Molly Conisbee's book: wellcomecollection.org/books/no-ordinary-deaths
Conisbee is an author, social historian and bereavement counsellor who's researched death and mourning for 10 years. Along the way, she's learnt how our ancestors had a more intimate and integrated relationship with dying than we do today, and that 'moving on' is a modern concept (and frankly, not a very helpful one).
Weaving together expertise as an #historian and #counsellor, we took 5 minutes with Molly in Wellcome Collection’s Reading Room to find out more about her fascination with the most morbid of topics, including advise on getting over loss and holding a space for grief.
0:00 – Intro
0:26 – Why the interest in death?
01:22 – Death has changed a lot in the last century
02:29 – Moving on is a modern concept
04:15 - Being a criminal and getting dissected were seen as one and the same
06:19 – What's your advice for people grieving?
#WellcomeCollection #books #history #socialhistory #death #bereavement #bereaved #bereavementcounsellor #counselling #authortube #authorinterviews #author #books #booktube #authors #health #anatomy #anatomical
Subscribe on YouTube: / wellcomecollection
Follow us on Instagram: / wellcomecollection
Find us on TikTok: / wellcomecollection
Catch us on Facebook: / wellcomecollection
Death comes for all of us, and while the A-list ones dominate history books – think beheaded queens and assassinated archdukes – for Molly Conisbee, author of 'No Ordinary Deaths: A People’s History of Mortality', there was a lingering question: what was death like for everyone else? Find out more about Molly Conisbee's book: wellcomecollection.org/books/no-ordinary-deaths
Conisbee is an author, social historian and bereavement counsellor who's researched death and mourning for 10 years. Along the way, she's learnt how our ancestors had a more intimate and integrated relationship with dying than we do today, and that 'moving on' is a modern concept (and frankly, not a very helpful one).
Weaving together expertise as an #historian and #counsellor, we took 5 minutes with Molly in Wellcome Collection’s Reading Room to find out more about her fascination with the most morbid of topics, including advise on getting over loss and holding a space for grief.
0:00 – Intro
0:26 – Why the interest in death?
01:22 – Death has changed a lot in the last century
02:29 – Moving on is a modern concept
04:15 - Being a criminal and getting dissected were seen as one and the same
06:19 – What's your advice for people grieving?
#WellcomeCollection #books #history #socialhistory #death #bereavement #bereaved #bereavementcounsellor #counselling #authortube #authorinterviews #author #books #booktube #authors #health #anatomy #anatomical
Subscribe on YouTube: / wellcomecollection
Follow us on Instagram: / wellcomecollection
Find us on TikTok: / wellcomecollection
Catch us on Facebook: / wellcomecollection
