Professor Joanna Stalnaker on death and philosophy, writing at the end of life, last works, Enlightenment thinking, women in the Enlightenment, teaching, and developing a brain tumour

What's is this episode about?

In this episode, hear Professor Joanna Stalnaker on death and philosophy, writing at the end of life, last works, Enlightenmentthinking, women and philosophy in the Enlightenment, teaching, pedagogy, and her experience of discovering she had a brain tumour causing an unexplained obsession with Harry Styles and fan fiction

Who is Joanna?

Joanna Stalnaker is the author of two books: The Rest Is Silence:Enlightenment Philosophers Facing Death and The Unfinished Enlightenment: Description in the Age of the Encyclopedia. She teaches in the Department of French at Columbia University. She is currently developing a new course, co-taught with an art historian, called Birth, Death and the Human. Her currentproject is a memoir about her experience of living with an undetected brain tumor and developing an unexplained obsession with Harry Styles and fan fiction.

 You can read more about Joanna here.

 You can buy The Rest Is Silence:Enlightenment Philosophers Facing Death her with code FAL25 for 30% off. 

How do I cite the episode in my research and reading lists?

To cite this episode, you can use the following citation:

Stalnaker, J. (2026) Interview on The Death Studies Podcast hosted by Michael-Fox,B. and Visser, R. Published 1 September 2026. Available at: www.thedeathstudiespodcast.com, DOI: 10.6084/m9.figshare.33406186

 What next?

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