The Mortals

Nathan Morris
  • 4.8 (98)
  • Society & Culture
  • Weekly

A funeral director who writes pop songs sits down every Tuesday night and says the things most people are afraid to feel. Death, fatherhood, burnout, songwriting, walking away from the career that defined you, and figuring out what comes after. The Mortals is a live conversation hosted by Nathan Morris

  1. 10h ago

    Polished Falls Flat. Flawed Connects. | The Mortals

    Last week's show was rough. I fumbled. A lot. This week I figured out why. I overthought it. Weeks of treating my content like a math problem made it stiff and careful. My content got buns. Polished falls flat. I learned the fix in the funeral home years ago. When a family plans a service, they bring two kinds of pictures. The church directory photo. And the shoebox. People always stand in front of the shoebox. We also talked about The Comeback Room. I'm going to ask artists about the night they almost quit. First up is Julia Cole, night one of her Love You To Death Tour at Headliners in Louisville. Your homework: send the ugly text. The one you've rewritten nine times. Who's in your shoebox photo? If today feels heavy, call or text 988. Someone's there. The Mortals is live every Tuesday at 7pm ET on YouTube @nathanmorrismusic. Join The Mortals, my supporter community: https://nathanmorrismusic.com/supporters Feel Anything, my weekly email: https://nathanmorrismusic.beehiiv.com Free Funeral Song Guide: https://nathanmorrismusic.com/funeral-songs

  2. 3d ago

    The Mortals | What The Funeral Convention Won't Say Out Loud

    More than 300 booths on the funeral convention floor this week. Not one of them sells the 2am phone call. The NFDA convention is in Charlotte right now, and the closing keynote is called 28,000 Days. So tonight I said the things that don't get said out loud on that floor. With respect. I love this work. The Funeral Rule only requires a written price list when you walk in the door. The FTC called funeral homes undercover, and after hours a lot of callers couldn't get a price at all. A family on the phone at 9 at night shouldn't have to call three times. Post your prices. We also get into what's actually required (your own casket, embalming, vaults), why no cremation family should ever say "we're just doing cremation," why funeral directors need permission to go home, and why this profession fights change so hard. If tonight is heavy, call or text 988. Someone's there. What's one thing you're going to stop wasting time on? Tell me in the comments. CHAPTERS0:00 Welcome to The Mortals Live3:43 The funeral convention is happening right now6:46 The Funeral Rule has a catch8:06 The FTC called funeral homes undercover9:25 My take: post your prices10:16 Your own casket, embalming, vaults: what's required12:14 Retire the word "just" for cremation14:57 No booth sells the 2am phone call16:38 Backstage with a cop who found standup19:42 28,000 days: go to the visitation24:58 Skip Thanksgiving? And the holiday death calls28:18 Funeral directors need permission to rest29:23 Why funeral service fights change39:52 Words matter: "remains" is somebody's dad47:49 Families are online. Show up there.59:29 Bitter or better after loss1:03:33 Starting over and doing the thing1:10:19 A beautiful funeral needs a beautiful song The Mortals Live. Every Tuesday, 7pm ET. 👔 OOTD and the link. Tonight, I'm wearing: https://shopltk.com/explore/nathanmorrisSweaty hoodie edition. Moving a whole studio will do that. • • •🖤 STAY CONNECTED ⭐ Members-only content: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC0rrl2tcQlqgkkQgMR9f_0w/join🌐 Website: https://nathanmorrismusic.com✉️ Feel Anything newsletter: https://nathanmorrismusic.beehiiv.com📺 YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@NathanMorrisMusicTikTok: @nathanmorrismusicInstagram: @nathanmorrisX: @nathanmorris

  3. Oct 21

    Every Family Thinks Their Funeral Song Is Different | The Mortals

    Every family I ever sat with thought their song was different. It usually wasn't. This weekend I asked you one thing. Pick the song they'd sing in the car. Over 2,000 of you answered. Tonight we're reading them. No guest. Just me and you. The car songs. The ratchet songs you're haunting your family over. The bottle of water in the fridge nobody touches. Why most eulogies are boring and the one rule that fixes yours. And ask a funeral director anything. Homework before you leave: back up their text thread, save their voicemail somewhere besides your phone, and write your song down. If tonight is heavy, call or text 988. Someone's there. Who sang in the car at your house? Name and song. Put it in the comments. CHAPTERS0:00 Welcome to The Mortals Live1:03 Every family thinks their funeral song is different3:32 Why I said pick the car song5:31 The ratchet song: put it in writing6:53 The freezer, the water bottle, the shoes by the door9:02 Skip the resume: one story for the eulogy10:37 Tonight's homework: text thread, voicemail, your song11:55 Day 24 of starting over15:21 Doom scrolling vs long form19:18 Your funeral questions: suits, socks and glasses24:42 The deathbed exercise: find your guiding light32:36 Why funeral music defaults to the template40:21 Coming home from LA and the family that changed me53:29 Do the thing you love1:02:51 This season of The Mortals1:05:51 Burying the dead and why I keep showing up The Mortals Live. Every Tuesday, 7pm ET. 👔 OOTD and the link. Tonight, I'm wearing: https://shopltk.com/explore/nathanmorrisDressed for a funeral. Ready for a car-song sing-along. 🖤 STAY CONNECTED🎵 Stream "Names I'll Never Lose": https://vyd.co/namesillneverlose⭐ Members-only content: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC0rrl2tcQlqgkkQgMR9f_0w/join🌐 Website: https://nathanmorrismusic.com✉️ Feel Anything newsletter: https://nathanmorrismusic.beehiiv.com📺 YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@nathanmorrismusicTikTok: @nathanmorrismusicInstagram: @nathanmorrisX: @nathanmorris

  4. Oct 15

    The Mortals Live | Julia Cole Almost Quit. Then 20,000 Sang

    She couldn't sell 50 tickets on the other side of the world. Then the promoters canceled the whole tour. Her parents already had flights.She sat in a hotel room crying and asked herself one question. "What am I even doing?"One year later, 20,000 people in Australia sang her song back to her.Tonight is the first night of the new Mortals. Every week I sit down with a singer, a band or a comedian on the day their tour rolls through Louisville. We talk about the part nobody posts. Then you and I talk about it together.My first guest is Julia Cole. I caught her at Headliners Music Hall on night one of her first headline tour. We talked about almost quitting, a pair of crutches at the Opry, and why 10,000 views is 10,000 people in a room.Then I'm going to do something that scares me a little.Drop it in the chat: what's the closest you ever came to quitting?Live every Tuesday at 7pm ET.👔 OOTD and the link. Tonight, I'm wearing: https://bit.ly/4yQJ2ZgDressed for a living tribute. Nobody's getting buried tonight.🎙 Guest: Julia Cole (@juliacolemusic)"Love You To Death (Deluxe)" and her new single "Pushing Daisies" are out now everywhere.🪑 Coming to the chair:Officer Eudy, Nov 4Britton Emert, Nov 10Tim Timmons, Nov 13Touring through Louisville and want to sit down? booking@nathanmorrismusic.com- • •🖤 STAY CONNECTED🎵 Stream "Names I'll Never Lose": https://vyd.co/namesillneverlose⭐ Members-only content: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC0rrl2tcQlqgkkQgMR9f_0w/join🌐 Website: https://nathanmorrismusic.com✉️ Feel Anything newsletter: https://nathanmorrismusic.beehiiv.com📺 YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@nathanmorrismusicTikTok: @nathanmorrismusicInstagram: @nathanmorrisX: @nathanmorris

  5. Oct 8

    Polished Falls Flat. Flawed Connects. | The Mortals

    Last week's show was rough. I fumbled. A lot. This week I figured out why. I overthought it. Weeks of treating my content like a math problem made it stiff and careful. My content got buns. Polished falls flat. I learned the fix in the funeral home years ago. When a family plans a service, they bring two kinds of pictures. The church directory photo. And the shoebox. People always stand in front of the shoebox. We also talked about The Comeback Room. I'm going to ask artists about the night they almost quit. First up is Julia Cole, night one of her Love You To Death Tour at Headliners in Louisville. Your homework: send the ugly text. The one you've rewritten nine times. Who's in your shoebox photo? If today feels heavy, call or text 988. Someone's there. The Mortals is live every Tuesday at 7pm ET on YouTube @nathanmorrismusic. Join The Mortals, my supporter community: https://nathanmorrismusic.com/supportersStream "Names I'll Never Lose": https://vyd.co/namesillneverloseFeel Anything, my weekly email: https://nathanmorrismusic.beehiiv.comFree Funeral Song Guide: https://nathanmorrismusic.com/funeral-songs

  6. Oct 5

    The Back Parlor: The First 48 Hours After a Death | The Mortals

    At 10:15 on the night of April 14th, 1865, a president was carried into a stranger's back bedroom and laid diagonally across a bed that was too short for him. The most powerful family in America spent the next nine hours exactly as lost as every family I've ever sat with in a small room, hours after the phone rang.Because here's the truth nobody teaches you: in the first hours after a death, power doesn't help you. Money doesn't help you. What's left is just people in a room, not knowing what they're allowed to do.Tonight I'm walking you through it — hour by hour. Who to call first. What you do NOT have to decide tonight, no matter what anyone tells you. What the funeral home is going to ask, and what you're allowed to say no to. What to say to your job. What to say to your kids. The stuff nobody put in a pamphlet, because there is no pamphlet.I've been in that room over a thousand times — the first hour after someone has died. Same hands that used to hold a microphone, now guiding families through the worst night of their lives.If you've ever gotten that call — the one that rearranges the furniture of your whole life in one sentence — type a 1 in the chat. I want to see how many of us are in this room together tonight.You are not supposed to know what to do. Nobody does. Tonight, I'll tell you the truth about it.The Mortals Live — memento mori made warm. Look at death, so you can live louder.———🖤 STAY CONNECTED🎵 Stream "Names I'll Never Lose": https://laylo.com/nathanmorris⭐ Members-only content: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC0rrl2tcQlqgkkQgMR9f_0w/join🌐 Website: https://nathanmorrismusic.com✉️ Feel Anything newsletter: https://nathanmorrismusic.beehiiv.com📺 YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@nathanmorrismusicTikTok: @nathanmorrismusicInstagram: @nathanmorrisX: @nathanmorris🎙️ New to streaming or looking to level up? Check out StreamYard and get $10 discount! 😍 https://streamyard.com/pal/d/4595061185642496

  7. Oct 2

    I Owned Funeral Homes. Then I Mowed 87 Yards. | The Mortals

    I have a confession. I watch strangers mow their lawns on YouTube. On purpose. For fun. When I was going through the hardest stretch of my life and rebuilding, I mowed. A lot. Just months before, I owned a major funeral home company. Then I started helping a friend with 67 yards. That turned into 87. Big yards. Small yards. Messy ones with weeds in the beds. This episode: what those straight lines did for me, and what I learned being the guy in the grass-stained khakis. What's your lawn? The thing you do when your head's too loud. Tell me in the comments. The Mortals is live every Tuesday at 7pm ET on YouTube.  CHAPTERS 0:00 Pre-show 2:24 My confession: I watch strangers mow lawns 6:38 67 yards, then 87: mowing through the rebuild 12:29 The guy in the grass-stained khakis 16:24 What's your lawn? The thing you do when your head's too loud 28:41 The abrupt undoing: from funeral home owner to builder 34:07 "Why don't you just quit?" 45:01 Names I'll Never Lose 48:38 The War of Art & my grandfather's double Windsor 57:46 Victory in suffering & the voice that says you don't matter 1:07:06 What a million Spotify streams actually pays 1:14:22 Keep showing up  What I'm wearing tonight: https://on.ltk.com/+pEWhnITXSoTULE3__NCYXg  Join The Mortals, my supporter community: https://nathanmorrismusic.com/supporters  ━━━━━━━━━━ STAY CONNECTED Stream "Names I'll Never Lose": https://vyd.co/namesillneverlose Website: https://nathanmorrismusic.com Feel Anything newsletter: https://nathanmorrismusic.beehiiv.com Watch live on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@nathanmorrismusic Instagram: @nathanmorris TikTok: @nathanmorrismusic

  8. Sep 10

    The 92 Minutes That Saved a Stranger's Life | The Mortals

    He was 22, a new dad, drowning in debt, and standing on the wrong side of the rail on the Golden Gate Bridge. The only reason he's alive today is that a highway patrol sergeant named Kevin Briggs happened to be assigned to that bridge, and walked up, and stayed for 92 minutes. Tonight we talk about that story, and what it means for you. Why the people we should worry about are never the ones crying. Why "strong" is just the word we use for people we've stopped checking on. And why showing up, even flat, even empty, even going through the motions, might be the most important thing you do all year. I'm a funeral director. I've stood in the room after. So when I say I'm glad you stayed, I mean it. If tonight moves you, get us to 20 members and I'm doing a members-only live. The membership button is right under this video. If you're struggling, you don't have to do it alone. Call or text 988. Someone will pick up. CHAPTERS 0:00 Cold open — glad you stayed 2:00 Two men named Kevin 4:00 Kevin Berthia and the coat he wore 8:30 A NICU daughter and a $250,000 bill 12:30 March 11, 2005 — over the rail 17:00 Sergeant Kevin Briggs, the Guardian 22:00 92 minutes — "the compassion in your voice" 27:00 The photograph, and staying alive vs. healing 34:00 Why the mundane is the whole point 41:00 Names I'll Never Lose — my own 3 a.m. 52:00 Your names, my music, and showing up anyway ——— 🖤 STAY CONNECTED 🎵 Stream "Names I'll Never Lose": https://laylo.com/nathanmorris ⭐ Members-only content: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC0rrl2tcQlqgkkQgMR9f_0w/join 🌐 Website: https://nathanmorrismusic.com ✉️ Feel Anything newsletter: https://nathanmorrismusic.beehiiv.com 📺 YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@nathanmorrismusic TikTok: @nathanmorrismusic Instagram: @nathanmorris

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4.8
out of 5
98 Ratings

About

A funeral director who writes pop songs sits down every Tuesday night and says the things most people are afraid to feel. Death, fatherhood, burnout, songwriting, walking away from the career that defined you, and figuring out what comes after. The Mortals is a live conversation hosted by Nathan Morris

Information

  • Creator
    Nathan Morris
  • Years Active
    2018 - 2026
  • Episodes
    179
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © Nathan Morris
  • Show Website
    The Mortals

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