The Mortals

Nathan Morris
  • 4.8 (98)
  • SOCIETY & CULTURE
  • UPDATED 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 — no script, no guests most weeks, just one man in a room being honest about what it means to be alive. New episodes every Wednesday.

  1. The Doctor Who Wrote His Own Death — Paul Kalanithi, NDEs, And What I've Actually Seen

    MAY 14

    The Doctor Who Wrote His Own Death — Paul Kalanithi, NDEs, And What I've Actually Seen

    There's a man who never had a near-death experience. He had something more honest. He had a slow death he could watch coming. And he wrote it all down before the cancer took him at 37.His name was Paul Kalanithi. Neurosurgery resident at Stanford. Eight months from finishing the longest training in medicine. Diagnosed with stage IV lung cancer he'd never earned. He went back to the operating room until his hands shook. He and his wife had a daughter anyway. He wrote a book about what dying does to a life. He died before he could finish it.Tonight we start there — with the man who told the truth on his way out — and then I'm going to tell you what I've actually seen as a funeral director, from this side of the door. People floating above their bodies. Lights at the end of tunnels. Loved ones who've already passed showing up at the foot of the bed. Stories I don't have a framework for. Stories that don't fit anywhere except in the room I stand in.This is The Mortals — Episode #231. Near-Death Experiences From A Funeral Director's Perspective.— NathanCHAPTERS0:00 Cold open — happy belated Mother's Day & tonight's setup2:30 Meet Paul Kalanithi — the writer who became a neurosurgeon5:25 Stage 4 at 36 — eight months from finishing residency8:20 22 months — what Paul did with the time he had left13:35 When Breath Becomes Air — Lucy finishes the book15:40 The funeral director's version of the same question20:00 Joe Rogan said funerals are a scam — here's my answer31:30 Socials, AI, and the song I'm finally releasing37:00 Don't wait — go do the thingWatch live every Tuesday at 7 PM ET. Subscribe so you don't miss next week.🛍 Shop my suits, gear & favorites → stan.store/thenathanmorris🕯 Join The Mortals community → stan.store/thenathanmorris🎙 Listen to the podcast → stan.store/thenathanmorris📩 Get the Sunday letter → stan.store/thenathanmorris#themortals #nathanmorris #neardeathexperience #funeraldirector #paulkalanithi #whenbreathbecomesair #grief #podcast

    40 min

  2. MAY 11

    The Work Nobody Will Clap For — Vivian Maier and the Room with the Door Closed | The Mortals w/ Nathan Morris #230

    0:00 Cold open — sit down, grab the tea 2:00 Opening statement: October 1956, Chicago — Vivian Maier walks down a sidewalk 6:00 The 150,000 photographs nobody ever saw 13:00 Why did she do it? The question I keep sitting with 15:30 The room with the door closed — this episode's thesis 17:30 My grandfather, the double Windsor knot, and the mundane that mattered 23:00 Grief as fuel — what Vivian and I have in common 29:00 Nixon, Watergate, and dying without your name cleared 34:00 Why I keep writing songs that nobody might ever hear 43:00 The TikTok story: showing up every day for three years even when I couldn't walk 52:00 Reframing — your suffering is the storage locker 57:00 Mortals shoutouts + the next single artwork vote —— What if the most important work you'll ever do is work nobody is going to clap for? This week on The Mortals Live, I tell the story of Vivian Maier — the Chicago nanny who walked the streets for 40 years with a camera around her neck, took 150,000 photographs, never developed almost any of them, never showed them to anyone, and died alone in 2009 not knowing she would become one of the greatest American photographers of the 20th century. I think about her a lot. Because there is a room you stand in alone — the one with the door closed — where the only witness to the work is you. The recovery. The marriage. The child you're raising. The song you can't stop writing. The grief you're carrying. Nobody is paying for it. Nobody is thanking you. Nobody might ever see it. But the work is the work. And the recognition is beside the point. This is for the people in that room. Tuesdays at 7pm EST. JOIN THE MORTALS — first looks, first listens, producer credits on the next single: https://nathanmorrismusic.com/supporters "Feel Anything" — out now wherever you stream music. Nathan Morris is a singer-songwriter and former funeral director. The Mortals is a weekly conversation about grief, music, and the people who keep doing the work in the room with the door closed. #TheMortals #NathanMorris #VivianMaier #Grief #FuneralDirector #LifeAfterLoss #Mortality #Podcast

    1h 1m

  3. MAY 10

    The Room After The Room | The Mortals w/ Nathan Morris #229

    0:00 Welcome back — and the boo-boo from last week 2:45 The garage sale that worked because the sign said "good stuff, not junk" 7:00 Caramels, ASMR, and stepping outside the comfort zone 10:30 Derby week chaos in Louisville — and the 8:47 PM start time 14:15 Opening statement: Margaret, Earl, and the room after the room 24:00 Funeral directors don't hum in empty chapels (except they do) 32:00 The voice memo that became a song I haven't finished 36:30 Do I miss dead people? The honest answer. 41:00 Performing vs. being authentic — when the curtain closes 47:30 The box that opened and won't close 52:00 The 18-year-old who messaged about my videos changing his path —— What happens in the room after the room? After 228 episodes and a season away, Nathan Morris returns with the question that won't leave him alone — what waits on the other side of the threshold we all eventually cross? The Mortals is a weekly conversation about death, near-death, and the quiet thread connecting every breath to the next. Hosted by a former funeral director who's helped lay hundreds of people to rest — and lived to write songs about it. New episodes drop every Tuesday at 7 PM ET. Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3OEFJ4GX7ylWSMk4p0dz82 Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-mortals/id1436094260 Nathan's music: https://nathanmorrismusic.com #TheMortals #NathanMorris #NearDeathExperience #LifeAfterLoss #FuneralDirector #Grief #Mortality #Podcast

    56 min

  4. MAY 9

    The Ones Who Showed Up | The Mortals w/ Nathan Morris #228

    0:00 Welcome — three weeks in a row 2:40 Opening statement: the person who shows up on a random Tuesday 8:15 Why presence costs something — and why nobody eulogizes it 13:00 The first transfer I ever did — the hoarder's house 22:30 My brother sat for ten minutes and didn't say a word 28:00 Patterns, mundane fundamentals, and why showing up matters 34:00 The funeral home as the most alive place I worked 40:15 The mortuary school call to a stranger in Washington — "check your pulse" 44:30 The April 2023 prayer I've never told anyone 47:00 Things don't happen TO us. They happen. —— There's a specific kind of person nobody ever talks about. Not the one who came to the funeral. Not the one who sent flowers. Not the one who texted six months later. I mean the person who showed up on a random Tuesday. Knocked on your door. Didn't say anything. Just sat with you. In Episode 3 of The Mortals Live, I talk about what that kind of presence actually costs another person — and why the people who do it never get eulogized. I spent seven years walking into homes after someone died. First calls. And in every single room, there was always one person who wasn't crying. Who was just holding the hand of the person who was. Quiet. Present. Steady. That person is the reason anyone else got through the night. This episode is for them. We go deep on the story of the first time someone showed up for me — a parking lot, a phone call I didn't ask for, and a man who didn't know he was saving me. We open the super chats. Come sit in the room. JOIN THE MORTALS — Producer credits on every live show. Vote on my next cover single. Link below. https://nathanmorrismusic.com/supporters "Feel Anything" — Out now on all platforms. Every Tuesday, 7pm Eastern. Nathan Morris is a singer-songwriter and former funeral director. The Mortals Live is a weekly show about grief, music, and the people who hold the room together while everyone else falls apart.

    49 min

  5. MAY 8

    The Last Supper Table | The Mortals w/ Nathan Morris #227

    0:00 You came back — Holy Week opens 3:15 Opening statement: the table the world holds its breath for 8:00 Your "chair" stories from last week 12:30 Terminal lucidity — the last normal night 18:45 Good Friday in funeral service 23:00 The boy in the suit at the graveside ("Is he in the box?") 28:30 Holy Saturday — the most underrepresented day in grief 33:15 The family who made a list of "weekend jobs" 37:40 Selection Room — why funeral homes need to show up online 42:50 Resurrection in real life: cooking breakfast on the beach —— Every Tuesday at 7pm EST, this is the room. No highlight reel. No performance. Just honest conversation about grief, loss, and what it means to keep going. This week is Holy Week — and I couldn't let this Tuesday pass without talking about what this week actually means for the people who are carrying something heavy right now. Tonight I'm sharing stories from 15 years inside the funeral profession. The families I sat with. The moments I've never forgotten. And why the part of the Easter story nobody talks about — the Saturday in between — might be the most honest picture of grief ever written. We'll also talk about what it means to serve people on the worst days of their lives, and why that work deserves to be seen. If you're in a season of waiting right now — if your table has an empty seat this week — this one is for you. https://selectionroom.io https://stan.store/thenathanmorris Text me: https://laylo.com/nathanmorris

    46 min

  6. MAY 7

    The Chair | The Mortals w/ Nathan Morris #226

    0:00 Cold open — why I'm doing this 3:30 First inaugural live: who this room is for 8:45 The smell of a funeral home, and what it means 14:20 The widow and her husband's chair (the story) 22:10 Grief lives in the small things, not the flowers 28:00 Q&A — what would you say to someone you've lost? 33:40 Why I write songs from this work 40:15 Acoustic performance — Feel Anything 50:00 Closing: kindness wins. Be slow to judge. —— Some grief doesn't come with flowers. It comes with a chair that nobody sits in anymore. Tonight I'm telling a story from my years as a funeral director — one I've never shared publicly, about a widow who said seven words that I've never forgotten. Drop the name in the chat tonight of someone you've lost. Tuesdays at 7pm EST. Listen to 'Feel Anything': https://tr.ee/rOCca3 Connect with Nathan: https://laylo.com/nathanmorris

    54 min
  7. Declared Dead, Then Woke Up: A Chilling True Mystery

    09/25/2025

    Declared Dead, Then Woke Up: A Chilling True Mystery

    What if you were declared dead—only to wake up alive? In this haunting episode of The Mortals, I’m Nathan Morris, your guide through life’s darkest edges, uncovering a true story that defies logic. Dive into the chilling mystery of a person pronounced deceased, placed in a coffin, and then shockingly revived, as if pulled back by an unseen force. As a mortician, I’ve seen death’s finality, and as a musician, I’ve felt its echoes in my songs—but this tale left me questioning everything. What happened in those lost moments? Was it a medical miracle, or something beyond our understanding? Join me to explore this eerie encounter and the whispers of the unknown. If this story grips you, share your thoughts or your own unexplainable experiences in the comments. Find more shadows at nathanmorrismusic.com. #NearDeath #TrueMystery #Paranormal The Mortals Podcast is sponsored by Descript: https://get.descript.com/mortals  Try POPPY AI: https://tr.ee/EIaE14 ______________________________ 📻 My Music: ⁠⁠ https://vyd.co/NathanMorrisBreakthrough 🏛️ Mortals: https://tr.ee/i4U3ib  ⚙️ My Gear: https://www.shopltk.com/explore/NathanMorris _______________________________ 📩 Sign up for my Newsletter: ⁠⁠ https://nathanmorrismusic.beehiiv.com/subscribe  _______________________________ ►Follow Nathan: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nathanmorris/​ Twitter: https://twitter.com/nathanmorris Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/NathanMorrisMusic TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@nathanmorrismusic YouTube: https://youtube.com/NathanMorrisMusic​

    28 min

  8. 09/23/2025

    Not Dead Yet: Two Lives Returned from the Silence

    💀 What happens when death isn’t the end? In this chilling episode of The Mortals, we dive into two true, unexplainable near-death stories that defy science. First, meet Brian Miller, a man who was dead for 45 minutes, only to return with a haunting vision of a room he’d never seen. Then, uncover the horrifying case of Maria de Jesus Arroyo, who may have woken up in a morgue freezer—after being declared dead. How did they come back? What did they experience on the other side? Join host Nathan Morris as we tear down the walls between life and death. 🔔 Don’t miss a shiver—subscribe to The Mortals and hit the notification bell for new episodes every Tuesday and Thursday.👕 Grab exclusive Mortals merch to wear the shadow on your sleeve🤝 Join our community for bonus content and early access💬 Have your own unexplainable story? Share it with us in the comments! The Mortals Podcast is sponsored by Descript: https://get.descript.com/mortals  Try POPPY AI: https://tr.ee/EIaE14 ______________________________ 📻 My Music: ⁠⁠ https://vyd.co/NathanMorrisBreakthrough 🏛️ Mortals: https://tr.ee/i4U3ib  ⚙️ My Gear: https://www.shopltk.com/explore/NathanMorris _______________________________ 📩 Sign up for my Newsletter: ⁠⁠ https://nathanmorrismusic.beehiiv.com/subscribe  _______________________________ ►Follow Nathan: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nathanmorris/​ Twitter: https://twitter.com/nathanmorris Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/NathanMorrisMusic TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@nathanmorrismusic YouTube: https://youtube.com/NathanMorrisMusic​ #NearDeathExperience #Unexplainable #TrueStories #Supernatural #Podcast #TheMortals

    27 min
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Trailers

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 — no script, no guests most weeks, just one man in a room being honest about what it means to be alive. New episodes every Wednesday.

Information

  • Creator
    Nathan Morris
  • Years Active
    2018 - 2026
  • Episodes
    160
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © Nathan Morris
  • Show Website
    The Mortals

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