The Modern Mann
Playback: I See Dead People
Published: 29 May 2026 at 01:00 Europe/London
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Episode notes
Pathology technician Carla Valentine always knew she wanted to work with corpses. In childhood, she conducted funerals for roadkill. These days, she is curator of the Barts Pathology Museum, and a passionate advocate for more awareness about what happens when the mortuary doors swing shut...
In this interview with Olly, she reveals how to prepare for an autopsy, how to get a sense of how a person lived from examining their remains, and how to create that ‘look of gentle repose’ so important to grieving families. You’ll discover when rigor mortis starts, how identify the difference between primary and secondary flaccidity, and you'll learn about alkaline hydrolosis (‘the new cremation’) and the American trend for being embalmed sitting up.
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