Americans focus on a good life. But what about a good death?

Americans spend a lot of time thinking about what it means to live a good life. But what about a good death? In 2022 researchers at the Duke University Global Health Institute ranked countries by the quality of their end-of-life care, and the United States ranked only 43, just below Colombia, Romania, Nigeria and Guatemala.

So what does this country need to do? Recent Middlebury College graduate Samara Gordon Wexler is thinking about that question. The 22-year-old winner of a prestigious Watson Fellowship is about to embark on a five-continent journey. She’ll visit, work and train with end-of-life practitioners from Ghanaian coffin artists to Indian trekkers to find out what it means to die a good death and how to make it happen here.

Here & Now host Deepa Fernandes talks to Gordon Wexler about the project and why it matters.

This article was originally published on WBUR.org.