What inspired you to write Damned Nation?
When I was an undergraduate, I was stunned by the sudden death of a loved one. My bewilderment and bereavement drove me to research the history of death. I was surprised by the voluminous literature on the moment of death relative to what comes after. I realized I was more interested in the latter, and in how people’s ideas about the afterlife shape their lives in the here-and-now. I initially set out to write about both heaven and hell, but I didn’t want to spend eternity in graduate school, even if I was happy to spend graduate school in eternity!
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