Interview with a Gravedigger

“Interview with a Gravedigger.” A three-part series for the podcast Eat, Drink, and be Buried, a podcast about New Orleans’ customs, culture, customs, and curiosities hosted by award-winning writer Sally Asher and owner of Red Sash Tours.

In these episodes, Asher sits down with New Orleans native Nick Black, the contracted gravedigger for the city's cemeteries, the sexton of Greenwood and Cypress Grove Cemeteries, and the owner of NOLA Cemetery Renewal LLC. Black discusses, among other things, the often-distributing tradition of New Orleans’ burials, including the process of digging a grave, how New Orleans’ water table effects the body’s decomposition, and the challenges with moving a decomposed body.