BECKER IN THE WORLD

Happy summer to our Ernest Becker Foundation community.

In this edition of our newsletter we highlight the reach of Becker’s ideas by featuring people from different backgrounds who were inspired by Becker. The life of each person interviewed has been deeply impacted by Becker and and they have used his ideas in their personal lives and careers. Becker has inspired everything from song lyrics, paintings, and books to conversations with dying loved ones. We hope these interviews offer a relaxing and interesting read for a (hopefully) sunny afternoon.

Our first interview in this newsletter is with psychotherapist Shelley Diamond who died on April 30th, 2022. Shelley was a long-standing friend of the EBF, and she left us with an incredible gift in this poignant interview, which delves into the importance of curiosity and a non-judgmental outlook when dealing with pain and suffering.

Our second interview features researcher and author Jeremy Sherman who explores why some people are a**holes and how death anxiety influences their actions.

Our third interview highlights psychoanalyst Salman Akhtar who discusses Freud and the root of religiosity in psychoanalysis.

Our fourth and final interview spotlights musician Wilfy Williams whose most recent album, which includes themes of scapegoating and death acceptance, was inspired by Becker’s The Denial of Death.

The importance of Becker’s ideas shines through in these interviews; his work has inspired people to live more intentionally and come to terms with their deaths. Becker sheds awareness on why some people can be a**holes and why others spend their lives devoted to service.

It’s this dynamicism that we love about Becker’s ideas and what enables us to continue to bring applications to current social issues. If you missed our recent webinar on Death Anxiety and the Russia/Ukraine War, it’s available online now. It features EBF favorite Sheldon Solomon and an emerging TMT thought leader, Cory Dakota Satter, author of “A Terror Management Theory Approach to Understanding Putin’s Mind.” These panelists discussed how Putin uses the Russia/Ukraine War to mitigate his own death anxiety, as well as other contributors to the conflict. You can view the webinar here.

We also hosted a webinar on June 22 on the topic of Death Anxiety and Opposition to Abortion featuring Merlyn Mowrey, a former Professor of Social Ethics in the Department of Philosophy and Religion at Central Michigan University, Lindsey Harvell-Bowman, an Associate Professor at James Madison University and director of the Terror Management Lab, and Emily Courtney, Assistant Professor and Social Psychologist at the University of South Florida. The recent leak of an upcoming U.S. Supreme Court ruling on abortion rights has reignited one of our nation’s most divisive political struggles. View the webinar recording for a discussion on the relationship between death anxiety and opposition to abortion, as well as ideas on how to more successfully engage people with differing views on this subject.