Joanna Ebenstein

Joanna Ebenstein is a Mexico-based author, photographer, curator and designer. She is the founder and creative director of Morbid Anatomy, an organization that has been exploring the interstices of art and medicine, death and culture, since 2007. She traces her lineage back to Judah Loew ben Bezalel, credited with creating the Golem in 16th century Prague. She is also a proud member of The Order of the Good Death. Her books include Memento Mori: The Art of Contemplating Death to Live a Better Life, Anatomica, Death: A Graveside Companion, The Anatomical Venus, The Morbid Anatomy Anthology, (with Colin Dickey) and Walter Potter’s Curious World of Taxidermy (with Dr Pat Morris). Her writing and photography have appeared in The New York Times, K48, Women’s Studies Quarterly, and V Magazine. Ebenstein has curated, consulted, designed and produced for institutions such as The National Library of Medicine, New York Academy of Medicine, The Mütter Museum, The Museum of Sex, Green-Wood Cemetery, London’s Wellcome Collection and Science Museum, Amsterdam's Vrolik Museum, and the Todd Haynes film Wonderstruck. Her Tedx talk, Death as You've Never Seen it Before, has been viewed over 16,000 times; you can watch it here. She has spoken for institutions including The New York Public Library, The Brooklyn Historical Society, Whitechapel Gallery, The American Folk Art Museum, Harvard University, Johns Hopkins University, The Science Museum of London, The Mütter Museum, University College London, the London Natural History Museum. Ebenstein’s work has been covered by The New York Times, The New Yorker, The Guardian, The Financial Times, Wall Street Journal, Wired, National Geographic, The Atlantic, New York Magazine, Los Angeles Times, Newsweek, CNN, Mental Floss, Time, BBC, The Utne Reader, The Village Voice, Vice Magazine, Bust Magazine, Collector’s Weekly, The Chronicle for Higher Education, Newsweek, and more. She has been interviewed on air for BBC’s Today, Inside Science and Women’s Hour shows, as well as NPR’s Weekend Edition and StoryCorps, WNPR’s Colin McEnroe show, and PRI’s The World. She has also been featured in video appearances on Fox News, Newsweek, PBS’s Articulate and The Midnight Archive.