Better Off Dead

My name is Andrew Denton. I’m a writer and broadcaster who lives in Sydney, Australia. In October 2015, I delivered a public address arguing for an assisted dying law in my country. This podcast is the end result of that process. In it, you will hear the voices of those who I spoke to for my research and learn the reasons that led me to argue for a new, and merciful, law. Kit and Andrew Denton — Photo: supplied Who am I to be talking to you about a subject as complex as assisted dying? It’s true, I have no expertise … other than the expertise too many of us share: I saw someone I love die badly. My dad, Kit, did not go gentle. Although clearly dying of heart failure, and obviously in great pain, he was assisted to die in the only way that Australia’s law then – and now – would allow: he was given increasing doses of morphine to settle the pain. But morphine never did settle the pain. Not his and not ours. The images of those final three days will never be erased. So, prompted by the death of my father, an