The ultimate motherly act: a Swedish death clean

The ultimate motherly act: a Swedish death clean

From The Front by The Australian

May 8, 2026 · 12 min

About this episode

This episode explores the concept of Swedish death cleaning and its implications on motherhood and memory.

This Mother’s Day we’re looking at döstädning, or Swedish death cleaning - a system of decluttering before you die. Writer Charlotte Ree’s mother has adopted the practice and unearthed a trove of memories. But is the process the ultimate motherly act, or a little too confronting?  Find out more about The Front podcast  here . You can read about this story and more on The Australian's website or on The Australian’s app. The weekend edition of The Front is co-produced by Claire Harvey and Jasper Leak. The host is Claire Harvey. Audio production and editing by Jasper Leak who also composed our theme. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

People in this episode

Host: Claire Harvey

Topics covered

  • Swedish death cleaning
  • motherhood
  • decluttering
  • memories
  • döstädning

Keywords

  • Swedish death cleaning
  • döstädning
  • decluttering
  • motherhood
  • memories

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: The Australian

More episodes of The Front

Explore listener stats, chart rankings, contacts and more on the The Front podcast page.