Hugh Skinner: What do you believe happens when we die?

The question

What do you believe happens when we die?

Originally asked

The Guardian, to a different person each week, The Q&A

A recurring late-stage question in The Guardian Q&A, with materially different answers on publisher-hosted pages.

You answer as yourself. Nobody on FLAPSS answers as anybody else.

Recorded said elsewhere, not written here

I think we’re definitely gone, but I do think people leave traces everywhere from what they did in life, and live on and continue to make an impact through the ripple effect of that.

The Q&A, The Guardian, 30 May 2026 source ↗

Others on this question

View all 50 →

Nick Frost

When my kids ask, “What happens when we die?” I say, “Do you remember the place you were in before you were born? I think we go back there.”

Recorded The Q&A, The Guardian, 11 January 2025 source ↗

Billy Crudup

Hopefully we have life in the minds and hearts of the people we interacted with.

Recorded The Q&A, The Guardian, 7 February 2026 source ↗

Douglas Booth

We go back from whence we came.

Recorded The Q&A, The Guardian, 15 February 2025 source ↗

Michelle Collins

I like to think that my friends, my auntie and my mum are up there having a big party and that I could join them.

Recorded The Q&A, The Guardian, 27 April 2024 source ↗