Introducing Death of an Artist Season 3: Petra Mathers and Her Michael

The joint suicide of celebrated children's book illustrator Petra Mathers and her photographer husband, Michael Mathers, serves as the focal point for an investigation into the complexities of long-term marriage and the ethics of a planned death. After 44 years of a seemingly enviable and deeply romantic partnership, the couple ended their lives together in February 2024, leaving behind a series of letters and a grieving community. The narrative examines whether their final act was a romantic culmination of a self-authored life or a troubling case of one partner influencing the other, as some family members hold Michael responsible for Petra's death. By interviewing those left in the wake of this "next stop, Wonderland" departure, the inquiry explores the tension between a couple's private pact and the lasting trauma inflicted on the survivors forced to live inside the ending the Mathers chose.