Quoting http://ministry.kronosaur.com/record.hexm?id=96413:

On a related note (still only Steam), each time I died on the first few games, the game crashed shortly after I returned to the main menu. The crashing seems to have stopped, but I think the autopilot lag started as soon as the game stopped crashing.

(end quote)

Other things I noticed:
When I started playing this Beta, the music was switched off and I switched it on. When I restarted after the game crashed, the music was switched back off.

EDIT: I've been able to reproduce this once after setting VideoQuality to Minimum. I recorded a crash after dying, see attached clip.

If I set VideoQuality to standard or maximum, the game lags on autopilot, but it doesn't crash during gameplay. Instead, if I load a Perma-dead save (loading a game where I died in Permadeath) OR if I lose a game (dying or accepting xenopsychotic treatment), the game apparently crashes upon exit: the game music continues for 2-3 seconds and I see a loading circle next to the mouse cursor, then the game fully closes. If I Save and Quit a game, the game exits cleanly (music ends within 1 second, and mouse doesn't get a circle).

This issue only happens for me on 1.9 Beta 4 Steam. I don't experience it on the 1.9 Beta 4 downloaded from Kronosaur.

I have set VideoQuality to minimum again, but now the game behaves the same as when it was on standard or maximum: autopilot is laggy and the game crashes upon exit only after losing or loading a Perma-dead save.