Episodes
March 14, 2018
The Girl Behind the Door
When John Brooks daughter jumped to her death from the Golden Gate bridge, his grieving mind searched for answers. He had thought she was a well-adjusted, normal teen, successful and getting ready to go to college. But how co...
March 7, 2018
Questions of the Spirit
After many other losses, Brent Green prepared to lose the last member of his family of origin, his sister. As the family sat with her, a wise chaplain introduced questions that opened up a new way for Brent to think about los...
Feb. 21, 2018
Lavender Pen Tour: From Selma to Stonewall
At the heart of the Lavender Pen tour of October, 2017 was a recognition that none of us are free until we are all free. One way participants connected LGBTQ oppression with the oppression of people of color and other margina...
Feb. 14, 2018
Lavender Pen Tour: Capturing the Moments
A tour which began from a desire to offer solace and inspiration to communities under attach became, also, an inspiration to those who participated and to people across the country. Capturing the imagination of many communiti...
Feb. 7, 2018
The Lavender Pen Tour: Fearless Leaders
After the presidential election of 2016, two choir directors were looking for a way to take action. The San Francisco Gay Men's Chorus thought a tour of the southern states might give the choir an opportunity to offer solace ...
Jan. 24, 2018
The Unspeakable Loss
When therapist Nisha Zenoff's 17 year old son died, her extensive training in supporting clients in grief suddenly felt inadequate. She entered a new world that called everything into question. Putting one foot in front of an...
Jan. 17, 2018
Modern Loss
What is modern about loss? Human beings have been experiencing loss for as long as there have been human beings. But there is a movement going on right now that seeks to open up the conversation about grief, to create communi...
Jan. 10, 2018
Help Each Other Out
How much do you know about offering empathy when someone you love is having hard times? Kelsey Crowe found that many people in her own life had a hard time being there for her through her own most difficult moments. Then she ...
Jan. 3, 2018
Journey's End
The heart which has known loss looks for echoes. Who has something to teach us about this new and daunting territory? Julie Saeger Nierenberg and Victoria Brewster set out on a search for people who had something to say about...
Dec. 27, 2017
Who Will Take Care of Me
As conversations about the end of life have become more open and available, many of us have become more active in planning our own ends. But what are the resources that help us to plan well? What can support us as we work to ...
Dec. 20, 2017
More Beautiful Than Before
What happens when a person who has supported others through their hardest times faces his own hardest time? In Rabbi Steve Leder's case, a crisis in his own life led to a deepening understanding of what it takes to come throu...
Dec. 13, 2017
Healthy Healing
When Michelle Steinke-Baumgard's husband died suddenly, she found her few moments of peace in exercise. First depending on that time as a lifeline, she soon found a deep passion for the healing effects of endorphins on her gr...
Dec. 6, 2017
Death Hangout
How can talking about death make living more meaningful? Olivier Larvor and Keith Clarke, two men who gave up successful careers in top companies to form their own life coach practices, believe that contemplating death can le...
Nov. 29, 2017
The Dinner Party
Loss can leave you alone and confused, with no one who gets what you're going through. If loss comes at a relatively young age, there may be no one in your friendship network who has been through it. After her father's death,...
Nov. 22, 2017
The Weight of Honor
With improvements in field medicine, an even greater number of soldiers have come home from wars in Afghanistan and Iraq disabled and in need of care. Their families then pick up the majority of that care and must adjust to a...
Nov. 8, 2017
Stroke of Luck
When Diane Barnes, an accomplished physician, experienced a devastating stroke, she relearned many things. In the process, she learned how to live differently, leaving her profession and finding a new path as an actor and pla...
Nov. 1, 2017
Legacy
Keeping memories alive of people we've lost is a way to continue our relationships. As society becomes more comfortable talking about death and loss and grief, public remembrances also become a more universally accepted pract...
Oct. 25, 2017
Leaving a Trail
Kate Kendell's courage and conviction helped win the battle for marriage rights for all Americans, including those in same sex relationships. Her fierce advocacy and legal strategy have made her a popular speaker and social m...
Oct. 18, 2017
Grief: A Love Story
When all we know leaves us unprepared for loss, we must find a new way to respond. And when suicide is involved, the weight of what could have been can be weighty. Tara Caffelle’s former husband and good friend died, and she ...
Oct. 11, 2017
Big Love
How does someone find his way from the murder, at age 14, of both his parents to a life guided by big love? Scott Stabile evolved from putting his grief aside and going on with life to honoring and respecting, even inviting, ...
Oct. 4, 2017
Prison Terminal
As the United States increases its levels of incarceration and the length of sentences, more and more inmates are aging and dying in prison. How are they to be supported at the end of life? At Iowa State Penitentiary, the med...
Sept. 27, 2017
Survivor Cafe
What is the legacy of trauma to future generations? Recent epigenetics research reveals that even the DNA of children, grandchildren and beyond are affected by severe trauma in generations before them. And so, the killings of...
Sept. 20, 2017
Living With Dying
Jahnna Beecham and Katie Ortlip were friends and neighbors who sometimes had interesting conversations about Katie's work in hospice. She'd sometimes come home talking about a good death she'd experienced that day. The conver...
Sept. 13, 2017
Expect the Unexpected
When Bill Philipps was fourteen, he watched his mother die after a life without peace. A few days later, he experienced the first manifestations of his unusual gift when she came to him to tell him what it was like now that s...