Episodes

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 ...

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...

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...

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 ...

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...

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 ...

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...

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...

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...

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,...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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 ...

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, ...

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...

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...

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...

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...

Mindy Fried resolved to take the best possible care of her father as he neared the end of his life. That commitment was complicated by distance, a lifetime of relationship and the usual difficulties of care management, both h...

When Laura Lewis children were three and six, the love of her life, the father of her children, killed himself without warning. In the years that followed, she struggled to regain her balance, experiencing a destructive rebou...

After years of work in end of life care, Mary Matthiesen was blindsided by the death of her mother. She was also filled with inspiration resulting from the conversations they had and the choices her mother made about completi...

After the death of his mother, Ned Buskirk wondered why we don't talk about death more. As a producer and artist, he found a way to invite the conversation when he hosted a small event in his home, called You're Going to Die:...