ALS is a heartbreaking disease. Just ask my guest Rachael King. Her husband, health care activist Ady Barkan, recently died from complications of ALS at age 39. They have two young children. Despite all that ALS took from Rachael and her family, they navigated the constant change and setbacks and found a way to live and be together for the six years that Ady lived with ALS. Rachael’s grief is still really fresh, yet she’s telling her story to carry on Ady’s legacy. She hopes to help other caregivers who are feeling overwhelmed and facing the impossible.You can learn more about Rachael’s work and her forthcoming book at: https://rachaelsking.com/

This episode is all about how to talk to kids about death. Experts Elena Lister and Michael Schwartzman both have decades of experience working with kids and families, in schools and private practice, to navigate conversations about death, dying and illness. Their book, “Giving Hope: Conversations with Children About Illness, Death, and Loss,” is both a practical how-to guide filled with tangible advice and a north star for open, honest conversations with kids about hard topics. This episode is not just for parents, it’s for anyone with kids in their life – from neighbors to coaches and teachers, aunts and uncles, etc. If you've ever been with a kid in your life and just know there's something big you want to say, and don't know how to say it, this episode is for you.You can find their book and more about their work at: https://michaelschwartzmanphd.com/https://www.elenalistermd.com/

Leslie Gray Streeter tells it like it is. Her husband, Scott, suddenly died one night when he was just 44 years old. Leslie chronicles that heartbreaking experience and the depths of her grief in her book, “Black Widow: A Sad, Funny Journey Through Grief for People Who Normally Avoid Books with Words Like ‘Journey’ in the Title.” We discuss why humor is so essential for navigating grief, how you can’t take anything too seriously, what NOT to say to a grieving person and how she found catharsis in Keanu Reeves movies.You can find Leslie’s book and more about her work at https://lesliegraystreeter.com/

Sunita Puri is a palliative care doctor who chronicles her journey through medical school, fellowship and finding her specialty in her book, “That Good Night: Life and Medicine in the Eleventh Hour.” Sunita has an accomplished medical career and she’s also a brilliant writer. We talk about how her love of poetry and language directly serves her as a palliative care doctor, whose job it is to have hard, direct conversations with people at the end of their lives. If you or a loved one are navigating the medical system, this episode is for you. Her book is a must read if you’re considering medical school – Sunita’s candor and nuance about the grind of becoming a doctor and the opportunity to help people is refreshingly honest. You can find Sunita’s book and other work at https://sunitapuri.com/

This week, we’re re-releasing one of our earliest episodes, and still one of my favorite conversations. Author and activist Valarie Kaur shares personal stories from her work as an activist, which led her to write her book, “See No Stranger: A Memoir and Manifesto of Revolutionary Love.” Valarie’s message really resonated with me because she approaches strangers as if a part of them is a part of you that you don’t know yet. Her openness to conversations with strangers is deeply needed right now. We all need to promote love and understanding. She also shares the beautiful, tangible actions she uses for herself and her family to embrace mortality.You can find Valarie’s book and more about her work at https://valariekaur.com/

Michael Wiegers is the Editor-in-Chief at Copper Canyon Press, an independent nonprofit press that publishes award-winning poetry. Under his leadership over the past 30 plus years, CCP has published over 400 titles, including winners of the Pulizer and Nobel Prizes and the National Book Award. In this episode, Michael gives us a masterclass in poetry. If you’ve ever felt that poetry is unattainable, Michael will convince you otherwise. You’ll walk away with a reading list and his answer for why poets are always writing about death.You can learn more about Michael’s work and Copper Canyon Press at: https://www.coppercanyonpress.org/authors/michael-wiegers/

In her memoir, Poor Your Soul, Mira Ptacin explores the grief associated with losing a baby which is often hidden behind closed doors. Instead, she cracks it open and shares all the heartbreaking details of her grief. Just like our conversation, her book moves fluidly through time and shares another profound loss that shaped her family’s life. The particularly tender way her family grieved openly and continued living is profound. If you’re grieving, her honesty about how consuming grief can be is really validating. We also look at how grief and the stories we tell evolve over time, how Mira uses ritual in her own life, and even discuss her next book about the long-standing Spiritualist community in Maine and their take on the afterlife. You can find more of Mira’s recent writing and her two books at https://www.miramptacin.com/

Don Rosenstein and Justin Yopp are both psychiatrists at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. They started a support group for widowed fathers of young kids, whose partners died from cancer. The group was supposed to meet for six sessions, but ended up meeting regularly for nearly four years. Their book, “The Group: Seven Widowed Fathers Reimagine Life,” details the participants’ experiences and the role the support group played in grieving and healing. In this interview, Don and Justin reflect on the men’s unimaginable loss, recount key conversations they had together, and share what helped the men each find a path forward. The group found solace in their very specific shared experience as widowed fathers, but the insights about grief in this interview are relevant to a much wider audience.https://widowedparent.org/

Katy Butler is a journalist and author of two books, who spent years listening to hundreds of people’s stories of good and difficult deaths. She’s talked to countless experts in palliative care, geriatrics, hospice and oncology. Her conversations and research, paired with her own family’s story of being unable to turn off her father’s pacemaker at the end of his life, come together in her deeply practical and existential book, The Art of Dying Well: A Practical Guide to a Good End of Life. In this episode, Katy shares what she learned from each of her parents’ deaths, what she wants at the end of her life, what the research says most people want in their final chapters, and some specific and tangible advice for how to get there.

Lynne Twist is a globally recognized philanthropist and author of two books, including “The Soul of Money: Transforming Your Relationship with Money and Life.” Death and money are two of the most difficult subjects to talk about with our loved ones. With Lynne's years of experience working with people of many different cultures, she shares a deep understanding of the role money plays in our lives. Lynne talks about money as a tool for peace in alignment with our values, and what to do with it when we die. There’s no right, one-size-fits-all answer, but we provide a roadmap of some of the questions we should ask ourselves, the decisions that must be made, and how to get started.