Grief Out Loud

When  Christina Babich's  partner, Alex, died suddenly from a brain aneurysm while they were visiting his family in Italy, her world shattered in  more ways than one . In addition to the grief of losing the person she loved and the future they were building together, Christina was also left to navigate the aftermath of a deeply traumatic event  -  one that profoundly  impacted  her nervous system,...

In this episode of Grief Out Loud, we talk with Adell Coleman about her mother who was killed when Adell was just 24 years old. Adell reflects on the closeness of their relationship and how her mom's death radically shifted her sense of safety in the world. She shares how the circumstances around her mother's death, including being the person who found her, has made it difficult to remember  how  ...

What if grief  isn't  a journey for us to eventually finish, but more a language we become fluent in?  In this first episode of 2026, we talk with  writer ,  storyteller , and  social  entrepreneur , John   Onwuchekwa , whose life was profoundly shaped by the death of his brother Sam in 2015. John shares how Sam 's death  altered not just his relationships and priorities, but his understanding of...

In the fall of 2023, Mackenzie Galloway-Cole was living out her rom-com-worthy love story with her wife Megan in New York City. Then, on an ordinary night in November, Megan collapsed and died a few hours later from a sudden cardiac event. In the aftermath, Mackenzie had to find her way in this newly shattered world without Megan, her anchor and biggest cheerleader.  Mackenzie reflects on the shoc...

It's  our annual holiday episode, this time with Dougy Center Executive Director  and TEDx speaker   Brennan Wood . Brennan first  encountered   Dougy Center after her mom, Doris, died of breast cancer three days after Brennan's 12 th  birthday.  S he has since navigated  almost four decades of  holiday  season s  w ith grief along for the ride.  She shares about the early years that were awful; t...

When Kyndal Parks' grandfather   died on  Black Friday  -  the day after Thanksgiving  – she lost one of her biggest supporters and confidants.  While navigating her grief, Kyndal was also navigating life as a  college  st udent  where she often felt unseen in her grief by faculty and the wider institution. What began as a class assignment turned into a powerful audio piece about loss, legacy, and...

When Hilary was 18, her oldest sister, Kelly, died from a rare cancer called DSRCT (desmoplastic small round cell tumor). In the same year, Hilary left for college  and her parents divorced - three life-altering events that reshaped her relationships, sense of stability, and the early years of adulthood.   In this episode, we talk about: Growing up as the youngest of three sisters and the creative...

When Cassie arrived at Dougy Center for her first peer grief support group for young adults after her dad died, she sat in the parking lot wondering if she could even walk inside. When she did, she found people her age who understood what it meant to have a parent die - people who would end up shaping her life in ways she never imagined. In this episode, Cassie talks about how grief changed her, w...

When  you're  grieving,  "Take care of yourself , "  might be the last thing you want to hear. So w hat does self-care  actually  look like for a  parent or  caregiver who is grieving?  Rebecca Hobbs-Lawrence, MA, who coordinates the Pathways Program  at Dougy Center  for families facing an advanced serious illness , joins us to share practical tools for caregivers who are trying to balance taking...

When Leena Magdi's younger brother, Hamoodi, was killed, her world shifted entirely. In her debut book Mourning Air , Leena explores how grief reshapes identity, faith, and love. In this conversation, Leena shares what it meant and means to be Hamoodi's sister, how sibling grief is often dismissed, and how writing helps her navigate the grief. Leena also shares about her family's forced displaceme...

When someone you know dies suddenly, everything changes in an instant. The world you once knew can feel unfamiliar and unsafe, and finding your way back to even the smallest sense of stability can feel impossible.   In this episode, we talk with Dr. Jennifer Levin , therapist, educator, podcast host, and author of The Traumatic Loss Workbook: Powerful Skills for Navigating the Grief Caused by a Su...

When Tiriq Rashad , artist, poet, and performer, sits down to write , he's not just telling his own story - he's carrying his daughter, his brother, and his mother with him. In this conversation, Tiriq shares the layered ways grief has shaped who he is: from the death of his first child before she was born , to growing up caring for his brother who lived with cerebral palsy and autism, to the sudd...

When Tyler Feder was 19, her mom died of cancer, an experience she captured years later in her bestselling graphic memoir Dancing at the Pity Party . In the years since, Tyler has described herself as a "dead mom person" - reflecting just how much of her life was shaped by the death of her mother . But this past winter, Tyler's dad also died, adding a new aspect to her identity, this time as an ad...

In 1986, when Kristine S. Ervin was eight years old, her mother was abducted, sexually assaulted, and murdered in Oklahoma. Decades later, Kristine tells her story in Rabbit Heart - A Mother's Murder, A Daughter's Story , a memoir weaves together her fragmented childhood memories, growing up with grief, and then as an adult, reckoning with the painful details of her mother's death. The course of t...

When someone dies, the story is often one of sadness, longing, and loss. But what happens when the person who died was also someone who caused great harm ? For Kathy, who was sexually and emotionally abused by her father, his death when she was 11 brought more relief than grief. In this conversation, Kathy shares how her early experiences with grief and trauma shaped her path as a social worker an...

How do we move from seeing grief as something to fix or overcome, to understanding it as a lifelong companion and guide? In this conversation with Rev.  Dr. Jamie Eaddy CT, CTP - educator, death doula, founder of Thoughtful Transitions , and creative force behind The Ratchet Grief Project® - she invites us to reimagine grief as a friend who helps us navigate loss, change, and transition. Drawing f...

Welcome to a special "podcast takeover" episode. This week, Lindsey Whissel Fenton , creator of Speaking Grief and Learning Grief , steps in to interview Jana. Their conversation centers on Jana's beloved Boston Terrier, Captain, who died in December 2024 at the age of 15. Lindsey understands this heartache well, as her own sweet dog, Birch, died in May 2022. As a skilled interviewer and a thought...

When Susie and Nick Shaw's nine -year-old son William died in a skiing accident, their world shifted permanently. In the six years since that day, they've found ways to carry their grief and stay connected to William, while continuing to honor the boy who inspired so much good in their lives and in their community.   In this deeply moving conversation, Susie and Nick reflect on William's life—his...

Jess i e was 21. Molly was 11. Two days after their joint birthdays, their mom, Jill, was murdered by Molly's father. In the hours, days, and years that followed, there was little room for grief. Jess i e and Molly were expected to keep going — and they did. But that forward momentum came at a cost.   It's been nearly 20 years, and only recently have Jess i e and Molly begun to revisit what happen...

How do you keep your heart open to love after it's been broken apart by grief? Danielle LaRock was just 19 when her father died of a heart attack. In 2022, her partner Ian died suddenly. Then, in 2024, her beloved dog Blue died, and with Blue went many shared memories of time spent with Ian. The experience of loving and being loved by Ian opened up places in Danielle's heart that had closed down a...

Sometimes we can't really begin to understand grief - ours or anyone else's - if we don't have space to talk about the death. The context surrounding how someone died matters and can shape our grief in meaningful ways. This was true for  Kari Lyons-Price, MSW, who was a caregiver for her parents, Hal and Sylvia, for many years. They died three years apart, her dad in 2019 and her mom in 2022, and...

In this episode, Camila returns to Grief Out Loud six years after her first appearance to share how grief continues to evolve. What began with the sudden loss of her mother at age 21 has now expanded to include the ongoing grief of caregiving for her father, who is living with dementia and Alzheimer's disease.   Camila discusses  the unique challenges of long-distance caregiving, the differences b...

In this deeply personal episode, Mark Chesnut returns to Grief Out Loud to share his experience of losing his sister Glynn to ovarian cancer. Glynn chose medical aid in dying after nearly four years of treatment, giving Mark and his family the unusual experience of knowing when death would occur. This conversation explores the complexity of "scheduled death," the challenges of finding appropriate...

When someone dies, our relationship with them doesn't just disappear. Sometimes the relationship changes in ways we never expected, allowing us to feel closer to them than we did when they were alive. This can leave us learning to grieve not just for what we had, but for what never got the chance to have with them.  In this episode we talk with Never Faull about grieving for their father, who died...

Daria Burke is an author, executive, and healer-at-heart. She's also a grandchild grieving for her grandmother and a daughter estranged from her parents. In this episode, Daria shares the profound impact of losing her maternal grandmother at age seven and how that early loss reverberated through her life. This loss and grief exist alongside the immense healing she's done around growing up in pover...