Coffin Talk

Annalouiza Armendariz has a deep understanding of grief and mourning that enriches her ability to provide compassionate and culturally respectful guidance through the challenges of loss and transition. Her diverse expertise encompasses herbalism, traditional healing practices from Mexico and Central America, Reiki, and spiritual coaching. Fluent in both Spanish and English, she also serves as an A...

The Reverend Wakil David Matthews has worked many years in hospice as a chaplain, and in funeral services and end-of-life planning and companionship. He offers classes on end-of-life, grief counseling, and interfaith (or no faith!) spiritual direction. For more please visit endoflifeconvos.substack.com . Please rate us on Apple and/or Spotify and subscribe to our YouTube channel This is a public e...

Patrick Granfield is a writer, policy professional, and editor who served at high levels of the Obama Administration, as a speechwriter to Mayor Rahm Emanuel, and prior to politics, as a journalist in the Middle East. He also taught high school. He has written for The Atlantic , The Washington Post , and The Bulwark , among others, and lives with his wife and two kids in Virginia. He is also a Mik...

Russell Van Brocklen is a New York State Senate-funded dyslexia researcher with severe dyslexia. His articulation-first writing program moved students from a middle-school writing level to graduate level on the GRE Analytical Writing Assessment — a 7–8 grade-level leap in one school year. He was told he’d never read at grade level, but he reads at graduate level, and he’s helping others do the sam...

Ryan Glass is a social worker currently working as a Qualified Mental Health Provider serving special education students in a public elementary school. Drawing from his lived experience as a survivor of adverse childhood experiences, he views students through a trauma-informed lens to try and bring empathy and authenticity to his work. Integrating mindfulness, music/video production, humor, and ec...

Levi Ulmer just completed dental school in Arizona, and now lives with his wife and dog in Texas, where he is furthering his specialization in endodontics. In his free time he enjoys the outdoors, games (board, tabletop, video, etc.) and story-telling. Please rate us on Apple and/or Spotify and subscribe to our YouTube channel This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subs...

Nicole Schmidt is the author of the memoir With Love, Nicole , a deeply personal account of caregiving, anticipatory grief, and life after the loss of her husband. Through her writing and her grief resource center, Heartfelt Haven , she explores the emotional and spiritual complexities of loving someone through terminal illness. Nicole writes with raw honesty about grief, identity, and the ways lo...

After a US Army tour in Vietnam, George Montgomery completed a BBA degree and then went on to achieve an MBA. He then spent 40 years as a business and tax consultant, fifteen of which was done while living and traveling full time in a motorhome. He has now retired and writes novels and short stories. Please rate us on Apple and/or Spotify and subscribe to our YouTube channel This is a public episo...

S. P. “Sherma” Venkata , is desperately trying to become Indian again, but he has instead stumbled into being a cowboy but he hopes he will somehow synthesize the two. He is a very social person, but doesn’t believe in social media or any other popular media like TV, radio, or newspapers. Check out his novels on Amazon . Please rate us on Apple and/or Spotify and subscribe to our YouTube channel T...

Crystal Cunningham is a retired humanitarian surgeon who has been published in physics, chemistry, and surgery texts, and she is now fulfilling her dream of writing poetry. Please follow her on Substack at https://substack.com/@crystalmdwrites Please rate us on Apple and/or Spotify and subscribe to our YouTube channel This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers o...

Matt Kolsky has been plying his trade (speaking extemporaneously into a mic about frivolous things) for over 20 years—on Bay Area sports radio, via podcasts and in the kitchen to his long-suffering wife, who tolerates it as long as he has dinner on the table when she gets home from her real job. He has two kids (quality TBD) and a beautiful, loving, good-girl (dog) Luna. Check out his podcast: The...

Rand R. Timmerman served 5 years as a United States Marine, including a tour with 1st Marines in Vietnam. He then acquired law degree and practiced law until retiring in 2012. He has since written numerous short stories and books, including A Spiritual Passage , which chronicles his hiking of the Appalachian Trail with his brother Ron when they were in their seventies! He is also a recovering alco...

Diana Colleen is a psychedelic facilitator and writer exploring consciousness, healing, and social change. Transformed through psychedelic therapy, she writes from lived experience, challenging power and imagining what humanity could become if compassion led the way. For more, click here to visit her site and buy her book ! Please rate us on Apple and/or Spotify and subscribe to our YouTube channe...

Gary Scott Thomas has been doing a morning radio show in San Jose on KRTY since 1991 and also currently hosts the podcast Gary Scott Thomas with Here’s What We Know . But his main focus is his wife and two teenage sons. For more, CLICK HERE ! Please rate us on Apple and/or Spotify and subscribe to our YouTube channel This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or...

Daniel Bookman was born and raised in Scotland until he was 12, when he was sent Manchester, England for religious education. After graduation, he studied Yeshiva in Israel. Then, after a brief sojourn in the UK to study law, he returned to Israel and still lives there with his wife and 7 kids. His chief interests are based on years of study of the ancient texts, which have led to a passion for un...

Paul Gambino is an internationally published author whose books explore society’s enduring fascination with mortality and the macabre. A prolific writer, he is best known as the author of Morbid Curiosities , Skulls , Killer Collections , The Art of Gothic Living , and Beyond the Veil . And be sure to check out his amazing Substack blog ! Please rate us on Apple and/or Spotify and subscribe to our...

Catia Batalha is a psychotherapist, Yoga philosophy/psychology teacher, author, and mystic devoted to guiding souls on their journey of awakening, healing, and self-discovery. Moved by a deep reverence for the hidden wisdom that flows through all traditions, she has spent much of her life immersed in the holistic philosophies of the East and the psychological sciences of the West. Oh, and she’s al...

David Darwin is a circus/sideshow entertainer who uses sword swallowing, fire eating, juggling and comedy to entertain audiences all over the country. For over two decades he has brought his one-man-show to colleges, fairs, casinos and resorts. For more, please check out daviddarwin.com . Please rate us on Apple and/or Spotify and subscribe to our YouTube… This is a public episode. If you'd like t...

Andre Reyes, MD, is an acute care hospital physician with over a decade of experience caring for older adults, patients with chronic illness, and those at the end of life. His work at the bedside has shaped his understanding of what a good death can look like, and how conversations about mortality can illuminate how we choose to live. Feel free to connect with him on LinkedIn ! Please rate us on A...

Melanie Smithson is a Licensed Somatic Psychotherapist, Business Owner, Certified Spiritual Integration Hypnotherapist, and the award-winning author with a new book, Shake Yourself Free . For thirty years, Melanie has been sharing the wisdom of the body and the power of movement with her therapy clients and group participants and she is dedicated to broadening access to somatic practices to allevi...

Michael Hawley is a death doula who offers a circle of care approach to help people facing the end of life. His unique path to death work was shaped by a successful career in department store leadership and the beauty industry, where he cultivated sharp skills in leadership, team development, and customer care. He offers a distinct perspective, as he views death as a natural and inevitable part of...

Laura Roser is the leading expert in meaning legacy planning and author of the Amazon #1 bestseller Your Meaning Legacy: How to Cultivate & Pass On Non-Financial Assets . She is also the Founder and CEO of Paragon Road, a company that specializes in passing on non-financial assets. An industry leader, she has interviewed top CEOs, high-net-worth individuals, spiritual leaders, philosophers, financ...

Akil Vicks is a freelance writer who’s written for Jacobin Magazine and In These Times. He runs a successful Substack called OnOne where he covers matters of identity and political economy from a leftist perspective. He can be reached on Substack & Facebook @Akil Vicks & IG @Kizzyrocknrolla . Please rate us on Apple and/or Spotify and subscribe to our YouTube channel This is a public episode. If y...

Gabriella Hernandez is a long time horror fanatic and a writer of all things creepy. From an early age, she’s been fascinated by the occult, paranormal, and outright ghastly, and this has continued to fester and rot with wonder as the years go by. This explains why she spends her evenings coming up with new ways to haunt readers. For more, please check out her site at mossy-frog.com Please rate us...

Kristina Voegele is a professional writer and novelist with an MFA in Creative Writing who spent over a decade writing for global brands before penning her debut novel, Annie in Retrospect . Whether through her fiction or essays on personal growth and creativity, her work empowers people to reconnect with the parts of themselves they’ve set aside. She lives on the coast in the San Francisco Bay Ar...