When You Die

Since 1993, The Sharing Place in Salt Lake City has had a mission to “provide a safe and caring environment for grieving children, teens, and their families to share their feelings while healing themselves.” Program director Jill MacFarlane talks to us about the value of this process and how telling the truth is the most important thing you can do when helping kids deal with their grief

After experiencing the devastating loss of their one-year-old baby boy, James and Catie Morgan found comfort in surrounding themselves with other couples who have also gone through the loss of a child. As a way of helping others, James devised the Buddys app, which allows people to connect with those who have had similar experiences.

For most of us, our own funeral is an afterthought or, even worse, something we avoid thinking about altogether. For Kathy Benjamin, the very thought of her own impending death brought on crippling fear. So she decided the best way to remedy that was to deal with it the best way she knew how. By writing something funny.


Loaded with resources, and easy to use tools for end of life planning, Farewelling is a one-stop online shop that lets users create meaningful memorial websites and live-stream ceremonies. Today I am delighted to be talking with the co-founders. Karen Bussen who came to the project with a solid career as a successful celebrity event planner. And Elizabeth Meyer Karansky a funeral industry supersta...

Julie McFadden has been working as a hospice nurse for the past five years, and prior to that she worked in Intensive Care for close to a decade. Julie is passionate about educating people on what happens as we die. Her wonderful TikToc videos have made waves with over half a million followers, making her a viral sensation. She can be found on TikToc  @hospicenursejulie

Johanna Lunn speaks with Death Doula, Jill Schock, about what it means to be a death doula and death worker in the time of COVID-19.

Jill Chandler handled many roles in her life: performer, wife, mother. But when her husband Donald died, Jill became a young widow. She spoke with us about grief, loss, healing and the fact that life does go on.

Francesca has written a richly illustrated book for children that introduces the importance of memories of those we love who have died. Children are one of the most vital aspects of our society, and yet they are often the ones left out of important conversations, particularly about death. WYD speaks with Francesca about her new book. Find out more about Francesca Arnoldy and her new book here: htt...

The role of a funeral director is all-encompassing and ever-changing. But when you are part of a small community, you not only provide the services required, you also grieve with them. Andre Roupp talks about his life in the death business.

Michael Hebb and Johanna Lunn talk about Death over Dinner.

In conversation with Johanna Lunn, Barbara Karnes shares insights on self care best practices for frontline workers, and straight talk on end of life care. PROMO CODE FOR BARBARA'S BOOKLET: For every purchase of "NEW RULES for End of Life Care" a complementary copy of Barbara's grief booklet, "My Friend, I Care: The Grief Experience" will be added to the order. The code is FRIEND . Put both items...

Sheree Fitch is known for many things: an author of witty and wonderful children's books, an award-winning poet, a bookstore owner and a teller of stories. But in 2018 she became known as something else—a mother grieving the loss of her son.

Sheree Fitch is known for many things: an author of witty and wonderful children's books, an award-winning poet, a bookstore owner and a teller of stories. But in 2018 she became known as something else—a mother grieving the loss of her son.

Dale Jackson—a licensed embalmer and funeral director with 46 years of experience and counting—shares his story (SPOILER: and his own near-death experience at 13:13) and lessons learned from his time helping families through the loss of a loved one.

WYD Podcast in conversation with Death Doula Francesca Arnoldy, the author of  Cultivating the Doula Heart: Essentials of Compassionate Care. She is the course developer, facilitator, and program director of the University of Vermont Larner College of Medicine End-of-Life Doula Professional Certificate Program.  www.contemplativedoula.com

Deborah is one of the facilitators of the Halifax Nova Scotia Death Café , and leads Death Matters workshops in the area. She acts as an end of life concierge, assisting during the transition, and post-mortem experience. Deborah has a passion for bringing people together around difficult conversations, like death and dying.

Katrina Spade is popularizing the idea of 'Recomposition', a green burial method that converts human remains into soil. It's among the most promising eco-friendly options that may be available in the near future. She discusses this unorthodox alternative to cremation and how it's rise could change our approach to saying goodbye.

Mandy Benoualid and Jeremy Cohen from TalkDeath.com and qeepr.com recap the 2018 Boston Death Salon — America's premier #DeathPositive gathering and death conference.

As the 2018 Endwell Symposium: Design for the End of Life Experience approaches, we're revisiting last year's recap podcast from #Endwell 2017 with our favorite death doula.

Cambia Health Foundation President Peggy Maguire talks about the ins and outs of palliative care and what the rest of the healthcare system could learn from it.

Dr. Jessica Zitter, author of 'Extreme Measures' and star of the Netflix doc 'Extremis' on what she calls the 'End of Life Conveyor Belt' most Americans wind up on and how introducing Death Ed in schools could change a death-phobic culture in one generation.

Funeral Director Shawn LaValleur-Adame of DIY Dying discusses unorthodox burial methods like sending ashes to the moon, a volcano summit and the bottom of the ocean.

'Complicated Grief' with Charley Rosicky: Longtime hospice worker, grief counselor and meditation teacher, Charley Rosicky, discusses 'complicated grief' and shares stories of working with the dying and those left behind. ​

Gay Dillingham, producer/director of ‘Dying to Know’ the documentary that chronicles Tim Leary and Ram Das’s friendship in the final days of Leary’s life shares her own tale of pouring her own loss and grief into the award-winning film.

Death Doula LA Jill Schock and host Kelly MacLean recap the 2017 Seattle Death Salon and discuss themes from the world's leading #deathpositive conference.