Send us a text In this episode, I’m joined by Aaron Pyne, a meditation teacher, digital artist, and the creator of Inner Realms Journey . This imaginative and mythically inspired guided meditation experience helps people of all ages explore their inner world. Aaron blends ancient traditions, storytelling, and spiritual tools to support people in navigating life, death, and everything in between. Aaron shares how his early fascination with mythology led him into meditation and spirituality, and h...
Aug 10, 2025•43 min•Ep. 123
Send us a text Elizabeth Wood, a sociologist who studied gender and sexuality, found her focus shifting when her mother was diagnosed with kidney cancer in 2009 and later terminal cancer in 2012. Watching her mother’s final months opened her eyes to the ways our healthcare system avoids death and how families often do the same. This deeply personal experience led Elizabeth to explore death work from a more practical and emotional place, beyond academic research. Her mother’s story was unique. Af...
Aug 03, 2025•46 min•Ep. 122
Send us a text Ed Bixby shares his journey from real estate developer to national leader in the green burial movement. After inheriting Steelmantown Cemetery, a family burial ground in New Jersey dating back to the 1700s, Ed shifted his focus toward more natural and sustainable ways of honoring death. His love for the land, history, and simple living helped shape a new approach to dying, one that respects nature, supports families, and celebrates each person’s legacy. In this episode, Ed explain...
Jul 27, 2025•48 min•Ep. 121
Send us a text Meghan J. Maher, a death doula based in Central Florida, shares how the loss of her mother led her to this meaningful work. After experiencing grief firsthand, Megan began volunteering with a local hospice and discovered what end-of-life doulas do. The connection was instant she knew this path was right for her. Now, she helps families navigate the dying process with emotional, spiritual, and practical support. Megan reflects on how our society often avoids talking about death. Mo...
Jul 13, 2025•42 min•Ep. 120
Send us a text What if dying could be more peaceful, intentional, and healing for both the living and the dying? In this powerful conversation, healer and death priestess Cristabeth Ingold shares how her soul’s calling guides her to support individuals and families through death, grief, and spiritual healing. Her work spans the physical and energetic realms, blending bodywork, astrology, ancestral healing, and soul-guided practices to help people face the end of life with clarity and peace. Chri...
Jul 06, 2025•45 min•Ep. 119
Send us a text In this moving conversation, Deborah Charman and Brian Wardale share their powerful personal journeys through grief, caregiving, and healing, and how those experiences inspired their work in suicide prevention and emotional education. Both survivors of deep loss and personal struggles, they now use their stories to help young people navigate grief, end-of-life challenges, and the difficult emotions that can come with living and dying. Brian, after his father’s stroke, stepped up t...
Jun 29, 2025•42 min•Ep. 118
Send us a text In this heartfelt episode, Daryl McCullough shares how childhood grief led him to create a story that now helps others navigate death, loss, and healing. What started as a middle school writing assignment after the death of his cousin became a lifelong journey of finding meaning in grief and honoring loved ones through storytelling. His children’s book, The Story of Tree and Cloud , began as a crayon-illustrated parable about connection and the enduring nature of spirit, written i...
Jun 22, 2025•41 min•Ep. 117
Send us a text For over 25 years, Caroline has walked beside the dying and their families, offering support, stories, and sacred presence. Her work as a death doula and funeral celebrant has brought her into homes, long-term care facilities, and sacred circles, where she’s helped others navigate grief and end-of-life transitions with honesty, humanity, and compassion. Caroline’s journey began as a volunteer, eventually leading her into long-term care where she found her calling—sitting with peop...
Jun 15, 2025•43 min•Ep. 116
Send us a text When we think about end-of-life, we rarely think about archivists, but maybe we should. Emily Cabaniss, a Seattle-based archivist, shares how her work preserving the personal records of the deceased offers profound insight into grief, legacy, and dying. Her reflections reveal how archivists often act as invisible companions to the dead, holding space for stories left behind. As an archivist in the Pacific Northwest, Emily works with unique historical records, from personal letters...
Jun 08, 2025•44 min•Ep. 115
Send us a text Dr. Marc Cooper is the founder of The Contemporary Elder Institute and author of the book Older to Elder: The Thinking and Being of a Contemporary Elder In this episode, he shares how embracing growing older can lead to wisdom, freedom, and profound healing. In this powerful conversation, he explains the difference between simply aging and stepping into elderhood, a role that brings meaning, spiritual growth, and legacy. At nearly 80 years old, Dr. Cooper calls himself an “Elder f...
Jun 01, 2025•41 min•Ep. 114
Send us a text This episode shares the powerful story of Diane Cordell, a woman whose entire life has been shaped by the presence of death, and her commitment to helping others understand and cope with it. From growing up in a family where death was never a taboo topic to serving in the Air Force and later becoming a trailblazing detective sergeant in the Camden County Prosecutor’s Office, Diane’s journey is deeply connected to grief, trauma, and healing. Diane was introduced to death early in l...
May 25, 2025•48 min•Ep. 113
Send us a text Matt Jacobson shares the story of how losing his father changed the course of his life and inspired a deeper connection to legacy, grief, and purpose. This episode is a heartfelt reflection on fatherhood, the impact of grief, and how honoring a loved one can lead to unexpected healing and direction. Matt grew up in Temecula, California, and was studying finance at San Diego State when he received the devastating call that his father had died. He left his plans behind and returned ...
May 18, 2025•46 min•Ep. 112
Send us a text In this episode, Jill talks with her real-life friend Morgan Everitt, a death doula based in Bucks County, PA. Morgan shares how her journey began after her mom got sick in 2015. She came home to care for her, and after her mom passed in 2016, she had a powerful moment in 2017 when she overheard someone mention the word "death doula." It felt like a lightning bolt—she knew that was her calling. She started training in 2018 and has been slowly building her private practice, Heron’s...
May 11, 2025•47 min•Ep. 111
Send us a text Tony Stewart joined the podcast to share his powerful story about love, loss, and healing after the death of his wife, Lynn. In his new book, Carrying the Tiger: Living with Cancer, Dying with Grace, Finding Joy While Grieving , Tony tells the story of Lynn’s sudden cancer diagnosis, their emotional journey through treatment, and the deep lessons they learned about life, love, and letting go. After Lynn’s death, Tony faced overwhelming grief, but over time, he found a way to live ...
May 04, 2025•45 min•Ep. 110
Send us a text Jen Riggs shared her powerful journey of finding her true calling, supporting seniors and especially those living with dementia. After spending years as a stay-at-home mom, she pursued a career in commercial baking, only to have a major back injury end that chapter. What felt like a loss at the time became a turning point. Her cousin, a nurse at an assisted living facility, encouraged her to apply for a front desk position—and that’s where everything changed. Jen immediately fell ...
Apr 27, 2025•50 min•Ep. 109
Send us a text In this episode, I talk with Lowrey Brown and Brian Ruder from the Final Exit Network, a nonprofit organization that supports people who want more control over their end-of-life choices. Lowrey, the Exit Guide Program Director, grew up in a family where open conversations about death and the importance of quality of life were normal. She signed her first advance directive at 16 and has spent her life exploring how people can shape their own dying process, especially after seeing l...
Apr 20, 2025•45 min•Ep. 108
Send us a text Rosalia Quintana, a nurse practitioner, has built a career in healthcare while also running a private practice focused on breathwork, psychedelic integration, and trauma transformation. In this conversation, she opens up about her struggles, including reaching the peak of her career in 2018, only to feel an overwhelming sense of emptiness and depression. Despite having everything she thought she wanted, she found herself questioning the purpose of life. She candidly discusses expe...
Apr 13, 2025•44 min•Ep. 107
Send us a text Chris Mamone is an acceptance coach who helps people heal from grief, loss, and trauma so they can find self-acceptance and step into their power. His journey began with profound personal losses that reshaped his life and perspective. In 2020, he experienced the death of his grandfather, and just two years later, after struggling with infertility for 12 years, he and his wife were thrilled to be expecting their first child. Tragically, their son was stillborn just one day before h...
Mar 30, 2025•44 min•Ep. 106
Send us a text Jessica Fein shares her deeply personal journey of loss, grief, and resilience. Having lost two sisters, three parents, and most recently, her teenage daughter Dahlia—who passed away one week after her 17th birthday—Jessica's life has been profoundly shaped by death. Her memoir, which explores Dahlia’s life and the journey of moving forward together, has become a key part of her work in writing about grief. Society widely acknowledges the devastation of losing a child, but the gri...
Mar 23, 2025•36 min•Ep. 105
Send us a text Katina Jones, known as the Purple Priestess, is a reverend with a deep love for the color purple, which she sees as a symbol of spirituality and healing. Everything changed after her mother passed away from ovarian cancer in 1988. At just 22, she had no guidebook on how to navigate such a loss. This left her searching for meaning and understanding. To reconnect with her mother, she wrote a letter expressing her fear of not knowing where she had gone. That night, she had a vivid vi...
Mar 16, 2025•40 min•Ep. 104
Send us a text In this episode, I welcome back Hospice Chaplain Hank Dunn. We dive into a crucial yet often misunderstood topic—artificial hydration, nutrition, and voluntary stopping of eating and drinking (VSED) at the end of life. We explore how feeding tubes work, when they are beneficial, and when they may prolong suffering. Hank shares stories of patients who regained the ability to eat, those who lived independently with feeding tubes, and others in vegetative states where continued artif...
Mar 09, 2025•40 min•Ep. 103
Send us a text Sandra Doyle, author of My Life at the Cemetery: It's Not as Dead as You Think , shares fascinating and unexpected stories from her years working in a cemetery. Her book features 88 captivating tales, ranging from heartwarming to shocking, each offering a glimpse into the lives and emotions of those left behind. Whether readers laugh, cry, or shake their heads in disbelief, every story provides a unique perspective on life, death, and everything in between. While revisiting old no...
Mar 02, 2025•39 min•Ep. 102
Send us a text In this episode, Annie Sklaver Orenstein shares her personal journey of grief after losing her brother, Ben, in Afghanistan 15 years ago. After his death, Annie found little support for siblings, so she wrote Always a Sibling: The Forgotten Mourner's Guide to Grief , a book addressing the unique pain of losing a sibling. She discusses how there were no resources that resonated with her—most grief books focus on parents, spouses, or children, not siblings. As she researched and int...
Feb 23, 2025•41 min•Ep. 101
Send us a text Tash Ritz joins the conversation from Sydney, where she reflects on her global journey, growing up in New Zealand after being born in South Africa. With over 14 years of experience working in social enterprises, she has helped founders build businesses focused on social impact and environmental sustainability. Most recently, she authored the book Souling , a deeply personal exploration of self-discovery and spiritual growth. She explains the concept of social enterprises in Austra...
Feb 16, 2025•44 min•Ep. 100
Send us a text In this episode, we are joined by Daniel and Patrick Lazour, the creators of Nightside Songs , and Taibi Magar, the director of its Philadelphia production. Nightside Songs is more than a musical—it’s an immersive and communal experience that explores caregiving, illness, death, and the end-of-life journey. Audiences actively participate by singing, transforming each performance into a shared ritual rather than a traditional stage production. The idea for Nightside Songs began in ...
Feb 09, 2025•36 min•Ep. 99
Send us a text In this episode, we explore memorial forests with Gillian Nye. Gillian shares her six years of experience helping families create meaningful, conservation-focused memorials through Better Place Forests. Better Place Forests offers a natural alternative to traditional cemeteries, allowing families to choose a memorial tree where ashes are placed beneath the soil. The process is guided by ecological principles, mixing ashes with forest soil to support decomposition while preserving ...
Feb 02, 2025•41 min•Ep. 98
Send us a text Brandon Zimmerman shares the fascinating history and challenges of Mount Vernon Cemetery, a hidden gem in North Philadelphia. Established in 1856, this 28-acre cemetery became a predominantly German burial ground, home to over 33,000 graves. Despite its historical significance, Mount Vernon has faced decades of neglect, transforming into an overgrown, derelict site. Today, the cemetery is an ecological marvel, with wildlife like deer, foxes, and native birds thriving amidst invasi...
Jan 26, 2025•44 min•Ep. 97
Send us a text Marie Miller, a medical medium and theta healing instructor based near Columbus, Ohio, shares her fascinating journey into the spiritual and healing realms. Her experiences began after a near-death experience as a child, which opened her perception to the spirit world. Growing up in a small town of 250 people, she often sensed when someone had passed away before others knew, a skill she credits to her natural connection with the unseen. Her childhood was enriched by the presence o...
Jan 19, 2025•39 min•Ep. 96
Send us a text Penny Smith, widely known as Hospice Nurse Penny on TikTok, brings over 20 years of experience as a nationally certified hospice nurse and a unique perspective shaped by her late start in nursing at age 40. Now 62, Penny embraces the wisdom of aging, especially in her work with end-of-life care. During the pandemic, she found her voice on TikTok, where her heartfelt stories about hospice care resonated with millions. In this episode, Penny opens up about her journey with death anx...
Jan 12, 2025•44 min•Ep. 95
Send us a text This episode celebrates a significant milestone: two years of our podcast! Stephen and I reflect on the journey, exploring our growth, challenges, and the remarkable connections we’ve made along the way. A highlight of our conversation is our annual tradition of reviewing the past year, made even more special this time by recording in the same room, creating an intimate and dynamic exchange. I share my deep gratitude for the inspiring guests who’ve brought their expertise and pers...
Dec 22, 2024•40 min•Ep. 94
