Ricki Lake and Alua Arthur Talk About Death, Life, Grief and Joy
Pop culture icon, filmmaker and author Ricki Lake opens up to death doula Alua Arthur about the death by suicide of her husband and the journey she’s been on since to understand, honor and integrate her grief. Together they share how grief can be alchemized when you allow yourself to go where you need to […]
Stacy London On Grief, Aging, Life & Menopause
Best known as the host of What Not to Wear, style icon, author and entrepreneur Stacy London opens up about how a whirlwind of grief, illness, and menopause taught her that we’re never just dealing with one thing at a time. In her fiercely original way, Stacy shares with End Well’s founder and Host of […]
Support for Veterans at End of Life
Veteran, death doula and storyteller Qwynn Galloway-Salazar, PhD, MA, knows firsthand how important it is for Veterans to be able to share their truth, particularly at the end of life. Yet, the civilian/military divide often leaves them unsupported when they most need to be seen and honored. Qwynn is determined to bring specialized end-of-life care […]
Supporting Grieving Kids: Advice from a 16-Year-Old
After her father’s death at the age of five, Kennedy Murphy learned all too well that grieving children are not just small adults. Kids need an extra layer of support in their formative years to help navigate the many milestones that can bring up new layers of grief. Now sixteen, Kennedy shares how attending Experience […]
Faith In The Face Of Suffering, Chaplain J.S. Park
Chaplain J.S. Park speaking at End Well 2024 about faith and suffering.
57 Fridays: Child Loss, Grief & Living with Dying
How do you accompany a child through illness and dying? When Myra Sack and Matt Goldstein, MD, PHD, learned that their young daughter Havi had a year left to live, they chose to celebrate her with a “Shabbirthday” every Friday night with family and friends. Fifty-seven Fridays later they were able to say goodbye knowing […]
7 Things To Do When Grieving, Lisa Keefauver
How do we tip the scale from numbness to aliveness? Grief activist, podcast host, author, widow and cancer survivor Lisa Keefauver, MSW, shares how she’s built the musculature it takes to put herself in the way of wonder and why new research into the importance of awe is confirming what her body has been telling […]
Tembi Locke on Life After Grief
As actor, author and producer, Tembi Locke stepped onto the set of From Scratch, a Netflix TV adaptation of her bestselling memoir about losing her husband, she knew her story was already changing. While she suspected that this process would reawaken her grief, she did not expect that it would also teach her about the […]
Sah D’Simone
Sah D’Simone is a spiritual revolutionary, artist, and the internationally bestselling author of Spiritually, We and Spiritually Sassy and and host of the podcast Solving the Riddle of Being Human. Sah D’Simone will be at End Well 2024 on November 22, 2024. Join live or virtually! EW: Death is often considered taboo. Was there a defining moment in […]
Grief’s A Bitch: Lisa Keefauver
Lisa Keefauver, MSW is a grief activist, therapist, educator, podcast host, and author of Grief is a Sneaky Bitch: An Uncensored Guide to Navigating Loss. Lisa’s wisdom and understanding of grief is also embodied from her personal losses including the death of her husband Eric from Brain Cancer in 2011 and her own diagnosis of […]
Ritual and Movement: Myra Sack
Myra Sack’s life changed when her older daughter, Havi, was diagnosed with a fatal neurodegenerative disease in December 2019. She chronicled Havi and her family’s journey in her book, Fifty-Seven Fridays: Losing Our Daughter Finding Our Way, and also founded E-Motion, Inc. a nonprofit organization created to support community, movement and ritual to enhance coping […]
A Young Person’s Experience With Grief: Kennedy Murphy
Kennedy Murphy began attending Experience Camps, a national, no-cost program for grieving children who have experienced the death of a parent, sibling or primary caregiver, at the age of 7 and is now dedicated to helping others navigate their own loss. “I hope people in all different professions acknowledge that no matter how young you […]
How the healthcare system can make grief harder | Claire Bidwell Smith
Claire Bidwell Smith, a grief therapist, shares insights into how empathy, effective communication & kindness can make the journey of loss more bearable.
How healthy grieving can help through the arc of loss | Laurel Braitman
Laurel Braitman, NYT bestselling author, shares how engaging with her grieving younger self allowed her to love big in the face of loss.
Amanda Kloots: Raising a child after loss
Amanda Kloots, Co-host of CBS’s “The Talk” shares with Yvette Nicole Brown about the devastating loss of her husband, Nick Cordero, and raising their son as she grapples with enduring grief.
What losing a child taught a mom about death stories | J.J. Duncan
Bereaved mother and producer, J.J. Duncan, wants our culture to “grow up” about death. The showrunner for “The Gentle Art of Swedish Death Cleaning,” knows that the stories the media presents are powerful agents for change.
How music and art transformed grieving in Belgium | Pieter Deknudt
Musician and movement builder Pieter Deknudt shares how what began as a solitary concert in a neighborhood cemetery has given rise to a vibrant cultural transformation around loss and grief in Belgium.
Supporting People Of Color Through Grief: Community Member – Alica Forneret
Alica Forneret is the Founder and Executive Director of PAUSE, a nonprofit focused on supporting Communities of Color through grief and end of life. Alica and PAUSE will be hosting a BIPOC meetup during lunchtime at End Well 2023 on November 16th in Los Angeles. Tell us a bit about yourself. My name is Alica Forneret […]
In A Time of Collective Grief, How To Cope With World Tragedy
We are absolutely devastated and gutted by the horrific acts of terror and violence happening in Israel. As an organization focused on helping people navigate grief and loss, we reached out to our friend and grief expert Claire Bidwell Smith to share some things we can do to help process our feelings and take care […]
The Mourning Revolution: Reframing Grief with Music and Connection
Pieter Deknudt is a Belgian singer-songwriter who transformed personal loss into a movement. He is at the forefront of Belgium’s ‘Mourning Revolution’. We had the pleasure of asking Piete a few questions in advance of his appearance at the End Well Symposium on November 16th in Los Angeles. “In good times, humans have a great talent […]
An Interview with Chaplain Devin Moss – Updated
Devin Sean Moss is an atheist chaplain and the host of The Adventures of Memento Mori podcast. Soon after our symposium, Phillip Hancock, who Moss spoke about on our stage, was executed by the state of Oklahoma. See Moss’s End Well talk about this experience HERE. You can also read more about the journey in […]
Bridging the Divide: An Interview with Pediatric Nurse Hui-wen Sato
In this intimate conversation, our guest, a seasoned pediatric ICU nurse, delves deep into the juxtaposition of her unique professional backdrop with the broader end-of-life conversation. Hear more from Hui-wen Sato at the End Well Symposium on November 16th in Los Angeles. “I think the most significant societal belief about death and dying that needs to […]
The Art Of Beginning Again: An Interview with Tembi Locke
Tembi Locke has spent a decade as an advocate for greater grief awareness and the issues facing caregivers. Now, after having written and adapted her memoir From Scratch for screen, she also speaks about the art of beginning again, rebuilding, and reimagining after loss. We had the joy of learning more about Tembi in advance […]
Leaning Into Grief: An Interview With Claire Bidwell Smith
“Healing from loss means making our lives worth the pain we endure when we lose someone we love. And that transforming through grief is an opportunity afforded to all.” Claire Bidwell Smith is a renowned therapist, grief expert, and author. After losing both of her parents at a young age, Claire was drawn to helping […]
Finding Comfort in Grief Through AI: A Gentle Guide
While many might imagine AI’s role in end-of-life scenarios to be the stuff of sci-fi, reality paints a different, more heartfelt picture. More individuals are now turning to AI chatbots for support in saying their final goodbyes and expressing their grief. Imagine tools like ChatGPT as digital confidants. They’re sparking important discussions about their potential […]
Psychedelic Therapy After The Loss Of A Child
As a palliative care physician, Chris Adrian, MD has witnessed the experience of many bereaved parents who are able to find healing from their grief. However, he’s also seen parents who feel trapped in their pain and unreachable through standard modalities of care. Determined that these parents not be left behind, Chris challenges us to […]
A Musical Tribute To Everyone We’ve Lost During The Pandemic
Legendary saxophonist Mike Phillips is joined by over a dozen incredible musicians for a New Orleans-style second line tribute to the lives we’ve lost this year and the love we hope to take forward from these difficult times.
Writing An Obituary That Celebrates Your Life
For most of us, an obituary is the last public record of our life, yet we rely on others to write it. Author and reluctant grief expert Nora McInerny thinks this is just plain weird. She shares why she and her first husband, Aaron, co-wrote his obituary and how being a bit loose with the […]
Andy Cohen wants to help men grieve | End Well
Andy Cohen’s COVID-19 recovery inspired him to change how men grieve. He suggests a person’s story is not just about how they pass away—it’s about how they lived.
A Transgender Pastor On A Hero’s Journey
There was no ceremony to say goodbye to the man transgender activist Paula Stone Williams was before she transitioned. Despite being a pastor by training, Paula was unprepared for the despair this death before death triggered for her and those she loved. Combining tremendous honesty and expansive spirituality, Paula offers comfort at a time when […]
Maria Shriver Talks About Grief And Loss
Coming from a place of profound personal loss, Maria Shriver speaks with therapist and grief expert Claire Bidwell Smith about the complexities of grief—whether for a person, animal or the life you thought you were going to have—and how it can be met through kindness, compassion and grace.
A young person’s perspective on grief & loss | End Well
Rylie Kearns, who recently lost her father, shares her experience of learning what she believes is the most important truth of all—you’re not alone.
Why Meghan McCain Wants To Destigmatize Grieving
When her father Senator John McCain died, The View co-host and columnist Meghan McCain plunged into tremendous loss and grief. Through this experience, Meghan now fights to challenge taboos and destigmatize conversations about grief and death. She talks with physician and advocate Lucy Kalanithi, MD.
How To Launch A Movement To Bring Empathy Into Healthcare
Cambia Health Foundation President Peggy Maguire believes in strategic philanthropy as a powerful catalyst for transforming the end of life experience and elevating the role of caregivers. Courtney Martin has a parallel career giving voice to emerging ideas and individuals as a means of generating solutions. Together, they share their vision for for a future […]
How Talking About Grief Can Unite Us
Rebecca Soffer and her partner founded Modern Loss so they and others could share the full and candid experience of grieving. What she learned in the process is that speaking about grief is a universal experience that can unite people no matter their backgrounds or beliefs.
Death Ed: Teens Are More Interested Than You Think
Palliative care physicians Dawn Gross and Jessica Zitter share their inspiration for creating Death Ed, a course about dying for teens.