End of Life Conversations: Normalizing Talk About Death, Dying, and Grief

Death touches us all, and yet our culture rarely makes space to talk about it openly. Why is it so hard to have honest conversations about death, dying, and loss with the people we love? What do we do with grief when it inevitably arrives?

End of Life Conversations is a podcast dedicated to normalizing these essential conversations. Hosts Reverent Mother Annalouiza Armendariz and Reverend Wakil David Matthews — both seasoned hospice chaplains and end-of-life companions — invite experts and everyday voices alike: funeral directors, death doulas, poets, researchers, grief counselors, and people who've walked right up to the edge of life and returned. Together, they explore what it means to prepare for death, sit with loss, and grieve in ways that are as individual as we are.

And weekly, we share a conversation with our friend Sam Zemke about something that is currently speaking to us.

Whether you're supporting a loved one through a terminal illness, searching for the right words to start a difficult conversation, or simply curious about what a more death-positive life might look like, this podcast meets you where you are. No question is too strange. No path looks the same.

Subscribe, reach out, and join the conversation. Because the time to talk about it is now.

endoflifeconvo@gmail.com | endoflifeconvos.substack.com

We want to thank our excellent editor, Sam Zemkee. We also acknowledge that we live and work on unceded indigenous peoples' lands. We thank them for their generations of stewardship, which continues to this day, and honor them by doing all we can to create a sustainable planet and support the flourishing of all life, both human and more-than-human.

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End of Life Conversations: Normalizing Talk About Death, Dying, and Grief

Death, Dying, and Grief - Introducing End of Life Conversations

November 01, 2023 • David • Season 1 • Episode 1

0:00 | 36:27

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In this first episode of our End of Life Conversations podcast, Rev. Annalouiza Armendariz, and Rev. Wakil David Matthews share their own stories and talk about their passion for normalizing the conversations around death and dying.

In future podcasts, we'll share people’s experiences with the end of life. We have reached out to front-line workers, as well as friends, neighbors, and the community to have conversations about their experiences with death and dying. We have invited wonderful people to sit with us and listen to each other’s stories.

Our goal is to provide you with information and resources that can help all of us navigate and better understand this important subject.

Support the show

We very much want to hear your thoughts. Please join us on Substack for our community chat.

This podcast helps anyone dealing with loss. It can guide you with end-of-life planning and death-positive resources.

Check out our introductory episode to learn more about Annalouiza, Wakil, and our vision/mission to normalize and destigmatize conversations about death, dying, grief, and loss.

You can find us on SubStack, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and BlueSky. You are also invited to subscribe to support us financially. Anyone who supports us at any level will have access to Premium content, special online meet-ups, and one-on-one time with Annalouiza or Wakil.

And we would love your feedback and want to hear your stories. You can email us at endoflifeconvo@gmail.com.

We want to be transparent that we use AI tools to help us with titles, show notes, editing, and introductions.

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