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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.
Episodes
183 episodes
Anticipatory Grief: Coping with Uncertainty, Fear of Loss, and a Changing World | Weekly Dispatch
What is anticipatory grief, and how do we cope with the fear of losing someone or something we care about? In this Weekly Dispatch, we explore anticipatory grief, the anxiety of uncertainty, and the emotional weight of facing an unpredictable f...
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Life Insurance Claims After Death: Denials, Delays & What Families Need to Know | Stephanie Prestridge
What happens when a life insurance claim is denied or delayed after someone dies? For grieving families, navigating insurance paperwork, locating policies, and trying to collect benefits can become an unexpected source of stress at an already d...
Aging, Independence and Dignity: Why We Struggle to Accept Help | Weekly Dispatch
Why is it so hard to accept help as we age? And how can we support aging parents and loved ones without making them feel they've lost their independence?In this Weekly Dispatch from End of Life Conversations, Rev. Wakil and Sam ...
End-of-Life Choices & Assisted Dying: Theresa Evans on Her Mother's Decision
What does it mean to honor someone's choices at the end of life, especially when those choices involve medical assistance in dying (MAiD)?In this episode, we speak with Theresa Evans about her mother's decision to seek medical assistanc...
Breaking the Silence Around Death: Grief, Community & Human Connection | Weekly Dispatch
Why is it so hard to talk about death, grief, and loss when these experiences are part of every human life?In this Weekly Dispatch, we explore how breaking the silence around death can help us build stronger communities, support grievin...
Hospice Palliative Care & Caregiving, Alzheimer's Caregiving, Grief & Loss: Suzy McNamara on Loving Someone Through Dementia
What happens when you begin grieving someone you love long before they die? Alzheimer's caregiving can bring profound grief, isolation, and difficult decisions that few people outside the experience fully understand.In this episode, Suz...
What Are We Doing, Men? Patriarchy, Violence & the Responsibility to Act | Weekly Dispatch
What does it mean for men to take responsibility for violence, patriarchy, and the culture that allows harm to continue?In this Weekly Dispatch, we look beyond the latest story of sexual violence or abuse and ask a harder question: What ...
Tarot, Mediumship & Grief: Can We Connect With Loved Ones After Death? | Jenna Matlin
What happens to our relationships when someone we love dies?For many people, grief doesn't end the relationship. We may still want to talk with someone who has died, feel their presence, seek closure, or wonder whether there are ways to...
What Are We Allowed to Say When We Grieve? Language, Loss & Emotional Honesty | Weekly Dispatch
What are we actually allowed to say when we grieve?Grief doesn't always come out in polite, carefully chosen language. Sometimes it sounds angry. Sometimes it's profane. Sometimes it's confusing, blunt, funny, or completely incohe...
Grieving Without Rushing: Nature Rituals for Loss and Change with Day Schildkret
When life changes, the temptation is to rush toward the other side — to find answers, regain control, and get back to normal. Artist and ritualist Day Schildkret offers another way: slow down, make meaning, and let beauty help you meet what can...
Why Aging Should Be Celebrated, Not Fought: Body Image, Mortality & Eldering | Weekly Dispatch
Why are we so afraid of aging?From anti-aging products and beauty standards to the discomfort we feel when our bodies change, our culture often treats aging as something to hide, fix, or overcome. But what if aging isn't the problem? Wha...
Why We Grieve More Than Death: Relationships, Health, Identity & Loss | Dr. Janice Lundy
We often think of grief as something that follows death. But what about the end of a relationship, a major change in health, losing a home or beloved pet, leaving behind an identity, or mourning a future we once imagined?Dr. Janice Lundy...
Why Being Wrong Feels Like Grief: Ego Death, Shame & the Courage to Change | Weekly Dispatch
What happens when you discover that something you deeply believed is no longer true?Being wrong can feel surprisingly like grief. We may feel shame, defensiveness, sadness, or even that part of who we were has disappeared. When a belief ...
How Poetry Helps Us Grieve: Finding Love, Light & Meaning After Loss | Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer
What if poetry could help us live with grief rather than trying to get over it?In this deeply moving conversation, Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer explores the relationship between **poetry and grief, creativity and loss, and finding meaning ...
How Consciousness of Death Shapes Our Stories, Relationships & Connection | Weekly Dispatch
What does our awareness of death have to do with the stories we tell, the relationships we build, and the way we experience being alive?In this Weekly Dispatch of *End of Life Conversations*, we explore the profound connection between c...
Elder Law Explained: Estate Planning, Dementia Care & Avoiding Family Conflict | Chandra Lewnau
What happens when an aging parent develops dementia and the family suddenly has to make difficult decisions about healthcare, caregiving, finances, and end-of-life wishes?In this episode of End of Life Conversations, we explore ...
No Weekly Dispatch This Week
We are sorry, but we wanted to let our regular listeners know that this week's dispatch had some technical issues. We won't be posting this week, but please join us again next week. Thank you for your support.
How to Advocate for Yourself in Healthcare: Patient Advocacy, Healthcare Proxies & End-of-Life Care | Beth Droppert
How do you advocate for yourself when you're sick, overwhelmed, or trying to navigate a complicated healthcare system? And who will speak for you if you can't speak for yourself?In this episode, we talk with Beth Droppert, ...
The Cost of Othering: How “Us vs. Them” Thinking Divides Us | Weekly Dispatch
What happens when “us vs. them” thinking becomes the way we see the world?In this Weekly Dispatch, we explore othering, the process of seeing another person or group as fundamentally separate from ourselves, and the profoun...
Aging, Palliative Care & Assisted Dying: What Nurses Need to Know About Death | Dr. Marianne Matzo
What do nurses, families, and caregivers need to understand about death, dying, and end-of-life care?In this thoughtful conversation, we speak with Dr. Marianne Matzo, a longtime researcher and educator whose work has explo...
Climate Grief: Grieving Environmental Loss in a Changing World | Weekly Dispatch
Climate grief is real. But what exactly are we grieving when the climate changes?We often think of grief as something that follows the death of a person. But what happens when we lose familiar landscapes, ecosystems, seasons, spec...
What Does a Mortician Do? Becoming a Funeral Director, Embalmer & Crematory Operator | Will Harker
What does a mortician really do?For many of us, the word “mortician” brings to mind a funeral home, embalming, or preparing someone who has died. But the reality of modern death care is much broader.In this episode, we talk with...
Nature Climate & Ecological Loss, Climate Grief, Family Change & the Search for Your Authentic Self | Weekly Dispatch
What do you do when life is changing, but you don't quite have a name for what you're grieving?In this Weekly Dispatch from End of Life Conversations, we explore the kinds of grief that can emerge when children grow up, family r...
When the Chaos of Death Inspires: Don't Let Your Death Become Their Burden | Frank Flores
What happens to a family when someone dies, and nobody knows where the important information is?Most of us know we should prepare for death, but conversations about death, end-of-life planning, and organizing our affairs are easy to pos...
When Caring for Others Becomes a Burden You Can't Bear | Weekly Dispatch
Caring for someone you love is one of life's greatest acts of compassion, but it can also be one of its greatest challenges. In this Weekly Dispatch, we share one person's journey caring for their spouse with a terminal diagnosis and explore wh...