WeCroak

Season 7, Episode 5: Jane Callahan on a Meaningful End Jane Callahan is an end-of-life doula and the author of A Death Doula’s Guide to a Meaningful End. In this conversation, Jane shares how the painful, medicalized death of her estranged mother set her on the path to becoming a death doula, and why most Americans are completely unprepared for one of the most universal human experiences. We talk about what it means to design your own death, the economics of dying with dignity, advance directives, the difference between fearing death and fearing dying, and what a “vigil” actually looks like when done right. More on Jane Callahan: https://www.janekcallahan.com/ Coaching with Hansa WeCroak on YouTube Download our app, as featured in 10% Happier, Atlantic Magazine and The New York Times, at WeCroak.com Support WeCroak on Patreon Ask Death Advice Column Sounds by James Mercer

What does it feel like to be in the room when a death sentence is carried out? In this episode we talk to The Atlantic Reporter Elizabeth Bruenig about her reporting that took her deep into how death penalties are carried out in America and stories of the people on death row. WeCroak on YouTube Download our app, as featured in 10% Happier, Atlantic Magazine and The New York Times, at WeCroak.com Support WeCroak on Patreon Ask Death Advice Column Sounds by James Mercer

Happy October! We have journalist and author Colin Dickey on the WeCroak podcast to talk about America’s obsession with ghost stories, the paranormal and occult. Careful not to say whether he believes or not, Dickey is more interested in what these stories say about us. WeCroak on YouTube Download our app, as featured in 10% Happier, Atlantic Magazine and The New York Times, at WeCroak.com Support WeCroak on Patreon Ask Death Advice Column Sounds by James Mercer

It was Epicurus that said, “Death is nothing to us, since when we are, death is not; and when death is, we are not.” Today we are joined by Tim O’Keefe , an expert on the philosophy of Epicurus and what this ancient practical philosophy brought to our understanding of the big questions of life and death. We talk about what this classical thinker can bring to a modern understanding of life. WeCroak on YouTube Download our app, as featured in 10% Happier, Atlantic Magazine and The New York Times, at WeCroak.com Support WeCroak on Patreon Ask Death Advice Column Sounds by James Mercer

The WeCroak Podcast is back with an episode on Nihlism with our Guest Brittney Hartley . She is the nihilism expert and survivor behind the popular channel No Nonsense Spirituality . Find out how to make life meaningful when nothing you used to believe in matters anymore. Heads up, explicit language is used. WeCroak on YouTube Download our app, as featured in 10% Happier, Atlantic Magazine and The New York Times, at WeCroak.com Support WeCroak on Patreon Ask Death Advice Column Sounds by James Mercer

Season 6, Episode 3: Alex Ebert on writing songs after a crisis of faith This is our second conversation of Alex Ebert, famous for his hit songs from Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros. We talk about some new music that comes from his meditations on death, and what he’s spent the last few years wrestling with, namely, a kind of crisis of faith of in the purpose of music. Heads up, copious explicit language is used. New song: To Feel Alive by Alex Ebert Forthcoming Documentary: The Last Ecstatic Days Trailer Alex Ebert on Substack Download our app, as featured in 10% Happier, Atlantic Magazine and The New York Times, at WeCroak.com Support WeCroak on Patreon Ask Death Advice Column Sounds by James Mercer

Season 5, Episode 8: Lauren Kennedy on Pets, Death, and Dignity I found Lauren Kennedy on TikTok doing breathtaking end-of-life photography sessions for beloved family pets, often taken just hours before a schedule vet appointment. It turns out she also founded The Tilly Project , a national resource for creating end-of-life memories for families and their pets. Our conversation went deep on how we love and care for each other as well as our pets. Guest Website: The Tilly Project Download our app, as featured in 10% Happier, Atlantic Magazine and The New York Times, at WeCroak.com Support WeCroak on Patreon Ask Death Advice Column Sounds by James Mercer

Season 5, Episode 7: WeCroak Has A Baby: The Social Stomach App Hansa and Ian, the guys who brought the world WeCroak, announce their second app called Social Stomach . It’s an app for waking up to the power of social eating, one of the simplest lifestyle changes you can make, besides contemplating death often, to feel more satisfied with life. We go into the research and how it works. If you like the WeCroak style of apps, you might want to give this podcast a listen. New App! Social Stomach Download the WeCroak app, as featured in 10% Happier, Atlantic Magazine and The New York Times, at Support WeCroak on Patreon Ask Death Advice Column Sounds by James Mercer

Season 5, Episode 6: Katie Engelhart’s Dispatches on the Right to Die I’ve never been so uncomfortable reading a book about death or having a discussion. Katie Englehart’s book The Inevitable: Dispatches on the Right to Die is a master work of journalism about people who say they are not suicidal and believe they have a right to die because of age or sickness. The issues raised in this book get to the heart of big questions like what real empathy looks like and how we think about the sanctity of life, capitalism and a host of other foundational ideas. It opens a pandora’s box of indictments only the brave may want to look at. I can’t stop thinking about this book or this discussion. Guest Website: KatieEngelhart.com Download our app, as featured in 10% Happier, Atlantic Magazine and The New York Times, at WeCroak.com Support WeCroak on Patreon New: Ask Death Advice Column Sounds by James Mercer

Season 5, Episode 5: Massimo Pigliucci on Choosing a Good Life Massimo Pigliucci was the first guest we ever had on the WeCroak Podcast. In that episode we talked about his adult decision to commit to Stoicism as a life philosophy. Today, we talk about his new book, “How to Live a Good Life,” about all the best practical philosophies for living that he could find and what a life living along those principles might be like with guest essays from thinkers who have lived it. It’s like a menu of life philosophies for people who want to choose their path more proactively. Guest Book: “How to Live a Good Life” Download our app, as featured in 10% Happier, Atlantic Magazine and The New York Times, at WeCroak.com Support WeCroak on Patreon New: Ask Death Advice Column Sounds by James Mercer

Season 5, Episode 4: Clay Risen from the NYT Obit Pages This is a conversation about death, who gets remembered and how we write stories about the departed. We are joined by Clay Risen who writes for The New York Times Obituaries page so expect a lot of your host nerding out about obits and the big issues they brings up during a pandemic and in everyday life. Who gets remembered by the first draft of history? Why? Find out from one of the writers making these choices. Guest Website: ClayRisen.com Download our app, as featured in 10% Happier, Atlantic Magazine and The New York Times, at WeCroak.com Support WeCroak on Patreon New: Ask Death Advice Column Sounds by James Mercer

Season 5, Episode 3: Emily Nagoski PHD on Burnout This is a conversation about how everything is connected. We speak with Emily Nagoski about burnout, that feeling of overwork and overwhelm and how it connects to things far outside of stressful jobs and schedules. It comes down to, she argues, how we buy into major wrong assumptions about our world. Nagoski wrote this book with women in mind but we think the book and this conversation is for everyone. Guest Website: EmilyNagoski.com Download our app, as featured in 10% Happier, Atlantic Magazine and The New York Times, at WeCroak.com Support WeCroak on Patreon New: Ask Death Advice Column Sounds by James Mercer

Season 5, Episode 2: Dr. René Najera on the History of Vaccines When we forget our history, we lose our context for the present and the future. The past year has been a return to humankind’s historic relationship with mass death caused by disease. Early vaccines were a breakthrough that picked winners in fights for global power and helped a lot of people reach adulthood and live healthier happier lives. I thought I knew a lot of history but this conversation blew my mind. Guest Website: History Of Vaccines Download our app, as featured in 10% Happier, Atlantic Magazine and The New York Times, at WeCroak.com Support WeCroak on Patreon New: Ask Death Advice Column Sounds by James Mercer

Season 5, Episode 1: Dr. Nikki Mirghafori on Death & Mindfulness Retreats Today we talk about Buddhism, Technology and why you might want to go to a seven day death and mindfulness retreat with meditation teacher Dr. Nikki Mirghafori. Guest Website: NikkiMirghafori.com Guest Website: One Day Retreat: Jan 30, 2021 Guest Website: Five Day Retreat: Feb 11 – Feb 15, 2021 Download our app, as featured in 10% Happier, Atlantic Magazine and The New York Times, at WeCroak.com Support WeCroak on Patreon New: Ask Death Advice Column Sounds by James Mercer

Season 4, Episode 5: Casper ter Kuile on The Power of Ritual Six years ago, Casper Ter Kuile started reading the Harry Potter series as a sacred text on his hit podcast downloaded over 22 million times. Now he has a whole lot more rituals inspired by practice that can be adapted to our more secular lives in his new book. We talk about the benefits and the downsides of DIY ritual and why the phenomenon is here to stay. Guest Website: Caspertk.com Guest Website, Pre-order: Ritual Life Planner Download our app, as featured in 10% Happier, Atlantic Magazine and The New York Times, at WeCroak.com Support WeCroak on Patreon New: Ask Death Advice Column Sounds by James Mercer

Season 4, Episode 4: Heather Christle on Crying In this conversation we look at crying and tears in countless ways good and bad with poet Heather Christle. It’s about why we do it, what it feels like, and how tears bring out both the best and the worst in us. Further Reading: The Crying Book Download our app, as featured in 10% Happier, Atlantic Magazine and The New York Times, at WeCroak.com Support WeCroak on Patreon New: Ask Death Advice Column Sounds by James Mercer

Season 4, Episode 3: Massimo Riva on The Decameron In 1348 the Black Death Plague took as a third of the population. In Florence Italy, Giovanni Boccaccio wrote The Decameron in response to the plague, a classic that has lasted down the ages. We have on Professor Massimo Riva to talk about this book which has so much wisdom for the present day. Further Reading: Decameron Web Download our app, as featured in 10% Happier, Atlantic Magazine and The New York Times, at WeCroak.com Support WeCroak on Patreon New: Ask Death Advice Column Sounds by James Mercer

Season 4, Episode 2: Long Litt Woon on Mushrooming and Mourning This is a conversation about grief and how Long Litt Woon found her way back to feeling alive by following forest paths looking for mushrooms. It’s about how only knowledge can protect you from a poisonous mushroom and how one needs all the senses to find the delicacies they seek on this path. Really, it is a personal discussion about finding our way again once everything is upended. Further Reading: The Way Through the Woods: On Mushrooms and M ourning By Long Litt Woon Guest Website: Long Litt Woon Download our app, as featured in 10% Happier, Atlantic Magazine and The New York Times, at WeCroak.com Support WeCroak on Patreon New: Ask Death Advice Column Sounds by James Mercer

Season 4, Episode 1: Donald Robertson on How to Think Like a Roman Emperor You know who else thought about death often? Ancient Roman Stoics including the Emperor Marcus Aurelius. In this episode we chat about what practical philosophy meant to these powerful practitioners and why it feels so modern. A not to be missed discussion. Coming up October 17, 2020: StoicCon Further Reading: How to Think Like a Roman Emperor: The Stoic Philosophy of Marcus Aurelius By Donald Robertson Guest Website: Donald Robertson Download our app, as featured in 10% Happier, Atlantic Magazine and The New York Times, at WeCroak.com Support WeCroak on Patreon New: Ask Death Advice Column Sounds by James Mercer

Season 3, Episode 8: Dr. Sunita Puri Talks That Good Night Dr. Sunita Puri is the Medical Director of the Palliative Medicine and Supportive Care Service at the Keck Hospital and Norris Cancer Center of the University of Southern California. We talk on this episode about her new book, “That Good Night: Life and Medicine in the Eleventh Hour.” The conversation is about how medicine is changing to meet new challenges like Covid19 and how it must change to serve the living and dying better. Further Reading: “That Good Night: Life and Medicine in the Eleventh Hour.” By Dr. Sunita Puri Download our app, as featured in 10% Happier, Atlantic Magazine and The New York Times, at WeCroak.com Support WeCroak on Patreon Sounds by James Mercer