Doing Death

Host Amanda Blainey talks to thought leader BJ Miller, who is a longtime hospice and palliative medicine physician and educator who is dedicated to moving healthcare towards a more human-centered approach. His 2015 Ted talk 'What Really Matters at the End of Life' has been watched over 14 million times. BJ has given numerous interviews including Oprah Winfrey, The New York Times, and GOOP. He co-founded Mettle Health which aims to provide holistic consultations to patients or caregivers navigating the practical emotional and existential issues that can come with serious illness and disability.

The actor Greg Wise's sister Clare died in September 2016 from cancer, she started a blog post to update family and friends, which Greg took over writing when Clare became too ill. Two years after she died the blog was turned into their book titled 'Not That Kind of Love’. We met before lockdown to talk about Clare’s death, their relationship, navigating cancer, and post-traumatic growth. This is a useful conversation for anyone caring for someone dying and gives insight into grief and love through Greg's own personal and moving experience.

Entrepreneur Charlie Gladstone has the most infectious positivity and zest for life. Being the great-great-grandson of the UK's Prime Minister Sir William Ewart Gladstone, Charlie comes from an incredible family legacy. He is a business owner,  farmer, father and is one of the co-founders of The Good Life Experience, founder of Glen Dye Cabins and Cottages, Pedlars shops, and the ‘Some Good Ideas’ online community dedicated to encouraging British craft and manufacture. He also hosts the ‘Mavericks’ Podcast’ and is the author of several books, his latest 'Do Team' will be published in 2021. We meet to talk about legacy, death, and his interest in making a good life and embedding some of that huge spirit within his family and generations to come. 

Reverend Richard Coles has led a colourful and vibrant life, forming the band 'The communards’ with singer Jimmy Somerville in the mid-'80s. He’s the only reverend in the UK and probably the world to have a number 1 hit. After some drug-fuelled years and witnessing the death of many of his friends from AIDS Richard had an awakening which led him to become a reverend for a parish in rural Northamptonshire. Richard’s civil partner David died in December 2019 at the age of 42. A year on Richard talks candidly about his extraordinary life, the madness of grief, and how he is doing now.

Death Cafe was founded in 2011 by death activist Jon Underwood. In this episode host, Amanda Blainey is joined by Jon’s sister Jools Barsky and his mum Susan Barsky Reid. Talking about Death Cafe’s grassroots, their surprise at how it became a global movement, and the unexpected death of Jon in 2017 at the age of 44.

Suicide is one of the biggest killers in men under 45, this can be caused by many factors including mental health issues, cultural expectations of masculinity, and childhood experiences like grief or abuse. Amanda Blainey talks to Jack Norman who has been working in change management for 5 years and who in 2015 co-founded Milk for Tea a social enterprise that has developed mental health and masculinity programmes with many clients such as We Work, Rolls Royce, and Bacardi.

Amanda Blainey talks to Maggi Hambling who has established a reputation over the last four decades as one of Britain's most significant and controversial artists, a singular contemporary force whose work continues to move, seduce and challenge.

Amanda Blainey talks to the extraordinary and courageous Kris Hallenga who after an incurable cancer diagnosis at the age of 23, eleven years ago, kick-started a unique breast cancer awareness charity called CoppaFeel. That was 11 years ago, Kris thankfully is still here and has been spending her time in lockdown writing her forthcoming book “How to Glitter a Turd”.

"You can be Bold and gentle-hearted, you can be soft and a warrior. Power in vulnerability” The Fandangoe Kid Host Amanda Blainey talks to The Fandangoe Kid a print artist who makes large-scale narrative pieces for the public realm to create a platform around complex subjects such as grief, trauma release, mental health, and gender constructs. Much of her work is driven by navigating her own story following the death of most of her family in New York in 2011. In this episode we discuss: Sitting with grief The physical & emotional manifestation of grief Post-traumatic growth Dancing through grief Processing grief through meditation and exercise Embodying and making friends with grief Grief as an individual & and non-linear experience The uncertainty of change Legacy and moving on from your ancestors Finding ways to connect more than ever Being a vulnerable warrior Unlearning as we get older The Fandangoe Kid has created work for a wide range of purposes, most recently installing artwork on 14-metre pillar for University of the Arts London's 120th year anniversary and a large-scale permanent piece of public art at the Southbank Centre for the charity CALM. For World Mental Health Day 2019, she installed an 80-metre floor narrative at City Hall for the Mayor of London's charity Thrive, addressing the connection between movement and mental health. Additionally, she screened her film Into Your Light, directed with Tara Darby, at Tate Modern and on the Manhattan Bridge, looking at dancing as a tool for survival following a great personal loss. Podcast references www.fandangoekid.com https://www.cruse.org.uk/ http://taradarby.com/film/into-your-light/ https://www.shedoesfilmz.com/ The Ted interview Elizabeth Gilbert Books Grief Works - Julia Samuel The Body Keeps Score - Bessel Van Der Kolk

"I have a platform, I can share that platform with other people, that's what my mum would have expected at this stage of my career. That's why things like The Good Immigrant' came about because a win for me is a win for the community" Nikesh Shukla. Amanda Blainey talks to Nikesh Shukla who is a novelist and screenwriter. His 7th novel Brown Baby will be published in February 2021. Brown Baby is a memoir of race, family, and home that is essentially a love letter written to his children and his mum after her death. It's about loss and rebirth. In this episode, we talk about White privilege Writers of colour How The Good Immigrant came about The predominant white voice in literature Racism and its prevalence in publishing and the arts Normalising our reality Anxiety about being outspoken and burning bridges The problem with diversity panels Interrogating representation and identity How his mum's death permitted him to speak his truth Cooking his way through grief Food as a way to connect to his mum How heritage lives on in us A win for him is a win for the community Roots for change Processing grief through his new book Brown Baby Grieving in a new way since coronavirus Nikesh is the author of Coconut Unlimited (shortlisted for the Costa First Novel Award), Meatspace, and the critically acclaimed The One Who Wrote Destiny. He is a contributing editor to the Observer Magazine and was previously their columnist. Nikesh is the editor of the bestselling essay collection, The Good Immigrant, which won the reader's choice at the Books Are My Bag Awards. He co-edited The Good Immigrant USA with Chimene Suleyman. He is the author of two YA novels, Run, Riot (shortlisted for a National Book Award) and The Boxer (longlisted for the Carnegia Medal). Nikesh was one of Time Magazine's cultural leaders, Foreign Policy magazine's 100 Global Thinkers, and The Bookseller's 100 most influential people in publishing in 2016 and 2017. He is the co-founder of the literary journal, The Good Journal, and The Good Literary Agency. Nikesh is a fellow of the Royal Society Of Literature and a member of the Folio Academy. Podcast references https://www.reachoutproject.co.uk/ http://www.nikesh-shukla.com/