Farewelling: The Podcast

In an extra intro to this mini-sode, Karen gets personal about a shocking, awful event that happened since the original recording date last summer. The mini-sode itself is light hearted and features an upbeat conversation between Karen and therapist Grace Lin, geared toward helping us all live life more fully in the pursuit of our dreams and values, both big and small. But we do want to note that in the first few minutes, there is mention of a death that occurred suddenly, so you may want to consider that in deciding whether to listen.

How can we confront the loss of a child? As parents, it’s hard to contemplate how we’d ever move forward. As siblings, this type of loss can shake us to our core. In this mini-sode, Karen and Liz speak with Adam Rabinovitch, Executive Director of COPE Foundation, about getting help and connecting with others who can really understand because they’ve been there too. A content warning: this mini-sode includes a frank discussion around the topic of families losing a child. The conversation may be difficult or inappropriate for some listeners. We hope it will be helpful to those who really need it.

Today’s episode is all about women! Karen welcomes Farewelling Funeral Guru Elizabeth Karansky, along with Liz’s mom Trish, and her best friend, whose name delightfully also happens to be Trish. While enjoying fresh fruit and moisturizing spa hand masks, the four talk about friendship, and the two Trishes share what it was like losing both their husbands (neither of whom wanted to discuss their illnesses). Both women speak honestly about how they now feel about death, dying and living a great life. Then Karen puts them through a lightning round of “Tacky or To Die For?”

Karen and Farewelling Funeral Guru Elizabeth Karansky tackle a topic they both think should get more attention: What to Wear...for Forever. At first glance it may seem a frivolous subject, but choosing clothing for loved one’s funeral (or planning for yourself) can sometimes be more complex than you might expect. Karen and Liz start with a discussion of an old Gilmore Girls episode that involves funeral planning and clothing choices. They explore changing styles (including eco-friendly burial clothing), styling, and the unique personal wishes for accessories that have surprised Liz along her journey as a funeral director.

Karen meets up with her friend, writer, educator and fellow NYC foodie, Erica Cantley. Over rosé from the south of France and potato chips, they chat about Erica’s unique perspective on celebrating life, which stems from her beliefs as a follower of the Swedenborgian religion, where death is considered a release to a heaven of our own making. Erica shares her thoughts on organizing your own Best. Last. Party, and how her father’s death shaped her own experience--and her writing. Later, Karen hits the streets of NYC to ask folks how they feel about material possessions and death.

In Part 2 of this fascinating conversation, Karen Bussen welcomes award-winning author Sallie Tisdale to talk about a topic that is coming to the forefront: taking control of end of life planning. A content warning: the discussion includes assisted death, suicide, and other topics that may be difficult or inappropriate for some listeners.

What if we stopped looking at death as a “failure” and embraced it as a holistic part of our human journey? What would we ask for? How would we change our conversations with family and loved ones? Karen talks to famed palliative care doctor BJ Miller (whose TED talk has been seen more than 10 million times!) and his partner in writing and design, IDEO Editorial Director Shoshana Berger, about their revolutionary book, A Beginner’s Guide to the End: Practical Advice for Living Life and Facing Death.

In this sunny Sunday-morning minisode, Farewelling co-founders Karen Bussen and Elizabeth Karansky take part in the inaugural “Farewelling Fête” where a dozen brilliant women gather to celebrate living life beautifully...with mini-quiches, mimosas, and a morsel of mortality!

Just a quick note on today’s show, as the conversation does involve a discussion about a suicide attempt. You may want to take that into account when deciding whether to listen. Most of the episode is actually quite upbeat and occasionally silly.

Hysteria Radio Podcast host, musician, poet and mental health advocate Joseph Fusaro joins Karen for sugar-free milkshakes and an honest conversation about flirting with death, clinging to life, and all the emotional adventures in between. Joe takes us through his own mental health journey, and Karen asks him about his farewelling celebration (hint: there’s a cool road trip involved!).

For all those pet lovers out there (including us), this is a difficult topic. How can we ever live without our best friends? We talk to Farewelling Funeral Guru Elizabeth Karansky and Liz’s good friend, therapist and animal activist Jamie Gleicher, to talk about what to do when a pet dies. How can we deal with the reality that a pet is coming to the end of their life? What is radical acceptance? And how can we be a good friend to someone who has just lost a pet?