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

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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