In this episode, I retell a story a senior shared with me after two years volunteering at a hospice institute in Shanghai. Through her experience, I walk through what daily life looks like for patients nearing the end of life — the isolation, the small rituals of comfort, and a strange, telling fear of death that persists even among people facing it together. I also reflect on what it means to volunteer without expecting to fix or heal anything, and why simply showing up might be the most honest form of care.

In this episode, I speak with Jesper, a PhD researcher in palliative care in Maastricht, the Netherlands, about what it means to care for someone approaching the end of life. We discuss palliative care and dementia, patient autonomy, cultural attitudes towards death, and the difficult balance between prolonging life and preserving quality of life and dignity.

In this first episode, I talk through "Living" 01: Symbiosis, the solo exhibition I did last summer. I built it out of confocal microscope images from my own cancer biology research, tumor tissue layered over classical Western art, and a series of personal drawings. I trace how my passion for biology in general gradually shifts to a deeper reflection on medicine, ethics, and life and death. This episode tells the story of how the "Living" project began and where it's headed next.