Peaceful Exit

Dacher Keltner is the founding director of the Greater Good Science Center and a professor of psychology at the University of California, Berkeley. He’s one of the world’s leading scientists who studies emotions and his latest book is all about Awe. In this episode, Dacher explains what his research reveals about awe, why we need it, and where to find it everyday. He also shares the deeply personal story of losing his brother to colon cancer, who he describes as his moral compass and a key source of awe in his life. 

You can learn more about Dacher Keltner’s work and find his book here:

https://www.dacherkeltner.com/

Sheldon Solomon, a professor of psychology at Skidmore College, has spent his professional life studying humans’ fear of death and the wide ranging implications it has on how we live. He and his colleagues detail this idea, Terror Management Theory, and their countless studies about TMT in their book, The Worm at the Core: On the Role of Death in Life. In this episode, Sheldon explains how the fear of death governs our society and also shares his journey of personal reckoning with his cosmic insignificance. He also has some really accessible recommendations for starting to make peace with your own death.

You can learn more about Sheldon’s work and find his book here: 

https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/170217/the-worm-at-the-core-by-sheldon-solomon-jeff-greenberg-and-tom-pyszczynski/

https://www.skidmore.edu/psychology/faculty/solomon.php

Dr. Jill Bolte Taylor is a Harvard-trained neuroanatomist who suffered a stroke at 37 and spent the next eight years working towards recovery. She details that experience in her memoir and viral TedTalk from 2008. And now, she’s written another book that will forever change how we think about our brains. In Whole Brain Living: The Anatomy of Choice and the Four Characters That Drive Our Life, Dr. Taylor explains how the common understanding of left brain, right brain is wrong. There are actually four distinct characters that make up who we are. In this episode, Dr. Taylor explains this critical framework for understanding our perception of reality and how we can apply that to death.

Learn more about Dr. Taylor’s work and find her two books here: https://www.drjilltaylor.com/

Rebecca and her husband Hal were on the brink of divorce when Hal was handed a terminal cancer diagnosis. He died just months later. Her book gives us a really honest look at marriage, parenthood, cancer, grief and being a widow. We discuss all the nuances of grief, its lack of a timeline and what death means when the relationship is complicated.

Find her book and her other work on her website https://rebeccawoolf.com/

In the wake of a terminal cancer diagnosis, Barbara and her late husband, Bob, kept on living. In fact, they partied. Barbara details how she helped preserve Bob’s humanity in the face of death. Everything from the themed parties Bob hosted from his hospice bed to how she swabbed his lips with his favorite scotch at the very end. Barbara advocated for Bob, carried out his final wishes and weathered her grief from a place of deep intuition and strength that surprised even herself.

https://www.barbaralazearascher.com/

Reverend Deborah L Johnson (Rev D) shares the story of her remarkable call to ministry as a teenager and how she got there on her own time. Since then, she’s done extensive hospice work through her omnifaith outreach ministry: Inner Light Ministries. Rev D also shares the very personal experience of her mother’s passing one year ago at the age of 96.

https://www.innerlightministries.com/about-us/rev-deborah-johnson/



Ever wonder why funerals look the way they do? Fourth-generation funeral director Todd Harra explains the evolution of the industry in America. Todd shares fascinating and little-known details of everything from the shape of caskets to how Abraham Lincoln created an embalming craze. We dig into why some practices have fallen by the wayside, why others have stuck around and what Todd thinks about the future of funerals.

https://www.toddharra.com/

Father and distinguished professor WJT Mitchell (Tom) lost his son, Gabe, to schizophrenia. Tom details how Gabe embraced the term “madness” in order to normalize the challenges of living with schizophrenia. Tom also shares how their family grieved together after Gabe’s death, and how he’s still ever-present in their lives.

About WJT Mitchell: https://english.uchicago.edu/people/w-j-t-mitchell

His book is, “Mental Traveler: A Father, a Son, and a Journey Through Schizophrenia” 

If you’re in the greater Chicago area and are looking for mental health resources, please visit https://www.thresholds.org/

Dr. Anita Sanchez shares Indigenous wisdom for living in today’s world. A big focus of the conversation is about forgiving the unforgivable. She explains how forgiveness can come even after someone has died. Anita also shares the beautiful story of her mother’s death, and what a peaceful exit means to her.

You can learn more about Anita's work at https://anita-sanchez.com/

Gratefulness expert Kristi Nelson describes how facing death at a young age transformed how she faces life. For Kristi, being grateful isn’t a sustained state of being. It’s an everyday practice to befriend impermanence and live in the moment. While undergoing cancer treatment in her 30s, she also had to rewrite the death narrative in her family to accept that death isn’t always a failure of will.

You can learn more about Kristi's work at https://grateful.org/kristi-nelson/