What do you think draws audiences back to All There Is every season?
I hope people find the conversations useful and comforting. So few of us are able to have these kinds of open and honest discussions about the losses in our lives, and yet there is a yearning for them. Grief is different for everyone, but there is so much we can learn from each other about how to live with it and how to hold it. I've learned life-changing lessons about grief from my guests and from thousands of podcast listeners' voicemails, and I know many other people have as well.
With All There Is stepping into a live show format, how do you imagine holding space for audiences who might be carrying wildly different kinds of grief into the room with them?
I'll be releasing All There Is podcast episodes all year long now, and we are starting All There Is Live every Thursday night at 9:15pm. I think the new streaming live show is a way to connect more fully with our listeners. It's a chance to talk to people from all different backgrounds who are experiencing all different kinds of grief. I'm thinking of it kind of like an old-school, late night radio call-in show, and anyone watching can make live comments on our webpage at cnn.com/allthereis.
In All There Is, grief begins as something rooted in your personal story, yet over time it reveals itself as a mutable presence, appearing not only in the loss of loved ones but in abandoned ambitions, stalled social progress, and the weary discord of national life. How has the podcast changed the way you think about grief in all its forms?
I don't think I've really understood all the different kinds of grief that people experience, and it's been an incredible, life-changing education for me. There are oceans of grief out there, and it is at the core of the human experience. To connect with others through grief has been an extraordinary gift, and I am very grateful.
