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In the final episode of our comprehensive healthcare planning series, Kirsten and Ariana tackle one of the most misunderstood areas of healthcare planning: life-ending decisions. This episode cuts through the confusion to deliver clear, factual information about California's End of Life Option Act, the strict requirements for assisted suicide, how passive and active euthanasia differ, and why many people don't actually qualify for the options they think exist. You'll also learn how California compares to other states and what alternatives exist internationally. Whether you're planning for yourself or helping a loved one understand their options, this episode provides essential information about one of life's most difficult decisions. Knowledge is power—especially when it comes to maintaining control over your final chapter. Time-stamped Show Notes: 0:00 Introduction 1:09 Three categories of life-ending decisions explained: assisted suicide, passive euthanasia, active euthanasia 2:12 Passive euthanasia defined - withdrawal/withholding of life-sustaining treatment (legal in California) 3:07 What is active euthanasia? Many people don't realize it's not legal in the United States 3:39 California's End of Life Option Act (2016) - medical aid in dying requirements 4:49 Strict eligibility requirements: terminal illness (6 months or less), California residency, cognitive capacity, physical ability 5:02 The three-request requirement: two oral requests 48 hours apart, plus one written, witnessed request 6:29 Physician responsibilities and the right to decline participation 7:35 California vs. Oregon comparison - residency requirements and waiting periods 9:37 Geographic distribution of assisted suicide laws across the United States 10:29 Active euthanasia discussion - the dementia dilemma and client concerns 11:40 European options for active euthanasia: Belgium, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, and Spain legal frameworks 13:27 Practical considerations for California residents seeking international options 15:12 The importance of knowledge and control in end-of-life planning
Dying well We’re all going to die, but how we acknowledge death and dying is a very personal experience. Award-winning journalist and author Tracey Spicer and anthropologist Dr Hannah Gould explore etiquette, rites and traditions to find out what makes a ‘good death’. About the episode – brought to you by Australian Seniors. Join James Valentine for the sixth season of Life’s Booming: Dying to Know, our most unflinching yet. We’ll have the conversations that are hardest to have, ask the questions that are easy to ignore, and hear stories that will make you think differently about the one thing we’re all guaranteed to experience: Death. Featuring interviews with famous faces as well as experts in the space, we uncover what they know about what we can expect. There are hard truths, surprising discoveries, tears and even laughs. Nothing about death is off the table. Tracey Spicer AM is a Walkley award-winning journalist, author and broadcaster. And she's an ambassador for Dying With Dignity. A vocal campaigner and advocate for voluntary assisted dying (VAD), Tracey penned a letter to her mother following her painful death in 1999. Dr Hannah Gould is an anthropologist who works in the areas of death, religion and material culture. She recently appeared on SBS documentary: Ray Martin: The Last Goodbye. Hannah’s research spans new traditions and technologies of Buddhist death rites, the lifecycle of religious materials, and modern lifestyle movements. If you have any thoughts or questions and want to share your story to Life’s Booming, send us a voice note – lifesbooming@seniors.com.au Watch Life’s Booming on YouTube Listen to Life's Booming on Apple Podcasts Listen to Life's Booming on Spotify For more information visit seniors.com.au/podcast Produced by Medium Rare Content Agency, in conjunction with Ampel Disclaimer: Please be advised that this episode contains discussions about death, which may be triggering or upsetting for some listeners. Listener discretion is advised. If you are struggling with the loss of a loved one, please know that you are not alone and there are resources available. For additional support please contact Lifeline on 131 114 or Beyond Blue on 1300 224 636. TRANSCRIPT: James: We're all going to die. Happens to all of us. But how we acknowledge death and dying is of course a very personal experience. With our guest and our expert, we're going to explore the etiquette, the rites and traditions seen in Australia and around the world. Someone who knows a lot about the rites and traditions of death is Dr Hannah Gould, an anthropologist who works in the areas of death, religion and material culture. We're also going to be joined by Tracey Spicer, she’s a Walkley award-winning author, journalist and broadcaster. And she's an ambassador for Dying With Dignity. Tracey and Hannah, welcome. Thank you so much. Tracey: Hello. James: Thank you for coming. Hannah Gould. Hello. Thank you for coming. Hannah: Thank you. James: Fantastic. Let's talk death! Tracey: Why not? There'll be lots of fun. James: Do you laugh in the face of death? Hannah: What else can you do? I mean, look, you know. Lots of sadness, lots of joy, every single emotion is reasonable, surely. I mean, it's like the question, the ultimate question of philosophy, of history, of every discipline. Every response is valid. Not always useful, or helpful. James: Yeah. Yeah. Hannah: But valid. Tracey: Well, it's a universal topic of conversation and that's why I've always loved dark humour. Because you do have to laugh, otherwise what do you do? James: I also think it's, it is the ultimate joke that we are all going to die, but we live like we're not going to. We live every day as though it's just not going to happen at all. Tracey: Especially in Western society, I think other cultures have got it right and we're in such deep denial about it. It's detrimental to all of us. James: Yeah. Now this is your area of expertise really, is that do other cultures have it right? Hannah: Everyone does it differently. Right or wrong is kind of a difficult thing to judge. I think certainly there's a big thing called, like, the denial of death thesis, right. And, and people like Ernest Becker, a lot of different philosophers and anthropologists and cultural, you know, analysis have looked at Western culture and gone, Oh my gosh, we are so invested in denying death, right. And whether that's through denying death by religions that say you're going to live forever, like, you know, don't worry, it's not the end. You'll pop off to heaven or whatever it is. Or through, you know, great heroic myths. Yes, you'll die, but the nation will remember you forever. So, you know, you won't really die. You'll be a martyr. Or contemporary, you know. Yes, you'll die, but have you seen how great the shopping is? You know, we can just ignore, we can deny death by being on Instagram and, you know, consuming, right, so, I think Western culture in particular, the way we've organised our society, allows us to not think about death. James: And we've organised death to be somewhere else, usually now. To be in a hospital, to be in palliative care somewhere. And they may be good, but they're not, they're not in the cottage, are they? They're not next to, not in the bedroom. Hannah: Not in the bedroom. So, we know that, say, 70% of Australians wish to die at home. Only about 15% do. And that is a rate that is lower than all these other countries we like to compare ourselves. So Australians are more institutionalised in their death than places like Ireland, like New Zealand, the United States of America, even Canada. We tend, more than other countries, to die in institutions – aged care, hospitals, and hospices. James: Yeah, right, right. The other way in which we deny death is, or the other way in which other cultures have a different attitude to death, will be that it'll either be more accepting – we are all going to die, will be part of their every day – or they may have a notion of reincarnation and coming back, which means that that's a very different attitude to death, really, than a, than a heaven and a hell. Hannah: Yeah, it's not necessarily an end so much. I think that's kind of quite common in, say, you know, Buddhist or Hindu or other kind of dharmic religions, particularly Asian religions. And then, obviously, there's a lot of Asian religion that's part of Australian society, so that's also quite present in Australia. But we can also have a kind of more secular idea about that. You know, a lot of these, a lot of my mum's generation in particular, have kind of a green environmental kind of reincarnation model where she will say, well, I don't particularly believe in heaven, but I do believe I'm going to become compost. Food for worms, you know, I'll come back as a tree or a flower or a tomato plant, you know, and that's, that's a kind of reincarnation of like reintegration into the natural environment, as it were. So there are some kind of myths or stories we can tell ourselves that perhaps help us think about death more positively. James: I've got a, a friend of mine who'd be into her 80s has said, oh, funeral? Just put me up the top paddock, let the crows have a go. Tracey: Yeah. My dad wants to be buried in a cardboard box, and I think that's a wonderful idea. James: We all say that, don't we? That's a really common one as well. I hear that a lot on the radio. People will go, mate, just, I don't care, put me out with the, on the hard rubbish day. Hannah: In the paddock, whatever it is… James: …the paddock, that’s the same sort of thing I said. You know, like, do we really want that, do you think? Hannah: Oh, do we really want that? I do think Aussies are pretty pragmatic about death. I do think we have a certain streak in us that's kind of like, you know what, it's all a bit much fuss, it's all too much. You kind of even get these people who therefore say, don't have a funeral. You know, I really don't want to have a funeral. Please don't even, you know, no fuss. That can be kind of sad sometimes because I think it's some people kind of not acknowledging how many people love them and miss them. James: Yeah. Hannah: Um, but maybe it's also a bit of an Aussie humour, dry humour, that, that black humour again of kind of, you know, trying to laugh in the face of death. Why not? Tracey: I would agree, but then we all get sucked in when we're in the funeral home, and they show you the cardboard box, and then they show you the glossy one that's 10 or 20 thousand dollars, and you think, did I really love that person that much, or should I do it? So it all feeds into what you were talking about before, that consumerism and overcommercialisation. James: Well, I also think sometimes, I would think it's about weddings. Weddings and funerals, well, who's it actually for? Tracey: Yeah, yeah. Well it's a punctuation mark, isn't it? I'm a lifelong atheist, but Tracey: I do enjoy, it sounds terrible, going to those kind of ceremonies, whether it's a funeral or a wedding, because it's important to celebrate or commemorate these changes, these huge changes. James: I love the sharing of stories at a funeral. People start talking. Tracey: Well, you learn so much about someone's life that you may not have known. And also often they're rich for that dark humour. I'll never forget my grandmother's funeral, who I was incredibly close to. And my father's new girlfriend loved my grandmother. She was so distraught she tried to throw herself into the hole in the ground on top when she was throwing the dirt in and I thought, well, that's intense. James: That's good. Tracey: That's, I've never seen that before. That's a first. Hannah: Oh, I've seen that before. Tracey: Have you?! Hannah: I will say that, you know, when you attend enough funerals or attend enough cremations for professional reasons, um, as it were, you kind of see everything, every range of human emotions. Like, we, we kind of think, you know, all funerals are all happy families. A lot of unhappy families, a lot of punch ups at funerals, lots of, uh, mistresses coming out of the woodwork at funerals, conversions, religious, you know, more and more people have recorded messages from beyond the grave that they play at their funeral, or, uh, they've decided that we're having a dance party, or we're having some sort of festivity or an event. I mean, you can do anything these days with a funeral. James: Do you go to a lot, just to observe? Hannah: Yeah, I do my research. So I, I research in death and dying and I, I work at a crematorium and I attend funerals and I hang around with other people in the death care sector. James: Yeah. Hannah: And you do see everything. James: Why do you want to… Tracey: …What got you interested in this? It's your job and I'm just fascinated by it… James: …We'll, we'll, we'll, we'll both do it. I think you've done this sort of thing! So, yeah. Well then, then, why do you want to be around death? Hannah: Oh. I mean, personal and professional. Professional, I'm an anthropologist, and anthropologists want to know what brings us together, what makes us all human, but then also why we do it so differently. And there is nothing else. It is the question, right, it is the one thing we all experience, and yet we've all decided to do it in completely different ways, and completely different ways throughout history. And then, personally, my dad died, and I thought, gosh, what on earth is going on? I suddenly was given the catalogue, of funeral, of coffins, right. James: And you were young. Hannah: I was 22, 23 when my dad died. An age that was perfectly old and mature at the time, I thought. But looking back, obviously, it was incredibly young. But yeah, I suddenly got handed this catalogue of, of kind of coffins, and they all had these really naff names, like, you know, these rich mahoganies, and like, it was like paint colours. Someone had, someone somewhere had decided, these were the options, right, that you were, that this is what was going to represent my dad. And I just felt this massive disconnect and I thought, ‘Hang on, I've got to work out what's going on there.’ So now I spend my life in death, as it were. James: Yeah. I suppose, most of us would think being around death would be a very gloomy kind of thing to be, or way to spend your day. Hannah: It can be very gloomy. But oh my gosh, the gallows humour that those boys in the crem – the crematorium – tell, uh, you know. James: Is there a joke you can share? Hannah: Ooh. Um. Not a lot of them are safe for work or anywhere. James: Tracey, you were going to jump in and ask something there before. What were you going to ask? You know, fellow professional interviewer. Tracey: I really see a connection with you being 22 when your father died and I was 32 when my mother died. Hannah: Mm. Tracey: Even at 32 I felt like I wasn't ready for it. James: Right, no. Tracey: And especially because it happened so quickly. Mum was the linchpin for the family, you know, smart and funny and she could do anything. She was one of those early super women kind of role models. And then all of a sudden at the age of 51 she was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer with seven months to live and she lived seven months almost to the day. And it was blood and guts and gore. She was in agonising pain. My sister and I were injecting her with medication every day. We wanted her to die in the home. Tracey: But it got to the stage where we had to bring her to palliative care, and that's when we started having the conversations about voluntary assisted dying, because, um, Mum and Dad had always said, put me down like a dog. And again, it's one of those things that you think it's going to be easy at the time, but it's not. We talked to the doctor. The doctor said, I don't want to end up in jail. And my sister sat there with the morphine button. She pressed it so often she had a bruise on her thumb. James: Hmm, right Tracey: …we said, surely you can just increase the morphine, because Mum was having breakthrough pain. So everything was fine until she'd scream once an hour, and there was no way they could cap that. So it's cruel, right? It's cruel. I, I don't think there's any way they would have done it. We tried to have those conversations. James: …Yeah… Tracey: Which is why one night, because we were sleeping in a chair next to her overnight just to hold her hand when she was in pain, I picked up the pillow and I did try to put it over her face because I thought, what kind of daughter am I, to let her suffer? And then I stopped at the last minute and then I felt really ashamed of, you know, what a coward I am. Hannah: No, I was going to say the opposite. What an incredibly brave act to, to have so much love and compassion for this person and so much respect, what you knew her wishes would be, that you were willing to do that, you know, for, not – for her, not to her, for her, right? That's extraordinary. Tracey: It's lovely of you to say. James: Did she know what you were doing? Tracey: Oh no, she was out of it for about the previous two weeks, actually. In and out of it. And then she died in the next 24 hours anyway. So she was very, very close. And she'd had that kind of burst, you know, had that almost honeymoon period a couple of days beforehand where you think, Well, she seems like she's getting better and we've read about that, so we expected she was close. Hannah: …Yep, the final, the final burst… Tracey: Yeah. Is there a name for that? Hannah: You know, I don't know what it's called, but you know, that is when usually the palliative care doctors, the hospice workers will call up the family and say, guess what? They're up and about, they're talking, they're eating all of a sudden, and that's genuinely usually a sign that it's not going to be long. James: Wow, isn't that interesting. Hannah: It's the final burst of energy. One of the interesting things about the rise of voluntary assisted dying, of euthanasia, to speak more broadly in Australia, is it reflects this kind of cultural shift that we have about the importance of choice and control towards the end of our lives and how increasingly like that is becoming an important part of what we think about as a good death, right. Like I want to be able to control where I die and who I die with and when and the pain and suffering, right? And that hasn't always been the case, right, you know throughout history there's been periods of that. There's been periods of, ‘Leave it to God.’ Or there's also been periods of, ‘Yes, I must prepare. I have to write my final last note or poetry’, or whatever it is. But that's increasingly becoming important particularly for, we see within the baby boomer generation that they really want to, you know, have some sort of choice, and emphasis on choice. James: Well, I mean, I wonder whether a lot of it is a reaction to, um, the, the medical control over the end of our lives is so extreme that we can be kept alive for so long. And so, it's, it's, it's a reaction to that medical control, isn't it? To want to say, well, surely I can, we can, we can have both, can't we? You can either keep me alive or I don't want to be kept alive. Could you let me go? Hannah: It's one of the great paradoxes, they talk about this paradox of contemporary death and contemporary medicine, is that all of our interventions have increased, right. The medicalisation of death has meant that not only do we have pain control, but we can keep people alive for longer. You know, we have better medicines, drugs, palliative medicine is massively advanced. And yet, if we ask people, the quality of death and dying has not increased. James: Right… Hannah: …And if we look globally, more access to medicine doesn't necessarily correlate with a higher quality of death and dying. There's some correlation, like, do you actually have the drugs? Can you access, access them? But when it gets to kind of over a certain hurdle, just because you're dying in Australia versus dying in a country with no resources doesn't mean you're going to die better. James: What do you, what's a quality of death? How are we measuring that? What do you mean by that? Hannah: There's lots of things you can do to measure it and people try. So one of them is, you know, to ask, ask the family, to ask the dying person, to also ask the physician, did you think this was a good death? You know, how do we assess it? Because it's not just up to the dying person as well. Of course, it's also up to the family, right – How did you experience that death, that dying? It's a difficult thing to measure, right, because for some people death is never gonna be… You know, the words good death, bad death are kind of controversial now because it's like, oh my God, I have to try at everything else, do I also have to live up to a good death? Like, we can't make it good. Can we make it better? James: Yeah. What is a good death, Tracey? Tracey: I think this really intersects with, uh, competition. Everything's become a competition. And also quality of ageing. Hannah: Yes, yes… Tracey: …Because my darling dad, who's 84 and still hanging on after smoking and drinking himself almost to death when he was in his 50s – it's a miracle he's still alive. He has very close to zero quality of life. He's a lovely man, we love spending time with him, but he can barely walk. You know, where's the quality of life? So I've just written a book about artificial intelligence recently, so it worries me, that medtech space, that we're getting people to live longer, but there's no quality of life and also no quality of death. Hannah: There's this phenomenon we actually call, in scholarship, we call it prolonged dwindling. Tracey: Oh, which is so true, I love that. Hannah: What a term! But it's, it's… James: …Sounds like the worst Enya album ever… Tracey: …And it never ends… Hannah: …But yeah, it's, it's, there's exactly this thing, right. So it used to be, if you look at like the kind of time, it used to be that you'd either have a sudden illness, fall off a horse, through a sword, war, back in the day, and you, and then you would die, or you would have a, you know, a serious major illness, like a cancer or a heart attack, and then pretty soon after, you'd die, right? What we have now, what we tend to have now, is these kind of timelines towards the end of life of, you know, multiple hospitalisations, in and out of hospital, or you have something like Alzheimer's, right, where you have a very, very, very slow and long cognitive decline, potentially with very high care needs, so you're in hospital, you're in care for 20, 30 years, right? Which is unheard of previously, that you would need this level. So how we die is changing, and it's a completely different timeline. James: Yeah. Does… Tracey, let's just return to this moment when you started to perhaps really think about death. You know, you're confronting your mother's suffering, and you think about, you know, taking control of that, about doing something. Was that an impulse? Was it something that grew over time? Tracey: It was knowing my mother's character as being very forthright, and she was always in control, to speak to control. She would have liked me to try to control the situation. It was also, obviously, that you never want to see a loved one in suffering. But it taught all of us in the family a couple of important lessons. Dad’s now got an advance care directive that’s 28 pages long, so we know exactly what's going to happen. My husband and I still haven't done that, but we do talk to our kids who are aged 18 and 20 about this kind of stuff. I think part of that is my husband's a camera operator, I've been a long-time journalist, so in newsrooms, a very dark sense of humour, similar to the crematoriums, so we talk about death and dying an awful lot at home, but I think it's important to have those conversations and to prepare for a good enough death as much as you can. Tracey: I mean, what does a good enough death mean to you? Have you thought about that yourself? James: Yeah, well I have. I've had some, you know, health issues, had a cancer last year, and so that sort of thing, you know, you do start to confront it and think about it. I'm the fall asleep in the bed, you know, go to bed one night, don't wake up. Tracey: The classic. James: That's the classic. Give me the classic. I'm happy with the classic. Hannah: …Hopefully after you've just finished penning your magnum opus, surrounded by friends and family. James: The end, you know. For me to be onstage, I've just finished a searing saxophone solo, and everyone's just ‘Amazing! Unbelievable!’ Down you go. Something like I mean, sudden, seems to be, just immediate. Immediate and sudden, no suffering. Hannah: Well, that's the thing. Hannah: People always ask me, you know, do you fear death, are you afraid of death? And frankly, after studying it for this long, no, not at all. And I think in an odd way, there is some kind of horrific privilege of having at least one of your parents die young because all of a sudden, you do start thinking about all these things and you learn to live with death, even if you don't like it a lot of the time. I don't fear death, I do fear the prolonged dwindling. Right, like that, the kind of ageing poorly without support in a way that I can't make the controls, and and you know, can't make decisions. That's much more scary to me than death. Death is kind of a great mystery. James: Your interaction with your mother, Tracey, led you to looking at voluntary assisted dying. What did people say about it? What was the general, when you first started to talk about it, when you first started to campaign for it, what would people say? Tracey: What I noticed was a disconnect, that people in the community overwhelmingly supported this because they’d seen loved ones die. But in our parliaments, I saw there a lot of people, a higher percentage than the normal population, are quite religious in our parliaments. Hannah: …Completely unrepresentative... Tracey: …Unrepresentative. And so a lot of organised religions are pushing back against it and therefore there wasn't an appetite for change because of that. I think it took these wonderful lobby groups to get the politicians to listen and for them to realise that there was a groundswell of support. And also, of course, with the examples in the Netherlands and Oregon and Canada who have quite different laws to us. But very successful laws. You rarely see people, I think it's 99.9% successful – only a tiny amount of people who are abusing the legislation, tiny, tiny – but the rest of it, everyone overwhelmingly aligns with it. So it's done in a very ethical and proper kind of way. James: So do you feel as though when you first started talking about it, really, most people were on board? It wasn't something, it wasn't one of those things where we're really trying to, we had to convince people. Tracey: No, that's right, except for people who were particularly religious. Because, let's face it, everyone, pretty much, unless you're quite young, has had a loved one die, so this is something that affected everyone. James: Yeah. I suppose I was wondering. Like someone, some friend, the other day, you know, how have you been, blah, blah, blah. And he went, ‘oh, I had a weird thing yesterday, like, my uncle died’. And I went, ‘oh, that's sad’. And he said, ‘no, no, it was voluntary, he did the voluntary assisted death. He died yesterday afternoon at two o'clock’, you know. I went, ‘oh, wow, you know, you're there?’ ‘Yeah, we're all there, and, you know, it was great, we had a lovely morning with him. We had dinner the night before, and then it just all took place.’ I said, wow, how amazing. And what I was really struck by was what a normal conversation this was. It was a bit like saying, ‘we went to holiday in Queensland’. You know, like it was sort of, he wasn't describing some outlandish thing, you know, it was suddenly this thing, suddenly voluntary assisted dying was just part of the fabric of our, of our lives. You know, do you feel that that's happened in Australia? Tracey: I do feel it's become more normalised, to your point, over the last 20 years. But there's still a lot of academic debate about at what, at what point should you be able to do it. At the moment in Australia, it's overwhelmingly someone with a terminal illness. And it's done by themselves or their doctor, their practitioner. But there are people who want to bring it in for people who are elderly and, and suffering and don't want to live any longer, to support them there. So we're seeing, I guess, a fragmentation of the discussion and the arguments. And I'll be interested to see which way that goes down the track. There's a lot of debate about people, to your point earlier with Alzheimer's, people who have dementia. Hannah: Sensory pleasures. Like, people being able to taste and smell and touch and hug become really important at the end of life. Tracey: Oh, that reminds me of someone I know who did have a good death, who was my grandfather, Mum's father. He lived until 94, and I cared for him towards the end of his life. Our kids were little then, they were probably 7 and 8. And he had that burst, and they said, come on in, he'll die in the next couple of days. We brought in oysters, we brought in red wine. I brought in the kids because I think it was important for them to see that, and he had a good death within the next 24 hours. So it is possible. I think it's rare, but it's possible. James: Yeah, if you know what's happening. A lot of your speciality, Hannah, is in Buddhism. What do Buddhists make of voluntary assisted dying? Hannah: Well, I will say that Buddhism is a religion with over 500 million people in it. So it's kind of like asking, what are the Christians? James: …Right. Right. Hannah: …or what are the Western people think about voluntary assisted dying? So, a range of views. James: Range of views. Hannah: Really huge range of views. James: I suppose I was just wondering whether there was anything in the Buddhist canon as such or the Buddhist, you know, view that just went, no, let life take its course. That, you know, you must experience suffering, so therefore you must experience all life. Hannah: Well, suffering is pretty important to Buddhism, right? And suffering well, and learning to suffer well, is really important. So there are some Buddhists who would oppose voluntary assisted dying because there's a prohibition against killing, right? But most people in Buddhism will, say, weigh that prohibition against killing against, kind of, the experience of suffering, right, and lessening people's suffering. So certainly there are some Buddhists who would say, no, you know, we need to experience suffering and learn how to experience the suffering at the end of life. And that can be quite instructive. It's also why some Buddhists may, uh, deny pain medication and even, you know, deny anything that kind of clogs their mind, because they want to be conscious at the end of life. They want to experience it all, you know, see where their consciousness goes to the next reincarnation. But there's also a, you know, a massive Buddhist movement that has always kind of seen humanity on quite a similar level to animals, right, that we are all beings of this world, and therefore in the same way that we would, you know, have compassion for the suffering of a pet and, you know, euthanase a pet that's going through unavoidable suffering, with many Buddhists who would therefore support the euthanasia of a human being that's going through suffering, right, in the same way. Because humans are not particularly special, right, we're just another being in this world and we'd want to show the same compassion for both of those. James: Yeah, yeah. Hannah: Huge range of views. James: Yeah. Tracey, you said, you said you're an atheist. Does that mean, you know, once the final curtain falls, that's it? Tracey: Well, I'm one of those very open-minded atheists, James, who, if I am diagnosed with something, I fully am open to the opportunity of religion if I end up needing it at that time. And I imagine a lot of people do that. And if, if I do decide to do that, I would choose Buddhism. Hannah: There's actually a fascinating piece of research that just came out, Professor Manning, a religious studies scholar, and she looked at older atheists and what they think about the end of life. Because we tend to think, well, religious people have beliefs, but we don't really study atheists’ beliefs, right, we just think they all think nothing. But she actually found that there was kind of three different kind of world views or narratives that came out, that can be summarised as: lights out, recycling, or mystery. James: I'm all three. I'm all three. Hannah: So the first one is this idea, it's kind of like – death is like anesthesia, you just, that's it. You're at the end, you know, there's nothing, and it's often very biomedical, right. It's like sleep, but you don't dream, so it's more like anesthesia. You know, we've all, maybe all experienced that, and that's what these people believe, that that will be the end. The second one is recycling. So this is the food for worms idea, right, that yes, I will die, but my, you know… Carl Sagan: ‘We are all made of stardust’, right, we'll go back into the universe and one day I will be an oak tree or a, you know, something, quite, you know, a beautiful idea, which I, you know, I think I subscribe to that, I quite like that. And then the third one that they described around atheists was just mystery. That, for a certain group of people, who knows? And we can't ask anyone. And so that it was, it was almost kind of curiosity and excitement towards the end of life. So there are, yeah, you know, this is quite a great mystery, it's a great adventure, right, that we should all go on. James: Yeah, fantastic. We didn't talk much about, I suppose, the emotion we might feel around death at various points. You know, like, I've observed lots of conversations on the radio where my parents' generation, ‘stiff upper lip’... Hannah: …Stoicism… James: …‘How's she doing? Oh, very well.’ Which means she wasn't feeling anything at all. There's been no, you know, like, that's sort of how you're meant to feel. We now tend to be very emotional about death, you know, like it's, like it's part of our funeral rites, I suppose, to release that, to make sure we all howl. Hannah: Yeah, we have this kind of catharsis model of the funeral, right, which is this idea that, you know, you kind of, even if you might not want to, you go to the funeral and you cry it all out with other people and you have this communal experience of grief. And somehow that is helpful, if not entirely necessary for our long-term grief. But, you know, there's many cultures around the world where wailing is a big tradition, right, so that, you know, women physically throwing themselves at the coffin, howling, collectively crying. You know, it might be an extended period of wearing a certain colour, wearing black, you know, gathering together. Those kind of rituals can also be a way for people to process grief and emotion. You think of, particularly like, you know, in the Jewish tradition of sitting shiva, right, that after someone dies, you immediately gather, right, and there's an extended period of everyone sitting together and dedicated to experiencing grief together. That's quite different to our kind of one-day funeral a week or two after the person's died, and we all go back to our home. Hannah: And it kind of depends on, like, what kind of level of social ties that your cultural society engages in the funeral, right. Do you have a very small private funeral where it's only the immediate family who are the ones that are supposed to be grieving? Or is it everyone you knew in that society, and you have a responsibility to go and be there because you're part of a much larger social fabric, right. And that can be quite different – it can be a 300 or 400-person funeral. You know, one of the largest social groups in Australia is South Asian, Indian, Hindu migration, right? Often extremely large funerals, 300, 400 people in some cases, right, because there's a different expectation about who are the mourners, who is the congregation, who are the people that gather together and stand against death, as it were. Tracey: Another big difference seems to me, and I'd love to hear more about you on this, is the cultures that sit with the body for three days, or have the open coffin for viewing… James: …the body stays at home… Tracey: …of the body, or the body stays at home. Because my sister and I sat with Mum's body for as long as we were legally and practically allowed to in the hospital, which was hours and hours and hours. And when we told a lot of our Western friends, they said what an awful thing to do. But it was really lovely because it cemented the idea that she was actually gone. We told her stories. My sister and I laughed. We cried. It was actually incredibly therapeutic. Hannah: Yeah, and this is one of the difficulties, is people feel, because they have a lot of… People don't have a lot of information, right, so if you're lucky, very lucky, then you'll organise maybe one or two funerals during your whole life, right, and probably there'll be those for your parents, right. And you just don't have a lot of information because we don't talk about it. So you don't know what you're allowed to do. But you know, in all states and territories across Australia, you are allowed to be with that body for an extended period of time. You're allowed to bring that body home. You know, you can actively resist pressures from the hospital and the hospice and everyone else to get you out the door. You can say, no, I would like to be with this body for a bit longer. And as you say, there is also technologies that can allow you to bring the body into the home. I mean, the reason we call them funeral parlours is the front parlour of the house. That is the room where we used to display the body and be with the body and that still occurs in many cultures around the world. You know, it's difficult; it can be difficult. It's not always the right decision, you know, you have to think about your particular circumstances, but it is possible. James: Yeah. Well, thank you so much. Any final words? Tracey: Only that I think we should all choose our own funeral soundtrack. I've been doing that with a girlfriend lately. James: …What's she gone with? Tracey: …Because, you know… well, I've gone with Edith Piaf. Hannah:…Ah, classic… Tracey: …‘No Regrets’, of course. Absolute classic. And my friend is still choosing from five. But I think, otherwise someone else gets a choice, and they might choose something terrible. James: Yes, no, I think that's very important, get your, get your, get your funeral songs sorted out… Hannah: Catering, funeral songs… James: …the whole soundtrack, the catering you'd be concerned about, you want everyone to have something… Hannah: … delicious. James: …any special cheeses or wines you want? Hannah: French. Yeah, this is what we did for my dad as well. It was like red wine, good French cheese, baguettes, you know. If you're going to grieve, if you're going to cry, you need some sustenance to support you. Tracey: Comfort food. Hannah: Comfort food, exactly. James: Yeah, very nice. Tracey: Before we let you go, what's your funeral song? James: Do you mean, what do I want people to hear as the coffin's going out or something like that? I don't know if I've made that choice yet. I don't know. Hannah: Hard rock? Tracey: Jazz? Hannah: Pop? James: No, it'll be something jazz, I guess, or something in that tradition. It's probably none of the Frank songs. Tracey: Something majestic, though. James: So yeah, ‘Zadok the Priest’, Handel… Hannah: …Oh, I like that. Old school. James: …Something huge! I haven't decided. Yeah, it's, it's but you're right. Like everything, do it, put some effort into it, you know, and have all that stuff ready for your children, for those that are going to have to do it, a little folder somewhere. Tracey: You could play some of your television clips from over the years. James: Oh, I don't think so, Tracey. I think yours might have something like… Hannah: …a highlights reel… Tracey: …a showreel! James: Yeah, my showreel. No, let's not do that. It's largely children's television, Tracey. No one wants to see that. Tracey: That would be great at a funeral. James: I could conduct a – I'd like to conduct a beyond-the-grave talkback session, probably, talkback radio or something. That could be very fun. Hannah: People could all call in to your funeral. James: Oh, I love that! Tracey: Interactive funerals! James: It's a ‘simil’ funeral. It's being broadcast on the station and then people can call in with their tributes. Oh, that's good. Hannah: Anything is possible. James: That is good. Okay, we've got it. Thank you for helping me sort that out. Hannah: We've done it. James: Well, thanks so much to our guests, Dr Hannah Gould and Tracey Spicer. You've been listening to Season 6 of Life's Booming, Dying Well, brought to you by Australian Seniors. Please leave a review or tell someone about it. If you want more, head to seniors.com.au/podcast. May your life be booming. I'm James Valentine.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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Ron's wife has moved in with her mom so that she, instead of Ron, can help her move through the final stages of her life. Call 1-800-DR-LAURA / 1-800-375-2872 or make an appointment at DrLaura.comFollow me on social media:Facebook.com/DrLauraInstagram.com/DrLauraProgramYouTube.com/DrLaura
In this episode of Creedal, we discuss what the Incarnation reveals about human dignity and apply those lessons to the ongoing debate about assisted suicide in the UK. Zac provides a detailed overview of the proposed legislation on assisted suicide, arguing against it from both moral and policy perspectives, and highlighting the dangers of framing such issues in a misleading way. In this conversation, Zac discusses the complex issues surrounding assisted dying legislation, emphasizing the need for a nuanced understanding of dignity, autonomy, and the healthcare system. He critiques the slippery slope of assisted suicide laws, highlighting the potential for abuse and the importance of palliative care. Zac argues for the necessity of hope in end-of-life decisions and the ethical responsibilities of healthcare providers. Takeaways Mass hysteria reflects humanity's chronic existential anxiety. Advent serves as a reminder to place hope in Jesus. The incarnation elevates human dignity and opens possibilities for eternal life. Assisted suicide is currently being debated in the UK Parliament. The UK has a long-standing prohibition against assisted suicide since 1961. The recent second reading of the bill indicates majority support in Parliament. Assisted suicide raises significant moral and practical concerns. Public support for assisted dying is often framed misleadingly. Dignity in dying is a term used to garner support for assisted suicide. Assisted suicide is always a bad idea from both moral and policy standpoints. A lack of autonomy does not diminish dignity. Canada's assisted suicide statistics are alarming. Coercion can be implicit in decisions about assisted suicide. Palliative care should be prioritized over assisted suicide. Hope is essential in discussions about end-of-life care. Sound Bites "Our ultimate hope lies in Jesus Christ." "Mass hysteria is a feature of humanity." "Advent is a time to reassess our hope." "This is a giant sea change for the UK." "Assisted suicide is always a problem." "Assisted suicide is bad policy." "We have a broken healthcare system." "Autonomy does not change your dignity." Chapters 00:00- Introduction and Context of Current Events 02:32 - The Significance of Advent and Human Dignity 08:37 - Assisted Suicide: The UK Debate 22:47 - Arguments Against Assisted Suicide 42:30 - The Importance of Hope in End-of-Life Decisions
OPINION: Dying with dignity | Dec. 3, 2024Visit our website at https://www.manilatimes.netFollow us:Facebook - https://tmt.ph/facebookInstagram - https://tmt.ph/instagramTwitter - https://tmt.ph/twitterDailyMotion - https://tmt.ph/dailymotionSubscribe to our Digital Edition - https://tmt.ph/digitalSign up to our newsletters: https://tmt.ph/newslettersCheck out our Podcasts:Spotify - https://tmt.ph/spotifyApple Podcasts - https://tmt.ph/applepodcastsAmazon Music - https://tmt.ph/amazonmusicDeezer: https://tmt.ph/deezerStitcher: https://tmt.ph/stitcherTune In: https://tmt.ph/tunein#TheManilaTimes Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Should a terminal illness be the only reason to access voluntary assisted dying or is there a case to make for those who feel they have a 'completed life'?
Send me a Text MessageJoin host Brian Smith in this enlightening episode of Grief 2 Growth as he interviews Dr. Brad Stuart, a distinguished physician with nearly 50 years of experience. Dr. Stuart has worked in the intense environments of the ER, ICU, and as a hospice Medical Director. They discuss the significant distinction between healing and curing, exploring how spiritual journeys and understanding our true selves play crucial roles in this process. Dr. Stuart also shares his personal experiences and insights into meditation, psychedelics, near-death experiences, and their impact on consciousness.**Key Topics Covered:**1. **Introduction:** - Brian Smith introduces the topic of healing vs. curing. - Introduction to Dr. Brad Stuart and his extensive medical background.2. **Healing vs. Curing:** - Dr. Stuart explains the difference between healing and curing. - Real-life stories from Dr. Stuart's medical career that highlight these concepts.3. **Spirituality and Medicine:** - The role of spirituality in the healing process. - How Dr. Stuart's personal experiences shaped his understanding.4. **Meditation and Psychedelics:** - Insights into how meditation and psychedelics impact consciousness. - Discussion on scientific research supporting these practices.5. **Near-Death Experiences:** - Exploration of near-death experiences and their implications for understanding the brain and consciousness. - Dr. Stuart's perspective on the intersection of science and spirituality.6. **Practical Advice for Healing:** - Tips for incorporating healing practices into daily life. - How to find wholeness and peace in the face of terminal illness or profound grief.**Interactive Elements:**- **Guest Website:** For more about Dr. Brad Stuart and his work, visit [BradStuartMD.com](http://bradstuartmd.com).Join the conversation at our community: grief2growth.com/communityDiscover a unique online space dedicated to individuals navigating the complexities of grief. Our community offers a peaceful, supportive environment free from the distractions and negativity often found on places like Facebook. Connect with others who understand your journey and find solace in shared experiences.https://grief2growth.com/community You can send me a text by clicking the link at the top of the show notes. Use fanmail to:1.) Ask questions.2.) Suggest future guests/topics.3.) Provide feedbackCan't wait to hear from you! I've been studying Near Death Experiences for many years now. I am 100% convinced they are real. In this short, free ebook, I not only explain why I believe NDEs are real, I share some of the universal secrets brought back by people who have had them.https://www.grief2growth.com/ndelessons Support the Show.
Send Victoria a text message!Dive into the depths of grief, joy, and the paradox of emotions with Yvonne Caputo on Grieving Voices this week. From personal tales to professional insights, learn how attentive listening can transform relationships and provide peace in life's transitions.Yvonne reflects on personally challenging life transitions that led her to therapy as she grappled with feelings of loss. Her journey emphasizes not just the grand losses but also those smaller ones that cumulatively shape our lives.Episode Highlights:The Paradox of Emotions: Yvonne talks about containing paradoxes—how we can experience joy in sorrow, teaching us valuable lessons about mental health and resilience. Storytelling & Healing: Listen to how conversations with her father about his WWII experiences helped unearth latent PTSD and transformed their relationship by simply offering an attentive ear.End-of-Life Wishes: Discover why discussing end-of-life preferences is crucial as Caputo recounts honoring her father's wishes for a peaceful passing versus the traumatic hospital death of her mother without known wishes.Therapeutic Practices: Learn from Caputo's approach to providing comfort in therapy—validating experiences without judgment—and its impact on elderly individuals in caregiving settings.From dealing with personal loss to facilitating meaningful dialogues around mortality, this episode is a testament to the healing power of being heard. RESOURCES:Book | Flying with DadBook | Dying with Dadfivewishes.orgGrief RecoveryBook by Annie Sklaver Orenstein | Support the Show.This episode is sponsored by Do Grief Differently™️, my twelve-week, one-on-one, in-person/online program for grievers who have suffered any type of loss to feel better. Click here to learn new tools, grief education, and the only evidence-based method for moving beyond the pain of grief. Would you like to join the mission of Grieving Voices in normalizing grief and supporting hurting hearts everywhere? Become a supporter of the show HERE.
Not all end-of-life experiences are alike. Death can come suddenly, or a person may linger in a near-death state. It's common to wonder what happens when someone is dying and how you can provide comfort and care. Elizabeth Uslander discusses end of life care that addresses physical, emotional, and spiritual needs. Elizabeth is the co-founder of Empowered Endings and co-author of Exploring Your End of Life Options. Follow CYACYL: Website: www.cyacyl.com Digital: www.cyacyl.com/digital Upcoming shows: www.cyacyl.com/shows Facebook: www.facebook.com/changeyourattitudechangeyourlife Music: www.purple-planet.com
[Living and Dying with Dignity] From Tea Words Vol. Two By Chan Master Sheng Yen / Narrated by Yingshyan Ku Tea Words is an archived edition of Master Sheng Yen's early teachings in the West. It contains 50 selected articles published in two volumes. It speaks of the attitude one should have to practice Chan correctly.
The Serendipity Sessions returns again! ***SPOILER ALERT: If you are reading/watching "Three Body Problem" and don't want any spoilers, do not listen to these 5 minutes of the podcast: 5:00 — 10:00. The Serendipity Sessions was designed to be a stream-of-consciousness series so we can stumble upon moments of divine inspiration and clarity without planning anything in advance. In that spirit, we invite you to simply hit play and explore these topics in real-time alongside us. But if you'd like a teaser of what we cover in this episode, here are some hints:Statistically, aliens should exist somewhere out there. So...where are they?The world's top minds are having meetings to inform "regular people" about the reality of extraterrestrial life.Why humans (or any living beings) might be hostile by nature."Woke" people are more likely to be unhappy. Normalize changing your mind!Biden vs. Trump blah blah blah. Politics matter. But, dear god, it's exhausting.Megan wants to be an uncle.Will euthanasia become a more accessible option?Is QAnon still a thing?Candace Owens is going through a rebrand - and people are falling for it.How to get a gay Trump supporter to take their shirt off. "When knowledge exceeds understanding it becomes imagination." - Mami Onami Resources Mentioned in this Episode:Three Body Problem (book link and Netflix show link)Fermi Paradox (wikipedia link)Dark Forest Theory (wikipedia link)Elroy Spacely, alien/UFO expert (website link)The Sol Foundation (website link)Study: Woke people are more likely to be unhappy (article link)Predictive Astrology: The Eagle and The Lark (book link)About The Serendipity Sessions:We began The Serendipity Sessions as a series in the Clairannoyance podcast so we could have real-time unscripted conversations. Unlike our subject-specific deep dives and guest interview episodes, The Serendipity Sessions is a raw reflection of the genuine bond we share. We have no rules and no episode notes in advance, just a free-flowing exchange of thoughts and emotions. It's an exploration of the outer banks of consciousness where untamed treasures are hidden away. We believe one sudden insight can hold immense value, far beyond most meticulously planned discussions. Each session is a unique encounter with chance as we defy routine and enjoy a spontaneous dance with spirituality. We aim to keep these episodes as evergreen as possible, so you can find your way here whenever you need to. And hopefully, you'll encounter pieces of yourself every time you join us.*******************************P.S. Rate us 5 stars please and leave us a review! It helps so much!P.P.S. Get Ryan's new business astrology calendar & join the membership: BizmosCEO.com*******************************Podcast & Host Resources:Clairannoyance InstagramClairannoyance TikTokClairannoyance WebsiteMegan's InstagramMegan's TikTokMegan's WebsiteRyan's InstagramRyan's TikTokRyan's Website
As discourse around squatting reaches a tipping point, Stephen Kent returns to the pod to talk with Ravi about whether squatter incidents are growing, or if this is a manufactured phenomenon. The Economist recently published a comprehensive look at why young women are now more likely to identify as liberal and young men are more likely to identify as conservative. Ravi and Stephen debate the findings and speculate over the reasons behind this gender divide. Finally, Ravi and Stephen delve into the controversial topic of euthanasia, or medical aid in death. They react to the increasing number of U.S. laws surrounding the practice and how the domestic debate compares to other countries. Squatter Hysteria - 0:01 Youth Political Divide - 21:38 Dying with Dignity - 33:50 Voicemail - 53:07 Leave us a voicemail with your thoughts on the show! 321-200-0570 Subscribe to our feed on Spotify: http://bitly.ws/zC9K Subscribe to our Substack: https://thelostdebate.substack.com/ Follow The Branch on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thebranchmedia/ Follow The Branch on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@thebranchmedia Follow The Branch on Twitter: https://twitter.com/thebranchmedia The Branch website: http://thebranchmedia.org/ Lost Debate is also available on the following platforms: Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-lost-debate/id1591300785 Google: https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5tZWdhcGhvbmUuZm0vTERJNTc1ODE3Mzk3Nw iHeart: https://www.iheart.com/podcast/269-the-lost-debate-88330217/ Amazon Music: https://music.amazon.co.uk/podcasts/752ca262-2801-466d-9654-2024de72bd1f/the-lost-debate
Subscribe to my Newsletter:https://substack.com/@openminds?utm_source=profile-pageSubscribe to my Insta: @openmindspodThe conversation explores the misinformation and mischaracterization surrounding medical assistance in dying (MAID). It highlights the need for accurate data and nuanced discussions to counteract the sensationalism often associated with MAID. The chapters cover topics such as the two tracks for MAID approval, the assessment of choice made under duress, the consideration of mature minors for MAID, and the importance of informed dialogue.TakeawaysMisinformation about MAID can lead to misconceptions and mischaracterizations of the practice.Nuanced discussions and accurate data are essential to counteract sensationalism and promote understanding of MAID.The two tracks for MAID approval provide safeguards and ensure careful consideration of each individual's circumstances.The assessment of choice made under duress is a crucial aspect of MAID eligibility.The consideration of mature minors for MAID requires careful evaluation and involvement of parents or guardians.Public awareness and shifting perceptions contribute to a more informed and compassionate approach to MAID.Chapters00:00Misinformation about medical assistance in dying04:04Mischaracterization of medical assistance in dying08:58Bringing nuance to the conversation09:26Recognizing the humanity and importance of choice11:50Assessing the choice made under duress25:02Desire for death as a symptom of mental illness32:35Shifting perceptions and public awareness41:18Considering mature minors for medical assistance in dying50:21Informing and having dialogue51:35The cruel choice and the importance of not forcing itSupport the showVisit my NEW Website! https://openmindspodcast.com/Check out my Instagram/Tik Tok for daily posts: Instagram @openmindspodTiktok @openmindspodcast
D.O. or Do Not: The Osteopathic Physician's Journey for Premed & Medical Students
We are always flattered when we are approached by exemplary physicians who wish to share their story. On today's episode we speak with Dr. Stella Rubina a physician who serves as Director of the Palliative Care Medicine Department at Mount Sinai Hospital of Queens. Dr. Rubina earned her bachelor's degree in psychology from Brooklyn College after which she attended NYITCOM for medical school. After considering a career in Orthopedics, Dr. Rubina entered the SOAP to find a transitional year at St. Peterburg General Hospital in Florida, and subsequently did a family medicine residency. Although not her initial intended path, she ultimately found that she could contribute best to her patients through Hospice and Palliative Care medicine. In today's interview, Dr. Rubina shares her deep philosophy and thoughts on the magnitude of end-of-life care. Dr. Rubina reflects on her journey to medicine starting as a young immigrant woman from russia. She shares how she stayed centered through her unique pathway of medical training which was full of twists and turns. She provides unique advice on navigating through a career in medicine when things don't go exactly as planned and tells us how to find fulfilment and success as a physician no matter the circumstance. Enjoy the episode!
In the Intro to this episode, you'll hear Steven Petrow talking about his sister Julie Petrow's death last June 2023. After years of battling ovarian cancer, Julie, Steven's five-years-younger little sister, chose to die in her New Jersey home by drinking a lethal cocktail. She was surrounded by her family. And it was legal. She used a procedure called MAID or medical aid in dying, which is now legal in 10 states in the U.S. plus the district of Columbia.But before she died, she made Steven, who is a bestselling author and a contributing columnist for The Washington Post, promise to write about how she chose to die, in order to raise awareness around MAID, a practice that many people don't know about, or don't understand, even though it was first legalized in Oregon, almost 30 years ago. So Steven did, publishing an essay about Julie and her decision in The New York Times a few months ago. It got a huge reception with over 600 comments on the NYT's site. In this episode, Steven explains more: What the term medical aid in dying means and what it is exactly (it used to be called physician assisted suicide, but a physician is NOT present)Why he thinks only 9,000 people have availed themselves of the procedure since it first became legalizedWhy it's mostly used by educated whites (for one thing, the cocktail of lethal drugs cost $700 to $900 and is NOT reimbursable)This is simply a fascinating episode and Steven is a lovely guest, eloquent, respectful, and informed. It was such a pleasure to have him back on the show. As always, see below for links to his articles and books, including the NYT article, and a link to the first time he was on the show almost three years ago. //////////Don't miss Debbie's Behind The Scenes essay on Substack accompanying every episode of the podcast. ////////// Mentioned in this episode or useful:Steven Petrow's websiteI Promised My Sister I Would Write About How She Chose to Die by Steven Petrow (New York Times, Dec. 28, 2024)A cancer patient had decided how to die. Here's what I learned from her. by Steven Petrow (Washington Post, Feb. 18, 2024)NPR podcast with Steven Petrow about MAID (Feb. 22, 2024)He didn't want his sister to die. But her suffering helped him understand her choice (NPR, Feb. 25, 2024)How Aid in Dying Became Medical, Not Moral by Rachel E. Gross (New York Times, Oct. 24, 2023)At Peace: Choosing a Good Death After a Long Life by Samuel Harrington MD (Grand Central Life & Style; February 2018)States Where Medical Aid in Dying is Authorized[B]OLD AGE Podcast S3E24 - Steven Petrow on the Stupid Things He Won't Do When He Gets OldStupid Things I Won't Do When I Get Old: A Highly Judgmental, Unapologetically Honest Accounting of All the Things Our Elders Are Doing Wrong by Steven Petrow (Citadel; June 29, 2021)Connect with Debbie:debbieweil.com[B]OLD AGE podcast[B]OLD AGE newsletter on SubstackEmail: thebolderpodcast@gmail.comDebbie and Sam's blog: Gap Year After SixtyFacebook: @debbieweilInstagram: @debbieweilLinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/debbieweil Our Media Partners:CoGenerate (formerly Encore.org)MEA and with thanks to Chip ConleyNext For Me (former media partner and in memory of Jeff Tidwell) How to Support this podcast:Leave a review on Apple PodcastsSubscribe via Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Stitcher or Spotify Credits:Host: Debbie WeilProducer: Far Out MediaMusic: Lakeside Path by Duck Lake
In this thought-provoking episode, Niall talks about the controversial topic of whether dying with dignity should be a personal choice. Currently, under Irish law, both voluntary euthanasia and assisted suicide are illegal, with potential legal consequences for those involved.Niall explores the ethical and moral dimensions of this issue, considering the perspectives of various stakeholders, including the Catholic Church and the National Suicide Research Foundation. The conversation reflects on the potential impact of legislative changes and the challenging task of establishing safeguards to protect vulnerable individuals.As Niall opens up the lines to callers, listeners express diverse opinions. Some argue for the right to individual autonomy, emphasizing compassion and the reduction of unnecessary suffering. For instance, a caller shares a personal experience witnessing a loved one's prolonged suffering and argues for the importance of having a choice in such situations.On the other side of the spectrum, callers express concerns about potential coercion, the devaluation of life, and financial motives. A caller discusses the slippery slope argument, fearing that legalizing assisted dying might lead to unintended consequences and create a culture where life is not prioritized.The episode provides a platform for a nuanced discussion on a topic that intersects morality, ethics, and personal beliefs. Niall engages with callers, allowing them to share their perspectives and personal stories, contributing to a rich and multifaceted conversation.In the wrap-up, Niall synthesizes the key points from the callers, leaving listeners with a deepened understanding of the complexities surrounding end-of-life decisions and the ongoing debate on whether dying with dignity should be a choice.
Is dying with dignity a human right? Should we be allowed to choose death over suffering? In Korea, these are tough questions asked by the government, lawyers, doctors, and, more importantly, society. We explore the euthanasia issue in Korea.Join our Patreon to get more stuffhttps://patreon.com/darksideofseoulBook a tour of The Dark Side of Seoul Ghost Walk at https://darksideofseoul.comCreditsProduced by Joe McPherson and Shawn MorrisseyMusic by SoraksanTop Tier PatronsAngel EarlJoel BonominiShaaron CullenDevon HiphnerMinseok LeeGabi PalominoSteve MarshMitchy Brewer Ron ChangMackenzie MooreHunter WinterCecilia Löfgren DumasEmily UmbaughJosephine RydbergDavid WeatherlyJanice SongSupport the showJoin our Patreon to get more stuff https://patreon.com/darksideofseoul Book a tour of The Dark Side of Seoul Ghost Walk at https://darksideofseoul.com Pitch your idea here. https://www.darksideofseoul.com/expats-of-the-wild-east/ Credits Produced by Joe McPherson and Shawn Morrissey Music by Soraksan Top tier Patrons Angel EarlJoel BonominiShaaron CullenDevon HiphnerMinseok LeeRyan BerkebileGabi PalominoSteve MarshChad StruhsMitchy Brewer Sarah FordRon ChangMackenzie MooreHunter Winter Facebook Page | Instagram
Chad open the show talking about how Minnesota needs to take action to allow terminally ill people to make their own end of life decisions. Later, a great conversation with Major Garrett covers reports of journalists that were with Hamas for the October 7th attacks in Israel, Joe Manchin's future with No Labels and the best podcast out there today.
Terminally ill Minnesotans deserve the right to make end of life decisions. Chad speaks about the topic of dying with dignity and why it is well beyond time for Minnesota to allow folks to make those decision for themselves.
Judith Bishop breaks down the misconceptions of legalized assisted suicide for the terminally ill. Judith spent her career as a midwife, helping bring countless babies into the world. Although she retired, she was not done helping families. Now she helps them in a different way, she volunteers to aid individuals who are terminally ill with ending their life through legalized assisted suicide. We discuss Brittany Maynard, a young woman, who brought the difficult subject matter to the forefront when she was diagnosed with terminal cancer and decided it was the right decision for her and for her family. The country followed her story as she was forced to move to Oregon in order to do it legally. Judith brings humanity to this very hot button issue, allowing us a behind the scenes look at the doctors and patients behind the headlines. Some might not agree with what she does, or those who choose to do it, but it's an incredible story worth listening to and learning from. ——————————- VISIT OUR SPONSORS! This episode is sponsored by Rocket Money. Stop throwing your money away! Cancel unwanted subscriptions – and manage your expenses the easy way – by going to RocketMoney.com/UNDERSTOOD —————————— Follow Rachel on Instagram @RachelUchitelNYC Executive Producer: Alison Goodman Please like, share, subscribe, and give us a 5-star review! Do you have show ideas, media requests or sponsorship opportunities? Email the show at: infomissunderstoodpodcast@gmail.com Listen on Apple or Spotify or wherever you find your podcasts. Watch Every Episode On YouTube! @missunderstoodpodcast
Is there ever a moral way to help someone die?
In this episode we discuss:(00:00) 388(00:41) Introduction(03:43) Dying With Dignity(04:52) The Voice(05:39) The Greens(22:09) David Van(31:44) Nicole Werner(37:37) Geoffrey Sachs on NYT(40:20) AUKUS(42:18) Right Wing Brains(47:00) Reality Show Contestant(49:03) Taiwan(51:12) Mexico(56:29) TrumpChapters, images & show notes powered by vizzy.fm.To financially support the Podcast you can make a per-episode donation via Patreon or donate through PaypalWe Livestream every Tuesday night at 7:30pm Brisbane time. Follow us on Facebook or YouTube, watch us live and join the discussion in the chat room.You can sign up for our newsletter which is basically links to articles that Trevor has highlighted as potentially interesting and which may be discussed on the podcast. You will get 3 emails per week.
The Dying with Dignity committee will have its first public sitting later this morning. Independent TD Michael Healy-Rae is chairing the committee and he explained to Shane what is on the agenda today.
In this episode we discuss a range of topics so equal and yet so diverse, they refuse to be pigeonholed into a simple podcast description.(00:00) 385a(00:43) Introduction(02:05) My Week(05:06) Dying With Dignity(10:56) Lidia Thorpe(13:57) Poll on Racism(24:02) ABC and Murdoch Journalists(33:34) Stan Grant ... again(40:28) Tina Turner(45:01) Sports Betting Advertising(48:56) Submarines(49:26) Scomo Memoir(51:13) Private School Payroll Tax(53:13) Ukraine Stuff(01:08:49) Linda Hurley(01:11:19) Rent Crisis(01:22:18) ANC and PutinChapters, images & show notes powered by vizzy.fm.To financially support the Podcast you can make a per-episode donation via Patreon or donate through PaypalWe Livestream every Tuesday night at 7:30pm Brisbane time. Follow us on Facebook or YouTube, watch us live and join the discussion in the chat room.You can sign up for our newsletter which is basically links to articles that Trevor has highlighted as potentially interesting and which may be discussed on the podcast. You will get 3 emails per week.
On previous episode number 28, "Markers of the Heart" touched on the truth about advocating for ourselves. This week's episode number 29 continues with that topic as Mary Anne Oglesby-Sutherly and Sue Duffield discuss how to support and advocate for those living with dementia and the aging population. As usual, something always sparks Mary Anne's desire to share the truth with honest concern of life lessons she has learned in her advocacy journey. This week is no exception. Discussion includes Mary Anne's new diagnosis of "non-specified dementia" and also the arrest of a gentleman with FTD and that family's horrific journey. It's very obvious that this culture needs better understanding for those living with dementia. Most of all, the realization is vital to find ways to advocate for our loved one's health, as well as our own. The end of this episode shows a little levity that always seems to work its way into the dialogue between Mary Anne and Sue. It's sort of like a therapeutic release so desperately needed when talking about some of the most difficult realities of aging. www.verandaministries.org
Yvonne Caputo has led an amazing life, with many different careers including a teacher, a psychotherapist, and an EAP counselor, to name a few. When she was 72 years old, she published her first book called Flying with Dad, which documented her father's life as a WWII pilot. Through those conversations, their relationship was changed, and he opened up about his wishes for when it was time for him to cross over, and Yvonne was able to experience this time with him. This led to her second book, called Dying with Dad, which she published when she was 75. This episode is about finding strength in love and recognizing that in the end, it's not about what you want. It's about honoring our loved ones' wishes and being comfortable enough with their decisions to follow through with them. Tune in to hear more from this episode! Connect with Yvonne: Buy the Books: https://ingeniumbooks.com/yvonne-caputo/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/yvonne-caputo-1449137/ Connect with Heather on Instagram at @iamheatherlove: https://www.instagram.com/iamheatherlove/ Get Heather's Journal Prompts to Finding Your Purpose HERE.
Nathan, Bardi and Windy are back for a second time this week to answer your questions.----------You've been listening to The Extra Inch, a Spurs podcast.Production by Nathan A Clark (Twitter @NathanAClark).Music by David Lindmer (https://www.instagram.com/davidlindmer).Artwork by Trayton Miller (https://www.traytonrmiller.com/).Go get your merch at https://www.theextrainch.co.ukEmail us at podcast@theextrainch.co.ukBecome an xSub: https://www.patreon.com/theextrainchBuy us a coffee: https://ko-fi.com/theextrainchTwitter: https://twitter.com/TheExtraInchFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheExtraInch/Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/theextrainch#Spurs #COYS #THFCThe Extra Inch is a Tottenham podcast brought to you by Windy, Bardi and Nathan A Clark. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Debbie talks to eldercare expert Star Bradbury about some of the most important topics in her comprehensive new book, Successfully Navigating Your Parents' Senior Years: Critical Information to Maximize Their Independence and Make Sure They Get the Care They Need (BenBella Books, March 21, 2023).Soon after they spoke, Debbie's 92-year-old mother died unexpectedly, making the conversation especially timely.Star's book is a compendium of how to plan and care for an elderly parent - or your own care many years down the road. She covers every topic you could think of including different types of assisted living and home care, assistive robots for seniors (yes, it's a thing), living wills and advance directives, hospice and death doulas, cremation and green burials, and much more."Expect the unexpected" is part of her message. And In my family's case, we were unprepared. We were stunned when our mom died. We had expected our dad to go first.The book is the result of her 25 years of experience in senior healthcare and senior living and her answer to the overwhelming complexity of options and situations when it comes to aging parents.Star is also speaking to those of us in our 60s and 70s (and younger) who should be looking at planning for what she calls “post-retirement." Mentioned in this episode or useful:Star Bradbury's websiteFacebookYouTubeSuccessfully Navigating Your Parents' Senior Years: Critical Information to Maximize Their Independence and Make Sure They Get the Care They Need by Star Bradbury (BenBella Books, 2023)The Conversation Project Get the inside skinny on every episode of [B]OLDER:Subscribe to Debbie's newsletter for the inside story about every episode. You will also get her 34-page writing guide: https://bitly.com/debbie-free-guide. Request from Debbie:If you've been enjoying the podcast, please take a moment to leave a short review on Apple Podcasts. It really makes a difference in attracting new listeners. Connect with Debbie:debbieweil.com[B]OLDER podcastEmail: thebolderpodcast@gmail.comBlog: Gap Year After SixtyFacebook: @debbieweilInstagram: @debbieweilLinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/debbieweilTwitter: @debbieweil Our Media Partners:CoGenerate (formerly Encore.org)MEA and with thanks to Chip ConleyNext For Me (former media partner and in memory of Jeff Tidwell) How to Support this podcast:Leave a review on Apple PodcastsSubscribe via Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Stitcher or Spotify Credits:Host: Debbie WeilProducer: Far Out MediaMusic: Lakeside Path by Duck Lake
Stand Up is a daily podcast that I book,host,edit, post and promote new episodes with brilliant guests every day. Please subscribe now for as little as 5$ and gain access to a community of over 750 awesome, curious, kind, funny, brilliant, generous souls Check out StandUpwithPete.com to learn more Today's conversation with Eric Segall is really deep, thought provoking and, important Eric of course is a close friend and a listener favorite for years. He is an Author, Commentator and Podcast host. Eric and I talked about the recent loss of his beloved father at 93 and how hard the end was for everyone. I think this conversation gives us all a lot to think about in regarding how we might change laws to better go out on our own terms. Read Eric's piece about it in Dorf on Law : Of Dad, Death, and Dying With Dignity (Or the Lack Thereof)and follow, listen and read Eric too! Pete on YouTube Pete on Twitter Pete On Instagram Pete Personal FB page Stand Up with Pete FB page
ANDREA WILSON WOODS is a writer who loves to tell stories, and a patient advocate who founded the nonprofit Blue Faery: The Adrienne Wilson Liver Cancer Association. Andrea is the CEO and co-founder of Cancer University, a for-profit, social-impact, digital health company. Her best-selling and award-winning book, Better Off Bald: A Life in 147 Days, is a medical memoir about raising and losing her sister to liver cancer. For more, go to https://www.andreawilsonwoods.com/
ok so this probably doesn't seem like the most uplifting topic to dig into and maybe some people will completely avoid listening to this episode for fear of grief or sad memories or just a general aversion to death talk. trust me, i get it. i love avoiding tough topics! but death is a THING. i mean, right? it's the one thing we cannot steer clear of - no matter how hard we try. and don't we all want to go with a little grace? today's stories are beautiful and hard and sad and sweet and heartwarming. with special guests: @tilldeathdoulaparts, @dirtbagdanno/@mysonthehurricane, @permission_to_bloom, @marnieandmichael & @johannabethalmond. x. follow the podcast on instagram: @thisisitactually follow me & the podcast on twitter: @jenibesworth
Sean Illing talks with reporter Katie Engelhart, whose book The Inevitable is an up-close look at physician-assisted dying. This is the practice of receiving state-sanctioned medical aid to end one's life — a practice now legal in 10 U.S. states, Canada, and elsewhere around the world. They discuss the details of the procedure — including why people fight for this right and exercise it — as well as many of the moral and legal questions that it raises. Host: Sean Illing (@seanilling), host, The Gray Area Guest: Katie Engelhart (@katieengelhart), journalist; author References: The Inevitable: Dispatches on the Right to Die by Katie Engelhart (St. Martin's; 2021) Brittany Maynard's legislative testimony Enjoyed this episode? Rate The Gray Area ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ and leave a review on Apple Podcasts. Subscribe for free. Be the first to hear the next episode of The Gray Area. Subscribe in your favorite podcast app. Support Vox Conversations by making a financial contribution to Vox! bit.ly/givepodcasts This episode was made by: Producer: Erikk Geannikis Editor: Amy Drozdowska Engineers: Patrick Boyd, Paul Robert Mounsey Editorial Director, Vox Talk: A.M. Hall Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
A Quin health campaigner will deliver a petition looking to progress the Dying With Dignity Bill to the Dáil this lunchtime. John Wall is living with Stage IV prostate cancer and is lending his support to the campaign by End Of Life Ireland to allow someone with a terminal or incurable illness to end their lives in a peaceful manner. Almost 5,000 people have signed the petition which calls for the promised special Oireachtas committee to be convened to discuss the legislation as a matter of urgency. John has been telling Clare FM's Rebecca O'Sullivan why support for today's action is so significant.
A Clare man living with stage four cancer is calling for the promised Special Oireachtas Committee on the Dying with Dignity Bill to be urgently convened. The bill, proposed by People Before Profit TD Gino Kenny, proposes that people who are terminally ill can seek assistance for "a dignified and peaceful end of life." Quin man, John Wall believes legislators need to work together to find a holistic solution for people with a terminal illness, that has strict criteria for access and is legally permissible. John will be among a group of people who will be descending on Leinster House next week to hand over a signed petition calling for the discussion to begin in earnest.
Dr. Sunita Puri was raised in a spiritual family who taught her the significance of not only life, but of death. Now as a director of Hospice and Palliative Medicine Fellowship, she has spent an innumerable amount of hours helping terminally-ill patients and their family members make end-of-life decisions. Dr. Puri outlines this intersection of her family's spirituality and her medical career in her 2019 memoir “That Good Night: Life and Medicine in the Eleventh Hour”. In episode 19 of Beyond the Prescription Dr. Puri and Dr. McBride blend their collective experiences as medical professionals into an insightful and honest discussion about the role of medicine in the quality and quantity of life. Join Dr. Lucy McBride every Tuesday for a new episode of Beyond the Prescription on Apple podcasts, Spotify or wherever you catch your podcasts. Find her at lucymcbride.com/podcast. Get full access to Are You Okay? at lucymcbride.substack.com/subscribe
Welcome to episode 76, one of the funniest and darkest episodes to date, where we talk about various childhood memories and tales from the weekend. We get into assisted suicide, the dying with dignity movement, the mice utopia experiment and how it relates to the current world situation and the war on our minds with distraction after distraction. Later in the show we are joined by Kyle Rainey host of The Big Dumb Podcast to talk about podcasting, The 4th Industrial Revolution and the future of his show. Enjoy the show and as always Thank You for Your Support. Follow us on Instagram Ron Lane (@ronfromnewengland) • Instagram photos and videos Ron from New England (@thewickedplanetpodcast) • Instagram photos and videos Tristan.A.Buckley (@tristan.a.buckley) • Instagram photos and videos Join our Telegram Chat at https://t.me/wickedplanet Donate to the show for our Send a Buck Campaign via Venmo Ron-Lane-10 Follow Kyle and The Big Dumb Podcast on Instagram The Big Dumb Podcast (@thebigdumb_podcast) • Instagram photos and videos Additional Links Dying With Dignity Canada | It's your life. It's your choice. Death With Dignity | End-Of-Life Advocacy and Policy Reform Behavioral sink - Wikipedia Aktion T4 - Wikipedia The Mouse Utopia Experiment By Brian Simpson (alor.org) Two Vaginas video (108) I Have 2 Separate Vaginas | BORN DIFFERENT - YouTube
Welcome to The Nonlinear Library, where we use Text-to-Speech software to convert the best writing from the Rationalist and EA communities into audio. This is: Connor Leahy on Dying with Dignity, EleutherAI and Conjecture, published by Michaël Trazzi on July 22, 2022 on LessWrong. I talked to Connor Leahy about Yudkowsky's antimemes in Death with Dignity, common misconceptions about EleutherAI and his new AI Alignment company Conjecture. Below are some highlighted quotes from our conversation (available on Youtube, Spotify, Google Podcast, Apple Podcast). For the full context for each of these quotes, you can find an accompanying transcript, organized in 74 sub-sections. Understanding Eliezer Yudkowsky Eliezer Has Been Conveying Antimemes “Antimemes are completely real. There's nothing supernatural about it. Most antimemes are just things that are boring. So things that are extraordinarily boring are antimemes because, by their nature, resist you remembering them. And there's also a lot of antimemes in various kinds of sociological and psychological literature. A lot of psychology literature, especially early psychology literature, which is often very wrong to be clear. Psychoanalysis is just wrong about almost everything. But the writing style, the kind of thing these people I think are trying to do is they have some insight, which is an antimeme. And if you just tell someone an antimeme, it'll just bounce off them. That's the nature of an antimeme. So to convey an antimeme to people, you have to be very circuitous, often through fables, through stories you have, through vibes. This is a common thing. Moral intuitions are often antimemes. Things about various human nature or truth about yourself. Psychologists, don't tell you, "Oh, you're fucked up, bro. Do this." That doesn't work because it's an antimeme. People have protection, they have ego. You have all these mechanisms that will resist you learning certain things. Humans are very good at resisting learning things that make themselves look bad. So things that hurt your own ego are generally antimemes. So I think a lot of what Eliezer does and a lot of his value as a thinker is that he is able, through however the hell his brain works, to notice and comprehend a lot of antimemes that are very hard for other people to understand.” Why the Dying with Dignity Heuristic is Useful “The whole point of the post is that if you do that, and you also fail the test by thinking that blowing TSMC is a good idea, you are not smart enough to do this. Don't do it. If you're smart enough, you figured out that this is not a good idea... Okay, maybe. But most people, or at least many people, are not smart enough to be consequentialists. So if you actually want to save the world, you actually want to save the world... If you want to win, you don't want to just look good or feel good about yourself, you actually want to win, maybe just think about dying with dignity instead. Because even though you, in your mind, you don't model your goal as winning the world, the heuristic that the action is generated by the heuristic will reliably be better at actually saving the world.” “There's another interpretation of this, which I think might be better where you can model people like AI_WAIFU as modeling timelines where we don't win with literally zero value. That there is zero value whatsoever in timelines where we don't win. And Eliezer, or people like me, are saying, 'Actually, we should value them in proportion to how close to winning we got'. Because that is more healthy... It's reward shaping! We should give ourselves partial reward for getting partially the way. He says that in the post, how we should give ourselves dignity points in proportion to how close we get. And this is, in my opinion, a much psychologically healthier way to actually deal with the problem. This is how I reason about the problem. I expect to die. I expect this not to work out. But hell, I'm going to give it a good shot ...
A special summer episode, in which we update last October's conversation with Jacqueline Jencquel, a member of the French Association for the right to die with dignity (ADMD). She talks about planning her own death and what needs to change in French law. Also, from the archives, a look at pastry chefs preparing Christmas cakes... in August. Spotlight on France is a podcast from Radio France International. Find us on rfienglish.com, iTunes (link here), Spotify (link here), Google podcasts (link here), or your favourite podcast app (pod.link/1573769878).
Debbie Weil brings her husband Sam Harrington back on the show for a dose of his dry humor and to wrap up Season 4.Sam shares some of his favorite episodes (see below) and they discuss several topics in the news: Medical Aid In Dying and the 100-year life. If you've listened to Sam in previous episodes, you can probably guess what he thinks about living to 100. Sam is a retired physician; friends and family affectionately call him Dr. Death.They also talk about grandparenting and what you can expect from Season 5. Sam's favorite episodes from Season 4[B]OLDER S4-EP13: Nicholas Christakis With a 2022 COVID Update[B]OLDER S4-EP2: Emily Moore on Becoming a Cancer Survivor at age 43[B]OLDER S4-EP16: Bestselling Author Dan Pink on the Power of Regret at any Age[B]OLDER S4-EP17: Dr. Bree Johnston on Psychedelic Therapy to Ease Fear of Death Mentioned in this episode:S4-EP19: Paula Span on Ageism, Journalism, and the Art of GrandparentingApollo's Arrow: The Profound and Enduring Impact of Coronavirus on the Way We Live by Nicholas A. Christakis MD PhD (Little, Brown Spark; 2021)At Peace: Choosing a Good Death After a Long Life by Samuel Harrington MD (Grand Central Life & Style; 2018)Breaking the Age Code: How Your Beliefs About Aging Determine How Long and Well You Live by Becca Levy PhD (William Morrow; 2022)Betty White Reveals Her Secrets to a Long, Happy Life (People Magazine, December 28, 2021)Podcast - The 100 Year Lifestyle Previous episodes featuring host Debbie Weil and her husband Sam Harrington:S4-EP6: Debbie & Sam on Entering the Land of the OldS3-EP22: Debbie & Sam on Getting Calm and Centered in BajaS3-EP16: Debbie & Sam on Fasting For Five Days and Why They Were Crazy Enough to Do ItS2-EP24: Debbie & Sam on the Gap Year For Everyone, Silver Linings, and Not Should'ingS2-EP18: Debbie & Sam on the New Normal, Quarantines, Immunity Passports, and Masks & GlovesS2-EP12: Debbie & Sam on the Coronavirus, Magical Thinking, and AgingS1-EP10: On Debbie & Sam's Bucket List: Living in FranceS1-EP2: Debbie & Sam on How They Decided to Take a Gap Year at Age 62 Note from DebbieIf you've been enjoying the podcast, please consider leaving a short review on Apple Podcasts. It takes less than two minutes and it really makes a difference. It makes me feel loved and it also attracts new listeners.Subscribe to my newsletter and get my free writing guide: https://bitly.com/debbie-free-guide. Connect with me:Website: debbieweil.comTwitter: @debbieweilInstagram: @debbieweilFacebook: @debbieweilLinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/debbieweilBlog: Gap Year After SixtyEmail: thebolderpodcast@gmail.comDebbie We are looking for a sponsor or to join a podcast networkIf you are interested in reaching a smart and thoughtful audience of midlife, and older, listeners, contact Debbie Weil. Media PartnersNext For MeEncore.orgMEA Support this podcast:Leave a review on Apple Podcasts: it will help us find a sponsor! If you are interested, contact Debbie WeilSubscribe via Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Stitcher or Spotify Credits:Host: Debbie WeilProducer: Far Out MediaPodcast websiteMusic: Lakeside Path by Duck Lake
Alua Arthur has one of the world's most important jobs: she helps people die with dignity. After getting a law degree and starting a career in social work, she became a death doula. She helps individuals and families navigate end of life transitions. As a result, she has profound wisdom on how eventual death can inspire us to live more purposefully. In this conversation, she shares gem after gem about life, grief, work, and evolution. Behind her brilliance: Leading with her heart Say hi to Alua on Instagram at @luvaloveslife
Mary Anne Oglesby-Sutherly and her guest, Barbara Karnes, get right to it from the beginnging, describing Barbara's iconic hospice guide “the little blue book”, Gone from My Sight. Barbara is an internationally respected speaker, educator, author, and thought leader on matters of end of life. She is a renowned authority on the dying process and a leading educator for families, healthcare professionals, and the community at large. Barbara's award winning DVDs and books about death and dying are changing lives - in this country and around the world. In her work, Barbara compassionately explains stages of the dying process, living with a life threatening illness, pain management, and how people grieve. She explains how important it is to take care of yourself as a caregiver and offers guidelines for professionals. For more information on Barbara and her life as an American Hospice Pioneer, plus her resource of materials, get on https://bkbooks.com/blogs/media www.verandaministries.org
"Dying with Dignity" laws allow what is commonly called assisted suicide. ALZ and dementia do not qualify. J Smiles is not happy about this but as usual she finds away to add sparkle to a sour situation and slides in a few solutions for our community.Snuggle UP for how J plans to beat the system and why author Amy Bloom impacted this episode. For Episode Comments & Future Topic Suggestions:TEXT a purple heart "
Welcome back! In true reboot fashion, we're going to talk about end of life and dying with dignity in this brand new episode. Does this description seem kind of familiar? Well it should because this is the second episode of what will be multiple episodes I want to release throughout the year regarding end of life. Western culture is really great with shying away from talking about death. Let's change that. As Marty McFly would say, "this is heavy" so please, exercise listener discretion with this series. Kudos Corner Penny Hawkins aka Nurse Penny: https://www.instagram.com/hospicenursepenny/ https://twitter.com/itsnursepenny https://www.facebook.com/hospicenursepenny https://www.tiktok.com/@hospicenursepenny To all those who are fully vaccinated, masking, and still looking out for the under served, thank you from the bottom of my cold, jaded ER nurse heart. I love you. Thanks for your support and listening to the show for yet another week! Speaking of listening, special shout out to audio editing whiz, Sam of Kingdom Media!! (https://es.fiverr.com/kingdom_media) Feel free to reach out to me at anytime! Twitter: www.twitter.com/peoplearewild Email the show: peoplearewildpod@gmail.com Yell at the show: Outside in a field, I'll hear you. Intro Music deets: Swing Rabbit ! Swing ! by Amarià https://soundcloud.com/amariamusique Creative Commons — Attribution 3.0 Unported — CC BY 3.0 Free Download / Stream: https://bit.ly/al-swing-rabbit-swing Music promoted by Audio Library https://youtu.be/lt7fn1NVxQM
Birth and death are the bookends of life, yet we welcome one and dread the other. Why is it that birth is celebrated, but death is taboo? Since the beginning of time, women have labored and birthed at home, attended by a midwife and their female friends and kin. This camaraderie of women, once universal, was a way to provide birth support and also to pass on knowledge about pregnancy, childbirth, and parenting. Death and dying can be taboo topics that families tend to avoid. Then, when a loved one becomes ill, family members are emotionally unprepared on how to have delicate conversations about a person's end-of-life desires. An end-of-life doula approaches these situations with empathy, helping families come together to have open conversations and ensure that nothing is left unsaid. This provides peace for the dying patient and a sense of closure for the grieving family, which aids in their healing process. The transition from this physical realm to the next realm is a sacred space. End-of-life doulas are a bridge to continue one's soul journey. In this podcast, Ariela has a conversation with Vanessa Johnston, End-of-Life Doula and Owner of Denver EOL Doula, and Co-Founder/ Second Vice-President, Membership of Colorado End-of-Life Collaborative. Her mission is to empower those who are dying to experience their final milestone with dignity and grace. She seeks to provide individualized and intersectional emotional, spiritual, and informational support for people with a terminal diagnosis and their loved ones. She is a compassionate companion and provides a witness in sacred service to honor the final chapter in others' stories. In this podcast, you will discover: How to get comfortable with and talk about death and dying The importance of being an open container for your loved one's dying process and honor their journey The similarities between birth and death and how to see the dying process as a spiritual journey How to empower yourself in the phases of death, dying How to take your power back and plan for your death even in the unknown mysteries of death and dying.
In the church, we care for souls. But what is it that we are doing in that work? It is our conviction that we are helping one another die well--with dignity and hope. That may sound like a strange thing to say, but we are convinced it's biblical. In this life, we are weak and frail. We experience suffering and pain. Yet, Christ is our hope. And he has secured for us a life that is beyond this one. Semper Reformanda: The guys discuss a theology of the cross versus a theology of glory. And, we consider the point of our sanctification. Resources:Episode: Take Up Your Cross Giveaway: "Recovering Eden" by Zack Eswine FREE EBOOK: Theocast.org/primer SUPPORT Theocast: https://theocast.org/give/ FACEBOOK: Theocast: https://www.facebook.com/Theocast.org TWITTER: Theocast: https://twitter.com/theocast_org INSTAGRAM: Theocast: https://www.instagram.com/theocast_org/
Alfie Evans struggles for life, North Korea and South Korea meet, and we check the mailbag. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Alfie Evans struggles for life, North Korea and South Korea meet, and we check the mailbag. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices