Seeing Death Clearly
Seeing Death Clearly is a show that challenges you to think about your beliefs about death, dying, grief, and living life. I am your host, Jill McClennen, a death doula and end-of-life coach. As a death doula, I found through first-hand experience that the more I came to terms with my thoughts and feelings about death and dying, the more present I became in my everyday life and I hope to share that with you too, how you can live a better life by having a healthier relationship with death and dying. Each episode features a guest who shares their...
Pluralism, Belonging, and Death Doula Work with Liz Vogel
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How do we connect with people who see the world differently than we do? Can we respect someone's beliefs without agreeing with them? And what can the work of a death doula teach us about listening, understanding, and building stronger communities?
In this episode of Seeing Death Clearly, host Jill McClennen talks with Liz Vogel, leader of New Pluralists, about belonging, human connection, and what it means to live in a community where people have different beliefs, backgrounds, and experiences.
Liz shares how her career has focused on understanding...
Why Every Loss Matters with Laura Jaye Cramer of Candlelight Magazine
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Grief looks different for everyone, but society often places expectations on how people should mourn. Some losses receive more support than others, leaving people feeling that their grief doesn't matter. Creating space for honest conversations about death, loss, and healing can help people feel less alone.
In this episode of Seeing Death Clearly, death doula and funeral celebrant Jill McClennen talks with Seattle-based journalist Laura Jaye Cramer, creator of Candlelight Magazine, about changing the way people understand and talk about grief.
After losing her father and brother in 2021, Laura...
Death in the Digital Age with Niki Weiss
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What happens to your digital life after you die? From family photos and social media accounts to passwords and online subscriptions, so much of our lives now exists online. But these digital assets are often overlooked when it comes to end-of-life planning.
In this episode of Seeing Death Clearly, death doula and funeral celebrant Jill McClennen talks with Niki Weiss, a digital thanatologist who studies how death, dying, and grief intersect with technology.
After losing both of her parents to cancer, Niki experienced firsthand how overwhelming the responsibilities after...
When the Funeral Is Over: Grief, Child Loss, and Showing Up for Others with Kelly Edmondson
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What happens to someone who is grieving when the funeral is over and everyone else returns to their normal lives? Grief doesn't follow a schedule, and some of the hardest moments can come weeks or months after a death, when the support begins to fade.
In this episode of Seeing Death Clearly, death doula and funeral celebrant Jill McClennen talks with Kelly Edmondson, a nurse and healthcare executive whose understanding of death and grief changed after the unexpected loss of her 28-year-old son, Darius...
Psychologist Liz Scott on Mortality, Grief, and Living Fully
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Death is everywhere in movies, television, and the news, yet talking about our own mortality is something many people avoid. Why are we so fascinated by death while also being afraid of it? And could facing the reality of dying help us live more meaningful lives?
In this episode of Seeing Death Clearly, death doula and funeral celebrant Jill McClennen talks with psychologist and writer Liz Scott, author of You're Going to Die But Not Me, about death anxiety, grief...
A Death Doula's Perspective on Grief with Nikki Smith aka Nikki the Death Doula
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Grief isn't just something we experience when someone dies. It can show up during major life changes, the end of relationships, aging, and losses we may not even recognize as grief. Learning to acknowledge these experiences can help us better understand our emotions and find ways to move through them.
In this episode of Seeing Death Clearly, host Jill McClennen, a death doula and funeral celebrant, talks with Nikki Smith, also known as Nikki the Death Doula, a death doula and grief coach in Columbus, Ohio.
Together, they explore...
Caregiving Is an Amateur Business with Sarah Vosburgh
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In this episode of Seeing Death Clearly, Sarah Vosburg shares the complicated reality of caregiving, grief, memory care, and learning to give herself grace for decisions made during an incredibly difficult time. Caring for a parent with dementia can mean making difficult choices without knowing whether there is a “right” answer.
Host Jill McClennen, a death doula and funeral celebrant, talks with Sarah, a retired school psychologist and author of Who Will Name the Bees? Sarah cared for her mother as dementia changed their relationship and eventually led to n...
Bringing Dying Back Into the Community with Hannah Fowler
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What could end-of-life care look like if caring for people who are dying became more of a community responsibility?
In this episode, Jill talks with nurse Hannah Fowler about small, community-based homes for people at the end of life and the role these spaces can play for people who may not have family, caregivers, or a safe place to die.
Hannah shares how her work in nursing and hospice eventually brought her to the Center for Conscious Living...
The Psychology of Dying with Dr. Anya Schultz
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In this episode of Seeing Death Clearly, I talk with psychology professor Dr. Anya Schultz, who teaches a course on the Psychology of Death and Dying. Her classroom gives students permission to explore subjects many of us are taught to avoid, often leading them to question their assumptions about death, grief, funerals, and what it means to say goodbye.
Anya shares some of the exercises she uses with her students, including writing goodbye letters, imagining their own deaths, creating funeral programs and eulogies, and...
The Stories We Carry After Someone Dies with Steve Beal Sr.
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In this episode of Seeing Death Clearly, I’m joined by writer and father of six Steve Beal Sr. for a conversation about family stories, grief, faith, and what we can learn when we take the time to really listen to the people who came before us.
Steve shares how traveling with his mother to New Brunswick, Canada, to visit aging relatives eventually led him to begin recording the stories and experiences that would become a book about family, memory, and what he calls “gene...
Losing a Sister and Learning to Live With Loss with Lila Glasoe Francese
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When Lila Glasoe Francese’s sister Carolyn was diagnosed with glioblastoma in 2015, life changed quickly. Carolyn underwent surgeries and a trial treatment before dying 13 months later at just 46 years old, leaving behind a seven-year-old son and a family learning how to live with an enormous loss.
In this episode of Seeing Death Clearly, Lila joins death doula and funeral celebrant Jill McClennen for a conversation about what grief actually looks like over time, not as something we simply move through and leave behind, but as...
Death Doulas and Hospice Nurses Talk Caregiving Community and Conscious Dying with Trish Rux and Jan Booth
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In this episode of Seeing Death Clearly, I’m joined by hospice nurses and end-of-life doulas Jan Booth and Trish Rux, authors of Dying Matters: Eight Conversations That Can Change Your Life.
We talk about why conversations about serious illness, caregiving, and end-of-life wishes need to begin long before a crisis. Through their years of hospice and palliative care experience, Jan and Trish have seen how often families find themselves making difficult decisions without having talked about what matters most to the pe...
The Real Cost of Care: Planning for Long-Term Care and Caregiving with Raymond Lavine
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Today, I’m joined by long-term care specialist Raymond Lavine for a conversation about something many of us don’t think about until we’re already in the middle of it: how we’re going to manage and pay for care as we get older.
Raymond and I talk about what long-term care actually means. It isn’t necessarily medical care. It can be help with bathing, dressing, eating, getting to appointments, moving safely through your home, or managing the everyday tasks that allow you to continue living your life...
The Gift of Being Prepared with Sonja S. Koenig
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In this episode of Seeing Death Clearly, I’m joined by end-of-life doula Sonja Koenig for a conversation about grief, family, advocacy, and what it really means to prepare for the end of life.
Much of Sonja’s perspective has been shaped by the death of her brother Juan, a Marine who lived with serious health challenges for 16 years, including kidney failure, dialysis, COPD, and heart problems. During his final hospitalization, Sonja and her mother found themselves advocating for his care while also trying to m...
Widowhood and Finding Your Way Forward with Mia Godfrey
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In this episode of Seeing Death Clearly, death doula and funeral celebrant Jill McClennen talks with life coach, author, and publisher Mia Godfrey about what it means to rebuild your life after profound loss. Mia's story is one of resilience, but it isn't a story of "getting over" grief. Instead, it's about learning to carry loss while continuing to move forward.
Mia shares what it was like growing up in communist Romania, losing her father as a young adult, and struggling with alcohol and prescription pills as she tried to cope...
Grief and Finding the Right Support with Restfully Founder Sarah Baldwin
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When someone dies, the grief is only part of what families are carrying. Along with the emotional pain often comes a long list of decisions, paperwork, phone calls, family dynamics, and practical tasks that can feel impossible to manage while you're mourning.Â
In this episode of Seeing Death Clearly, death doula and funeral celebrant Jill McClennen talks with Sarah Baldwin, founder of Restfully, about why navigating loss shouldn't have to be so overwhelming and how better support can help people focus on what matters most.
End-of-Life Conversations: Death Doulas, Community Care, Hospice & Grief with Rev. Annalouiza Armendariz and Rev. Wakil David Matthews
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Death doesn't have to be a taboo topic. In this episode of Seeing Death Clearly, death doula and funeral celebrant Jill McClennen is joined by Annalouiza Armendariz and Wakil David Matthews, interfaith ordained ministers and co-hosts of the End of Life Conversations podcast.
Together, they explore how talking openly about death, dying, and grief can reduce fear, strengthen communities, and help people make more informed decisions about the end of life. Drawing from their work in funeral service, spiritual care, education, and end-of-life support, Annalouiza and Wakil share pr...
Death Doula Talk with Lori Goldwyn: Hospice, End-of-Life Planning and Medical Aid in Dying (MAID)
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Host Jill McClennen, a death doula and funeral celebrant, speaks with Northern California end-of-life doula Lori Goldwyn about death doula work, grief, and end-of-life planning. Lori explains how childhood fear of death, her background in women’s health, and her mother’s death in 2010 moved her from birth doula work into hospice volunteering and then end-of-life doula care after training with INELDA in 2016.Â
They discuss parallels between birth and dying, how advance directives can be hard to follow during medical crises, and the emotional weight of de...
Dissection Photography with Brandon Zimmerman
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Death doula and funeral celebrant Jill McClennen hosts Philadelphia-based medical historian Brandon Zimmerman to discuss his 2024 book, “Dissection Photography: Cadavers, Abjection, and the Formation of Identity,” about medical students (1880–1930) taking souvenir photos with cadavers and what the images reveal about coping with death through humor, ritual, and discomfort.Â
Brandon describes modern cadaver lab realities, including fainting, vomiting, sensory reactions, and students naming cadavers, and contrasts today’s mostly donation-based system with past body procurement through grave robbing and unclaimed bodies.Â
They...
Preserving Family Stories with Ralf Ellervee
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Jill McClennen, a death doula and funeral celebrant, hosts Seeing Death Clearly and talks with Ralf Ellervee about preserving life stories as a lasting legacy that supports grief, healing, and conscious living. Ralph shares how interviewing his grandfather—an Estonian surgeon deported to Siberia at age nine—showed him how easily memories can be lost, especially with dementia, serious illness, or unexpected death.Â
He explains why long audio recordings often go unused, while a printed book with photos becomes a timeless keepsake families reread and pass...
Psychomanteum Mirror Gazing for Grief Healing: with Dr. Irene Blinston
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On Seeing Death Clearly, death doula and funeral celebrant Jill McClennen speaks with transpersonal psychologist Dr. Irene Blinston about her research on grief healing, consciousness, and paranormal encounter experiences. Blinston explains the psychomanteum—an environment of darkness, quiet, sensory reduction, and angled mirror gazing originally developed by Dr. Raymond Moody—where grieving participants try to connect with deceased loved ones and become their own medium.Â
She outlines the three-phase, single-session process (preparation with mementos, up to 60 minutes mirror gazing, and debrief), eligibility screening to avoid harm, and reports that...
A Death Doula's Guide to Dementia Support with Lori Rizzo
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In this episode of Seeing Death Clearly, I speak with Lori Rizzo, a death doula in the Philadelphia area, about her transition from corporate leadership and training into end-of-life care. Lori shares how her personal experiences led her to this work and why she has become especially passionate about supporting individuals living with dementia and the people who care for them.
We discuss the challenges many families face after a dementia diagnosis, including stigma, isolation, and the overwhelming amount of information that can be difficult to navigate. Lori explains why education...
The Jewish Journey Through Loss: Rituals, Grief, and Healing with Batya Ludman and Gina Junger
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Death doula and funeral celebrant Jill McClennen hosts clinical psychologist Batya Ludman and Jewish educator Gina Junger to discuss their book, The Jewish Journey Through Loss: From Death to Healing, and how Jewish mourning traditions support grief and healing.Â
They explain active rituals like shoveling dirt at burial, tearing a ribbon or garment, and sitting shiva as a week-long “permission to grieve,” with visitors bringing food, stories, and support while mourners set the tone.Â
They describe stages after shiva...
Digital Legacy: Cumulus Memorial Platform with Alexander Josephson
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In this episode, I talk with Alexander Josephson, a Toronto-based architect whose father's cancer diagnosis unexpectedly led him into the world of digital legacy and remembrance.
When his father asked him to design a memorial, Alex began thinking about how we honor and remember the people we love. In a time when so much of our lives exists online, he wondered if there was a better way to preserve stories, memories, photographs, videos, and family history for future generations. That question eventually led him to create Cumulus, a...
Suicide Loss and Healing Through Writing with Wendy Juergens
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On Seeing Death Clearly, death doula and funeral celebrant Jill McClennen talks with Wendy Juergens about grief, dying, and healing through writing, including end-of-life planning and conscious living. Wendy shares the story of her son Nick, a Navy veteran who died by suicide nearly 14 years ago at age 32, and how writing her book, Hey, It’s Me, helped her stay connected to him, learn more about his life, and support others facing suicidal crisis or suicide loss.Â
They discuss the stigma and silence around suicide, the importance of ope...
Caring House: Creating Comfort in the Final Days
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Jill McClennen hosts a conversation with David Zartman and Joanna Franco from Caring House, a nonprofit hospice home in Torrance, California. They explain that Caring House serves people in the final days or weeks of a hospice journey, staffed 24/7 by caregivers, and works with many hospice agencies because it is a non-medical residential care facility.Â
Families can visit freely, often stay overnight in reclining chairs, and may bring pets; volunteers include chefs, death doulas, and therapy dogs. The guests describe funding through pay-what-you-can fees, donations, grants, and fundraisers, w...
Behind the Scenes of Funeral Directing with Tasha Dugan and Amanda Kyle of Laurel Hill Cemetery
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Host Jill McClennen, a death doula, end-of-life care planner, and funeral celebrant, interviews Laurel Hill Funeral Directors Tasha Dugan and Amanda Kyle about what funeral directing looks like behind the scenes. They discuss embalming and body preparation, service planning, costs, flowers, paperwork, and supporting families from the first call through the funeral.Â
Amanda shares her path from animal rights work and veterinary care to funeral service, and Tasha describes moving from insurance and autopsy work into full-time funeral directing. They explore why ritual and personalization matter in grief, h...
Grief, Fatherhood, and Breaking the Silence Around Death with Matt Fogelson
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Death doula and funeral celebrant Jill McClennen speaks with Matt Fogelson about growing up in 1980s Manhattan, then losing his workaholic father to lung cancer when Matt was 19 and his father was 46. Matt describes carrying unspoken grief for decades, using pain to stay connected, and how family silence around dying robbed them of meaningful end-of-life conversations.
He shares how music and playing guitar became a private outlet for depression and rage, and later a bridge to his own son, helping him heal and avoid repeating emotional absence. The...
Life Forest Tree Burial Cemetery with Mel Bennett
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Death doula and funeral celebrant Jill McClennen interviews Mel Bennett, founder of Life Forest in New Hampshire, a nonprofit cemetery and public arboretum where human and pet cremated remains are buried with newly planted trees. After caring for her mother through early-onset frontal lobe dementia, Mel received her mother’s ashes in a plastic bag and box, which pushed her to create a more meaningful, healing legacy. She explains how the land is conserved, how each tree is legally protected as a burial monument, and how families get long-term, deeded access using GPS co...
Grief, Impermanence, and End-of-Life Planning with Jermaine Ee
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Death doula and funeral celebrant Jill McClennen hosts Jermaine on Seeing Death Clearly to explore how talking about death can lead to more conscious living.Â
Jermaine shares how a conversation revealed his mother did not understand how her 401(k) connected to real choices, which led him to help her intentionally live out long-held dreams through travel before she died suddenly from a stroke. They discuss grief, regrets, impermanence, and how cultural habits and fear drive inaction around money, dying, and legacy planning, even when tools exist.Â
Jermaine describes family, se...
Breast Cancer, Medical Choice, Informed Consent with Joy Jolie
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Death doula and funeral celebrant Jill McClennan hosts a conversation with Joy Jolie about how repeated loss, grief, and serious illness shaped Joy’s views on dying, healing, and end-of-life planning.Â
Joy describes multiple breast cancer diagnoses in her family, including her own, and shares how her mother declined chemo and radiation, while her sisters faced lasting harm and, in one case, workplace pressure to undergo treatment. Joy explains why she questioned standard cancer care, sought resources like Crispy Cancer and The Truth About Cancer, and emphasized informed consent and personal med...
Pet Loss Grief with a Pet Death Doula Jessica LeBeau-Richman
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Host Jill McClennen, a death doula and funeral celebrant, talks with Jessica LeBeau-Richman, a South Jersey pet death doula, about the often overlooked grief of losing an animal and how people can stay connected through ritual, keepsakes, and conscious goodbyes.Â
Jessica shares how her rescue cat Sammy led her from years of nonprofit social services into end-of-life doula work for pets, and how she supports families with anticipatory grief, quality-of-life decisions, vet-visit advocacy, and after-death choices like burial or cremation.Â
...
Suicide, Grief and Depression with Rae Dumont
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Host Jill McClennen, a death doula and funeral celebrant, speaks with Rae Dumont, a Belgian-born pediatrician turned family therapist, about caring for chronically ill children and why connection and honest, age-appropriate truth matter as much as clinical skill. Dumont discusses her novel, “In the Shadow of Silence,” about a father’s depression and suicide and the different ways children and a spouse who is also a psychiatrist process grief, shame, guilt, anger, and “what if” thinking, especially after sudden or violent loss. They contrast depression-related suicide with end-of-life choices in serious illness, and emphasize...
Abandoned Cemeteries and Lost Burial Grounds with Edward Snyder
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In this episode, Jill McClennen speaks with Philadelphia-area researcher and photographer Edward Snyder about abandoned and forgotten cemeteries and what they reveal about dying, grief, legacy, and conscious living. Ed explains how his interest in cemetery art grew into decades of documenting burial practices and the death care industry, including stories of cemeteries destroyed, built over, or only partly moved, leaving human remains under streets, playgrounds, and parking lots. He cites the Philadelphia Archaeological Forum’s map of 200 historic burial sites. He describes cases like Monument Cemetery near Temple University and the First Ba...
Preserving Life Stories Before We Die with Cristian Cibilis Bernardes
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In this episode my guest Cristian Cibilis Bernardes, founder and CEO of Autograph and I explore how preserving memories can become a powerful part of legacy and end-of-life planning. The conversation highlights why hearing a loved one’s voice and stories can bring comfort, healing, and deeper understanding during grief.
Autograph is a platform designed to preserve people’s life stories before they are lost. Autograph records weekly phone interviews with an AI historian named Walter, capturing real conversations about a person’s memories, relationships, and life lessons. The re...
Death Doula Talk on Medical Aid in Dying and End-of-Life Planning with Joy Rodriquez
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End-of-life doula Joy Rodriguez talks with me about death doula work and supporting people who choose medical aid in dying. Medical aid in dying is often misunderstood and can be hard to access even where it is legal, especially when it is difficult to find participating providers. Joy shares her path from hospice volunteering in Washington to serving as a volunteer client advisor with End of Life Washington, helping families locate eligible doctors, understand the process, and prepare for the day of death.
 She notes that hospice would not allow her t...
A Palliative Doctor on Dying, End-of-Life Planning, and Living Well with David Casarett
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In this episode, a palliative care physician explains how early support and thoughtful end-of-life planning can reduce fear, ease suffering, and improve quality of life for patients and families.
Dr. David Casarett, chief of Palliative Care at Duke Health, describes palliative care as whole-person support that relieves symptoms and helps people make difficult medical decisions, even while receiving aggressive treatment. He contrasts this with hospice, which focuses on comfort for those expected to have six months or less to live.Â
00:17 Welcome to Seeing Death + Meet Dr. David Casarett
From Prison to Peace: Rah Rah’s Story of Survival, Loss, and Healing
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In this episode, for Black History Month, Jill interviews her longtime friend Rashine Curry (Rah Rah), a mother of six from Atlantic City. Rah Rah describes how poverty, racism, and systemic bias shaped her life, including incarceration, untreated mental illness, and medical neglect in prison. She shares major losses: her daughter’s father was murdered when the baby was six months old, her longtime partner and father of her other children was murdered, and she was not allowed to attend his funeral while incarcerated. She also recounts her brother’s murder, being rape...
True Love and Healing After Loss: Marcy Shrewsbury Lopez's Journey
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In this episode of Seeing Death Clearly, host Jill McClennen, a death doula and funeral celebrant, speaks with Marcy Shrewsbury Lopez about her extraordinary love story and journey through grief.Â
Marcy shares her experience being married to her husband, who was 46 years older than her, and the deep connection they shared until his death at 98 years old.Â
She reflects on the challenges of caregiving and her path to healing through art, teaching, and nature. Marcy also discusses her me...
Innovations in End-of-Life Care with Funeral Director Ken Biery
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In this episode of Seeing Death Clearly, host Jill McClennen, a death doula and funeral celebrant, is joined by Ken Biery, a seasoned funeral director and founder of the Funeral Service Collective. Ken shares his journey from military service into the funeral profession and the experiences that shaped his commitment to innovation and family-centered care.
Together, they explore how the funeral industry is evolving, including emerging ideas such as sustainable memorials, underwater cemeteries, and the growing role of live-streamed services. The conversation also highlights...
