Doing Death

“It's enough to actually just feel for another human being” Host Amanda Blainey talks to thought leader BJ Miller, who is a longtime hospice and palliative medicine physician and educator who is dedicated to moving healthcare towards a more human-centered approach. His 2015 Ted talk "What Really Matters at the End of Life" has been watched over 14 million times. BJ has given numerous interviews including Oprah Winfrey, The New York Times, and GOOP. He co-founded Mettle Health which aims to provide holistic consultations to patients or caregivers navigating the practical emotional and existential issues that can come with serious illness and disability. We talk about; The complexity of being human Navigating relationships Compassion Being not doing The Illusion of normal Openings that can happen in dying Allowing space for our pain and feelings Feeling grief rather than controlling it How deathcare can be inclusive? Letting go and hanging onto relationships The use of Psychedelics Finding our bliss Podcast references Mettle Health https://www.mettlehealth.com/ Papyrus https://www.papyrus-uk.org/ Ted talk what really matters at the end https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=apbSsILLh28 Tyler Perry Oscars https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t9LT0j2uSUI

“The legacy of love is the thing you pass on, and that baton to your children of confidence, love, and happiness, I hope is the most significant legacy” Charles Gladstone Entrepreneur Charlie Gladstone has the most infectious positivity and zest for life. Being the great-great-grandson of the UK's Prime Minister Sir William Ewart Gladstone, Charlie comes from an incredible family legacy. He is a business owner, farmer, father and is one of the co-founders of The Good Life Experience, founder of Glen Dye Cabins and Cottages, Pedlars shops, and the ‘Some Good Ideas’ online community dedicated to encouraging British craft and manufacture. He also hosts the ‘Mavericks’ Podcast’ and is the author of several books, his latest 'Do Team' will be published in 2021. We meet to talk about legacy, death, and his interest in making a good life and embedding some of that huge spirit within his family and generations to come. We talk about The legacy of love Acts of kindness Living a privileged life Running a family business The death of his father Death in the family Growing up and the power of being outside Working hard Happiness is here and now The seasons of life Imposter syndrome Podcast references The Good Life Experience Glen Dye Cottages and Cabins Film – It’s a wonderful life The Adam Buxton podcast Links https://www.glendyecabinsandcottages.com/ https://www.somegoodideas.co.uk/ https://sheltercymru.org.uk/

"I think it's going back to impermanence, understanding that one day you are not going to be here. How can you change what you are going to do today, that's going to impact you?” Jools Barsky How do you create something that fundamentally changes the way we talk about death, dying, and living? Death Café is a place where people can get together to eat cake, have tea, and discuss death. After becoming inspired by the Swiss sociologist Bernard Crettaz, who created Café Mortels, Jon Underwood founded Death Café in 2011 with a view to increase our awareness of death to make the most of our finite lives. From it’s humble beginning there are now 11,577 death cafes in 74 countries. Jon died suddenly in 2017 at the age of 44. Host Amanda Blainey talks to Jon’s sister Jools Barsky and his Mum Susan Barsky Reid about creating a global movement and Jon’s death. We talk about Living with being present and impermanence The magic of death café and why its effect is so powerful What happened at the first Death Café. The Dalai Lama envisaging his death and dying every day Buddhist practice How Jool's cat's death prepared them for using Buddhist rituals after Jon died Grieving for Jon and his funeral Preparing for death as we do with birth The future of Death Cafe Podcast references Jamyang Buddhist centre Menopause & cancer cafe Death over dinner Songs: The Martian - Sex in Zero Gravity, Sugar Ray - Someday Links https://www.patreon.com/deathcafe https://deathcafe.com/ https://jamyang.co.uk/ http://artofdyingmagazine.com/

Artist Maggi Hambling on Life, Love, and Death “Great Artists, composers, writers, they take one into that territory where life and death are together, I think that’s really the purpose of art" Maggi Hambling CBE. Amanda Blainey talks to Maggi Hambling who has established a reputation over the last four decades as one of Britain's most significant and controversial artists, a singular contemporary force whose work continues to move, seduce and challenge. We talk about How Maggi became an artist Keeping the memory of people alive through art Being terrified of her death Art as a therapy for grief Being a channel for truth in her work How to be vulnerable in your work Drawing her mother and father in their coffin’s Which one of her creations Maggi thinks she will be remembered for. Having whiskey at 6.00 pm Born in 1945 in Suffolk Hambling studied with Lett Haines and Cedric Morris, and then Ipswich, Camberwell and the Slade Schools of Art. In 1980 she became the First Artist in Residence at the National Gallery, London, and in 1995 won the Jerwood Painting Prize (with Patrick Caulfield). In 1998 her sculpture A conversation with Oscar Wilde was unveiled at Adelaide Street, London, facing Charing Cross Station. In 2003 Scallop, a sculpture to celebrate Benjamin Britten was unveiled at Aldeburgh, Suffolk, and won the Marsh Award in 2005 for Excellence in Public Sculpture. Her work is represented in major collections internationally, and in the UK these include the British Museum, Tate, Victoria and Albert Museum, National Portrait Gallery and National Gallery. Podcast references Composer Benjamin Britten Henrietta Moraes Andy Murray Links Maggihambling.com Paintingsinhospitals.org.uk Marlboroughgallery.com

"You can be Bold and gentle-hearted, you can be soft and a warrior. Power in vulnerability” The Fandangoe Kid Host Amanda Blainey talks to The Fandangoe Kid a print artist who makes large-scale narrative pieces for the public realm to create a platform around complex subjects such as grief, trauma release, mental health, and gender constructs. Much of her work is driven by navigating her own story following the death of most of her family in New York in 2011. In this episode we discuss: Sitting with grief The physical & emotional manifestation of grief Post-traumatic growth Dancing through grief Processing grief through meditation and exercise Embodying and making friends with grief Grief as an individual & and non-linear experience The uncertainty of change Legacy and moving on from your ancestors Finding ways to connect more than ever Being a vulnerable warrior Unlearning as we get older The Fandangoe Kid has created work for a wide range of purposes, most recently installing artwork on 14-metre pillar for University of the Arts London's 120th year anniversary and a large-scale permanent piece of public art at the Southbank Centre for the charity CALM. For World Mental Health Day 2019, she installed an 80-metre floor narrative at City Hall for the Mayor of London's charity Thrive, addressing the connection between movement and mental health. Additionally, she screened her film Into Your Light, directed with Tara Darby, at Tate Modern and on the Manhattan Bridge, looking at dancing as a tool for survival following a great personal loss. Podcast references www.fandangoekid.com https://www.cruse.org.uk/ http://taradarby.com/film/into-your-light/ https://www.shedoesfilmz.com/ The Ted interview Elizabeth Gilbert Books Grief Works - Julia Samuel The Body Keeps Score - Bessel Van Der Kolk

"That's probably been one of the biggest things about all of this, change and the unknown. I think for everybody these are things that need to be embraced, and you've got to suddenly become best friends with the unknown and with change because that's what's happening" Amanda Blainey talks to Ben Branson founder of the world's first distilled non-alcoholic spirits, revolutionising how we drink when we are not drinking and drawing knowledge and wisdom from his 300-year-old family farming legacy. We discuss how Ben has rediscovered the simple things in life from his time so far in Lockdown. We look at how Seedlip evolved from Ben's love of plants, herbs, and nature. Talking about death is talking about how we want to live, what inspires us, doing things we love, playing, and building dreams from small steps. We talk about how Ben would like to be remembered, what his biggest legacy is, and why its important not to have regrets. Ben's story is a truly inspiring one. In this episode, we talk about Becoming friends with the unknown and change The importance of human connection, interaction, relationships and how important it is not to feel left out How life has changed in Lockdown Going back to nature as the best medicine Taking risks Being passionate about what you are doing, Creating something that people need Doing what you are good at and not what you aren't starting a business from something you love Having regrets are a waste of energy Death as a statistic The surrealness of the situation we find ourselves in Staring in an episode of Black Mirror Learning through Doing Conscious shopping and eating Life becoming more simple Grieving our lives Watching contagion on Netflix The ripple effect of what we do when we change something Can we ever go back to normality? How Ben would like to be remembered after his death Podcast references Netflix Series - Black Mirror, Contagion Book ‘The art of distillation’ John French http://www.naturaldeath.org.uk/ www.Seedlipdrinks.com

In this special christmas episode, the last in this series until next year, Amanda Blainey talks to Mr Bingo. He is called Mr Bingo because when he was 19 he won £141 at the Gala Bingo. In 2011 he began the project ‘Hate Mail’ on Twitter, where strangers paid him to send a hand-drawn offensive postcard to a name and address of their choice. It sold out within days; since then he has opened it 12 times and it has sold out every time within minutes. Like much of his work, the project started as ‘a drunk idea’, but ended up being exhibited in galleries and gaining notoriety among the global press. In summer 2015, he ran a Kickstarter campaign to fund a high-end art book of his 'Hate Mail' illustrations. The campaign, was successfully funded within 9 hours, making it the most successful Kickstarter for a book in the UK ever. in 2015 after a 15 year career as an illustrator, Mr Bingo made a decision to stop working for clients and go it alone as an artist. For the last four years he has created in his own words a ‘nudey scratchy festive fun' christmas advent calendar in which each day in December is represented by a different person whose clothing is printed in removable gold ink , when you scratch off the ink you reveal them in all their naked glory. This episode was recorded in London in a coffee lounge, we talk about - Art - Not being too busy and doing nothing - Challenging the norm of what ‘working' is. - Mr Bingo’s gravestone art project - Freelancing - Having fun - How walking is good for you - Can work be a hobby? - What if we live forever? - And of course we cover those small subjects of death and life! This episode contains some swearing. Episode references https://shop.mr.bingo/ https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/mrbingo/hate-mail-the-definitive-collection

Michele is a Psychic, astrologer, broadcaster and a Sunday Times best selling author. Previously she was the resident astrologer for the UK’s ‘This Morning’ primetime morning TV and ‘The X factor Xtra' and has had a constant presence in the media over the last 20 years. She is a hugely successful business woman who has built an incredible presence in the wellbeing industry, empowering people to be their authentic self and transform their lives. Encountering sexual abuse and neglect at a young age, she used her own self belief, ancient learning and spiritual path to heal herself and create the life that she wanted, with gratitude and love. In this episode we talk about: - Finding our soul purpose - The mystery of death - Harnessing our own power and changing our self beliefs - Manifesting what we want by looking at our thoughts and energy - How we are all connected - The law of attraction - Grabbing ideas when they come - Astrology as a soul map - Tuning into our intuition Episode References Elizabeth Gilbert’s book ‘Big Magic' Nick Cave ‘ Red hand files’ No.55

Amanda Blainey met with Kathryn Mannix - best selling author of “With the End In Mind: How to Live and Die Well”. They talk about resolving personal issues whilst we are still alive, choosing the place to die, and how we can access better care when dying. And is how we live a reflection on how we die?

A difficult topic to discuss. Doing Death talked to our friend - creative producer Sam Rudd about the death of a parent as experienced as both a young child and a parent.