Bevival: Exit Interviews

Day delves into the art of creating intentional rituals to navigate life’s transitions, from personal loss to moments of celebration. He shares insights into finding beauty in impermanence and surrender, while our host, Jade Adgate, reflects on her own experiences with death and change. Together, they discuss the power of rituals as a bridge to connection, grounding, and meaning in a fast-paced, disenchanted world. Tune in for an inspiring conversation that combines poetic philosophy with practical tools for honoring life’s cycles. Visit bevival.com to learn more about the author in our exclusive Exit Interview Q&A. 

A request for help prompted award-winning investigative journalist to reach out to his friend's friend– a woman who had chosen the exact time and date she planned to end her life. What followed evolved into a daily six-month long conversation that examined cultural language, personal agency and the right to die. In this episode, Dowie discusses how his relationship with poet Judith Tannenbaum profoundly changed his life.Mark Dowie's memoir, Judith Letting Go: Six Months in the World's Smallest Death Cafe is his seventh book. Other titles include: Conservation Refugees: The Hundred-Year Conflict between Global Conservation and Native Peoples; The Haida Gwaii Lesson: A Strategic Playbook for Indigenous Sovereignty; American Foundations: An Investigative History; Losing Ground: American Environmentalism at the Close of the Twentieth Century;  Waste Land: Meditations on a Ravaged Landscape; and We Have a Donor: The Bold New World of Organ Transplanting.  Visit bevival.com to learn more about the author in our exclusive Exit Interview Q&A. 

Some readers will begin contemplating mortality and documenting their life, death, and care wishes while their health is stable, perhaps sparked by a notable transition, loss, or another type of awakening. Others might feel motivated due to illness or the aging process. As your guide through this process, I aim to inspire you to acknowledge—and even reclaim—what it means to be mortal because I have experienced the benefits of these efforts personally, and I have witnessed positive outcomes for others. - Francesca Arnoldy. Visit bevival.com to learn more about the author in our exclusive Exit Interview Q&A. 

"In a world where we have managed to overcome many challenges using technology and medical advances, there are still some difficult things that just won’t go away. We have no cure for death...[and] no workarounds for daunting conversations. Whether we like it or not, sometimes we have to take a deep breath and get into a conversation that we might have preferred to avoid...so getting informed and prepared seems like a good idea." - Dr. Kathryn Mannix. In this episode, Dr. Mannix brings a compelling narrative to life as to why, and how to, enter uncomfortable conversations. Visit bevival.com to learn more about the author in our exclusive Exit Interview Q&A. 

In this heartfelt episode, children's picture book author of "The End of Something Wonderful: A Practical Guide to a Backyard Funeral" explores the difficult subject of losing a pet or loved one and the importance of saying goodbye with host Jade Adgate, a death midwife. Visit bevival.com to learn more about the author in our exclusive Exit Interview Q&A. 

If it has to do with death and dying, Barbara Karnes, RN, has been talking about it for over four decades. In addition to the many years she has spent at the bedside caring for patients and their families, she's also served as an executive director of hospice and various home-health agencies, working through the hospice ranks as patient care manager, clinical director, staff, nurse, and volunteer. She's an NHPCO Innovator Award recipient and been featured in The NY Times, USA Today, Huffington Post, Thrive Global & The Washington Post. Visit bevival.com to learn more about the author in our exclusive Exit Interview Q&A. 

Writer Erica Buist recounts the evolution of her book, This Party's Dead: Grief, Joy and Spilled Rum at the World's Death Festivals for Bevival's podcast host Jade Adgate, founder of The Farewell Library. Visit bevival.com to learn more about the author in our exclusive Exit Interview Q&A. 

Mary-Frances O'Connor is an Associate Professor of Clinical Psychology and Psychiatry who researches the physical and emotional responses to grief. According to O'Connor, a neuroscientist, grief is an immediate emotional state that knocks you off your feet like a wave. While grieving is a form of adaptive learning over time - a period when the brain is changing and teaching us how to adapt to the absence. Visit bevival.com to learn more about the author in our exclusive Exit Interview Q&A. 

As a trend journalist, Alix Strauss has always been on the cusp of culture change. After 20 years, her newly reissued book couldn't be more relevant. It's raw and real- replete with tales of sex, death and loneliness. Think Six Feet Under meets Sex in the City. Visit bevival.com to learn more about the author in our exclusive Exit Interview Q&A. 

In her highly personal, yet universally relatable book, Morris talks openly about loss, debilitating grief, relational healing and the process of writing it all down.  Visit bevival.com to learn more about the author in our exclusive Exit Interview Q&A. 

Weller explains that grief is a core emotion of the human experience that seeks to be witnessed rather than solved. He highlights the importance of community and ritual in navigating its weight, describing grief as "feral" and urging us to embrace its wildness to foster emotional and spiritual growth. Weller underscores how grief and beauty coexist, deepening our appreciation and gratitude, especially as younger generations face profound, unique losses. Visit bevival.com to learn more about the author in our exclusive Exit Interview Q&A. 

Nunez’s work presents life and dying as inherently chaotic processes, often defying expectations. Her writing illustrates the tension between control and uncertainty, especially in end-of-life decisions and humanity’s failure to face grim realities. Her 2020 novel,What Are You Going Through, was adapted into Pedro Almodovar's 2024 film titled, The Room Next Door, starring Tilda Swinton and Julianne Moore. Visit bevival.com to learn more about the author in our exclusive Exit Interview Q&A. 

Known for her unique mix of curiosity, honesty, intimacy and decades of hosting experience, Diane Rehm's weekly interview program brings many of the nation’s prominent newsmakers, journalists, artists and thinkers to talk on the biggest issues of the day, with a focus on cutting through the noise in Washington to reveal the issues beneath the politics. Visit bevival.com to learn more about the author in our exclusive Exit Interview Q&A. 

Writing From The Heart: Finding Your Own Voice is a workshop that is nurturing for the beginning writer and a jump-start for the burnt-out professional. You will take home your powerful one-of-a-kind golden voice filled with self-esteem, honor and joy. Visit bevival.com to learn more about the author in our exclusive Exit Interview Q&A. 

Peters identifies four types of SDEs- Sensing a presence during a death, Witnessing phenomena like lights or spirits, Accompanying the dying into the afterlife, and Assisting in their transition. Peters recounts his own SDE with his father, which brought healing through a vivid life review and strengthened continuing bonds—a concept he champions over “letting go.” Through his Shared Crossing Project, he gathers research to destigmatize SDEs and integrate them into end-of-life care, emphasizing how mindfulness enhances receptivity to these profound experiences. Visit bevival.com to learn more about the author in our exclusive Exit Interview Q&A. 

When Joanne Jacobson’s writing about her mother’s respiratory illness was interrupted by her own diagnosis of a rare blood disorder, her perspective profoundly altered. Every Last Breath follows these two chronic illnesses as they become unexpectedly intertwined. As chronic illness blurs the distinction between illness and wellness, she discovers how a lifetime of relapse and remission can invite transformation. Visit bevival.com to learn more about the author in our exclusive Exit Interview Q&A. 

Barbara Becker invites readers to live with death in mind and encouraging acceptance of impermanence by broadening the concept of loss to include experiences like divorce, becoming an empty nester, or losing cherished possessions. Drawing from hospice work, she highlights the power of presence and the resilience symbolized by heartwood, where loss sustains growth. Inspired by nature’s cycles and Atisha’s Nine Contemplations of Death, she reflects on how mindfulness deepens understanding of life’s fragility. Visit bevival.com to learn more about the author in our exclusive Exit Interview Q&A. 

Koshin has served as the co-director of Contemplative Care Services of the Department of Integrative Medicine and as the chaplaincy supervisor for the Pain and Palliative Care Department at Mount Sinai Beth Israel Medical Center, where he also served on the Medical Ethics Committee for eighteen years. With his husband, Chodo Campbell, he co-founded the New York Zen Center for Contemplative Care, an educational non-profit dedicated to integrating contemplative approaches to care with contemporary medicine. Visit bevival.com to learn more about the author in our exclusive Exit Interview Q&A. 

Dr. Dugdale reminds us to get in touch with our sense of finitude- our inevitable impermanence by embracing death literacy as a practice that will help everyone live better and die well."In this profound and compassionate book about death and its nearness, Dugdale demystifies one of the essential mysteries of our time." - Siddhartha Mukherjee, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Emperor of All Maladies and The Gene. Visit bevival.com to learn more about the author in our exclusive Exit Interview Q&A. 

Coombs Lee joined the Oregon Right to Die Political Action Committee that had already been working on draft bills, serving as spokesperson for the group through two statewide campaigns and 10 years defending against attacks on the nation's first Death with Dignity law in both the judicial and legislative arenas. Visit bevival.com to learn more about the author in our exclusive Exit Interview Q&A. 

To quote the writer, Leland says: "I write substantial, often off-the-beaten-path articles about how life is lived in New York now. I look for stories that illustrate how larger cultural or demographic forces — aging, migration, climate change, economic upheaval, etc. — play out in the lives of ordinary New Yorkers. My work often involves people whose views or actions may be controversial or not easily understood by some of the public. I work to convey what their lives look like to them, without judgment or comment." Visit bevival.com to learn more about the author in our exclusive Exit Interview Q&A. 

Host Devorah Medwin explores the effect of loss on Alexandra's career as an award-winning playwright. Following the passing of her beloved husband, she founded the Make Meaning Workshop, a writing-for-healing process  for navigating loss, grief, and crisis. Visit bevival.com to learn more about the author in our exclusive Exit Interview Q&A. 

With a focus on improving end-of-life care and addressing the human aspects of illness and dying, Dr. Byock discusses the shift to value-based healthcare, the **Institute for Human Caring** and its mission to enhance healthcare quality while reducing costs, emphasizing an American healthcare system that often prioritizes treatment over quality of life. Byock also encourages patients to view their lives as narratives, finding clarity and compassion in their experiences, while acknowledging caregivers’ challenges and the need for self-care. He underscores mindfulness and nurturing connections as vital to appreciating life before crises arise. Visit bevival.com to learn more about the author in our exclusive Exit Interview Q&A. 

As a former oncology nurse, O'Brien's career shifted towards education. She advocates for holistic elder care that prioritizes connection, quality of life, and elders’ wisdom, underscoring the healing power of presence and connection. She calls for reallocating resources from costly funerals to personalized care, while cautioning against over-regulating death doula services. Visit bevival.com to learn more about the author in our exclusive Exit Interview Q&A. 

Cofounder of the Zen Hospice Project and founder of the Metta Institute. Ostaseski has lectured at Harvard Medical School, the Mayo Clinic, Wisdom.2.0.  He views death as a constant teacher, a point of transformation not only for the dying but also for those who witness it. He teaches that in being fully present, especially during suffering, we can transform pain into compassion and shape how we live more authentically. Visit bevival.com to learn more about the author in our exclusive Exit Interview Q&A.