Griefcast

CW: grief, death

Whilst LCA has been in the process of becoming a podcast (more news will be coming on this very soon I PROMISE!), I have been listening to lots of different podcasts to get inspiration and tips on what makes a good podcast. One of my favourites, and one I always find myself returning to when I’m stuck for what do on a commute or when I can’t sleep, is Griefcast with Cariad Lloyd. And I’m for sure not the only one who feels this about the show, as it recently won the award for Best Podcast at the ARIA’s!

Griefcast features the wonderful Cariad Lloyd interviewing a different guest from the comedy industry each week about their experiences surrounding grief and death (but, as she reminds us, it’s with comedians so it’s not too depressing!). The show is now in it’s third season and aims to make people more comfortable with the idea of talking about death and the ensuing grief that we have all/will all deal with at some point in our lives. Most of the episodes are around the hour mark, which I personally love, as I think it’s enough time for people to fully engage with the the intimate conversations Cariad has with her guests. It can often be a tough listen, with heartbreaking stories and feelings coming to the surface. Yet, it is also really, really funny and makes you laugh even in the darkest moments - quite like the reality of how grief plays out in our day to day lives. Cariad is both soothing and hilarious, and brings so many interesting voices to the show to explore how death and the process of dying has affected their lives. Griefcast delves into the nuances of what happens when a loved one dies and the different dynamics that exist throughout all our lives. Although the podcast focuses on death, it is ironically a good reference point for life as a whole, as it takes listeners through family dynamics, struggle and pain, and ultimately, the intense and endless love we have for the people who make up our lives.

The discussions and safeness found in Griefcast help to remind us that it is okay, and often quite necessary, to talk about the hard and painful things in life. The podcast itself helped me develop ideas about LCA’s own podcast, teaching me that to talk about the hard things and to share our life stories helps ourselves and the wider community around us with recovery. It’s not so much ‘misery loves company’ (though it may do), but that relating and acknowledging each other’s commonalities and differences contributes enormously to each of our processes of healing. Opening ourselves up to hard discussions first hand really does help, but the reason I love podcasts like Griefcast is because they allow us to dip our toes into this process of healing as much as we want to. We can listen to the deep explorations, through kind voices, from the safety of our beds/heads. Even better, we can pause it whenever we want - we are in control of what we’re ready for. Griefcast lets us ease into difficult conversations as much as we want, and lets us in/appropriately laugh a lot at the same time, which is definitely a bonus…

To listen to Griefcast, visit https://www.acast.com/griefcast, or find it all your favourite Podcast platforms.
This is one of my favourite episodes of the show, with Aisling Bea:

Also, if you love the show and want to see one of the episodes live, find details for a live recording at Dulwich Picture Gallery on the 16th November here https://www.dulwichpicturegallery.org.uk/whats-on/gallery-lates/2018/november/griefcast-a-live-recording/