When We Face the End of Life, ‘It’s Not Sadness We Should Fear. It’s Regret.’
Sarah Wildman lost her 14-year-old daughter, Orli, to cancer in March 2023. Before she died, Orli had questions about the end of her life, but as Wildman explains in this episode, that conversation wasn’t encouraged by Orli’s doctors and caregivers. Wildman argues that health care providers need to be frank and empathetic with patients and their families about the realities of death. “Everyone deserves the opportunity to sit with these questions at the end of life,” she says. “It’s not impossible, but doing so requires us to recognize: It’s not sadness we should fear. It’s regret.”Thoughts? Email us at [email protected].
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17:58
A Deceptively Simple Way to Rebuild Trust in Scary Times
As the world grows increasingly fractured, taking the time to engage with strangers has become even more important. The artist and graphic journalist Wendy MacNaughton has created a simple but powerful way for people to connect in an isolated world.In this episode, she shares how she brings people together by having them draw each other in public spaces. All it takes is 60 seconds, two pieces of paper, two pens and the willingness to look — really look — at someone you’ve never met.Thoughts? Email us at [email protected].
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7:58
There’s More to Wine Than Just a Cancer Warning
Vivek Murthy, the surgeon general, recently recommended that cancer warnings be included on all alcohol products. The author and wine enthusiast Boris Fishman argues that doing so would place all forms of liquor in the same bucket — one that ignores the history, the generations of labor and the joy that accompany sipping a glass of wine. He’d like people “to think about this as just one example out of many in a life that risks becoming stripped of a certain kind of magic because we’re trying to protect ourselves out of existence.”Thoughts? Email us at [email protected].
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8:41
Trump’s Attack on D.E.I. Will Cost Us All
In two weeks, the Biden administration will step down, and with it, the most diverse cabinet in American history. In this episode, The Times’s editorial board member Farah Stockman explores the impacts of Joe Biden’s historically significant appointments, both in the United States and abroad.Thoughts? Email us at [email protected].
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11:12
This Diet Buzzword Is Misleading
President-elect Trump’s pick for secretary of health and human services, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., has been critical of ultraprocessed foods. But how bad are they? In this episode, Nicola Guess, a dietitian and researcher at the University of Oxford, explains why we shouldn’t be scared of the label “ultraprocessed.”Thoughts? Email us at [email protected].