When you’re grieving, listening to other people’s experiences can be a real comfort. Podcasts on grief and bereavement come in a variety of formats and styles ranging from insightful interviews with psychotherapists to funny discussions with comedians.

The podcast format allows longer in-depth conversations than you often find on radio and television. You might also find that find listening to podcasts doesn’t take as much concentration as reading. This can be really helpful if you’re finding it hard to focus.

Podcasts to help with grief and loss

1.    Griefcast

Griefcast describes itself as ‘funny people talking about death’. Hosted by Cariad Lloyd, it is a highly engaging and often funny podcast series in which Cariad talks to her fellow comedians and performers about loss.

2.    Terrible, thanks for asking

Host Nora McIrney’s husband died in 2014. His obituary went viral and Nora received lots of messages from strangers going through something hard. Nora decided to use these messages to create the first season of ‘Terrible, Thanks For Asking’. The intention is to get past the “how are you?” “I’m fine!” small talk and get right into the heart of the hard things in life.

3.    Grief encounters

A weekly podcast that hopes to open up the conversation around loss and create a modern platform for people to share their own experiences, and start an open dialogue around the subject of death and all that comes with it.

4.    NPR Grief for beginners: 5 Things to know about processing loss

This is a one off episode of NPR’s Life Kit podcast series in which Terri Daniel who’s 16 year old son died in 2006, talks through five strategies to help you cultivate a healthy relationship with grief.

5.    Grief works

Hosted by Julia Samuel – a grief psychotherapist with over twenty five years’ experience of working with the bereaved – this podcast has stories from those who have experienced great love and loss – and survived.

6.    The art of dying well

This podcast series from University of St Mary’s aim to make death and dying something we can talk about openly without discomfort or fear.

7.    Bereavement room

Bereavement Room is a safe space for people of colour to tell their stories of grief and loss. It’s hosted by Callsuma Ali, and guests discuss how grief effects us culturally, the discrimination that happens, inequality and the lack of understanding about how grief might manifest itself within the diaspora.

8.    On the Marie Curie couch

On the Marie Curie couch features well-known guests who open up and share their experiences of grief and death in a therapeutic conversation with Marie Curie bereavement expert, Jason Davidson.