Podcast Club ONLINE: End of Life, Dying Well, and Lessons on Living Well
Details
Benjamin Franklin once wrote in a letter, "In this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes." Our podcast club tackled taxes a few months ago, so let's learn about and discuss the other inevitable, death -- but also with an eye toward dying well and what we can learn about living our best life now from those whose lives were coming to an end. Some of you recently participated in our book club in which we read a book more-or-less covering the same topics. I assure you, this podcast covers different ground. It stands alone as an excellent, very matter-of-factly discussion about all of the above as well as what dying looks like, palliative care versus hospice care, advance directives, pain and suffering, medical pain relief at life's end, emotional healing for life's end, and more. The subject matter here is very important, regardless of your age, and the podcast is well worth listening to.
This week's podcast is The Drive with host Peter Attia and guests BJ Miller and Bridget Sumser. Miller is a hospice and palliative care physician who completed a fellowship in hospice and palliative medicine at Harvard Medical School, working at Massachusetts General Hospital and the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. He was an Assistant Clinical Professor and palliative care physician at UCSF for over 13 years. Miller has counseled over 1,000 patients and family members on dealing with difficult health situations. His 2015 TED talk, What Really Matters at the End of Life, has been viewed over 11 million times. Miller also co-authored the book, A Beginner’s Guide to the End: Practical Advice for Living Life and Facing Death and is the co-founder and President of Mettle Health. Sumser is a licensed social worker specializing in serious illness and end-of-life care. She is a member of the Social Work Hospice and Palliative Care Network and was honored as an emerging leader in Palliative Social Work in 2015. Sumser works with the Palliative Care Program for adults at UCSF, is a counselor at Mettle Health, and has a private practice. She co-edited the book Palliative Care: A Guide for Health Social Workers.
PLEASE NOTE: We require that attendees listen to the podcast below before attending the meeting to optimize discussion.
ALSO NOTE: This podcast is 2 hours, 16 minutes long! Please plan accordingly so you have time to listen to the entire episode.
https://peterattiamd.com/bjmillerandbridgetsumser/
or
(2 hrs, 16 min.)
What's a podcast club?
It's like a book club for podcasts. Each week we discuss an interesting and currently-relevant episode from podcasters like Ezra Klein, Michael Shermer, or Russ Roberts. We start off as a large group and spend most of the time talking in small break-out groups, which we remix 3 times during the course of the evening. Our conversations are casual and open. We ask that everyone speak respectfully at all times, and we encourage free and concise discussion relevant to the week's podcast topic. To do this, we try to adhere to Grice's Maxims: https://bit.ly/2p4uSQm
Ultimately, the idea is to help each other think a little differently, learn a thing or two and have some fun.