California Governor Gavin Newsom speaks with Anderson about growing up the child of divorced parents whose pasts were rarely talked about. Newsom witnessed his mom's death by doctor-assisted suicide and says it's only now that he has come to terms with what happened and the impac ...Show more
Eric Church on Grief, Grace, and Faith
The year country music superstar Eric Church turned 40, he survived a life-threatening blood clot and headlined a Las Vegas music festival that two days later became the scene of the deadliest mass shooting in modern US history. Months later, his brother Brandon died. In this rev ...Show more
‘Dying is the Opposite of Leaving’: Remembering Andrea Gibson
Is dying really "the opposite of leaving?" Are we "reincarnated in those we love?" Poet Andrea Gibson thought so, and in this moving conversation, Anderson speaks with Andrea's wife Megan Falley, about Andrea's battle with cancer and why she uses the word "alleged" when talking a ...Show more
Yiyun Li: ‘The Wound That Won’t Heal’
Author Yiyun Li lost both of her children to suicide. Vincent at 16. James at 19. She talks with Anderson about why she doesn't use the words "grief" or "process," instead describing her pain as "an abyss," and a "wound that won't heal." Host: Anderson Cooper Showrunner: Haley Th ...Show more
Patti Smith: The ‘Sacred Wounds’ of Grief
Singer, poet, author Patti Smith has experienced the deaths of her husband, guitarist Fred “Sonic” Smith, her brother Todd, and her lifelong friend and artistic soulmate, photographer Robert Mapplethorpe. Time doesn’t heal those "sacred wounds," she tells Anderson, but in time, y ...Show more