Grief Is My Side Hustle

meghanrjarvis
  • 4.9 (115)
  • Mental Health
  • Weekly

Trauma therapist, writer and podcast host Meghan, found herself on the receiving end of the same treatments she used with her own clients after the death of both her parents within two years of each other. Meghan hosts a weekly discussion with guests who carry personal loss, professional expertise, and a belief that talking about grief and loss helps provide needed support in a world that finds the topic all kinds of awkward.

  1. 5d ago

    ep. 191: David Ferrugio--A Grieving Son and the 25th Anniversary of 9/11

    Grief Is My Side Hustle: David Ferrugio on Talking About Death Out Loud David Ferrugio was twelve when his father was killed in the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001. Most of us get to grieve in private. David grieved while the whole country watched the same footage every September. He took all of that and built DEAD Talks, a podcast where people talk honestly about death and grief and laugh much more than you’d expect. His podcast and social channels have passed 1M followers, with more than 330,000 subscribers on YouTube, and his first book, You’re Not Dead Yet: How Grief and Loss Can Teach You to Live, came out September 8, 2026 from Jossey-Bass. inklinkl David and I agree on almost everything, including the radical idea that you’re allowed to laugh in a grief conversation. Bring snacks. In this episode we talk about: Growing up as a 9/11 kid, and what it’s like when your private loss is also a national anniversary that shows up on every screen each year Why David started DEAD Talks, and what six years of guests have taught him about how people actually grieve Writing You’re Not Dead Yet, and what it took to put his own story on the page after years of holding space for everyone else’s How joy and grief can live in the same room, and why giving yourself permission to feel good is part of the work Connect with David Book: You’re Not Dead Yet: www.deadtalks.net/book castbox Website: www.deadtalks.net chartable Instagram: @deadtalkspodcast (show) and @davidferrugio (personal) blubrry TikTok: @deadtalkspodcast blubrry YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCB_jnuH15XMk2Vx_7_-aIAw blubrry Facebook: @deadtalkingpod matchmaker Patreon (early and ad-free episodes): www.patreon.com/deadtalks cleberg All links: https://linktr.ee/deadtalks apple See David live David joins 29 other grief authors at the Grieftastic Book Fair on November 13 at the Luxe Hotel in Los Angeles. It’s like your middle school book fair, only sadder. Details at www.grieftastic.com. Connect with Meghan Instagram: @meghan.riordan.jarvis Grieftastic: www.grieftastic.com Book: Can Anyone Tell Me? Essential Questions About Grief and Loss

  2. Oct 22

    pg. 190: Danielle Crittenden--A Grieving Mother Writes Through Grief

    Danielle Crittenden is a journal who's world was cleaved in two: into the life before her daughter Miranda was found dead in her Brooklyn apartment, and the life after. In this luminous memoir, Crittenden maps the territory of profound loss with the clarity of a foreign correspondent filing reports from a country no parent ever wishes to visit. She is a journalist, author, and former host of the podcast The Femsplainers, known for her incisive and original commentary on women, family, and modern life. In addition to writing a popular monthly newsletter on Substack, her work has appeared in The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Atlantic, and more. She is the author of five books, including What Our Mothers Didn't Tell Us: Why Happiness Eludes the Modern Woman, praised by Vanity Fair as the work of "one of the most important new thinkers about women and family." Her novel Amanda Bright @ Home was the first modern work of fiction to be serialized in The Wall Street Journal. She is also co-author of the cookbook From a Polish Country House Kitchen, written with Pulitzer Prize–winning historian Anne Applebaum. Born in Toronto, she now lives in Washington, D.C. with her husband, journalist and author David Frum.

  3. Oct 15

    ep.189 Paolo Presta: Passion, Purpose and Remembering Love

    Today Meghan sits down with the extraordinary Paolo Presta to talk about how honoring his beloved mother's life and death informs the passion and purpose he and his husband, Patrick pursue daily.  Paolo has always been a big dreamer. Growing up in a large Italian family in Chicago, his dream was always to be a part of the entertainment business in Hollywood. It seemed impossible at the time, so he knew he needed a little help. For years, Paolo wrote to "The Oprah Winfrey Show" asking Oprah to help him fulfill that dream. Finally, in November of 2004, Oprah Winfrey surprised Paolo at his father's grocery store and gave him a speaking role on NBC's "Will & Grace". His reaction is regarded as one of the greatest surprise moments in "The Oprah Show" history! He then moved to Los Angeles where he transitioned from acting to working behind the scenes in the world of daytime talk shows ("The Ellen DeGeneres Show" & "The Talk"). All of those experiences brought Paolo to fulfill his greatest life-long dream of hosting his own talk show. His greatest mission is to show people that with a big dream and a lot of hard work, anything is possible!

  4. Oct 8

    ep188: Kate Doerge: Reading the Signs With a Grieving Mother

    Helping People and Organizations Navigate Change with Resilience, Connection & Purpose Kate Doerge is a USA TODAY bestselling author, motivational speaker, certified grief coach, and founder of Penny’s Flight Foundation. Through heartfelt storytelling, research-backed insights, and practical strategies, Kate inspires audiences to navigate change, embrace resilience, and lead lives filled with greater purpose and connection. After losing her father, her mother, and her 16-year-old daughter, Penny, Kate made the choice to transform unimaginable loss into a movement centered on hope, action, and possibility. That journey became the foundation for her bestselling book, Reimagining Grief, and the keynote presentations she now shares with organizations, leadership teams, healthcare systems, nonprofits, and conferences across the country. Kate’s presentations are emotional without being heavy, inspiring without being cliché, and always grounded in practical tools audiences can begin using immediately.

  5. Sep 10

    ep.187: Ellen Kelsay--Work Health & Grief in the Workplace

    Today Meghan Talks talk Work Health with Ellen Kelsay.   Ellen is president and CEO of Business Group on Health. She is a sought-after speaker and expert on health and well-being issues. Kelsay hosts the Business Group on Health podcast and has authored various industry publications appearing in Harvard Business Review, Modern Healthcare, Pharmaceutical Executive and Employee Benefit News, among others. She frequently contributes on an array of critical topics such as health care affordability, prescription drug pricing, transparency, well-being, mental health, health inclusion and innovation across the U.S. and globally. She has been recognized by Modern Healthcare as one of the 100 Most Influential People in Healthcare. She has delivered Congressional testimony and is frequently cited in the press. Business Group on Health is the longest standing and largest non-profit organization devoted exclusively to representing employers' perspectives on critical health, well-being and workforce strategy issues. The Business Group keeps its membership on the leading edge of innovation, thinking and action to address the delivery, financing, affordability and experience with the health care system. Leveraging its network of members and industry thought leaders, the Business Group drives change by sharing best practices, shaping health care policy and crafting innovative solutions to improve employee health and well-being and optimize business performance. Business Group members, many of whom have operations globally, include most Fortune 100 companies and over 450 companies in total who provide health coverage and well-being benefits for more than 60 million employees, retirees and their families in over 200 countries and territories. In addition to her role leading Business Group on Health, Ellen holds leadership roles across the health care industry including as Chair, National Board of Trustees for March of Dimes and as a Board member of The Leapfrog Group. Additionally, she is a Health Evolution Senior Fellow, a member of Women Business Leaders in Healthcare, Oliver Wyman’s Health Leaders Alliance and the Aspen Group. Ellen has a Bachelor of Arts degree in biology and business administration from the University of Richmond and is a graduate of the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.

  6. Sep 3

    Ep. 186: Grief & Longing with Amanda McCracken

    Amanda McCracken dated over 100 men by her late thirties, certain she was doing everything right to find lasting love. She wasn't. At 39, her therapist handed her the word that finally made sense of it all: limerence — an obsessive, addictive longing that feels like love but runs on fantasy instead of reality. Ten years of research (and a lot of hard-won self-honesty) later, Amanda is a journalist and self-described "limerence expert" whose work has appeared in The New York Times, Washington Post, Vogue, National Geographic, and NPR. Her new memoir, When Longing Becomes Your Lover, blends neuroscience, cultural criticism, and raw personal story to unpack why we chase people who can't love us back — and how to stop. She hosts the podcast The Longing Lab, gave a TEDx talk on the subject, and coaches writers and speakers out of Boulder, Colorado, where she lives with her husband and daughter. Social handles Website: amandajmccracken.com Instagram: @amandajmccracken Facebook: Amanda Janae McCracken TikTok: @thelonginglab Podcast: The Longing Lab

  7. Aug 27

    ep. 185: Marisa Renee Lee Chronic Illness & Grief

    Marisa Renee Lee is the award-winning, bestselling author of Grief is Love: Living with Loss and the newly released Waiting for Dawn: Living with Uncertainty. Her work on grief and healing has been featured on Good Morning America, NPR, Fox & Friends, in Vogue, and in The Atlantic, among other outlets. She previously served as a deputy director in the Obama White House and is now CEO of Beacon Advisors, a social-impact consulting firm. She holds a dual degree from Harvard College and lives in New York with her husband, Matt, and son, Bennett. Marisa cared for her mother, Lisa, who lived with MS and died of breast cancer in 2008 — the loss that shaped her thinking on grief. She's also spoken openly about infertility and pregnancy loss. Marisa's second book, published by Hachette (April 2026). Where Grief is Love reframed grief as an extension of love, Waiting for Dawn turns to the uncertainty that surrounds loss — chronic illness, systemic instability, the "in-between" that doesn't resolve on schedule. It draws on a two-year stretch in which she lost her mother-in-law and was navigating Long COVID while writing the book. Central idea: self-preservation, not forced positivity, is the way through prolonged uncertainty — offering a "compass," not a roadmap. Contact & Socials Website: marisareneelee.com Contact/booking form: marisareneelee.com/contact Instagram: @marisareneelee LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/marisareneelee Facebook: facebook.com/marisareneelee Substack ("Holding Both"): marisareneelee.substack.com

  8. Aug 20

    Ep. 184 The Power of Ritual with Tracee Stanley

    Grief Is My Side Hustle — Tracee Stanley on Ritual, Rest, and What We Do With What We've Lost My guest this week is Tracee Stanley — author of Radiant Rest and The Luminous Self, and someone who has spent over twenty years teaching yoga nidra, meditation, and ancestor reverence. Her new book, Living Ritual, comes out this August, and it gave us so much to dig into. We talk about why our culture is so allergic to grief — how we've turned it into something to hide instead of something to honor — and what changes when we stop avoiding it. Tracee walks me through the role ritual plays in all of this: not as a rulebook, but as a way to slow down and give our grief an actual place to land. We get into small personal practices, the kind of offerings you might build for someone you've lost, and why grieving in community changes the whole experience. I also asked her to break down her Grief Mentor Method — connection, ritual, and community — and how those three pieces work together. This one left me thinking differently about what it means to tend to my own grief instead of just surviving it. I think you'll feel the same. Thank you for listening! Please rate, review, and share if this one landed for you — it helps more grieving people find the show. More about Tracee Stanley: Website: https://www.traceestanley.com Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tracee_stanley Her new book, Living Ritual: Infuse Each Day with Purpose and Spirit, is out this August. More about Grief Is My Side Hustle / Grieftastic: Website: https://www.meghanriordanjarvis.com Grieftastic: https://www.grieftastic.com Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/meghan.riordan.jarvis Book, Can Anyone Tell Me?: available wherever books are sold

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4.9
out of 5
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About

Trauma therapist, writer and podcast host Meghan, found herself on the receiving end of the same treatments she used with her own clients after the death of both her parents within two years of each other. Meghan hosts a weekly discussion with guests who carry personal loss, professional expertise, and a belief that talking about grief and loss helps provide needed support in a world that finds the topic all kinds of awkward.

Information

  • Creator
    meghanrjarvis
  • Years Active
    2021 - 2026
  • Episodes
    189
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © Copyright 2021 All rights reserved.
  • Show Website
    Grief Is My Side Hustle

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