All There Is with Anderson Cooper
Grief can feel so lonely but talking about it and listening to others share their experiences helps. In all new episodes of this award-winning podcast, Anderson Cooper continues his deeply personal exploration of grief in all its complexities. In moving and honest discussions, he learns from others who have faced life-altering losses. Join the community to share your story and watch Anderson's weekly streaming show All There Is Live at cnn.com/allthereis.
Episodes
Mariska Hargitay Knows Loss And Longing
Mariska Hargitay was three when she survived the car crash that killed her mother, actress Jayne Mansfield. She talks with Anderson Cooper about her search to know her mother, and heal the pain of her past. For more of “All There Is with Anderson Cooper” visit cnn.com/allthereis.
Host: Anderson Cooper Showrunner: Haley Thomas Producers: Emily Williams and Kyra Dahring Video Editor: Eric Zembrzusk
Sheinelle Jones on Grief and Joy
Today show co-host Sheinelle Jones' husband, Uche Ojeh, died in May 2025 from glioblastoma. Seven months later, she lost her grandmother. She talks with Anderson Cooper about parenting after loss and trying to hold onto joy while grieving Uche and the person she was before his death. For more of “All There Is with Anderson Cooper” visit cnn.com/allthereis.
Host: Anderson Cooper Showrunner: Haley
Isaiah Thomas: The Loneliness of Grief
Isaiah Thomas's youngest sister, Chyna, was killed in a car crash the night before he played in the 2017 NBA playoffs. In 2024, his oldest sister LaQuisha died as well. Isaiah tells Anderson Cooper he is "still struggling," but he also shares powerful insights he has learned about grief as tries to "go forward, without moving on." For more of “All There Is with Anderson Cooper” visit cnn.com/allth
Cameron Crowe on Grief, Memory and Music
Writer and director of “Almost Famous” among other films, Cameron Crowe, talks about the death of his sister Cathy when he was 10 years old, and how he has come to be "in conversation" with her now, all these decades later. It's a moving conversation about grief, memory, and music. For more of “All There Is with Anderson Cooper” visit cnn.com/allthereis.
Host: Anderson Cooper Showrunner: Haley Th
Rachel and Jon Goldberg-Polin: ‘ Grief is a Badge of Love’
Rachel and Jon Goldberg-Polin talk with Anderson Cooper about their evolving understanding of grief since the murder of their son Hersh by Hamas after 328 days in captivity. For more of “All There Is with Anderson Cooper” visit cnn.com/allthereis.
Host: Anderson Cooper Showrunner: Haley Thomas Producers: Grace Walker, Emily Williams, Madeleine Thompson, Stephen Samaniego Associate Producer: Kyra
Sarah Wildman: Let Grief Be Messy
New York Times writer and editor Sarah Wildman’s daughter Orli was 10 when she was diagnosed with a rare liver cancer. Anderson reached out to her after reading her remarkable essays about Orli's life and death. Their conversation is thought-provoking and deeply moving.
Host: Anderson Cooper Showrunner: Haley Thomas Producers: Chuck Hadad, Grace Walker, Emily Williams, Madeleine Thompson Associa
Dax Shepard: Grief, Fatherhood, and Friendship
Actor, writer and podcast host Dax Shepard recalls his father's final days, and how they changed Dax's understanding of him. In this emotional conversation recorded live at the New Orleans Book Festival at Tulane University, Dax also tells Anderson about the unusual start of his friendship with the late actor Eric Dane. For more of “All There Is with Anderson Cooper” visit cnn.com/allthereis.
H
Sara Bareilles: 'Life's Holiest Lesson'
In a new song "Home" that Sara wrote after listening to Anderson’s talk with Stephen Colbert, she sings, "What is broken cannot heal 'till it's known and loved by name." In this moving conversation she shares "Home" for the first time, and talks with Anderson about the "medicinal" nature of sharing one's grief with others. For more of “All There Is with Anderson Cooper” visit cnn.com/allthereis.
Robert Irwin: Finding Strength in the Vulnerability of Grief
Robert Irwin was just two when his dad, “Crocodile Hunter” Steve Irwin, died. Now 22, Robert talks with Anderson about growing up with grief and how he's able to still "feel" his dad. For more of “All There Is with Anderson Cooper” visit cnn.com/allthereis.
Host: Anderson Cooper
Showrunner: Haley Thomas
Producers: Chuck Hadad, Grace Walker, Emily Williams, Madeleine Thompson
Associate Pro
Gavin Newsom
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 impact it had on him. This and other episodes of All There Is are available at cnn.com/allthereis or wherever you get podcast
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 revealing conversation, Eric tells Anderson how these events changed him, as a man and a father, and how he copes with the
‘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 about Andrea's death. For more of “All There Is with Anderson Cooper” visit cnn.com/allthereis.
Host: Anderson Cooper S
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 Thomas Producers: Chuck Hadad, Grace Walker, Emily Williams Associate Producer: Kyra Dahring Video Editor: Eric Zembrzusk
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, you can learn to navigate it more.
Host: Anderson Cooper Showrunner: Haley Thomas Producers: Chuck Hadad, Grace Walker,
Kelsey Grammer: A Brother’s Love and Loss
In 1975 Kelsey Grammer’s 18-year-old sister, Karen, was murdered. For fifty years his loving memories of her were colored by questions about her death. In this moving conversation, Kelsey tells Anderson how he finally found answers and, in doing so, the beloved sister he lost so long ago. This conversation contains some graphic descriptions of violence.
Join the community to share your story an
Ben Stiller: Facing His Past
Ben Stiller spent the last few years going through boxes of photos, letters, and recordings that his parents, the famous comedy duo known as "Stiller and Meara," left behind. He shares with Anderson the parallels he discovered between his parents and himself and how it has made him re-think his past and his own parenting.
Join the community to share your story and watch Anderson's weekly streami
Nick Cave: Grief’s Jagged Edges
Musician Nick Cave has experienced the death of two of his sons. He tells Anderson how, over time, these losses have changed his relationship with the world; expanding his heart and widening his “capacity for love.”
Join the community to share your story and watch Anderson's weekly streaming show All There Is Live at cnn.com/allthereis.
Host: Anderson Cooper
Showrunner: Haley Thomas
Produce
Tig Notaro: Finding What Matters
Comedian Tig Notaro recently witnessed the death of her friend, poet Andrea Gibson, after a years-long battle with cancer. Being by Andrea's bedside was a profound experience for Tig and she talks about its impact on her in this moving and at times funny conversation. Join the community to share your story and watch Anderson's weekly streaming show All There Is Live at cnn.com/allthereis.
Host:
Kenny Chesney
Country superstar Kenny Chesney reflects on the loss of friends and a beloved dog. He and Anderson also share their connection to a family who experienced a profound loss. Plus, Anderson talks about the death of David Gergen and speaks to a podcast listener facing a life-threatening illness.
Join the community to share your story and watch Anderson's weekly streaming show All There Is Live at cn
Ken Burns' History With Grief
Documentary filmmaker Ken Burns has been called “America’s biographer,” but in this moving conversation, he reveals how his own history has been shaped by early loss - the death of his mother Lyla when Ken was eleven years old. Join the community to share your story and watch Anderson's weekly streaming show All There Is Live at cnn.com/allthereis
Host: Anderson Cooper, Showrunner: Haley T
Luke Bryan: Grief, Faith, and Music
Luke Bryan is one of country music’s biggest stars. He's also faced great loss. In this personal and revealing conversation with Anderson, Luke shares how faith, family, and music have helped him "do what you do to get through." Join the community to share your story and watch Anderson's weekly streaming show All There Is Live at cnn.com/allthereis
Host: Anderson Cooper, Showrunner: Haley Tho
Coming Back To Life
In this special episode of the podcast, Anderson reports from Rome following the death of Pope Francis, and speaks to religion professor Elaine Pagels who lost both her 6-year-old son Mark and her husband Heinz.
Visit the All There Is online grief community at cnn.com/allthereisonline and watch the video version on YouTube.
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Love Is What Survives
In the season three finale, Anderson plays some of the more than 6000 voicemails he has received from podcast listeners about what they have learned in their grief that might help others.
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Doris Kearns Goodwin
Pulitzer Prize winning historian Doris Kearns Goodwin knows what it’s like to face the past. She talks with Anderson about how Abraham Lincoln and other historic figures dealt with grief, and how she has. She went through boxes of papers and mementos with her husband Dick Goodwin before he died and it changed both of their lives in ways she never expected.
Visit the All There Is online grief comm
David & Amy Sedaris
David and his sister Amy Sedaris have lived through the deaths of their mother, father and sister, and most recently, Amy’s pet rabbit. They join Anderson for a heartfelt, and at times irreverently funny, conversation about loss and grief.
Visit the All There Is online grief community at cnn.com/allthereisonline and watch the video version on YouTube.
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A Message from Anderson
Anderson checks in with an update about the podcast and invites listeners to call the All There Is voicemail.
Visit the All There Is online grief community at cnn.com/allthereisonline
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Tyler Perry: Letting Go
This week marks 15 years since actor and filmmaker Tyler Perry lost his beloved mother, Willie Maxine Perry, at 64 years old. Tyler shares with Anderson how he’s avoided his grief by pouring himself into work, and how he is now facing the trauma of his past and the pain of his mother’s absence.
Visit the All There Is online grief community at cnn.com/allthereisonline and watch the video versio
Remembering Eddie Van Halen
Before they co-founded one of the most successful rock bands in history, Alex and Eddie Van Halen were two kid brothers with a love of music. In an emotional, and musically rich interview, Alex talks about Eddie’s life and death and the communication he feels he still has with him. Alex also plays some of the unreleased music they were working on before his brother’s death in 2020.
Visit the All
Revisiting Ashley Judd: Grief, Love and Naomi
When Naomi Judd died by suicide in 2022, after a long struggle with mental illness, her daughter Ashley found her. In this deeply moving, revealing, and insightful conversation Ashley Judd talks about the trauma she has worked hard to face, the grief she now feels, and how her mother’s spirit is still very much alive in her life.
Visit the All There Is online grief community at cnn.com/allthereis
Andrew Sullivan: What Suffering Reveals
Author Andrew Sullivan grew up in Britain seeing his mom struggle with mental illness. He came to America as a young gay man and was named editor of The New Republic magazine, just as his friends began dying around him. Anderson talks with Andrew about surviving the AIDS epidemic and the complicated grief he feels following his mother’s death several months ago.
Visit the All There Is online gri
Will Reeve: The Long Journey Into Grief
America knew actor Christopher Reeve as Superman, but to Will Reeve, now an ABC News correspondent, he was “Dad.” Will was 12 years old when his father died in 2004, and then in 2006 his mom Dana Reeve also died. Will sits down with Anderson to share what he calls his “long journey into grief.”
Visit the All There Is online grief community at cnn.com/allthereisonline and watch the video version
Irene Weiss: The Soul Never Forgets
How do you live with loss that is beyond comprehension? When Irene Weiss was 13 years old she and her family were deported to Auschwitz. She and her older sister were the only survivors. Now 93 years old, Irene talks with Anderson about how she survived and how she has lived with grief ever since.
Visit the All There Is online grief community at cnn.com/allthereisonline and watch the video versi
Creating A Companionship With Grief
After suppressing grief for decades, Anderson reached out earlier this year to psychotherapist and author Francis Weller to ask for help. In this very personal conversation Anderson reveals some of what he’s learned about the strategies he developed as a child to shield himself from grief and why those strategies are now working against him.
Visit the All There Is online grief community at cnn.co
Whoopi Goldberg: Why Did Y’all Leave Me?
Whoopi Goldberg sits down with Anderson for a candid and moving conversation about the life and deaths of her mother Emma Johnson and her brother Clyde.
Visit the All There Is online grief community at cnn.com/allthereisonline and watch the video version on YouTube.
Help is available if you or someone you know is struggling with suicidal thoughts or mental health matters. In the US: Call or text 9
Andrew Garfield’s Grief
Andrew Garfield's mother Lynne died from pancreatic cancer in 2019. In this deeply moving and emotional episode Andrew talks with Anderson about how grief is now the only way for him to feel close to his mom again. “The wound is the only route to the gift,” Andrew says. “The grief and the loss are the only route to the vitality of being alive.”
Visit the All There Is online grief community at cnn.
Season 3: All There Is
Grief never goes away but we can learn to live with it and learn from it. In Season 3 of All There Is, Anderson Cooper continues his deeply personal journey to understand his own feelings of grief in all its complexities, and in moving and honest discussions, learn from others who’ve experienced life-altering losses. All There Is with Anderson Cooper is about the people we lose, the people left be
Sharing Our Grief
This episode, the season finale, is a reminder that none of us is alone in our grief. Anderson shares some of the thousands of extraordinarily moving voicemail messages he’s received from listeners.
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A Son’s Struggle, A Father’s Grief
Charlie Shelin was an exceptionally bright child who worked hard for years to keep the dark thoughts in his head from consuming him. In this moving conversation, his dad, Randy, talks with Anderson about Charlie’s mental health struggles and the layers of grief their family has lived with for years.
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Mama Shu: Turning Loss Into Love
Shamayim Harris, known in Detroit as Mama Shu, knows all too well the pain of loss. In 2007 her 2-year-old son Jakobi Ra was killed in a hit and run accident, and in 2021 her other son Chinyelu was murdered. Mama Shu talks with Anderson about how she worked hard to, in her words, “turn my grief into glory and my loss into love.” Focusing on one block in her neighborhood, she began cleaning up blig
Nicole Chung: Carrying Memories Alone
When best-selling author Nicole Chung’s adoptive parents died, she felt all alone. Her family had unraveled, and there was no one else who remembered what she was like as a little girl. Nicole speaks with Anderson about carrying her parents’ memories alone and the search for her birth parents, which led to a series of surprising discoveries.
You can call and leave a message at: (917) 727-6818. We'
Ashley Judd: Grief, Love and Naomi
When Naomi Judd died by suicide in 2022, after a long struggle with mental illness, her daughter Ashley found her. In this deeply moving, revealing, and insightful conversation Ashley Judd talks about the trauma she has worked hard to face, the grief she now feels, and how her mother’s spirit is still very much alive in her life.
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Revisiting Stephen Colbert: Grateful for Grief
The podcast is taking a short break, new episodes of All There Is will return January 10th. In the meantime, we are sharing Anderson's powerful conversation with Stephen Colbert from the first season of the podcast. Can we learn to love the things we most wish had never happened? Can we really become grateful for grief? Heartbreak? The deaths of loved ones? Stephen believes we can and explains why
Love, Loss and Parenting
Amanda Petrusich, a talented writer for The New Yorker who often covers music, lost her husband, Bret Stetka, suddenly in 2022. Their daughter, Nico, was just 13 months old. Amanda talks with Anderson about grieving an unexpected loss, while navigating life as a single parent. They also explore the constantly changing nature of grief, the role music has played for Amanda and how she talks about Br
The Greatest Loss
Katie Talman, was grieving an unimaginable loss when she left a message for Anderson Cooper, one of more than a thousand voicemails he received from podcast listeners. Anderson called Katie back at her home in Texas and she agreed to share her story. When Katie was 23 weeks pregnant, her daughter Everly died. “Nothing could have prepared me to deliver a stillborn baby,” Katie says. The grief over
A President’s Grief
“You gotta come home, there's been an accident.” It was 1972 when Joe Biden heard the news that changed his life forever: his wife Neilia and 13-month-old daughter Naomi were killed in a car crash. Decades later his beloved son Beau died of cancer. In this deeply personal interview President Biden reveals how he has found solace in his grief and learned to search for purpose beyond his pain.
Learn
Facing Our Grief
Grief doesn’t just go away, no matter how hard we may want it to. So how can we live with it and learn from it? These are the questions Anderson Cooper struggles to answer after the first season of All There Is ends. Anderson spends months playing more than 1000 unheard voicemail messages about grief from podcast listeners, and once again finds himself in his basement surrounded by boxes, full of
Season 2: All There Is
Do we ever move on from grief, or do we just learn to live with it? In Season 2 of All There Is, Anderson Cooper continues his deeply personal journey to understand his own feelings of grief in all its complexities, and in moving and honest discussions, learn from others who’ve experienced life-altering losses. All There Is with Anderson Cooper is about the people we lose, the people left behind,
When Anderson Met Audie
Anderson is pleased to present the first episode of Audie Cornish's new podcast: The Assignment... but first a conversation on the intimacy of podcasting with Audie and Anderson.
Fiery Twitter threads and endless news notifications never capture the full story. Each week on The Assignment, host Audie Cornish pulls listeners out of their digital echo chambers to hear from the people who live the h
You Are Not Alone
Anderson shares poignant and profound messages from listeners and reflects on the conversations he's had during the first season of the podcast.
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Live Your Beautiful Life, Baby
Writer and poet Elizabeth Alexander talks with Anderson about how she and her two children coped with the sudden death of her husband, Ficre, ten years ago, and the recent death of her father.
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Laurie Anderson: The Release Of Love
Artist and composer Laurie Anderson reflects on the death of her husband, rock legend Lou Reed and also her beloved dog Lolabelle. She talks with Anderson about grief and the unexpected feelings she has experienced surrounding loss.
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Anticipatory Grief
Filmmaker Kirsten Johnson lost her mother to Alzheimer's in 2007, now her father has dementia, and is disappearing before her eyes. As Kirsten struggles with grief over the inevitable loss of her father, she finds ways to celebrate his life and get closer to him. She tells Anderson it's never too late to get to know someone you love more deeply even after they are gone.
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Molly Shannon’s Unspeakable Loss
When Molly Shannon was four, her mother, baby sister and cousin were killed in a car crash. Her father was at the wheel. Growing up, few people ever spoke with her about her grief. She and Anderson explore how early loss shaped both their lives, and propelled them forward in unexpected ways.
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Sadness Isn’t An Enemy
In this deeply personal episode, Anderson reflects on the suicide of his brother, Carter, and the impact that loss still has on his life today. Anderson is joined by Dr. BJ Miller, a hospice and palliative care physician whose sister, Lisa, died by suicide. BJ brings exceptional wisdom to a difficult conversation and suggests some surprising ways to think about sadness and grief.
This episode cont
Stephen Colbert: Grateful for Grief
Can we learn to love the things we most wish had never happened? Can we really become grateful for grief? Heartbreak? The deaths of loved ones? Stephen Colbert believes we can, and sits down with Anderson to explain why and how. It is a deeply moving, thought-provoking, and at times funny conversation that Anderson says has had a major impact on his life.
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Facing What’s Left Behind
Alone in his late mother, Gloria Vanderbilt’s apartment, Anderson begins recording his thoughts and memories as he packs up her things. He makes some unexpected discoveries while sorting through boxes of love letters, journals, and cherished keepsakes. Feeling isolated and alone in his grief, Anderson reaches out to a close friend of his mother, who joins him to share insights about her and sugges
Introducing: All There Is with Anderson Cooper
Anderson Cooper takes us on a deeply personal exploration of loss and grief. He starts recording while packing up the apartment of his late mother Gloria Vanderbilt. Going through her journals and keepsakes, as well as things left behind by his father and brother, Cooper begins a series of emotional and moving conversations about the people we lose, the things they leave behind, and how to live on
