Before We Go
Before We Go is a narrative podcast hosted by Dr. Shoshana Ungerleider, a physician and science journalist. Season 1 followed her personal journey through her father's terminal cancer diagnosis, exploring mortality and meaning. Season 2 expands the conversation with guests from various walks of life, including actors and entrepreneurs, discussing grief, caregiving, and resilience. The show also features experts who help tackle deeper questions about love, loss, and facing the inevitable with courage.
Episodes
Alexandra Breckenridge Shares her Grief
In the final episode of Season 2, Shoshana sits down with her friend Alexandra Breckenridge — known to many as Mel Monroe from the hit Netflix series Virgin River. Alex has experienced many losses, on and off the screen, and she shares her experience as a way of letting others know that they’re not alone in their grief. Shoshana also speaks with Dr. Wendy Lichtenthal, a clinical psyc
Nikki Boyer Learns to Let Go
Nikki Boyer is probably best known for the podcast and Hulu series Dying for Sex, which follows her best friend, Molly, as she faces losing her life to cancer. But while Molly’s life was coming to an end, Nikki was trying to create a life. Nikki shares her story of the heartbreaking loss of multiple miscarriages. Dr. Jessica Zucker is a psychologist in Los Angeles who has counseled m
BJ Miller Sees The World Differently
Dr. BJ Miller was a college sophomore when a sudden electrical accident nearly took his life. After months in a hospital burn unit and multiple amputations, he emerged into a world that saw him — and treated him — differently. But that experience became the foundation for everything that followed.Now a palliative care physician and one of the most compassionate voices in medicine, BJ is r
Ricki Lake Lives for Love
Ricki Lake has been in the public eye since starring in 1988’s Hairspray. She might be best known as host of The Ricki Lake Show. But she’s not here to talk about movies and TV. She’s here to share the compelling story of her late partner, Christian Evans, and how she continued to feel connected to him after his death – with help from psychic mediums.Dr. Josh Bullock studies mediums
Mark Cuban and Dr. Fumiko Chino Try to F-Up Healthcare
Today’s episode features two people who are shaking up the U.S. healthcare system in very different but deeply humane ways. Dr. Fumiko Chino knows firsthand how devastating medical debt can be. After losing her husband to cancer and being left with overwhelming bills, she went to medical school to become a radiation oncologist and made it her mission to make care more affordable.Mark
Kirsty Parsons Meets Her Future Self
How often do you think about your future self? For Kirsty Parsons, who was diagnosed with cystic fibrosis at birth and told she likely wouldn’t live past her twenties, imagining a long future wasn’t even an option. But a groundbreaking new medication has changed everything. And suddenly, Kirsty is facing a future she never planned for.Psychologist Hal Hershfield is a researcher who studie
Barry Blechman Takes a Journey
Barry Blechman shares at least one thing in common with host Shoshana Ungerleider: cancer runs in their families. Barry was first diagnosed in 1980 and stayed cancer-free for nearly 30 years before it returned. This time, the physical battle was accompanied by deep anxiety and depression, and traditional treatments weren’t enough. That’s when he turned to psilocybin therapy. Psilocyb
Yvette Nicole Brown - from Community to Caregiver
In 2014, Yvette Nicole Brown made a life-changing decision: she left her job starring in the TV show Community to care for her father who had Alzheimer’s disease. For the next 11 years, Yvette cared for her father in her home, joining the tens of millions of Americans who are quietly caring for aging or ill family members within a healthcare system that often leaves families to figure it
Patton Oswalt Learns to Laugh Again
Patton Oswalt—a comedian, storyteller, and devoted dad—shares the story of losing his wife, Michelle, and becoming a single parent overnight. Grief, he learned, was anything but a straight line, and he feared what it would mean for his 7-year-old daughter, Alice. We also hear from Julie Kaplow, a licensed clinical psychologist specializing in childhood grief and trauma, who reminds us tha
Alua Arthur Comes Home
Season 2 begins with Alua Arthur—world-renowned death doula and New York Times bestselling author of Briefly, Perfectly Human. In this conversation, Alua shares the story of a chance encounter that changed everything: a 14-hour bus ride in Cuba with a woman her age who was dying of cancer. That experience set her on a path to rethink everything she thought she knew about purpose, mortalit
Season 2: Before We Go
Before We Go is back! This season, Oscar and Emmy nominee Dr. Shoshana Ungerleider is in conversation with people from all walks of life, exploring how we live alongside mortality. Actor Yvette Nicole Brown shares her story of caregiving, comedian Patton Oswalt reflects on child grief, TV host Ricki Lake talks about love after loss, actor Alexandra Breckenridge shares how she navigates gr
You Think You Have Time
Steven enters hospice and begins to prepare for the end of life. While he visits with friends and even a rabbi, Shoshana and his other caregivers struggle with how to keep him as comfortable as possible during his final days. After Steven’s death, Shoshana and her family reflect on lessons learned.See behind the scenes and join the conversation on Instagram @beforewegopodcast. Learn more
Quality of Life
Like many patients with advanced cancer, Steven struggles with nutrition, the effects of chemotherapy and depression. But luckily, from the early days, he's helped by some wonderful palliative care providers, especially Dr. Mindy.See behind the scenes and join the conversation on Instagram @beforewegopodcast. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesSee Privacy Policy
Daughter, Doctor, Patient
Shoshana struggles to maintain healthy boundaries with her dad, who is pushing back against his doctor’s advice. Meanwhile, she prepares to undergo preventative surgery for the first time, to reduce her risk of cancer. And as she and her sister, Ariel, are both sent into a surgical-menopause tailspin, they discover that experts do not agree on hormone therapy.See behind the scenes and joi
Knowledge is Power
Now that Steven’s cancer has tested positive for the BRCA mutation, Shoshana and her sister Ariel must get tested. And when both of their tests come back positive, they’re both faced with a choice: speak to their doctors about additional screening or undergo preventative surgery to reduce their risk of developing the cancers that have plagued their family.See behind the scenes and join th
All’s Well That Ends Well
Shoshana launches a nonprofit, End Well, to address end-of-life issues, bringing together an incredible community of celebrities, caregivers, healthcare providers, artists, and many others to come up with solutions to make dying easier. And as her own father becomes more sick, she discovers that she can turn to that community for help and advice.See behind the scenes and join the conversa
Hidden Faults
Shoshana describes her experiences as a young doctor and the series of encounters with the end of life that make her believe we're doing it all wrong. A pivotal moment with a terminal patient who chooses to die at home sparks her determination to change how doctors approach death and dying. Shoshana questions why, despite death's inevitability, meaningful conversations about illness and e
Grandma Joy
Shoshana reflects on the death of her paternal grandmother, Joy Ungerleider, who died of the same cancer Steven now faces. The family learns that Steven's cancer is BRCA-related, and hope rises with the possibility that targeted therapy may offer him many months, if not years, of quality life. But he would first need to endure several months of harsh chemotherapy.See behind the scenes and
There Is Hope
Dr. Shoshana Ungerleider's world shifts when her father calls to say that he has been diagnosed with stage 4 pancreatic cancer. As they navigate uncharted emotional terrain, Shoshana and her father explore options, including one they hadn’t before considered – medical aid in dying. But before they can decide, doctors tell Steven that something about his past might offer him hope.See behin
Season 1: Before We Go
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