Grieving Out Loud: A Mother Coping with Loss in the Opioid Epidemic

Imagine going to a treatment center for addiction, only to be sent to work at a chicken processing plant for no pay. That’s one of the shocking realities investigative reporter Shoshana Walter uncovered in her national investigation into court-mandated addiction treatment. Her reporting exposed how a broken system turned thousands of people into an unpaid workforce for some of the country’s largest corporations—work that made her a Pulitzer Prize finalist. At the center of her story was a tre...

Grief changes everything. It’s the kind of pain that steals your breath and reshapes your world, a weight that never fully lifts. For Stephanie Wiley, that pain runs deeper than words can express. She suddenly lost her teenage son, the boy who never missed a chance to say “I love you,” to fentanyl poisoning. In the aftermath of unimaginable loss, Stephanie found healing in an unexpected place: her kitchen. What began as therapy, a way to cope with grief one cookie at a time, has grown into he...

A 2012 documentary, The Queen of Versailles, introduced the world to David and Jackie Siegel, the powerhouse couple behind Westgate Resorts. The film showcased their booming business, lavish lifestyle, and bustling household of eight children. But behind the glamour, life took a devastating turn. The Siegels’ world came crashing down after the loss of their 18-year-old daughter, Victoria — a tragedy that reshaped not only their family but also their life’s work. While they knew about some of ...

On any given day, paramedics are called into chaos—heart attacks, car crashes, overdoses, and everything in between. For Aaron Westfall, those emergencies too often involve the painful grip of addiction. But instead of only seeing tragedy, he chooses to see the person behind the struggle. That’s because Aaron has been there himself. He not only battled his own addiction, but also survived brain cancer—twice—endured abuse, and mourned the devastating loss of the person he loved most as a child...

This fall, the National Mall in Washington, D.C., was transformed into a sea of grief and remembrance. Four thousand tombstones stretched across the grass—each one representing a life cut short by substances. The Trail of Truth was more than an event; it was a call to action, shining a light on the nation’s fentanyl and substance use disorder epidemic and urging lawmakers to finally take notice. Among the rows of stones, families gathered—mothers, fathers, siblings, and friends—united in both...

From appearances on the Oprah Show to features in the Wall Street Journal, Dr. Ken Druck has long been recognized as a leading voice on grief. A pioneer in grief literacy, he has earned numerous honors, including the “Distinguished Contribution to Psychology” award. But what makes his voice so powerful isn’t just decades of expertise—it’s the personal heartbreak that shaped his path. When his 21-year-old daughter died in a tragic accident, Druck was forced to navigate the very journey he now ...

The numbers are heartbreaking. Nearly 40% of high school students say they feel persistently sad or hopeless, according to the latest data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. About one in five reported struggling with anxiety or depression in just the past two weeks, and another one in five said they seriously considered suicide in the past year. In this episode of Grieving Out Loud, we sit down with the researchers behind a powerful new book, Mind the Children, that digs int...

From a school shooting in Minneapolis to bomb threats against Jewish hospitals in New York, hate crimes continue to make headlines across the country. FBI data shows that reported incidents rose by more than 200 in just one year, from 2022 to 2023. With every act of hate comes unimaginable grief, something today’s guest knows far too well. Mindy Corporon’s life was forever changed when a hate crime took the lives of both her 14-year-old son and her father. Rather than allowing her pain to tur...

What began as a joyful winter break reunion quickly turned into tragedy. In January 2016, a group of college friends gathered at a lake house in southern Wisconsin to celebrate the new year. But before the celebration was over, four of them had vanished—including Sally McQuillen’s 21-year-old son, Christopher. In this episode of Grieving Out Loud, Sally shares her son’s story, the heartbreak that followed, and what it has been like to live with unimaginable loss. She opens up about the weight...

Picture this: 3,800 tombstones stretched out near the U.S. Capitol. Each one represents a life lost to substances— not a number, not a statistic — but a son, a daughter, a sibling, a friend. In this episode of Grieving Out Loud, I sit down with Kimberly Douglas and Alexis Pleus, the women behind the Trail of Truth. For them, this mission is deeply personal. They’re turning their grief into action, demanding that lawmakers pay attention while hundreds of thousands of Americans die every year f...

Grief is something most of us will face at some point in our lives—but it’s not exactly coffee shop conversation. Gary Roe is hoping to change that. He’s not only an award-winning author who’s written more than 20 books on grief, but also someone who speaks with honesty, compassion, and deep personal experience. In this episode of Grieving Out Loud, Gary shares about his painful childhood, the lessons he’s learned about grief and resilience, and what he hopes others can carry with them from h...

How do you keep going when your world falls apart? It is a question even adults struggle to answer, so imagine what it is like for a child. For many, the pain of losing someone they love becomes unbearable. In the search for something, anything, to numb the hurt, they turn to alcohol or other substances. When grief is left unspoken and untreated, that path becomes even easier to fall into. Ellen Ingraham knows that pain. She lost her father when she was just two years old. As if that heartbre...

New York City is home to more than twice the population of any other U.S. city, so when a story makes headlines there, it usually means it’s something big. But for Scott Caddell, the reason his son’s name appeared in the news was devastating. First, Scott lost his oldest son to a brutal and widely publicized murder. Then, years later, his younger son died from fentanyl poisoning. Long before either tragedy, Scott was battling his own addiction, a struggle that began when he was still a ...

In this episode of Grieving Out Loud, we sit down for a one-on-one conversation with a man who’s spent decades on the front lines of the United States' battle against illicit drugs and overdose deaths. Derek Maltz, who recently served as acting administrator of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), built a nearly 30-year career as a special agent. He also led the New York Drug Enforcement Task Force—the nation’s oldest and largest. Maltz opens up about why the fentanyl crisis has be...

Imagine watching a documentary about the dangers of opioids—then moments later, learning your only living child is gone. That’s the devastating reality Michael Land faced when his son unknowingly took a pill laced with a deadly dose of fentanyl. In the wake of unimaginable loss, Michael is choosing to keep his son's memory alive by living out the adventures they once dreamed of doing together. From national parks to stunning waterfalls, he’s been traveling the country—sharing their story, con...