Show Notes
Hospice Supports Every Person to Live Life Well Until Their Last Breath Susan Hassall University of Waikato Pro-Chancellor, Hospice Waikato board member and acting CEO of Hospice Waikato talks about the difference Hospice makes to the lives of patients and families including her own. Her husband James died a year ago and she wonders how it might have been without the care and support that Hospice provided. Then there’s the issue of funding. In an insightful and penetrating interview Palliative care specialist Dr Debbie Barham talks about her work, the lessons she learned from the death of her sister Lynley and the importance of being open and honest about death.
More from The Last Breath — A Podcast About Death And Dying
Kevin Toolis - A Handshake for the Dead. For the last episode of the second series of Hospice Waikato’s Last Breath, we are finishing as we began, with a special international guest. In this interview, BAFTA-winning filmmaker and journalist Kevin Toolis reflects on the traditional Irish wake as a living ritual through which communities process grief together.
Linda Thompson found out she had stage 4 cancer in November 2025 and was given six to twelve months to live. Intelligent, vivacious, and filled with curiosity and wonder, Linda decided straight away that she was not going to be a cancer warrior, whatever time she has left, is for living and doing the things she likes best.
In this interview Aroha Croft talks about the experience of losing a parent to suicide.
Gil is a Funeral Director and in this episode she takes us behind the scenes and explains what a Funeral Director does, everything from paperwork through to embalming. But as she explains, above all else, her vocation is about care.
As a society we seldom talk about death but as I have learned, given an opportunity, people have a lot to say on the topic. For Series 2 of The Last Breath, I have asked all sorts of people to share their perspectives on death, dying and grief, assisted dying, faith and the afterlife. In this episode guitarist Gary Verberne, Filmmaker Matt Hicks and retired GP Somas, share their perspectives and experiences.