Celebrating mortality and getting intimate with death. Why death? It’s one of the core mysteries of life. Amelia Chiarenza believes that is precisely the point - it is a part of life. She spent most of her life ignoring it, letting it exist in dark shadows. Then, in her early forties, both her parents and best friend died within the span of 16 months, forcing her to acknowledge death. Now, her aim is to pull death from the shadows and bring it into a new narrative of life. Cultivate Being™ is a record of Amelia’s quest. Come along with her.
My partner, Angela Chiarenza, is the person who has lived every bit of this journey with me.
She has cared for me and for my loved ones. As a steadfast guide, she has taught me that quiet, steady support is undying; and that it makes a difference in life and in death.
In this conversation we talk about what is spoken and unspoken. She shares about our “grand experiment” and our finding a new rhythm. It’s about being all-in, evolving, and letting those around you evolve; acknowledging and moving along.
She gives me the space to make new meaning and helps me navigate a new way of being.
Getting intimate with death, that’s how we cultivate who we are.
My quest continues.
Ashes to Ashes, written by Luke Preston and Joseph Patton, is included courtesy of Luke Preston.
Excerpt of poet, Andrea Gibson from We Can Do Hard Things.
For more from Amelia, sign up for the Cultivate Being™ Newsletter (https://www.cultivatebeing.com/newsletter).
Check out www.cultivatebeing.com (https://www.cultivatebeing.com/) and @CultivateBeing on Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/cultivatebeing/)
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22 Jul 2026
We’re All In This Together
In this episode, I speak with another unexpected guide along my journey of loss. Doug Schoenfelder was my parents’ handyman. A carpenter by trade, Doug is a jack-of-all-trades “yes-man,” who always showed up when my parents asked for help, and then when I did too. I first met Doug while my father was dying and then Doug became my handyman.
In this conversation, he shares about his background, working with my parents, and confides in me his own feelings of loss after they died. Doug demonstrates for me what being a part of humanity is. He helps me realize that I am not the only one who lost my loved ones, and reminds me that there are so many people who constitute family.
The Once and Future Carpenter, written by Timothy Seth Avett, Scott Avett and Robert William Jr. Crawford, is included with permission from The Avett Brothers.
For more from Amelia, sign up for the Cultivate Being™ Newsletter (https://www.cultivatebeing.com/newsletter).
Check out www.cultivatebeing.com (https://www.cultivatebeing.com/) and @CultivateBeing on Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/cultivatebeing/)
Cultivate Being™ is created and hosted by Amelia Chiarenza in collaboration with audio producer, Theo Balcomb.
8 Jul 2026
This Isn’t a Dress Rehearsal
I venture along a new path on my quest as I share in conversation with Machelle Dejong – a woman who knows my parents in a unique way: by going through their belongings after they died. As a member of the estate sale team at my parents’ house, Machelle showed up unfazed by their overstuffed home.
Machelle joins me in the dining room of that same house to talk about what it is like to say goodbye to the belongings that fill our lives and the lives of those we love. She illuminates for me what it can mean to say goodbye to these things, and she reminds me about the space we create in our lives – and in death.
For more from Amelia, sign up for the Cultivate Being™ Newsletter (https://www.cultivatebeing.com/newsletter).
Check out www.cultivatebeing.com (https://www.cultivatebeing.com/) and @CultivateBeing on Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/cultivatebeing/).
Cultivate Being™ is created and hosted by Amelia Chiarenza in collaboration with audio producer, Theo Balcomb.
24 Jun 2026
Ain’t Nobody Gettin’ Outta Here Alive
My quest to get intimate with death continues. In this episode of the Cultivate Being™ Podcast, I speak with my father’s hospice nurse nearly four years after his passing.
My journey with Molly Heeney started a year before my father died and revealed to me not only what hospice is, but what hospice can be. With this second episode, get a window into our reflections and perspectives as we talk about my father’s end of life, Molly’s role, our views on life and death - all while we celebrate life.
Special thanks to Neva Grant and Susan Stamberg.
For more from Amelia, sign up for the Cultivate Being™ Newsletter (https://www.cultivatebeing.com/newsletter).
Check out www.cultivatebeing.com (https://www.cultivatebeing.com/) and @CultivateBeing on Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/cultivatebeing/).
Cultivate Being™ is created and hosted by Amelia Chiarenza in collaboration with audio producer, Theo Balcomb.
10 Jun 2026
The Undertaker’s Daughter
What is it like to talk to people who knew your loved ones who died? My quest to get intimate with death begins as I talk with someone who knew my parents who I never knew existed until after they died.
I met Marie Bowden very shortly after my father died. He was her mentor, but she and I had not met. Through our conversation, I learned that she is a person surrounded by death. She grew up in a home surrounded by death. She works in a profession that is about donation after death. She herself has experienced tremendous loss. And she is someone who reminds me that there is beauty in the world, despite everything we go through (and because of it).
For more from Amelia, sign up for the Cultivate Being™ Newsletter (https://www.cultivatebeing.com/newsletter).
Check out www.cultivatebeing.com (https://www.cultivatebeing.com/) and @CultivateBeing on Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/cultivatebeing/).
Cultivate Being™ is created and hosted by Amelia Chiarenza in collaboration with audio producer, Theo Balcomb.
21 Apr 2026
Premiering June 10, 2026
Cultivate Being is an Tribeca Official Selection Podcast for the 25th Anniversary Tribeca Festival in June 2026.
Reach and audience
Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.
Apple Podcasts (US)
4.4 / 5
42 ratings
Spotify
5.0 / 5
4 ratings
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