Great Grief

About Great Grief

A podcast about loving greatly through grief WITH NNENNA FREELON. Jazz singer Nnenna Freelon extends an invitation to improvise with loss in her award-winning podcast Great Grief. As a widow and self -described grief sojourner, Freelon uses tools she learned as a jazz musician to live with sorrow’s song.
Bearing witness to loss and change with musically supported storytelling, listen to Great Grief with Nnenna Freelon. Find it wherever you find your podcasts.

Publisher

Nnenna Freelon

Category

arts · society & culture

Language

en

Explicit

No

First episode

6 Sept 2023

Latest episode

19 May 2026

Latest episodes

5 of 20 episodes have a transcript.

1. 

   19 May 2026TRANSCRIPT

   Season 3, Episode 7: Last Dream Home

   Host [Host Name] explores the profound journey of letting go through story and song, offering solace and acceptance in this final episode of Great Grief.

2. 

   14 Apr 2026TRANSCRIPT

   Season 3, Episode 6: Love and Kindness Tea

   In this episode, I share a reflection from my book Beneath the Skin of Sorrow—a poetic “recipe” for caring for ourselves in the midst of grief. Loving Kindness Tea invites us to slow down, breathe deeply, and return to gratitude, silence, and love. Through story, meditation, and a touch of ritual, we explore how healing can live in small, intentional moments—and how we can begin to live greatly through grief.

3. 

   31 Mar 2026TRANSCRIPT

   Season 3, Episode 5: Window Woman

   After my husband’s passing, I found myself searching for language that could hold both my grief and my continued capacity to love. Then, a stranger offered me a new way of seeing.

Inside a recent episode

Season 3, Episode 7: Last Dream Home

Published 19 May 2026 · Transcript excerpt

[…] People facing questions at the end of life, or the end of life as they've known it. Here is my offering to all of you. Last dream home. Be with your feelings, whatever they may be. You've been so patient. It's been a long time, so it seems I'll hold you close Until I have to let you go And I won't But how about I was afraid? I wrote this line to quell the shaking in my own heart. Because truth be told, I was very, very afraid of all of the unknown, all the unknown versions of life. Life was changing right in front of my eyes. And yes, I was afraid of who I would be without a hand to hold or a shoulder to lean on. […]

Reach and audience

Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.

Apple Podcasts (US)

4.8 / 5

45 ratings

Contact Great Grief

Guest appearances

Books guests

Based on episode analysis; this does not confirm that the show is currently accepting guests.