This new podcast series, hosted by Alby and Clemmie, aims to break the silence around grief between friends, one curious question at a time.
These two friends, drawn together through a shared experience of losing a parent when young, are joined by experts in their field who share their own personal stories of loss. Together, they hope to open the conversation about grief, and get friends asking about the octopus.
Does your friend have an octopus, and you don’t know what to say? Ask a curious question, like "how is today?"🐙
In this episode, Clemmie is joined by the eternally sunny and charismatic Amber Jeffrey. If you're already a member of 'the gang' (the one you never asked to be part of, but that everyone joins anyway), then you might already know Amber.
She's the founder of The Grief Gang, a community for grievers that shares the How Is Today? mission. And the mission of so many other grief organizations: to break the taboo around grief and start a great conversation about grief. Thank you to Amber for helping us break the silence around grief and show friends who haven't gone through it, how to talk about it.
As always, thank you for listening. We hope you enjoy it, learn from it and pay it forward. And remember, it doesn't matter if you don't know what to say, just ask your friend a curious question like "how is today?".
Follow us on Instagram @ how.istoday and share your story with us - we're listening.
This podcast is a collaboration between Alby Shale and Clemmie Clough, edited by Freddie Clough. Original artwork and brand genius is by Guzzie Armitage and Samantha Jones.
22 Sept 2023
Alby & Hari Balasubramanian
In this episode Alby speaks to Hari Balasubramanian, Managing Partner at EcoAdvisors & Founder at EcoInvestors Capital about his experience with loss and grief after losing his dad during the the worst terrorist attack in Canadian history. For practically the first time, Hari speaks about losing his dad on Air India Flight 182 when he was just 5 years old. In this episode Hari’s candour and courage is palpable. As is the love he has for his mum who, in his own words, is the ‘star of the show’.
This episode reinforces how important it is to have a community who can have difficult conversations with you when you are grieving. Whilst no grief journey is the same it is becoming clear to us through stories like Hari’s that grief can be ameliorated by people learning how to talk about it.
1 Sept 2023
Alby & Clemmie: Welcome to Season 2!
The ‘How Is Today’ podcast is back with a second season after a (much-needed) hiatus! Join us as we welcome four new incredible people to the podcast to learn from their stories of loss, strength and resilience.
In this episode, Alby and Clemmie reflect back on the bizarre, but brave, experience of recording their story on tape, so their family and friends could hear it; the welcome surprise that thousands of people were listening and following (thank you!); and of what’s next to come.
As always, thank you for listening. We hope you enjoy it, learn from it and pay it forward. And remember, it doesn’t matter if you don’t know what to say, just ask your friend a curious question like “how is today?”
Follow How Is Today on Instagram @ how.is.today and share your story with us, we're listening.
The podcast is a collaboration between Alby Shale and Clemmie Clough, edited by Freddie Clough, recorded in person and remotely. Original artwork and brand genius was by Guzzie Armitage and Samantha Jones.
26 Nov 2021
Zak Williams & Alby Shale
In this episode, Alby speaks to the amicable, compassionate, entrepreneurial and zealous Zak Williams - investor, mental health advocate, entrepreneur and the son of our childhood hero, Robin Williams.
"I appreciate How Is Today. I think it really helps set better context and helps open up the present. Where one stands and how they feel. Where their place is in this world at this moment in time. It's important."
This episode concludes the six part inaugural series of "How Is Today?", the first podcast about grief made for people who haven't been through it. Breaking the silence around grief between friends, one curious question at a time. And with the help of an octopus...
Please join us on Instagram where we'll be keeping the conversation going. And releasing news of Season Two in the new year.
We hope you enjoyed it, learnt from it and keep paying it forward.
19 Nov 2021
Dr Leyla Hussein OBE & Alby Shale
In this episode Alby speaks to the brilliant Leyla Hussein - a social activist and psychotherapist who is a founder and executive at numerous non-profit organisations, has a doctorate, an OBE and (finally) 12 fatwas to her name...
With such rich personal and professional history, Dr Leyla OBE speaks through various different lenses in this episode. From her experience losing her father in her 20s (and not being allowed as a woman to attend the burial - the "kind of bullshit" she's fighting), to how she looks at the 12 fatwas against her, to how she approaches self-care for her grief and includes friends in those moments.
This is a fascinating discussion, we hope you enjoy it 🙏 (https://emojipedia.org/folded-hands/)
12 Nov 2021
Benj Pasek & Alby Shale
In this episode Alby speaks to Oscar, Grammy, Tony, and Golden Globe Award-winning songwriter Benj Pasek, best known for his work on La La Land and Dear Evan Hansen, the play that inspired this conversation. In this conversation, Benj explores how our modern society, characterised by a lack of community and connection, pushes people to alternative ways of connection through the prism of grief. And explains how, when people are moving through real pain, whether in moments of depression or grief, we should resist from jumping into action and fixing: "instead of throwing a rope down a well to lift someone out, it's better to climb down and just sit with them". We hope you enjoy it.
4 Nov 2021
Sir Andrew Strauss OBE & Clemmie Clough
In this episode Clemmie speaks to the English Cricket legend Andrew Strauss about his experience with loss and grief, after losing his wife Ruth Strauss in 2018. He introduces a concept of 'doing death well' which was incredibly important for Ruth before she died. And so they wonder - what would "doing grief well" look like?
Andrew says: "it baffles me that it’s not more of an open conversation, that there’s not more social norms about what grieving is."
We couldn't agree more. It's more conversations like this, with national heroes and your next-door neighbour that will crack this subject open so we can create a healthy, open culture about something we will all go through.
28 Oct 2021
Nathalie & Clemmie Clough
In this episode of How Is Today, Clemmie asks her sister Nathalie some curious questions to break the silence around the grief of their mum Melanie who was killed in Thailand in the 2004 Boxing Day tsunami. Nathalie, Clemmie and a few others survived, but six friends including their mum did not.
For the first time in over 10 years, they will be opening the conversation about grief to show how possible a conversation around grief can be. Even when it seems too difficult. Even when it seems like too much time has passed. Even when it’s emotional.
What this episode also seeks to explain is that when you lose a parent, you lose one of your biggest cheerleaders in life. You lose your support system. Of course, there is the other parent left who, though they're doing an incredible job, is doing it without their partner. Without their left arm.
What we want to leave people with is this: in grief, you need your team. Bigger than that, you need an army.
This podcast is for the people this hasn’t happened to. We’re talking directly to you, the army. We need really, really healthy culture about grief. And we need you to get trained, to get us through. We'll be there for you.
Thank you for listening. This one is a big one.🐙 (https://emojipedia.org/octopus/)
19 Oct 2021
INTRO - Alby Shale & Clemmie Clough
In the first episode of How Is Today, Alby and Clemmie replay the story of how they met - two strangers connected in a moment of serendipity. It was an evening that changed their lives, and set them on a two-year mission to reimagine grief. And understand the role a community can play in that difficult journey.
Hosted by Clemmie, with Alby in the guest-seat, they explore what it's like to lose a parent when young, and how they dealt with what happened next. And show how friends who ‘see your octopus’ can help.
In this episode, learn how to help a friend who's grieving by asking "how is today?"
Because when we ask, we notice that today is different to yesterday. We see that when our friend is going through grief, every day is hard. Yesterday, might have been fine. And tomorrow? It's might be too big to think of.
When you lose someone you love, your world tips upside-down and shakes all the good stuff out. As a friend, you help bring it back together.
Remember, don't worry if you don't know what to say.
Just ask a curious question, like: "how is today?" 🐙 (https://emojipedia.org/octopus/)
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