Recipes for Grief

About Recipes for Grief

Heartfelt storytelling for feel-y foodies that explores the relationship between loss and nourishment. We explore ancestral food traditions, rituals for death and grief, and life recipes for living with grief.

Publisher

Recipes for Grief with Andrea Sexton Dumas

Category

society & culture

Language

en

Explicit

Yes

First episode

28 Mar 2023

Latest episode

6 Mar 2026

Latest episodes

27 episodes in the feed.

1. 

   6 Mar 2026

   Ep. 23: Funke

   Welcome to the show the colorful and incomparable Ms. Funke. She opens the conversation by telling how she starts her day with her Ifà practices, and how she consulted the Yoruba Orisha Ògún before bringing her beloved dog, Cognac, home. Her fear of death was transformed through Buddhism, Reiki and caring for her parents at the end of their lives. Her parents met when her father was a Tuskegee airmen grounds crew and her mother a USO dancer. The blessing her mother bestowed upon her has carried her throughout her colorful life: "live life on your own terms." And that was her guiding light when she was diagnosed with (and given a clean bill of health from) colon cancer, along with the quality of her life centered. Ms. Funke speaks about "letting go" as a way to not hold onto grief and connecting with ancestors of good character for guidance (a cherished aunt makes an appearance!). She also explains why she uses the term "transitioned" instead of "died". She's been initiated as a living ancestor into Ifà, and gives instructions for how we can connect to our ancestors, which is an integral to her wisdom and practice.  What's nurtures her? Mother Earth! Ms. Funke says "my bio is very simple: I am someone that loves life and believes in staying true to one's self" and has graciously shared a prayer for all of us: A Prayer Connecting to Mother Earth: I am grounded My spirit is grounded deep into the earth I am calm, strong, centered and peaceful I am able to let go of fear and trust that I am eternally safe I am worthy of all things beautiful Àṣẹ Ifà (https://www.theifainstitute.org/what-is-ifa⁠) LA Times Article ( ⁠https://www.latimes.com/local/california/la-me-tuskegee-veterans-20150115-story.html⁠) with Ms. Funke's father and his childhood friend Tuskegee Airmen Ground Crew (https://www.granger.com/results.asp?image=0528550&itemw=4&itemf=0001&itemstep=1⁠) History of Tuskegee Airmen (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tuskegee_Airmen⁠) Skippers Darling 3 (https://www.reddit.com/r/HistoryPorn/comments/n192sg/pilots_of_the_332d_fighter_group_tuskegee_airmen/) The Tuskegee Airmen Red Tails (https://vintageaviationnews.com/warbird-articles/tuskegee-airmen-the-red-tails-who-defied-the-skies-and-history.html) Nichiren Buddhism (https://theconversation.com/how-the-practice-of-nichiren-buddhism-sustained-tina-turner-for-50-years-206486⁠) Reiki (https://www.reiki.org/faqs/what-reiki⁠) Hospice (https://understandhospice.org/brief-history-hospice/)

2. 

   1 Oct 2024

   Ep. 22: Tunde Lasode

   Tunde Lasode has an upcoming concert, Audience of One: Tribute to the King, on Friday October 18th at Lesher Center for the Arts in Walnut Creek, Ca. Our conversation has stretched and tested me, and you might be surprised at the differentiation he makes between being a follower of Jesus vs. being religious. We talk about the weight of importance of faith, hope and love, and grief as a call to attention. Tunde Lasode is a producer, a prolific saxophonist, a pianist and multi-instrumentalist based in the San Francisco Bay Area, Northern California. He is a Registered Nurse with one of California’s and the United States leading healthcare institutions and has won multiple awards including the Nightingale Award and the Daisy Award for exceptional nurses. Tunde Lasode, also known as t-Las, is an exceptional musician, who balances music with healthcare, using music as an alternative therapy in his healthcare and healing profession. According to him, music plays a pivotal role in healing, both physically, emotionally, and spiritually. It also promotes mental health and wellness. He has many experiences performing music therapy at clinics, hospitals, and nursing homes across California, and has seen first hand, the healing power of God through music. As a telemetry nurse, he has learned that music can affect human physiology positively or adversely, depending on the type of music (worthy of note is that research is still ongoing in this area). He was also part of a group that conducted research on the effect of music on delirium in hospitalized older adults. Over the past decade, he has raised bands and performed across the state and the country, produced and executive produced musical videos and concerts. In what he describes as a ‘new beginning’, Tunde Lasode (t-Las), a lover of God and follower of Christ, released his debut gospel instrumental album in 2022, titled Audience of One. Having experienced first hand the divine healing  power of God through his music, his goal is to dedicate his gift to the glory and praise of the One who is truly deserving of it,  our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, and to continue to promote healing and deliverance from bondage, oppression, and depression, through his saxophone playing. According to him, "music is as powerful as the power and driving force behind it, and the power of the Holy Spirit is the driving force behind my music". This same power raised Jesus from the dead (Romans 6:10-11). ⁠CONCERT at Lesher Center for the Arts⁠ (https://www.lesherartscenter.org/Home/Components/Calendar/Event/18021/3094) YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/tlasmusic) Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/tlasmusic) IG (https://www.instagram.com/tlasmusic/) - Bittermelon (https://draxe.com/nutrition/bitter-melon/) - God teaching him how to play music instead of being "self taught" - The homemade guitar his friend made him when he was 7 years old - Resistance of God's gifts - How he manifested his upcoming performance - His brother says he's "speaking the soothing word of God through his instrument" - His relationship with grief as a nurse and empath - Yearning for the source of the infinite, the creator - Faith and what do you get from it - Hope as a loaded word, especially in grief - Grief as a call to attention - The difference between Christianity as a religion vs. Christianity as a relationship with Christ - Manmade grief due to greed, not God - The time he saw angels in a cloud of glory during his wilderness period - Meditate to hear God - Love is a choice...Love is God - The context of the story of The Good Samaritan - Be the hand of God - Evidence of the things unseen (like dreams) - Being a "Doubting Thomas" amid God's unconditional love - Things that we hold onto that Jesus said were inconsequential - I share how I reframe h8 by staring at photos of certain people as children - Song: "Be a Fence " by The Anointed Pace Sisters (https://open.spotify.com/track/2KmIDo72XpyTVogsNkYaty?si=33192ee7320c4807) - Black tourmaline (https://www.healing-crystals-for-you.com/black-tourmaline.html)

3. 

   12 Sept 2024

   Ep. 21: Brianna Hernández

   What a fun conversation this is with artist and death doula Brianna L. Hernández. Brianna shares a few stories about her mom, Miss Sylvia, including her sense of humor and her complicated relationship with cooking. We actually recorded on Miss Sylvia's birthday, so that was really special. Brianna talks about being a grief-y kid and her multimedia art installations that have been born out of caretaking her mom. She also shares some of the things that have become really important to her, like the artist's role in creating cultural death rituals and death education. See below for links to her art installations, articles and Ma's House Art Studio. Brianna L. Hernández is a Chicana artist, curator, and death doula guided by socially engaged practices. In the studio, she creates multi-media installations focused on end-of-life care, grief, and mourning rituals based on lived experience, cultural research, and collaborations with peers including death education workshops. She proudly serves as Director of Curation and Board Secretary of Ma’s House & BIPOC Art Studio on the Shinnecock Indian Reservation, and as Assistant Curator at the Parrish Art Museum in Watermill, New York. Website (http://www.briannalhb.com/) Ma's House Residency and BIPOC Art Studio (https://www.mashouse.studio/) Anticipatory|Después  (https://briannalhb.com/portfolios/anticipatorydespues) Útiles Curativos (https://briannalhb.com/portfolios/utiles-curativos) Aquí Descansamos (https://briannalhb.com/portfolios/aqui-descansamos) Going with Grace  (https://goingwithgrace.com/)Death Doula Program Hypoallergenic (https://hyperallergic.com/870617/the-living-legacy-of-funerary-arts/) article Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/briannalhb/) - death education - emotional public expressions of grief - burials that are better for the environment - healing our relationship with death and dying through creativity - cooking for and caretaking for her mom, Miss Sylvia - Miss Sylvia's sense of humor - creating a living cemetery - the way she approaches making matcha - no difference between love and grief - "mix to combine"

Reach and audience

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

Apple Podcasts (US)

5.0 / 5

7 ratings

Spotify

5.0 / 5

7 ratings

Contact Recipes for Grief

Guest appearances

Books guests

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