August 24, 2023

Sneak Peek: What losing family taught Anderson Cooper about grief and gratitude

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Summary

Main Topic: The podcast episode "Think Again" features Anderson Cooper discussing his experiences with grief and the shifts that occur when losing someone you love.

Key Points:

Anderson Cooper shares his personal story of loss, including the deaths of his father, brother, and mother.
He discusses how he has only recently been able to process and grieve these losses, feeling emotions he had previously suppressed.
Cooper talks about his podcast "All There Is," where he interviews celebrities, physicians, and artists about their experiences with death and grief.
He shares how hearing from listeners has helped him realize the widespread nature of loss and sadness.
Cooper describes his podcast as intensely personal and raw, showcasing a side of him not typically seen on CNN.

Participants: Anderson Cooper, the host of the podcast "All There Is," and the interviewer for the episode.

Takeaways:

Grief is a process that can take years to fully experience and process.
Sharing personal stories and experiences with others can help individuals feel less alone in their struggles.

Show Notes

Anderson Cooper is now the only living member of the family he grew up with. When he was 10 years old, his father died of a heart attack. His brother died by suicide about a decade later. And in 2019, his mother died at the age of 95. It’s only recently that Cooper has been able to talk about and process these deaths. For Apple News In Conversation’s Think Again series, he spoke with host Shumita Basu about what he’s learned by talking to people about death and grief on his podcast, All There Is — and the advice he has for those who are struggling with loss. Listen to the full interview on Apple Podcasts.

Transcript

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Shumita Basu: Hey there. Over on Apple News, in conversation, we're running a series called Think Again, about rethinking the way we approach some of life's biggest transitions.

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Shumita Basu: Last week, we talked to journalist Jessica Gross about the transition to parenthood. This week, I talked to Anderson Cooper about grief and the shifts that happen when we lose someone we love.

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Shumita Basu: Anderson Cooper is now the only living member of his nuclear family. When he was 10 years old, his father, Wyatt Cooper, died of a heart attack.

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Shumita Basu: About a decade later, his brother Carter died by suicide. Then, just a few years ago in 2019, his mother, Gloria Vanderbilt, died at the age of 95.

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Anderson Cooper: It's only recently that I've been able to really talk about and process these losses. I've never really allowed myself to kind of grieve.

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Anderson Cooper: And here I am, 56 years old, and suddenly find myself feeling things that I've never felt before.

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Shumita Basu: Last year, you came out with a podcast called All There Is where you talk to celebrities, a physician, a filmmaker, as well as writers and other artists about their experiences with death and grief.

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Anderson Cooper: He also received hours and hours of voice messages from listeners. Hearing from other people, it's been incredible to realize that there is this ocean of loss out there, and this ocean of sadness and melancholy and people who are just missing other people.

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Shumita Basu: The podcast is Anderson Cooper like you haven't seen him on TV, posting his show on CNN. It's intensely personal and raw.

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Anderson Cooper: You can hear me in the very first episode as I'm going through my mother's apartment, coming across things that belong to my father and my brother, trying to narrate my way through layers of memories and hurt.

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Anderson Cooper: So much of this stuff, it's so my mom that I feel like not keeping it is like throwing her memory away.

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Shumita Basu: You can find my full interview with Anderson Cooper, along with all of our previous Think Again episodes, by following Apple News in Conversation in the podcast app.