Breathing Wind Podcast
Breathing Wind
36: Power of Story
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36: Power of Story

What is the power of narrative?

"The main impact on my life of this movement has been in building humility, building collaboration, listening better, being more curious about other people and less judgmental."

Dr. Jessica Zitter

This episode is part of a Breathing Wind miniseries titled Embrace Death, Live Life, hosted by ICU and palliative care nurse, Deborah Szeto. The Embrace Death, Live Life miniseries explores the work of palliative care in healing and how we can live fuller lives while embracing and normalizing death.



What is the power of narrative? In this episode, Deborah talks with Jessica Zitter, MD, MPH, about the power of story in context of palliative care and her calling in this work. Dr. Zitter specializes in Critical Care and Palliative Care medicine, and practices at a public hospital in the San Francisco Bay Area. She is the author of Extreme Measures: Finding a Better Path to the End of Life. Her essays and articles have appeared in the New York Times, the Journal of the American Medical Association, and other publications. Her work is featured in the Oscar and Emmy-nominated documentary, Extremis, as well as her new film, Caregiver: A Love Story. She is a nationally recognized speaker on the topic of dying in America.


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Dr. Zitter and Deborah talk about:

  • The power of story and the narrative medicine movement

  • How Dr. Zitter chose palliative care as a profession and how this work has shifted her perspective over time

  • The role of the caregiver in a patient’s experience and her new film

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Discussion about this podcast

Breathing Wind Podcast
Breathing Wind
Breathing Wind is a podcast about grief and loss and how we journey with these lifelong companions.
Naila Francis, grief coach, writer and former journalist and Sarah Davis, podcast consultant, speaker and writer, are cohosts. We offer warm, honest and insightful conversations for the introspective at heart.
Launched in 2019 as a personal grief project, the podcast struck a chord with listeners looking for a space to feel less alone in their grief. Quickly, a dedicated community grew around the candid and compelling conversations with others who knew grief just as intimately and those who offered guidance for navigating this universal human experience.
In its three seasons of publishing monthly episodes, Breathing Wind has become a trusted space to explore who we become and how we make meaning in the midst of our post-loss lives. It's also the place where joy, laughter, wonder and possibility co-exist alongside deep heartbreak.
Find out more at www.breathingwind.com.
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Send us a voice message at www.speakpipe.com/BreathingWind.