How do you know when you’re truly alive—not just happy, but whole?

In this episode of Grand Exit, Tamatha and Chelsea unpack the “vital signs” of living fully—not the medical kind, but the emotional, spiritual, and relational markers that tell us we’re awake to our own lives.

You’ll hear:

- Why delight—especially in the joy of others—can be a powerful indicator of vitality

- How “shoulds,” ego, and obligation can be roadblocks to aliveness

- The role of collective wellbeing in our own ability to feel fully alive

- Practical questions to help you identify your own vital signs

It’s a conversation that invites you to monitor—not measure—your own aliveness, and to remember that engaging fully with life also means engaging with our own mortality.

. . . .

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This week on Grand Exit, Tamatha and Chelsea are joined by Dr. Jared Rubenstein — a pediatric palliative care doctor who brings clarity, humor, and heart to conversations people all too often avoid, even in the moments they matter most.

Together, the three explore medicine’s blind spots, cultural weirdness with death, and how care changes when we slow down and truly listen.

You can expect to hear:

• A working definition of palliative care; and what keeps 70% of Americans from knowing that
• How end-of-life conversations, and naming what’s already with us (instead of ‘staying positive’), can connect patients with family members and care teams
• Two questions that reframe everything: “At baseline, what does a good day look like?” And “What are we actually fighting for?”
• A solid (and goofy) reminder of how palliative care is the fire department; not the fire
  

And more…

. . . .

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In this tender, funny, and deeply personal episode of Grand Exit, Tamatha and Chelsea introduce their moms—Susan and Tammi—for the very first time!

What unfolds is a conversation that spans decades: from giving birth during turbulent world events, to raising daughters who challenge and change them, to the shifting tides as the parent-child roles begin to reverse.

You can expect to hear:

- How they navigated motherhood through war zones, newsrooms, and small-town kitchen tables

- The arguments that broke something that begged for a rebuild anyway

- Family quirks and the little traditions that, often unexpectedly, become woven into legacy

- What they wish they could tell their younger selves about motherhood

This one's a rare, four-way conversation on love, letting go, and the joy of being “in each other’s orbit,” through every chapter of life.

. . . .

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This episode reflects on End Well 2025 – an only-of-its-kind conference about death and life – through Grand Exit’s lens of legacy.

Rather than a conference recap, you can expect to hear:

• 5 takeaways that stayed with us — words that illuminate how tenderness becomes strength, culture becomes medicine for grief, silence causes suffering, and connection matters more than getting it “right.”
• An exploration of what it means to live better because we’re willing to talk about dying better.
• A weaving of personal moments, redefined miracles, and the courage to meet one another where we are—without fixing, rushing, or turning away.

This one’s an invitation to choose depth over ease, conversation over silence, and legacy built in real time.

. . . .

Digging what you're hearing?

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In the Season 3 opener of Grand Exit, Tamatha and Chelsea dive headfirst into the tension between order and chaos, finding inspiration in the myth of Dionysus—the god of wine, revelry, and joyful disruption.

From birth plans that laugh at our need for neatness, to cancer treatment decisions that trade certainty for quality of life, the two friends explore what it really means to loosen our grip and live as wildly and freely as their humanity will let them.

You can expect to hear:

• Why letting in a little wildness might bring you closer to your true self
• How (anticipatory) parenthood, illness, and activism crack open our relationship with control
• Stories that reveal how aliveness often lives beneath the surface, and how one person’s aliveness certainly impacts our ability to live fully.

This one’s an invitation to live in the questions, make space for the mess, and see what beauty unfolds when we stop clinging so tightly – especially in good company!

. . . .

Digging what you're hearing?

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- Rate + review Grand Exit - tell us what it inspires in your world

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They’re baaaack! Tamatha Thomas-Haase and Chelsea Leader Gold – two friends traveling the life-death-legacy continuum from very different, and always changing, vantage points – bring you a third season of their lovechild: Grand Exit.

This season, they’re hanging with life’s polarities – where joy and grief trade places without warning , and where endings often double as beginnings in disguise.

They’ll feature some brilliant guests, like:

Nikki Boyer: the Emmy-award-nominated Creator of the hit show Dying for Sex

Dr. Jared Rubenstein, a profound and inspiring Pediatric Palliative Care doctor

Megan Sheldon, Ritualist and Founder of Be Ceremonial

Myra Sack, a mother with a story that moves mountains, and Founder: E-Motion

Jesse Israel, meditation teacher, wellness entrepreneur and Founder: The Big Quiet

And…Tamatha and Chelsea’s moms!

Grand Exit Season 3 is a full-on invitation to live now in a way that will live on.

Be ready to re-enter when a new episode drops December 4 (and the rest, every other Thursday in season).

. . . .

In the meantime:

- Catch up on Seasons 1 and 2 (Leave feeling more alive!)

- Share Grand Exit with someone who matters to you

- Rate + review Grand Exit - tell us what it inspires in your world

- Connect on Instagram: @grand.exit

- Get Tamatha + Chelsea’s notes to your inbox: grandexit.com/newsletter

When Nikki Boyer’s best friend Molly Kochan was diagnosed with stage four cancer, she didn’t just face death—she rewrote how to live. Their journey together became the hit podcast Dying for Sex, now an Emmy-nominated FX series streaming on Hulu, and a testament to friendship in its rawest, realest form.

In this deeply personal (and dream-come-true!) conversation, Nikki joins Tamatha and Chelsea to talk about loving someone through the trenches, what Molly taught her about living boldly (and dying without apology), and the lessons only a soulmate can leave behind.

You can expect to hear:

• - Knowing - like, really knowing - each other through life (and death and legacy)’s many moons;

• - How grief carves the same space in us that joy fills;

• - And what’s available in friendship when you’re willing to get as messy as life requires

• . .

  More where this came from:

  Watch Dying for Sex on Hulu: hulu.com/series/dying-for-sex-423f6320-b55b-453b-a85f-dea05bd495d9

  Listen to Dying for Sex, the podcast: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/dying-for-sex/id1495392900

  Connect with Nikki on Instagram: @nikkiboyer (instagram.com/nikkiboyer)

  Read Molly’s blog: EverythingLeadsToThis.com & grab a copy of her memoir: Screw Cancer: Becoming Whole (on Amazon)

  . . . .

  Digging what you're hearing?

  - Share Grand Exit with someone who matters to you

  - Catch up on Seasons 1 + 2 before Season 3 comes in hot, November 2025!

  - Rate + review Grand Exit - tell us what it inspires in your world

  - Connect on Instagram: @grand.exit (instagram.com/grand.exit)

  - Get Tamatha + Chelsea’s notes to your inbox: grandexit.com/newsletter

In preparation to introduce Season 3, Tamatha and Chelsea bridge the liminal space between, with a snapshot of where they are on this life-death-legacy continuum, now, and what kinds of legacy thoughts this time is eliciting.

Big announcements, big updates, and as always, big reasons to let this conversation open doors of its own in your life, with people who matter most to you.

. . .

Consider this the formal invitation to be here when Season 3 launches in November 2025: Subscribe to the pod, wherever you listen, and to our notes at grandexit.com/newsletter 🌀