Grief

Strings disclosed that he was molested as a young child.

“I was molested when I was a child”

This Past Weekend w/ Theo Von: #676 - Billy Strings (Aug 20, 2026) · Listen from 1:49:51

Strings said his hardships gave him what he calls experiential density along with a sense of terminal uniqueness and isolation.

“I have this... kind of like terminal uniqueness in a way that's like, I never feel like anybody would know what it's like to be in my shoes”

This Past Weekend w/ Theo Von: #676 - Billy Strings (Aug 20, 2026) · Listen from 1:48:42

Strings said family recordings suggest his father may have been murdered with a deliberately fatal injection rather than dying of an accidental overdose.

“it turns out there's a pretty good chance that he was kind of murdered, you know?”

This Past Weekend w/ Theo Von: #676 - Billy Strings (Aug 20, 2026) · Listen from 1:21:19

Strings said hearing old recorded phone tapes changed his belief that his biological father cared more about heroin than about him.

“I always thought, Oh, well, he loved heroin more than me. Right. And I'm kind of, you know, I was kind of like, well, screw him”

This Past Weekend w/ Theo Von: #676 - Billy Strings (Aug 20, 2026) · Listen from 1:20:38

Stallone says he is in panic mode about mortality and is trying to make up for a lifetime of regrets.

“I built a castle with thousands of stones made of regrets. And I'm trying to make up for it in my own petty way. And I don't know if there's enough time”

The Daily: Sylvester Stallone Hid His Struggles for Decades. Now He’s Coming Clean. (Sep 26, 2026) · Listen from 1:16:39

Stallone describes learning of his son Sage's death by phone and breaking down alone a week later.

“And then about a week later, I was all alone in my room and a whale came out of me. I've never heard before since. It was just such pain and grief and guilt”

The Daily: Sylvester Stallone Hid His Struggles for Decades. Now He’s Coming Clean. (Sep 26, 2026) · Listen from 40:43

Stallone says he was not a good parent during his first marriage and treated the movie set as reality while his life felt unreal.

“Reality was the movie set. The surreal world was my life. I have no control out here. I'm at everyone's beck and call”

The Daily: Sylvester Stallone Hid His Struggles for Decades. Now He’s Coming Clean. (Sep 26, 2026) · Listen from 38:37

Rush says his purpose after his losses is to serve children and veterans.

“Everything that I do is for this, is for our cause, for the kids, for the veterans”

Mick Unplugged: Chef André Rush: Strength Through Service (Oct 19, 2026) · Listen from 8:18

Rush says he received the call about his daughter's death while at the height of his career, preparing to work with Gordon Ramsay in New York.

“I was going to New York City with Gordon Ramsay with my TV show, everything going when I got that phone call at four o'clock in the morning”

Mick Unplugged: Chef André Rush: Strength Through Service (Oct 19, 2026) · Listen from 8:18

Diaz says the coping lie he told himself after his mother's death resurfaced and caused him to struggle in his first year back in New Jersey.

“That's the biggest lie I ever told myself. And do you know when I moved back here six years ago, the first year, I was struggling”

This Past Weekend w/ Theo Von: #685 - Joey Diaz (Sep 25, 2026) · Listen from 34:18

Diaz says his mother died of a broken heart that manifested as a heart attack.

“It's what the Chinese call a broken heart disguised as a heart attack”

This Past Weekend w/ Theo Von: #685 - Joey Diaz (Sep 25, 2026) · Listen from 32:49

Sexton describes a therapist's exercise in which he wrote letters to and from his late mother, and recommends it after divorce.

“write a letter back from her and have her say all the things you needed to hear. And that was much harder”

The Mel Robbins Podcast: The Ultimate Guide to Divorce (For You & The People You Love) (Sep 24, 2026) · Listen from 1:03:55

Sexton advises people contemplating divorce to examine the previous 18 months for unprocessed grief that may be displaced onto a spouse.

“sometimes it resurfaces 18 months later in a different costume. Like you just start blaming, because who's around you all the time but your spouse?”

The Mel Robbins Podcast: The Ultimate Guide to Divorce (For You & The People You Love) (Sep 24, 2026) · Listen from 25:26

Gu says she planned her grandmother's funeral herself so as not to burden her mother.

“I planned my grandma's funeral. I found the choir for it. I selected the Bible verses for it. I picked the flowers”

On Purpose with Jay Shetty: EILEEN GU: “The Ground Was Cracking Beneath Me.” (Aug 31, 2026) · Listen from 56:49

Gu recounts that she already knew of her grandmother's death during her viral gold-bow post-victory interviews.

“All of those gold bow interviews, I actually knew already”

On Purpose with Jay Shetty: EILEEN GU: “The Ground Was Cracking Beneath Me.” (Aug 31, 2026) · Listen from 55:34

Kiser describes judging her days on two scales: the intensity of her grief and her ability to manage it.

“Your grief is on a scale of one to 10, and then your level of managing it is on a scale of one to 10”

On Purpose with Jay Shetty: Emilie Kiser EXCLUSIVE: The Loss That Changed Her Forever (Jun 17, 2026) · Listen from 36:46

Kiser argues that grief has no finish line and remains with a person for life.

“It's never ending. Your grief is going to be with you for the rest of your life”

On Purpose with Jay Shetty: Emilie Kiser EXCLUSIVE: The Loss That Changed Her Forever (Jun 17, 2026) · Listen from 18:47

McDaniel suggests that what one wants an apology for indicates what one needs to give oneself.

“So whatever you're wanting that apology for sometimes informs what it is you need to give yourself”

The Mel Robbins Podcast: You’re Not Broken: Why You People-Please, Feel Anxious, & Never Feel Good Enough – and How to Heal (May 21, 2026) · Listen from 52:19

McDaniel describes blame as a necessary stage of grief that clients should be allowed time for without getting stuck.

“blame is a stage of grief. It's a necessary stage. We have to kind of... get angry for a little while and blame someone for a little while”

The Mel Robbins Podcast: You’re Not Broken: Why You People-Please, Feel Anxious, & Never Feel Good Enough – and How to Heal (May 21, 2026) · Listen from 47:30

Smiley says his grief hit hardest about a year later, after the funeral attention faded.

“like a year later, it really hit me. The only difference between when my son died a year later, you don't have no casket, no flowers”

Mick Unplugged: How to Keep Going When Life Breaks You with Rickey Smiley (May 7, 2026) · Listen from 32:06

Smiley says he returned to his radio show three days after his son died as a form of therapy.

“my son died on the Sunday, Wednesday, I was back on the air because I don't want to lay in the bed thinking about that”

Mick Unplugged: How to Keep Going When Life Breaks You with Rickey Smiley (May 7, 2026) · Listen from 25:52

Fuentes said her sister's death taught her that a meaningful life depends on how time is lived rather than its length.

“sometimes it's not a matter of time, but how you live your time”

Tomorrow, Today: Andrea Fuentes: Olympic Medals, Failure, Leadership & Finding Purpose | Shekhar Natarajan (Oct 17, 2026) · Listen from 1:09:17

Ozlen says her first husband's early death made her determined to accomplish everything she came to do because life is short.

“I think it's made me look at my life and go, oh, my God, like I've got to do everything that I came here to do because there is not enough time”

Coffeez with Joe Shalaby: From Supermodel to Stem Cell Skincare Empire | Ekin Ozlen | Coffeez with Joe Shalaby Ep. 321 (Oct 14, 2026) · Listen from 8:58

Nielsen describes feeling less than as a man and fearing his wife's love was conditional when he struggled financially for the first time.

“Oh my God, for the first time in my life, I'm struggling financially here. And how do I get out of this?”

Notes from the Edge: How do you stop performing in your marriage? Somatic Healing in Intimate Relationships with Natalie Vartanian & Glenn Nielsen (Oct 1, 2026) · Listen from 12:41