The Last Breath — A Podcast About Death And Dying
A podcast about death and dying, produced around the work of Hospice Waikato. Through interviews with volunteers, palliative care professionals, bereaved people and those who are dying, it explores end-of-life care and the human experiences surrounding death. The show aims to open up conversations about a subject that is often avoided.
Episodes
The Last Breath Series 2 Ep 17 – Kevin Toolis - A Handshake for the Dead
Kevin Toolis - A Handshake for the Dead.
For the last episode of the second series of Hospice Waikato’s Last Breath, we are finishing as we began, with a special international guest. In this interview, BAFTA-winning filmmaker and journalist Kevin Toolis reflects on the traditional Irish wake as a living ritual through which communities process grief together.
Hospice Waikato, in association with
The Last Breath Series 2 Ep 16 – Linda Thompson - Bugger This, I'm Not Done Yet
Linda Thompson found out she had stage 4 cancer in November 2025 and was given six to twelve months to live. Intelligent, vivacious, and filled with curiosity and wonder, Linda decided straight away that she was not going to be a cancer warrior, whatever time she has left, is for living and doing the things she likes best.
Hospice Waikato, in association with Free FM, presents The Last Breath – A
The Last Breath Series 2 Ep 15 – When a Parent Takes Their Own Life
In this interview Aroha Croft talks about the experience of losing a parent to suicide.
Hospice Waikato, in association with Free FM, presents The Last Breath – A Podcast About Death And Dying.
The Last Breath Series 2 Ep 14 – Gil is a funeral director
Gil is a Funeral Director and in this episode she takes us behind the scenes and explains what a Funeral Director does, everything from paperwork through to embalming. But as she explains, above all else, her vocation is about care.
Hospice Waikato, in association with Free FM, presents The Last Breath – A Podcast About Death And Dying.
The Last Breath Series 2 Ep 13 – Perspectives with Gary Verberne, Matt Hicks and Dr Somas
As a society we seldom talk about death but as I have learned, given an opportunity, people have a lot to say on the topic. For Series 2 of The Last Breath, I have asked all sorts of people to share their perspectives on death, dying and grief, assisted dying, faith and the afterlife. In this episode guitarist Gary Verberne, Filmmaker Matt Hicks and retired GP Somas, share their perspectives and e
The Last Breath Series 2 Ep 12 – Louise Williams - Caring for a Child with Complex Medical Needs
Louise Williams - Caring for a Child with a Life Limiting Condition.
Hospice Waikato’s Rainbow Place provides free, specialist palliative care to children and young people up to the age of 21 with advanced, incurable, or life-limiting conditions.18 year old Cameron Williams is one of those children. In this insightful interview, Louse Williams talks about her life caring for a child with comple
The Last Breath Series 2 Ep 11 – Josh Bangs - A Sacred Calling
Josh Bangs - A Sacred Calling
Josh Bangs is a registered nurse and works in the community caring for the dying, a vocation he describes as a sacred privilege. In this wide ranging conversation talks about his vocation, life, death and what it means to be a good person.
The Last Breath Series 2 Ep 10 – Sophie Leckey - A Personal Account of Assisted Dying
Facing a painful death from lung cancer Verna chose assisted dying. In this insightful and penetrating interview, Sophie talks about being witness to her grandmother's death.
Hospice Waikato, in association with Free FM, presents The Last Breath – A Podcast About Death And Dying.
The Last Breath Series 2 Ep 9 - Mel Brooks - Everything Belongs Here
Mel Brooks - Everything Belongs Here
Mel Brooks is 81 and living with advanced prostate cancer. In this gentle, wide-ranging conversation, he reflects on his life and speaks candidly about his impending death.
Hospice Waikato, in association with Free FM, presents The Last Breath – A Podcast About Death And Dying.
The Last Breath Series 2 Ep 8 – Paul Turney - The Long Echo of Loss
Paul Turney was 17 when his older brother Michael died in a sudden accident. The loss reshaped Paul’s life, and in this interview he reflects on grief, memory, and what it means to carry loss across time.
Hospice Waikato, in association with Free FM, presents The Last Breath – A Podcast About Death And Dying.
The Last Breath Series 2 Ep 7 - Jeanette Macdonald - Rural Palliative Care
Jeanette Macdonald - Rural Palliative Care
Jeanette Macdonald is a Rural Community Registered Nurse with Hospice Waikato. She talks about caring for patients on farms and in rural communities across the Waikato, where geography, isolation, and deep personal bonds shape end-of-life care.
The Last Breath Series 2 Ep 6 - Perspectives with Phil Grey and Caitlin Smith
As a society we seldom talk about death but as I have learned, given an opportunity, people have a lot to say about a topic often regarded as uncomfortable. For Series 2 of The Last Breath, I have asked all sorts of people to share their perspectives on death, dying and grief, assisted dying, and the afterlife. In this episode the General Manager of Free FM Phil Grey and musician Caitlin Smith sha
The Last Breath Series 2 Ep 5 – Julia Ward - Caring for Patients in Aged Care
Julia Ward is a Clinical Nurse Specialist with Hospice Waikato. In this interview, she discusses her work supporting patients living in aged care facilities and the importance of dignity, continuity, and compassion at the end of life.
Hospice Waikato, in association with Free FM, presents The Last Breath – A Podcast About Death And Dying.
The Last Breath Series 2 Ep 4 – Costa in Hospice
Filmmaker Costa Botes was diagnosed with prostate cancer in 2015. After a period of remission, his health deteriorated in 2025, and in early November he was transferred to Wellington’s Mary Potter Hospice. I spoke with Costa just days before his death, in a conversation marked by clarity, courage, and grace.
Hospice Waikato, in association with Free FM, presents The Last Breath – A Podcast About
The Last Breath Series 2 Ep 3 – Lauren Fenn – Children’s Palliative Care
Lauren Fenn is the Clinical Nurse Manager at Rainbow Place, Hospice Waikato’s specialised paediatric palliative care service. In this interview, she talks about caring for children with life-limiting conditions and supporting families through unimaginable circumstances.
The Last Breath Series 2 Ep 2 – Susan O'Regan - A Daughter’s Grief, A Public Life Remembered
Susan O’Regan — A Daughter’s Grief, a Public Life Remembered
Former Waipā mayor Susan O’Regan reflects on the death of her mother, Katherine O’Regan — a former Waipā MP, Cabinet Minister, and Associate Minister of Health. Katherine played a pivotal role in establishing New Zealand’s free national breast screening programme, the very illness that would later claim her life in 2018. This deeply per
The Last Breath Series 2 Ep 1 – Kathryn Mannix - The Forgotten Art of Dying
Dr Kathryn Mannix is a British palliative care physician, cognitive behavioural therapist, and author who believes we’ve forgotten the ordinary human knowledge of dying—and that we can learn it again. In this wide-ranging, compassionate conversation, she describes what happens near the end of life, how grief revisits us in waves, and why honesty, kindness, and clear words can help us live — and di
The Last Breath Ep 10 - Assisted Dying – 24-10-2024
Examining the experience of assisted dying. Karen Mansfield’s mother was diagnosed with terminal cancer earlier this year and opted for an assisted death. Karen talks us through that experience. Palliative care nurse Archana Gaunder describes the lessons she learned from her first
experience caring for patient who’d decided on to go out on his own terms.
A statement from Hospice Waikato:
Funda
The Last Breath – Ep 9 - 16-10-2024
Kaiāwhina, Maori, Grief, Loss and the Love of a Good Dog.
In a wide ranging and deeply felt interview Hospice Waikato’s Kaiāwhina Honey Hireme-Smiler talks about her work supporting Maori patients and their whanau and her own experiences with grief and loss. There’s a perception among Maori that Hospice is a Pakeha thing, it’s not. Hospice is for everyone and accommodates all cultural needs. Th
The Last Breath – Ep 8 - 10-10-2024
There is a Crack in Everything, That's how the Light Gets In.
Episode 8 takes us to the coal face of death with palliative care nurse and educator Emily Fyfe and we leave no stone unturned as we examine the actualities of death. We talk about difficult deaths, good deaths, complex deaths and how all this effects the dying person and their families. What things cause the dying the most anxiety? Sh
The Last Breath Ep 7 – 03-10-2024
A Woman is Like a Teabag, You Can’t tell How Strong She is Until You Put Her in Hot Water.
Maxine and her partner Callum were in their 30s and living their best lives when Callum was diagnosed with terminal cancer. In this episode Maxine Exely describes Calum’s death, the stages of grief, the challenges and the heartache while reflecting on the lessons that altered the course of her life in ways
The Last Breath Ep 6 – 26-09-2024
Carrie Rauber started out as a massage therapist before moving into administration. She talks about the emotional toll caring for the dying can take, the spiritual services Hospice offers and reminds us that we continue to evolve right up to our last breath.
Adam Bruce was a tradesman painter but at the mid point of his life wanted something more meaningful so he went back to school and trained t
The Last Breath Ep 5 – 19-09-2024
This episode is all about the work of the palliative care nurse. Kevin Tardiff and Sarah Clunie talk about their work caring for those who have reached the end of their life journey.
Hospice Waikato, in association with Free FM, presents The Last Breath – A Podcast About Death And Dying.
The Last Breath Ep 4 – 12-09-2024
Bernard Arthur talks about his life journey and the stage four emphysema that is bringing it to a close.
Clinical nurse educator Zoe Anderson-Howell talks about the vocation of nursing, the joy of working in palliative care, the importance of having a death plan and being open and honest about life’s one true certainty and as she says talking about dying doesn’t make you die faster.
The Last Breath Ep 3 – 05-09-2024
Hospice Supports Every Person to Live Life Well Until Their Last Breath
Susan Hassall University of Waikato Pro-Chancellor, Hospice Waikato board member and acting CEO of Hospice Waikato talks about the difference Hospice makes to the lives of patients and families including her own.
Her husband James died a year ago and she wonders how it might have been without the care and support that Hospice
