For years, Stephen Jenkinson led the palliative care department at a major Canadian hospital. Sitting at the deathbeds of over a thousand people, he discovered again and again “a wretched anxiety” around death. Recognizing this death phobia as a symptom of cultural absence rather than any individual's personal issue, Stephen and his wife Nathalie opened the Orphan Wisdom School, a learning house for “elders-in-training.” Alongside veteran Canadian musician Gregory Hoskins, Jenkinson's ‘Nights of Grief and Mystery’ tour incorporates poetry and book readings into musical performances. Host John Floridis talks with Jenkinson, who profiles the mixture of theater, music and ceremony that characterizes every sold-out performance.
(Broadcast: Documentary Special, Sunday, 11/3/19, 4:00 - 5:00 p.m.)
