Anderson Cooper will interview celebrities about grief in a new podcast

Loss and grief often make for the most impactful, enlightening stories, and Anderson Cooper is dedicating a new podcast to telling them. On September 14, the longtime CNN broadcast journalist will debut his new podcast All There Is With Anderson Cooper, a project that stems from his personal journey with loss.

According to CNN, the show will have Cooper “embarking on a deeply personal and emotional exploration of loss and grief and how to move forward without forgetting the moments, memories, and people we miss.” He got the inspiration for the podcast while packing up the last of the belongings of his late mother, Gloria Vanderbilt, after her passing in 2019. Along with his mother’s emotional journals and keepsakes, he also found possessions belonging to his late father and brother who passed decades ago. To cope with the overwhelming grief that parsing through the objects brought up, Cooper began recording conversations with influential friends about the topic. Some guests on the show will include Stephen Colbert, Molly Shannon, and Laurie Anderson.

“I’ve often felt isolated and alone in grief and yet it is something all of us will experience in our lives,” Cooper said in a statement. “It’s helped me tremendously to hear from others on how they move forward in the face of loss, and I hope it helps listeners of this podcast as well.”

Given the popularity of humanity-focused podcasts like Unlocking Us with Brené Brown and On Being With Krista Tippett, Cooper is likely to find great success discussing such a personal and rarely-touched topic. Outside of his news show, Cooper previously produced a parenting series for the short-lived streaming service CNN+. All There Is will join other CNN Audio podcasts like Chasing Life with Dr. Sanjay Gupta, The Axe Files with David Axelrod, and Silence is Not an Option with Don Lemon.