News
News
Here’s what I’ve been up to lately…
Innovation Award Videos
I was honored to produce two videos for Penn State University’s inaugural Innovation Impact Awards, celebrating the people and partnerships driving research, collaboration, and real-world impact. I had the opportunity to tell the stories behind the Beecher Loftus...
The Stompers Project: Stomping Out the Stigma Around Mental Health
I’ve wanted to tell the story of the Stompers Project® by the JANA MARIE FOUNDATION since I first learned about it, and I finally had the chance to document the creation of one of these incredible sculptures.The Stompers Project uses creative expression to spark...
News Over Noise: The Chilling Effect: The First Amendment, The Fourth Estate, and The Trump Administration
I'm proud to produce the News Over Noise podcast and wanted to share one of my favorite episodes from Season 4: We hear a lot about “free speech.” But how much of what we’re hearing is actually accurate?I'm excited to share the latest episode of News Over Noise. Matt...
The Reality of Grief: When Secondary Loss Shows Up as a Gain
This is a hard one to put out there. In my work, I talk often about grief literacy and secondary losses. Recently I realized that one of my own secondary losses has been the sense of familiarity I used to have with my own body. This story is not about weight. It’s...
Open to Hope: The Sounds of Grief
I recently published my first piece as an author for Open to Hope: The Sounds of Grief. Since my mom died, I’ve been cataloguing what I think of as “the sounds of grief.” So far, I’ve documented five. Some are raw and animalistic. Others are quiet, barely audible. One...
Podcast Takeover: Grief Out Loud
I had the incredible honor of guest-hosting this very special episode of Dougy Center’s Grief Out Loud podcast so Jana DeCristofaro, LCSW, longtime host of Grief Out Loud and Advocacy & Education Manager at Dougy Center, could shift to the guest role and share...
Speaking Grief: 5 Years Out
In 2018, I began developing an initiative with the working title "The Grief Project." It would eventually become WPSU's Speaking Grief, and it would change my life.In the early days, we were told no one would want to fund a project about grief. Thankfully, those...
NACG 2025: Internet Killed the Video Star
I had the honor of presenting at the 2025 National Alliance for Children's Grief Symposium in Kansas City, MO. My session, Internet Killed the Video Star: Effective Strategies for Facilitating Learning and Engagement in a Changing Media Landscape, explored how grief...
Introducing 12 Degrees: A New Podcast on Real-Life Wellness
When the Penn State Ross and Carol Nese College of Nursing approached WPSU with the idea of creating a wellness podcast, we were excited to collaborate on something meaningful and accessible. The result is 12 Degrees, a new podcast produced by WPSU in partnership with...
Op-ed: Grief Literacy Can Change Lives
What if grief education started before the crisis?What if we grew up learning that grief is part of life—and not a detour from it?What if our schools, sports fields, and community centers were places where grief wasn’t something to fix or fear—but something we knew...