In the latest episode of The Life and Death Podcast, journalist and author Leslie Gray Streeter talks to Stephen Rumford about the moment everything changed, when her husband, Scott, died suddenly in 2015. One minute they were kissing. The next, she was calling an ambulance. 

“He had a heart attack as we were kissing,” she says. “And then the next thing, he had died. That sort of thing will scar you.” 

It’s a powerful, honest and often funny conversation about parenting through grief, navigating public mourning, the pressure to be resilient, and finding moments of light even in the darkest places. 

Leslie’s memoir, Black Widow, brings that same mix of sadness and humour to the page. She talks about the hard stuff without flinching, but with a voice that’s sharp, warm and relatable. 

As a Black woman, she also speaks openly about what it’s like to grieve in spaces that often don’t reflect your experience, and why it’s so important to keep talking about the people we love, even when they’re no longer here. 

“If I can see that it didn’t break somebody else,” she says, “then maybe it won’t kill me either.” 

Leslie shares how grief changed her, from leaving a job that no longer fit, to walking away from people who weren’t good for her, to facing menopause with the same honesty she brings to everything. 

“Menopause is like grief, nobody wants to talk about it,” she says. “You sit there thinking, ‘Is it normal to feel this way?’ And the truth is, yes. Anything goes. You’ve lost your person.” 

But through it all, there’s Scott. And the love they shared. 

“I know that I’m lovable. I know that I’m worthy of love because I had it,” she says. “If I never have it again… I’m not going to settle. I don’t need to do that. 

“I didn’t get to have him for as long as I should have. But a lot of people don’t get that kind of love at all.” 

And by speaking his name, she says, she keeps him close. 

“There’s this idea that you die twice, once when your body goes, and again when no one says your name anymore. I never want him to die that second time.” 

This episode is funny, tender and full of heart. Leslie shows us that grief doesn’t mean you stop being yourself, and that it’s okay to feel everything, exactly as it comes. 

“If you’re grieving right now,” she says, “be easy on yourself. Don’t think you’re weird for having human emotions. That’s how you were made.” 

Listen to the episode now on Spotify, Apple or wherever you get your podcasts. 

Find out more about Leslie: https://lesliegraystreeter.com/