Host of The Mary Mac Show says Indians are her second largest audience.
On April 26, India registered more than 350,000 new Covid cases, the fifth consecutive day the country was breaking the global infection records. Reports from the ground indicate that the actual numbers may be many times more than the official figures. With the healthcare system collapsing by the sheer number of cases, even in big cities like Delhi, people are left angry, dejected and depressed at the apathy shown by government authorities.
In keeping up with the sensitivity of the situation, Mary M. McCambridge American author and grief coach of the popular podcast The Mary Mac Show has reached out to the Indians to help them cope with the unparalleled grief they are witnessing right now in the wake of Covid deaths and hospitalizations.
McCambridge, popularly known as Mary Mac among her audiences, is a grief and bereavement specialist, coach, speaker and an award-winning author of several works in her field. Considered among the top 10 podcasts around the world on grief and bereavement, The Mary Mac Show is available in 60 countries across the globe.
Mary Mac told the American Bazaar that Indians have been her second largest audience ever since the show was conceptualized in December 2019, just as the pandemic was beginning to rear its head and engulf the globe. Today, with India in the middle of the most devastating Covid outbreak, she is reaching out to her Indian audiences to offer them some calming advice during these trying times.
The host said she is amazed at the reception of the podcast in India. The only country where she has more listeners is the United States. Asked how her podcasts can help Indians deal with the healing process, she said: “I believe that there are many cultures, including India, where talking about death and grief are still taboo and I give my listeners the ability to nod their heads when they listen to me. I give them permission to grieve privately and it’s resonating by the large downloads each week. In this era of the pandemic, and especially during the surge India is now seeing, I wanted to reach out to more citizens who might need this knowledge and comfort.”
Mary Mac said the virus surged in India “just when we thought this pandemic was winding down.”
READ: US pledges steadfast, ongoing support for Covid hit India (April 27, 2021)
She added, “Last year when the pandemic hit the United States with such fury, we created several episodes specifically around how families could cope during the pandemic and I wanted them to know about these episodes with the thought they would be very relevant and helpful right now.”
In her podcast, the host uses her more than 35 years of experience as a grief and bereavement specialist, coach and speaker to comfort and educate those grieving the death of loved ones. In her personal life, Mary Mac has witnessed several tragedies and deaths from close quarters. In her college years, she underwent the trauma of dealing with the death of four of her friends to accidents and diseases. She also had to deal with the murder of her husbands’ 11-year-old daughter – a tragedy that took the couple through an arduous journey of 18 years to help solve the crime. The podcaster said her journey taught her hard but valuable lessons on how to deal with grief.
For listeners in India and around the world who are being affected again by the Coronavirus, below is a list of the episodes Mary Mac shared in 2020 when the United States was in lock down:
Episode 16 – Coronavirus | Dealing with Fear and the Unknown
Episode 17 – Coronavirus | Dealing with Uncomfortable Change and Small Griefs
Episode 18 – Coronavirus | The Possibility of Dying
Episode 19 – Coronavirus | Speaking About Death and Dying
Episode 20 – Coronavirus | Speaking to the Young Ones
Episode 21 – Coronavirus | Perspective of Teen Olivia Moody
Episode 39 – Coronavirus | When You Couldn’t Say Goodbye
Episode 52 – Difficult Discussions
READ MORE:
Indian Americans concerned about travel to Covid hit India (April 26, 2021)
United States offers to make vaccine ingredients available to India immediately (April 25, 2021)
Sundar Pichai, Satya Nadella rushing aid to covid-hit India (April 26, 2021)
How pressure mounted on Biden administration to help India during coronavirus surge (April 25, 2021)
Vinod Khosla offers to help Indian hospitals with import of oxygen (April 24, 2021)
Covid tsunami hits India with record 332,000 daily cases (April 23, 2021)
READ: Don’t let the ‘America First’ derail India-U.S. ties (April 24, 202)