Mom and Daughter Create Podcast to Encourage Laughter After Breast Cancer Diagnosis
Mother and daughter duo finds comfort and healing through their project, Stage 4 Clinger. (Picture by Natalie DeHart)
When Claudia Nicholls was diagnosed with Stage 4 Breast Cancer, she decided to deal with the diagnosis by traveling worldwide and hitting cities on her bucket list. Then the pandemic happened, and everything changed.
Claudia’s daughter Kate Nicholls was living in Los Angeles when the pandemic hit. Kate decided to leave the city and be with her mother to help cheer both of them up.
“After just a couple of weeks, we both started to feel depressed,” Kate said. “She couldn’t travel, and I couldn’t work.”
Kate Nicholls moved back home with her mother when she was diagnosed with Breast Cancer. (Picture by Natalie DeHart)
The two dealt with the seven of the stages of grief together when Claudia was diagnosed. However, Kate said that there’s another level of dealing with grief: laughter.
“Laughter is so important to us in our journey to acceptance,” she said. “My mom and I have always loved to laugh. So why should we change that just because she has cancer? Should we not spend it laughing even more if there is a clock ticking on how much time we have left together? We think we should. That’s when I started working on what would become ‘Stage 4 Clinger,’ our cancer/comedy podcast to help us both deal with the pain.”
The podcast, Stage 4 Clinger, consists of laughable moments with Kate and Claudia sharing their mother and daughter relationship, having guest speakers, and making light of tough conversational topics. Kate compiles a list of guest speakers that her mom gets to interview in a segment called, ‘Dying To Talk To You.’ Some of their guest speakers include Jenn Lyon from the tv show Claws, Neal Reddy from the show Queer Eye on Netflix, Yassir Lester from Black Monday on Showtime, and Rob Huebel from the comedy show The Office.
“Every single guest truly blessed us with their time and energy,” Kate said.
Stage 4 Clinger podcast brings laughter to their audience. (Picture by Lily Taban)
For this family, cancer has brought togetherness and direction in a time of sorrow and pain.
“Cancer brought me clarity about what is most important in my life: time with my family, friends, and traveling,” Claudia said. “Now, with this podcast, I’ve achieved a bucket list I could never have dreamed of. Every single guest has been a blessing.”
For Kate, challenges have arisen amid their success. However, she said that home is where she needs to be.
“It has been an adjustment for us both,” Kate said. “I sometimes get ‘should’ stuck in my head. ‘I should be living on my own-I should be in LA pursuing my career in entertainment.’ So, I sit with those thoughts until I’m able to unpack them. Nine times out time I come back to the conclusion that living with my mom as a 30-year-old woman is where I need to be for now. I wouldn’t trade this time with her for anything.”
Kate and Claudia plan on bringing their podcast, ‘Stage 4 Clinger’, to a live stage throughout the nation when COVID permits in 2022. Until then, they hope to keep making dicey jokes to deal with their emotions and creating a safe space to have the tough conversation about death.
“The overall message is that love, laughter, and community are the best medicine,” Kate said. “And YES, this is a cancer podcast, and YES, we are laughing. Because cancer is a stupid jerk face who doesn’t deserve our respect— so we will continue to laugh and live loudly.”