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If you\u2019ve ever lost someone, or watched a medical drama in the last 15 years, you\u2019ve probably heard of The Five Stages of Grief. They\u2019re sort of the world\u2019s worst consolation prize for loss. But last year, we began wondering\u2026 Where did these stages come from in the first place?\nTurns out, Elisabeth K\xfcbler-Ross. But the story is much, much more complicated than that. Those stages of grieving? They actually started as stages of dying. After learning that, producer Rachael Cusick tumbled into a year-long journey through the life and work of the incredibly complicated and misunderstood woman who single-handedly changed the way all of us face dying, and the way we deal with being left behind.\nSpecial Note: Our friends over at Death Sex and Money have put together a very special companion to this story, featuring Rachael talking about this story with her grandmother.\xa0 Check it out here.\nThis episode was reported and produced by Rachael Cusick, with production help from Carin Leong.\nThis story wouldn\u2019t have been possible without the folks you heard from in the episode, and the many, many people who touched this story, including: Anne Adams, Andrew Aronson, Audrey Gordon, Barbara Hogenson, Basit Qari, Bill Weese, Bob McGan, Carey Gauzens, Clifford Edwards, Cristina McGinniss, Dorothy Holinger, Frank Ostaseski, Ira Byock, Jamie Munson, Jessica Weisberg, Jillian Tullis, Joanna Treichler, Jonathan Green, Ken Bridbord, Ladybird Morgan, Laurel Braitman, Lawrence Lincoln, Leah Siegel, Liese Groot, Linda Mount, Lyn Frumkin, Mark Kuczewski, Martha Twaddle, Peter Nevraumont, Rosalie Roder, Sala Hilaire, Stefan Haupt, Stephanie Riley, Stephen Connor, and Tracie Hunte.\nSpecial thanks to all the folks who shared music for this episode, including:\nLisa Stoll, who shared her Alpine horn music with us for this episode. You can hear more of her music here.\nCliff Edwards, who shared original music from Deanna Edwards.\nThe Martin Hayes Quartet, who shared the last bit of music you hear in the piece that somehow puts a world of emotion into one beautiful tune.\nAnd an extra special thank you to the folks over at Stanford University - Ben Stone, David Magnus, Karl Lorenz, Maren Monsen -\xa0 the caretakers of Elisabeth\u2019s archival collection who made it possible to rummage through their library from halfway across the country. You can read more about the collection here.\nTo learn more about Elisabeth and the folks who are furthering her work, you can visit the\xa0Elisabeth K\xfcbler-Ross Foundation website here.\nSupport Radiolab by becoming a member today at\xa0Radiolab.org/donate.