The podcast
Unparented
For adults who lost a parent too soon, and who are in a job, a marriage, or raising kids now. Conversations about the loss showing up later, not about how to get over it.
Start with
What “It Is What It Is” Was Hiding
When someone offers sympathy, “it is what it is” can mean acceptance. It can also be a way to end the conversation, or to avoid feeling like a burden.
About the show
What happens after you lose a parent and life keeps moving? Unparented follows grief into relationships, parenting, work, milestones, and the questions that surface years later.
I’m Robert. My dad died when I was 14 and my mom when I was 26.
Read more: Losing a parent young · Losing a parent in your 20s
Recent episodes
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Who Takes Care of the Parent Who Has to Keep Parenting?
In this solo episode, I talk to the parent who lost a spouse or their own mom or dad and still has to be mom or dad tomorrow morning.
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Your Teen Lost a Parent. What Do They Need From You Now?
In this solo episode, I talk to the surviving parent about what a grieving teenager might actually need from you.
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Can Your Relationship With a Parent Continue After They Die? with Alana Michaels
After Alana Michaels’s father died suddenly, she began noticing numbers, songs, and moments that felt deeply connected to him.
Episode titles, dates, lengths and one-line descriptions come from the Unparented RSS feed and Apple Podcasts (checked Oct 26, 2026). Each title links to the episode on Apple Podcasts. See all episodes.
The newsletter
Get the weekly letter
Life after losing a parent, from the kid who lived it.
Unparented with Robert DelFave is a weekly letter on Substack, every Tuesday morning, the day after the new Unparented episode.
If you want more than the podcast.
Start with a free 45-minute conversation, with no pressure to sign up for anything. Then we both decide.