Anderson Cooper Opens Up About His Grief Podcast & Messaging Fans

Anderson Cooper is inundated with messages from his fans, but he tries to take the time out to read them all and even respond if he’s particularly moved by a person’s words.

Appearing at the On Air Fest in Brooklyn, New York, on Thursday (February 20), Cooper spoke with host Audie Cornish about his All There Is with Anderson Cooper podcast, which explores grief in all its complexities, including honest conversations with people who have lost loved ones.

Cooper explained how the podcast set up a voicemail for listeners to call in and share their experiences of grief and the lessons they’ve learned along the way. “I think the first season we got 46 hours of calls,” Cooper said, per People. “We had about a thousand calls. I think this [season] we had, I don’t know, 3,000. I think I’ve listened to about 6,000 calls now.”

“I mean, they’re just extraordinary,” he continued. “I’ve spent months of my life listening to these calls. But what you learn is just the number, all the different kinds of grief. I mean, there’s nothing I’ve not heard of…”

The CNN host went on to say he’s “spent months listening to them” and often found himself “weeping uncontrollably, which like I never cried before.”

However, his communication with fans doesn’t end there. When an audience member asked Cooper if he’s ever gotten in touch with one of the callers, he revealed that the messages sometimes spill over into social media.

“In terms of direct messages on Instagram, I’m not sure how many. There’s got to be 30,000,” Cooper revealed.

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Despite the high amount, Cooper said he tries to go through as many messages as possible. “I go through my Instagram at the end of every day, like just messages that have been sent very quickly,” he shared. “And if it’s related to grief, I click on it and try and read it. I don’t necessarily open it, but I click on it and read it, and I will try to respond to somebody, even if it’s just a word or two or a voice note, but that’s hard.”

He also said he’s careful about the way he responds because “I don’t want to hurt their feelings.” That said, he’s become friends with many of those who have sent voicemails into his podcast.

“I’m in constant contact with a number of people,” Cooper stated. “I haven’t met them, but there are people I call every week who have sent me voicemails and could use somebody to talk to. So I do.”