This week, we circle back to where this story began — on the ground, in Boston, with Jess. Joined by new voices (Gary Mendell, Michael Botticelli, Mayor Marty Walsh) and familiar ones (Stefano’s wife, Paige), Jess delves into what it’s been like to produce a show that’s so deeply personal. By the end of the episode, she’s finally able to answer the question that drove her to create the show in the first place: What could I have done differently?  Please note, Last Day contains strong language, mature themes, and may not be appropriate for all listeners.  Shatterproof.org Knock and Talk - Boston Michael Botticelli’s TED Talk: “Addiction is a disease. We should treat it like one.” Grayken Center Boston’s Office of Recovery Services Good Kids Podcast Stamps.com (promo code LAST DAY) mejuri.com/lastday mybillie.com/LASTDAY  Transcriptions available shortly after air date at https://www.lemonadamedia.com/show/last-day/ Continue the conversation on your phone at https://flick.group/lastday.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Addiction 11: Wake Me Up

This is a show about the moments that change us, fundamentally and forever. Each week, host Stephanie Wittels Wachs (Lemonada’s co-founder and award-winning queen of darkness and light) is sitting down with a new guest to explore happy/sad stories of survival, resilience and transformation. After three seasons of exploring the "last day" of people’s lives in an effort to understand mass epidemics, Steph was ready for a change herself. Some “last days” are hopeful. Some are tragic. But at the heart of every “last day” is also a new beginning. Laugh/cry with us.
 

Society & Culture

Personal Journals

History

Philosophy

Places & Travel

After getting engaged, Nikki Vargas was staring down a lifetime of white picket fences, suburbs, and 2.5 kids. And deep down she knew she couldn’t do it. So years into a confining relationship, and even deeper into a love affair with travel and journalism that compromised the future her fiancé imagined, Nikki had to make a life-changing choice. She talks with Stephanie about how, ultimately, that choice might just be the best one she’s ever made.
This series is presented by the Marguerite Casey Foundation. MCF supports leaders who work to shift the balance of power in their communities toward working people and families, and who have the vision and capacity for building a truly representative economy. Learn more at caseygrants.org or visit on social media @caseygrants.
Follow Stephanie on Instagram at @wittelstephanie. Stay up to date with us on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram at @LemonadaMedia. 
Have a story you want to share? Head to bit.ly/lastdaystories to fill out our confidential Google form. 
Joining Lemonada Premium is a great way to support our show and get bonus content. Subscribe today at bit.ly/lemonadapremium. And if you want to continue the conversation with other listeners, join the My Lemonada community at https://lemonadamedia.com/mylemonada/
For a list of current sponsors and discount codes for this and every other Lemonada show, go to lemonadamedia.com/sponsors.
To follow along with a transcript, go to www.lemonadamedia.com/show/lastday shortly after the air date. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Nikki: Setting Myself Free

Kat grew up internalizing that it was her “responsibility” to be careful around men. But when a male friend sexually assaulted her after a frat party, Kat knew the burden wasn’t hers alone to bear. She needed to seek justice. In a deeply vulnerable and reflective conversation with Stephanie, Kat provides a glimpse into what happened after she filed a report against her assailant. She found herself in a struggle that consumed her entire college career — and that compromised who she’s able to be now.
This series is presented by the Marguerite Casey Foundation. MCF supports leaders who work to shift the balance of power in their communities toward working people and families, and who have the vision and capacity for building a truly representative economy. Learn more at caseygrants.org or visit on social media @caseygrants.
Follow Stephanie on Instagram at @wittelstephanie. Stay up to date with us on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram at @LemonadaMedia. 
Have a story you want to share? Head to bit.ly/lastdaystories to fill out our confidential Google form. 
Joining Lemonada Premium is a great way to support our show and get bonus content. Subscribe today at bit.ly/lemonadapremium. And if you want to continue the conversation with other listeners, join the My Lemonada community at https://lemonadamedia.com/mylemonada/
For a list of current sponsors and discount codes for this and every other Lemonada show, go to lemonadamedia.com/sponsors.
To follow along with a transcript, go to www.lemonadamedia.com/show/lastday shortly after the air date. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Kat: After the Report

Last Day listeners, today we're sharing with you Stephanie's conversation with Kate Bowler on her show Everything Happens. Kate is a professor at Duke University and someone who was diagnosed with stage 4 colon cancer in 2015 that had already metastasized. She is now in remission, and spends lots of time talking to other people about the fact that everything just, well, happens! To hear more of Everything Happens, head to: https://lemonada.lnk.to/everythinghappens
Today, we’re talking about tragicomedy. And isn’t that all of life? The absurdity. The horror. The laughter that somehow cuts through the most difficult of moments. Our guest today, Stephanie Wittles Wachs wrote a beautiful memoir called Everything is Horrible and Wonderful about the death of her brother to an accidental heroin overdose when he was 30 years old.
In this conversation, Kate and Stephanie discuss:

Loving someone with addiction
Grieving a person in public
Why it’s okay (and maybe necessary) to laugh in the midst of the worst moments
The 6th stage of grief—the manic-investigative stage

CW: mention of suicide, drug overdose, death of a sibling

Watch clips from this conversation, read the full transcript, and access discussion questions by clicking here.
Follow Kate on Instagram, Facebook, or X (formerly known as Twitter)—@katecbowler. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Listen Now: Stephanie on Everything Happens with Kate Bowler

Alyssa Elliott has always prided herself on being a responsible, by-the-book kind of person. And it was exactly those qualities that were taken advantage of when Alyssa’s parents came to her for help, putting her on the hook for tens of thousands of dollars. A twenty-something just trying to make her own way in the world, she was suddenly drowning in debt and, she’d eventually learn, a lifetime of deep anxiety. Alyssa tells Stephanie how severe financial insecurity has impacted her feelings of safety, her relationship with her parents, and her perspective on being a parent herself.  
This series is presented by the Marguerite Casey Foundation. MCF supports leaders who work to shift the balance of power in their communities toward working people and families, and who have the vision and capacity for building a truly representative economy. Learn more at caseygrants.org or visit on social media @caseygrants.
Follow Stephanie on Instagram at @wittelstephanie. Stay up to date with us on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram at @LemonadaMedia. 
Have a story you want to share? Head to bit.ly/lastdaystories to fill out our confidential Google form. 
Joining Lemonada Premium is a great way to support our show and get bonus content. Subscribe today at bit.ly/lemonadapremium. And if you want to continue the conversation with other listeners, join the My Lemonada community at https://lemonadamedia.com/mylemonada/
For a list of current sponsors and discount codes for this and every other Lemonada show, go to lemonadamedia.com/sponsors.
To follow along with a transcript, go to www.lemonadamedia.com/show/lastday shortly after the air date. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Alyssa: Stop Arguing With Reality

There are few modern photos more iconic than the image of Christine Blasey Ford with her hand raised in the U.S. Senate chamber, vowing to tell nothing but the truth about being sexually assaulted by then-nominee to the Supreme Court, Brett Kavanaugh. From that moment on, Christine’s life was forever changed, exposing her to vicious hate and shaking the deeply rooted respect for government that had motivated her to come forward in the first place. Now, almost six years later, Christine sits down with Stephanie to give her a look into this new life. She shares how, even though many things got harder for her after her testimony, if she had the choice to do it all again, she would.
Lemonada has teamed up with Apple Books to bring you the Lemonada Book Club. The March pick is One Way Back by Christine Blasey Ford. For more details, visit apple.co/lemonadabooks 
This series is presented by the Marguerite Casey Foundation. MCF supports leaders who work to shift the balance of power in their communities toward working people and families, and who have the vision and capacity for building a truly representative economy. Learn more at caseygrants.org or visit on social media @caseygrants.
Follow Stephanie on Instagram at @wittelstephanie. Stay up to date with us on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram at @LemonadaMedia. 
Have a story you want to share? Head to bit.ly/lastdaystories to fill out our confidential Google form. 
Joining Lemonada Premium is a great way to support our show and get bonus content. Subscribe today at bit.ly/lemonadapremium. And if you want to continue the conversation with other listeners, join the My Lemonada community at https://lemonadamedia.com/mylemonada/
For a list of current sponsors and discount codes for this and every other Lemonada show, go to lemonadamedia.com/sponsors.
To follow along with a transcript, go to www.lemonadamedia.com/show/lastday shortly after the air date.
  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Addiction 11: Wake Me Up

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