Last Day

Stephanie Wittels Wachs is the CEO and cofounder of Lemonada Media, host of Last Day, and author of Last Day: How to Stop Losing Our Loved Ones to the Opioid Crisis. Her younger brother, Harris Wittels - the beloved writer and comedian known for Parks and Recreation and Master of None - died of an opioid overdose in 2015 at 30.

Stephanie tells Zac about Harris's addiction, her family's struggle to understand it, and the moment she realized he wasn't choosing to hurt them, he was sick.

They talk about addiction, relapse, treatment, harm reduction, Narcan, boundaries, grief, and the impossible question so many families face: How do you help someone you love when you can't make them get sober?

Order Steph’s book Last Day: How to Stop Losing Our Loved Ones to the Opioid Crisis at https://bit.ly/LastDayBook, and the audiobook at https://bit.ly/3RW4WtF, or wherever books and audiobooks are sold.

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Stephen Murray wants to change how we view drug users. After overcoming his own substance use disorder in his early 20s, he went on to save countless lives from overdose as a paramedic. He's now the founder and Executive Director of SafeSpot, the only government-funded overdose prevention hotline in the United States. In this episode, Stephen joins Stephanie to walk through the moments that transformed how he sees recovery and what it actually takes to save more lives.

Order Steph’s book Last Day: How to Stop Losing Our Loved Ones to the Opioid Crisis at https://bit.ly/LastDayBook, and the audiobook at https://bit.ly/3RW4WtF, or wherever books and audiobooks are sold.

LAST DAY BOOK TOUR SCHEDULE

Please join Steph on the road and RSVP at the links below!

📍 Houston, TX Thursday, September 17th, 7:00 PM at Blue Willow Bookshop. Reserve your spot →

📍 Summerland, CA Friday, September 25th at Godmother's Books, in conversation with Jennifer Rudolph Walsh. Reserve your spot →

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Stephanie Wittels Wachs and her younger brother Harris were best friends. So when he confided that he was struggling with opioid addiction, Steph believed they’d find a way through it together, like they always had. But Harris didn’t survive his addiction. 

Steph immersed herself in research on addiction to better understand what her family had been through. This week, Steph joins Maya to share what she’s learned about the disease and how we can help save more lives. 

Check out Steph’s new book “Last Day: How to Stop Losing Our Loved Ones to the Opioid Crisis” and find her podcast, “Last Day” wherever you like to listen.

For more on addiction and healing, we recommend our conversation with singer-songwriter Jason Isbell, “Jason Isbell on Resisting the Mythos of Sobriety.”

If you or someone you love is struggling with addiction or if you’d like to learn more about the topic, resources are available at FindSupport.gov.

Order Steph’s book Last Day: How to Stop Losing Our Loved Ones to the Opioid Crisis at ⁠https://bit.ly/LastDayBook⁠, and the audiobook at ⁠https://bit.ly/3RW4WtF⁠, or wherever books and audiobooks are sold.

LAST DAY BOOK TOUR SCHEDULE

Please join Steph on the road and RSVP at the links below!

📍 Carmel Valley, CA Saturday, September 12th, 7:00 PM at Olivia & Daisy Books.⁠ Reserve your spot →⁠

📍 Houston, TX Thursday, September 17th, 7:00 PM at Blue Willow Bookshop.⁠ Reserve your spot →⁠

📍 Summerland, CA Friday, September 25th at Godmother's Books, in conversation with Jennifer Rudolph Walsh. ⁠Reserve your spot →⁠

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Most friendships start because you have something in common: work, hobbies, fashion, books, sense of humor. But not all friendships are formed because of something wholesome in common. Sometimes, you share an experience so life-changing that you are drawn to each other. That is how, nine years ago, Nora and Steph Wittels Wachs became friends. Steph lost her brother, Harris, to an opioid overdose. Grievers can always find common ground: losing someone changes you.

If you have lived this before, you’ll find it feeling familiar. If you haven’t, consider yourself lucky. Watching a family member suffer from opioid addiction is crushing. Losing them is debilitating.

Watch us on YouTube here!

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Listen to Geoffrey’s album on Spotify and Apple!

You can buy Nora’s books on Bookshop or Amazon, or wherever you buy books.

Nora is on IG, TikTok, Facebook and LinkedIn.

Order Steph’s book Last Day: How to Stop Losing Our Loved Ones to the Opioid Crisis at https://bit.ly/LastDayBook, and the audiobook at https://bit.ly/3RW4WtF, or wherever books and audiobooks are sold.

LAST DAY BOOK TOUR SCHEDULE

Please join Steph on the road and RSVP at the links below!

📍 Carmel Valley, CA Saturday, September 12th, 7:00 PM at Olivia & Daisy Books. Reserve your spot →

📍 Houston, TX Thursday, September 17th, 7:00 PM at Blue Willow Bookshop. Reserve your spot →

📍 Summerland, CA Friday, September 25th at Godmother's Books, in conversation with Jennifer Rudolph Walsh. Reserve your spot →

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

How do we create smart drug education that actually makes an impact on the next generation? After losing their son Charlie to an accidental fentanyl overdose, Ed and Mary Ternan created Song for Charlie to educate young people and their parents about the risks of counterfeit prescription pills and other drugs. In this episode, Stephanie talks to Ed and Marcia Lee Taylor, strategy advisor for the organization, about Charlie's last day and how to have honest conversations with kids about drugs.

This episode is made possible by Song for Charlie, the family led non-profit behind the New Drug Talk program—offering free, science-backed resources for parents and caregivers.

To learn more visit thenewdrugtalk.org and songforcharlie.org and follow @thenewdrugtalk (Instagram & Facebook), @song4charlie (Instagram) @songforcharlie (TikTok, LinkedIn, YouTube)

Order Steph’s book Last Day: How to Stop Losing Our Loved Ones to the Opioid Crisis at https://bit.ly/LastDayBook, and the audiobook at https://bit.ly/3RW4WtF, or wherever books and audiobooks are sold.

LAST DAY BOOK TOUR SCHEDULE

Please join Steph on the road and RSVP at the links below!

📍 Carmel Valley, CA Saturday, September 12th, 7:00 PM at Olivia & Daisy Books. Reserve your spot →

📍 Houston, TX Thursday, September 17th, 7:00 PM at Blue Willow Bookshop. Reserve your spot →

📍 Summerland, CA Friday, September 25th at Godmother's Books, in conversation with Jennifer Rudolph Walsh. Reserve your spot →

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What role does connection play in helping us survive life's hardest moments? In this episode, Stephanie talks to Allison Gilbert, a journalist, speaker, and the creator of More Connected, a first-of-its-kind app helping people build deeper belonging and togetherness IRL. Together, they explore what’s behind the loneliness epidemic, how we can embrace the messiness of human connections, and why closeness is an upstream intervention for addiction.

To learn more, check out  ⁠BeingMoreConnected.com⁠, ⁠AllisonGilbert.com⁠ and ⁠Mental Health Storytelling Initiative⁠. You can follow Allison on Instagram: ⁠@itsallisongilbert⁠.

Order Steph’s book Last Day: How to Stop Losing Our Loved Ones to the Opioid Crisis at ⁠https://bit.ly/LastDayBook⁠, and the audiobook at ⁠https://bit.ly/3RW4WtF⁠, or wherever books and audiobooks are sold.

LAST DAY BOOK TOUR SCHEDULE

Please join Steph on the road and RSVP at the links below!

📍 Carmel Valley, CA Saturday, September 12th, 7:00 PM at Olivia & Daisy Books.⁠ Reserve your spot →⁠

📍 Houston, TX Thursday, September 17th, 7:00 PM at Blue Willow Bookshop.⁠ Reserve your spot →⁠

📍 Summerland, CA Friday, September 25th at Godmother's Books, in conversation with Jennifer Rudolph Walsh. ⁠Reserve your spot →⁠⁠

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

When Nadia Bowers's sister Sasha died of fentanyl overdose in 2015, Nadia was seven months pregnant with her first child and had gotten married just six weeks earlier. Suddenly she had to ask herself: how do I go on after the worst thing that's ever happened to me? In this episode, Nadia tells Stephanie how writing her new memoir, Dear Dealer, helped her process her rage, grief, and the anxiety of new motherhood while navigating this crippling loss.

Pick up a copy of Dear Dealer, available wherever books are sold or listen to the audiobook, narrated by Nadia.

Order Steph’s book Last Day: How to Stop Losing Our Loved Ones to the Opioid Crisis at https://bit.ly/LastDayBook, and the audiobook at https://bit.ly/3RW4WtF, or wherever books and audiobooks are sold.

LAST DAY BOOK TOUR SCHEDULE

Please join Steph on the road and RSVP at the links below!

📍 Santa Monica, CA Thursday, August 20th, 6:00 PM at Zibby's Bookshop, in conversation with Claire Bidwell Smith. Reserve your spot →

📍 San Francisco, CA Saturday, August 22nd, 11:00 AM at Book Passage, in conversation with Maya Shankar. Reserve your spot →

📍 Carmel Valley, CA Saturday, September 12th, 7:00 PM at Olivia & Daisy Books. Reserve your spot →

📍 Houston, TX Thursday, September 17th, 7:00 PM at Blue Willow Bookshop. Reserve your spot →

📍 Summerland, CA Friday, September 25th at Godmother's Books, in conversation with Jennifer Rudolph Walsh. (Link coming soon!)

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Stephanie Wittels Wachs has written a new book, Last Day: How to Stop Losing Our Loved Ones to the Opioid Crisis – and to celebrate, the podcast is back for a four-episode mini-season. In these new episodes, we’ll revisit the opioid crisis with fresh eyes, exploring grief and loss, unconditional love and radical acceptance, connection and reinvention. Stay tuned for episodes dropping August 19th. 

Order Steph’s book Last Day: How to Stop Losing Our Loved Ones to the Opioid Crisis at https://bit.ly/LastDayBook, and the audiobook at https://bit.ly/3RW4WtF, or wherever books and audiobooks are sold.

LAST DAY BOOK TOUR SCHEDULE

Please join Steph on the road and RSVP at the links below!

📍 Brooklyn, NY Tuesday, August 18th, 7:00 PM at PowerHouse Arena, in conversation with Dave Manheim. Reserve your spot →

📍 Santa Monica, CA Thursday, August 20th, 6:00 PM at Zibby's Bookshop, in conversation with Claire Bidwell Smith. Reserve your spot →

📍 San Francisco, CA Saturday, August 22nd, 11:00 AM at Book Passage, in conversation with Maya Shankar. Reserve your spot →

📍 Carmel Valley, CA Saturday, September 12th, 7:00 PM at Olivia & Daisy Books. Reserve your spot →

📍 Houston, TX Thursday, September 17th, 7:00 PM at Blue Willow Bookshop. Reserve your spot →

📍 Summerland, CA Friday, September 25th at Godmother's Books, in conversation with Jennifer Rudolph Walsh. (Link coming soon!)

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Get a sneak peek of Season 2 of Talkaboutable, hosted by child psychiatrist Dr. Susan Swick!

In this episode, Dr. Swick sits down with a mom tackling one of the most universal parenting struggles: picky eating. Listen in as they explore her son’s food anxieties together and create solutions that will help him feel more excited about mealtime.

Follow Talkaboutable to hear the full episode, plus conversations on everything from ADHD to sibling drama to grief and all of the other challenges that come with raising kiddos. 

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

New series sneak peek! No Magic Pill is hosted by TOMS Shoes founder Blake Mycoskie, who fell apart after building and selling one of the most recognized brands on the planet. After a years-long journey through every therapy and treatment imaginable, Blake is finally talking honestly about the dark side of success and the reality of mental health. In No Magic Pill, Blake travels the country to sit down with survivors, experts, and cultural icons who have looked into the darkness and found a way out. These aren’t stories of quick fixes; they are honest conversations about the daily choices, big and small, that create a path forward.

In this episode excerpt, Blake speaks with actor Matthew McConaughey about the darkest moments in his life and how solo trips helped him purge the shame, guilt, and embarrassment of his younger years. You can hear the full episode and hear more of No Magic Pill at https://lemonada.lnk.to/NoMagicPillBlakeMycoskie