Best Of: Emotional Bravery with Last Day's Stephanie Wittels Wachs Sound Judgment

As writers, journalists, podcasters, we often deal with hard subjects – topics that are painful to explore and to tell. So why do we do it? Because, done well, telling the hard stories lead to change. They can lead to help and healing.

May is Mental Health Awareness Month. We could think of no better way to help raise awareness than to re-release one of my favorite episodes of Sound Judgment. It’s a conversation with Stephanie Wittels Wachs, host of Last Day. We talked about the Last Day episode "A Love Story." In it, we meet a couple named Larry and Shannon, who lost their son to suicide. And just like life, it’s tragic, but there’s also laughter and pride and celebration. "A Love Story" won a 2023 Webby Award for best documentary. There's a lot to learn from how Wittels Wachs and her team researched this story, built a relationship with sources, did tricky field reporting on a gun range in Montana and in the living room of a grieving couple, and wrote, edited, and voiced an episode that strikes just the right chords.

If you or someone you know is in crisis, get help by calling or texting 988, the U.S. national crisis line.