Two sons of Holocaust survivors, Michael Rozbruch and Amir Tiles, sit down with psychotherapist Joel Schwartz whose grandparents are also survivors and they discuss the PTSD’s ripples still being felt today within the families. Amir’s father, an 85 year-old Polish survivor also joins them.
The therapist who is also in recovery helps Paul and some listeners (via surveys) navigate their discomfort and confusion about their current issues. They discuss the cliched but effective tools of self-parenting and inner-child work, as well as the line therapists draw regarding self-revelation to their clients.
A father/brother figure to Paul, the high-school teacher reflects on his Mexican heritage, violent upbringing, tour in Vietnam, stints as a bouncer at a Hell’s Angels bar, and a Club Med guide, his getting “struck sober” and how he has evolved into the man his father never was.
The comedian (Last Comic Standing, Twitwits) talks about her and her father’s alcoholism, his awkward foray into lingerie photography, craving her mother’s acceptance and understanding her own fluid sexuality.
The actor/comedian (Conan, Jimmy Fallon, Comedy Central) talks about his struggle to feel “authentically black” without betraying who he is, the state of comedy in the black community, honing his artistic voice, and his nerdish, turbulent childhood especially with his alcoholic mother.
Valerie, a listener talks about the painful decision she made to give her only son up for adoption years ago when she was 18 and living with her Catholic, divorced mother. Recorded via Skype so the audio quality isn’t optimal. First half of the show is the interview, second half is surveys.
The standup comedian (Comedy Central Presents, Chapelle’s Show, Best Week Ever, Countdown with Keith Olberman) opens up about the tragedy and parental mental illness that shaped his childhood and still affects him today as well as his struggle to trust and feel confident about his future.
Her childhood marked with social stress, being bullied, aggressiveness and severe digestive issues (including Barrett’s Esophagus a condition involving acid reflux usually only found in adults) Louise was finally diagnosed with Aspergers Syndrome, also known as high-functioning autism. She shares on what it’s like to live with it, how it expresses itself in her life and the hurdles society has to overcome in understanding and accepting those with Aspergers.
Raised by a Baptist preacher who frequently got run out of town and raped by his older sister starting when he was 4, “Tom” has had a lot to work through. A great episode about working through trauma especially in families that can’t or choose not to communicate. Though a serious episode for sure, there is more humor than the title suggests. Not a downer.