Surviving the Survivor: A Brutally Honest Conversation about Life (& Death) with My Mom: A Holocaust Survivor, Therapist & My Podcast Co-Host

(Paperback)

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Holocaust survivor and licensed therapist Karmela Waldman shares brutally honest advice about life and deathoften deploying brutally sharp witwith her son and podcast co-host, Joel Waldman.

Karmela Waldman is an eighty-something psychotherapist and Holocaust survivor. Her son, Joel Waldman, is a successful broadcast journalist. After a discontented Joel chooses to leave his network-news job, he gets a crazy idea for the next step in his career: What if he and his elderly mom did a podcast together

The two embark on creating a show together and name it Surviving the Survivor. Things get off to a bumpy start as the lovingly dysfunctional mother-son duo struggle to figure out the art of podcasting on the flysometimes feuding, sometimes laughing, and finally mastering the format and watching Surviving the Survivor break out as a wildly popular true-crime hit.

Along the way, the two discover things about each other that they never knew. Joel is stunned to learn that Karmela survived World War II by hiding in a boys Catholic school. Karmela also sheds light on the emotional struggles she endured when Joels older brother, Rami, died of an incurable illness. Shes also struggling with the inevitable loss of her husband of sixty-three years, which she describes as the most difficult experience of her life.

Mastering podcasting is one thing; figuring out the meaning of life is a challenge of an entirely different order. In real time and on air, mother and son engage frankly and movingly with each other for the first time as adults, discussing child-rearing, aging, illness, death, and the secrets to enjoying life no matter how complicated it gets.

Reviews

Karmelas story is moving and inspirational, and one every young personshouldbe reminded of. -- Mitch Albom, Author of The Little Liar
What makes a story interesting is the person telling the storyand while many people are talking about true crime these daysno one is doing it quite like Karmela and Joel Waldman.Thats because of the story behind these storytellersand that, my friends, is a story worth reading! -- Vinnie Politan, Court TV Lead Anchor
Their story is more than just a tale of survival; its a beacon of hope and a reminder of the enduring strength found in the bonds of family, and in the courage to face lifes challenges head-on. Karmela Waldman, like the tiger, is indeed an endangered speciesrare, awe-inspiring, and an emblem of resilience in a world that often demands it. -- Carole Baskin, CEO of Big Cat Rescue
Thosewho do not learn history are doomed to repeat it. In these troubling times, the insights of Survivingthe Survivor offer all of us importantwisdom and lessons for a better future. -- Dr. Avi Loeb, Harvard Professor and Bestselling Author of Extraterrestrial and Interstellar
Joel Waldman and Karmela Waldman have written a compelling hit based on their genuine, on-air conversationsfrank, moving, and transformative. As they navigate the uncharted waters of podcasting, Surviving the Survivor goes beyond the microphone, inviting readers into the unfiltered world of a mother and son as they unravel the mysteries of their shared past and navigate the profound questions that shape the human experience. -- Dr. Ann Wolbert Burgess,Boston College Connell School of Nursing, Named a Living Legend by the American Academy of Nursing, and Bestselling Author of A Killer by Design
Joel and Karmela Waldmans lively podcast Surviving the Survivor has become a must-watch for followers of true crime. -- Dennis Murphy, Dateline NBCs Correspondent and Winner of Four National Emmy Awards
As a Catholic I love that Karm survived WWII by hiding out in a Catholic school; as a comedian I love the humor in this book that by any rights shouldn't be this funny, and as someone who is currently alive, but one day will not be, I loved Surviving the Survivor. -- Comedian J-L Cauvin, Actor,ShowtimesBillions

Author Bio

Joel Waldman is the co-host of the hit true-crime podcast Surviving the Survivor and an Emmy Award-winning broadcast journalist who worked most recently as a Washington, D.C.-based correspondent for Fox News, covering national politics from Capitol Hill. He has also worked as an investigative reporter for Fox 5 in New York City and for TV-news programs in West Palm Beach, Miami, and Tucson. He lives in Miami Beach with his wife, Ileana, and his three children, Vida, Zizi, and Judah.