hmTv at HMTC Podcasts

Send us Fan Mail Ep 252 – Many Voices One Community with Gaitley Stevenson Mathews and guest Ranelle Wolf In this heartfelt episode, host Gaitley Stevenson Mathews welcomes artist, professor, and educator Ranelle Wolf for a deeply moving conversation about art, memory, and values. Ranelle shares how her grandmother’s stories of the Holocaust shaped her childhood and inspired her lifelong mission t...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode of History Repeats on hmTv, host Liam Carballal sits down with historian and educator Richard Acritelli to reflect on the 24th anniversary of September 11th. Together they trace Osama bin Laden’s path from the battlefields of Afghanistan to the rise of al-Qaeda, exploring the events that led to the deadliest attack on American soil. With personal stories from Long...

Send us Fan Mail Episode 251 – Humanity in the Arts with Ranelle Wolf and Gaitley Stevenson Mathews In this episode of Humanity in the Arts , host Ranelle Wolf welcomes actor, director, voice coach, and community engagement leader Gaitley Stevenson Mathews for a powerful conversation about art, authenticity, and the soul. Gaitley shares lessons from a career spanning theater, music, and community...

Send us Fan Mail Episode 250 – Humanity in the Arts with Ranelle Wolf and Bernie Furshpan In this milestone episode of Humanity in the Arts , host Ranelle Wolf sits down with educator, producer, and visionary Dr. Bernie Furshpan, founder of Humanity Matters . Together, they explore how art can heal the soul and repair a fractured world—through story, film, music, and community. Bernie shares the i...

Send us Fan Mail Ep 249 – Kinder People. Kindest People with Peter Suchmann and guest Bernie Furshpan In this heartfelt episode of Kinder People. Kindest People on hmTv, host Peter Suchmann welcomes Bernie Furshpan—educator, marketer, and visionary behind The Weight of Memory: I Am Bernie Furshpan. Together, they explore the urgency of Holocaust storytelling, the lessons of history, and Bernie’s c...

Send us Fan Mail Ep 248 – Legacy Chronicles with Herb Friend In this deeply moving episode of Legacy Chronicles on hmTv, host Zachary Graulich sits down with Herb Friend, a second-generation Holocaust survivor, to share his family’s extraordinary story of survival, courage, and legacy. From his mother’s daring act of pulling her own mother off a gas chamber line in Auschwitz, to his father’s journ...

Send us Fan Mail Ep 247: Raised by Survivors with Dr. Mark Furshpan In this deeply personal episode, host Bernie Furshpan sits down with his twin brother, Dr. Mark Furshpan , to explore the legacy of being raised by Holocaust survivors. Together, they unpack the concept of intergenerational trauma —how the pain, resilience, and survival of one generation shape the lives of those who follow. Mark s...

Send us Fan Mail Episode 246 – Ordinary Heroes: Bill Mirro In this deeply moving episode of Ordinary Heroes , host Bernie Furshpan sits down with retired FDNY firefighter and 9/11 responder Bill Mirro. With raw honesty, Bill recounts the path that led him into the fire service, the bonds of the brotherhood he discovered, and the harrowing morning of September 11, 2001. From racing downtown to find...

Send us Fan Mail Ep 245: The UN, Society, and Antisemitism On this episode of Antisemitism at the United Nations and in Society on hmTv, host Dr. Susanne Seperson speaks with activist Shabbos Kastenbaum about his fight against antisemitism on university campuses and beyond. From his groundbreaking lawsuit against Harvard to his testimony before Congress, Kastenbaum shares insights on accountabilit...

Send us Fan Mail Ep 244: Ordinary Heroes with Naomi Eisenberger On this episode of Ordinary Heroes on hmTv, host Bernie Furshpan sits down with Naomi Eisenberger, founder of the Good People Fund. For more than three decades, Naomi has championed small, often overlooked nonprofits—supporting visionaries who tackle hunger, homelessness, forced marriage, cancer treatment, and more with creativity and...

Send us Fan Mail In this heartfelt episode of Raised by Survivors on hmTv, host Bernie Furshpan reconnects with his longtime friend Dr. Leslie Dreifus to explore the powerful legacy of growing up as the child of Holocaust survivors. From Brooklyn childhood memories and synagogue life to stories of resilience, family values, and assimilation, Leslie shares his parents’ remarkable journey of surviva...

Send us Fan Mail Ep 241: Ordinary Heroes with Bernie Furshpan and guest Samantha Sosnik on hmTv In this powerful episode of Ordinary Heroes on hmTv, host Bernie Furshpan sits down with advocate and podcaster Samantha Sosnik , creator of Putting the Brakes on Bullying . Samantha shares her deeply personal journey as the mother of a daughter with Williams syndrome and the challenges of raising a chi...

Send us Fan Mail Ep 242: Unmasked, Unfiltered, Unapologetic with Bali Lerner and guest Sabrina Soffer on hmTv In this powerful conversation, host Bali Lerner sits down with recent George Washington University graduate Sabrina Soffer , a rising voice in the fight against campus antisemitism and a key participant in the documentary Blind Spot . Sabrina shares her deeply personal story—her diverse Je...

Send us Fan Mail Ep. 239: Ordinary Heroes with Wendy Tepper on hmTv In this moving episode of Ordinary Heroes , host Bernie Furshpan sits down with Wendy Tepper of 3GNJ to explore the legacy of her grandfather, Holocaust survivor Oscar Cukierman, and her mission to carry his story forward. Wendy shares how her close bond with her grandfather shaped her life, how she discovered his survival through...

Send us Fan Mail Ep. 240: Ordinary Heroes with Larry Russo on hmTv In this powerful episode of Ordinary Heroes , host Bernie Furshpan speaks with filmmaker Larry Russo about his acclaimed PBS documentary Trezoros: The Lost Jews of Kastoria . The film weaves rare pre-war archival footage, survivor testimonies, and family photographs to resurrect the vibrant Jewish community of Kastoria, Greece—near...

Send us Fan Mail Ep 238: Unmasked, Unfiltered, Unapologetic with Bali Lerner and guest Lenny Gold on hmTv In this powerful episode, Bali Lerner sits down with Lenny Gold, executive producer of the documentary Blind Spot , to explore the rise of antisemitism on campuses and the courageous voices determined to confront it. From his personal journey rooted in family, loss, and connection to Israel, t...

Send us Fan Mail Ep. 237 – Raised by Survivors with Sophal Ear In this powerful episode of Raised by Survivors on hmTv, host Bernie Furshpan sits down with Dr. Sophal Ear , Cambodian-American scholar, author, and survivor of the Khmer Rouge regime. Together, they explore Sophal’s family’s extraordinary escape, the hidden heroes who made survival possible, and the intergenerational impact of genoci...

Send us Fan Mail Ep 236 — Ordinary Heroes with Lee Hawkins Journalist and author Lee Hawkins joins host Bernie Furshpan for a candid, no-fluff conversation about intergenerational trauma, resilience, and the power of telling the truth—even when it stings. Hawkins traces his family’s 400-year arc from slavery and Jim Crow to the “integration generation,” connects it with Holocaust memory, and shows...

Send us Fan Mail Ep 235 — Disrupting Hate with Bert Brodsky Serial entrepreneur and philanthropist Bert Brodsky joins host Ken Schachter for a straight-talk masterclass on building things that actually help people. From scrappy bottle-return hustles to pioneering electronic claims, EVV timekeeping, and a top PBM, Bert maps a career spent fixing gnarly problems at the intersection of health care, p...

Send us Fan Mail Habits of a Whole Heart (Ep. 233, Part 2) In Part Two of Habits of a Whole Heart on hmTv, host Arnie Herz continues his heartfelt dialogue with Rabbi Levi Paltiel about the inner essence of Judaism and the practical ways it transforms daily life. Together, they explore how mitzvot like tefillin and Shabbat can shift from feeling like obligations to becoming sources of freedom, ene...

Send us Fan Mail Habits of a Whole Heart (Ep. 234, Part 3) In the third installment of Habits of a Whole Heart on hmTv, host Arnie Herz and Rabbi Levi Paltiel continue their heartfelt exploration of Jewish wisdom, daily discipline, and the deeper meaning of the High Holidays. Together they discuss how to carry inspiration from Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur into everyday life, turning fleeting spiri...

Send us Fan Mail Habits of a Whole Heart (Ep. 232, Part 1) In this episode of Habits of a Whole Heart on hmTv, host Arnie Herz sits down with his longtime friend and teacher, Rabbi Levi Paltiel , for a conversation about purpose, wholeness, and the power of daily habits. Together, they explore timeless Chassidic teachings from the Tanya , the meaning of unity, and how to see life’s inconsistencies...

Send us Fan Mail Legacy Chronicles – Ep. 231: “Second Generation, First Principles” Director of Education Donna Rosenblum sits down with HMTC docent Herb Grubman to explore what it means to be Second Generation—and why testimony can’t stop with the survivors. Through the lives of Herb’s parents—from Dęblin and Biała Podlaska to Siberian imprisonment, DP camps, and rebuilding in the Bronx —this epi...

Send us Fan Mail Echoes of the Past – Ep. 230: “Day One: Reading 9/1/39” Assistant Director of Education Zachary Graulich sits down with longtime HMTC volunteer and second-generation survivor Meryl Menashe to unpack a powerful artifact she recently donated: a fragile Kansas City Times front page dated September 1, 1939 —the day Germany invaded Poland. Through this single newspaper, they trace the...

Send us Fan Mail Ep 229 – Disrupting Hate with Ellen Kennedy and Bernie Furshpan On this episode of Disrupting Hate on hmTv, host Ken Schachter and co-host Bernie Furshpan sit down with Dr. Ellen Kennedy, founder and CEO of World Without Genocide . From her earliest childhood experiences of being “othered” to her groundbreaking work in human rights law, Ellen shares the journey that led her to bui...