hmTv at HMTC Podcasts

Send us Fan Mail In this powerful episode of Ordinary Heroes on hmTv, host Bernie Furshpan welcomes Rena Kesten for a moving conversation about her grandfather, Naum Markovich Sekunda, a Jewish colonel in the Soviet Army who helped lead forces into Berlin during the final days of World War II.  Rena shares extraordinary family stories, photographs, and artifacts that reveal her grandfather’s journ...

Send us Fan Mail In this meaningful episode of Raised by Survivors on hmTv, host Bernie Furshpan welcomes Irv Miljoner, founder of the Second Generation Group of Long Island, for a powerful conversation about identity, legacy, responsibility, and the lasting impact of being raised by Holocaust survivors.  Irv shares the story of how the 2G group was created through the Holocaust Memorial & Tol...

Send us Fan Mail Podcast Description: Ep 576 Raised by Survivors with Bernie Furshpan and guest Fern Mehler on hmTv In this episode of Raised by Survivors on hmTv, host Bernie Furshpan welcomes Fern Mehler for a heartfelt and deeply personal conversation about growing up as the child of two Holocaust survivors. Fern shares powerful stories of her parents’ survival, including her father’s escape fr...

Send us Fan Mail In Part 2 of Episode 575 of It’s All About the Children on hmTv, hosts Carin and Sami continue their powerful conversation with Jeff Schoep, a former leader in the neo-Nazi movement who now works to prevent radicalization and help people leave hate behind. Jeff shares the deeply personal turning points that led him away from extremism, including meaningful encounters with people w...

Send us Fan Mail In Part 1 of Episode 574 of It’s All About the Children on hmTv, hosts Carin and Sami welcome Jeff Schoep for a powerful conversation about children, belonging, radicalization, and the urgent need for human connection in a divided world. Jeff Schoep, a former longtime leader in the neo-Nazi movement who now works to prevent extremism and help people leave hate groups, joins Holoca...

Send us Fan Mail Ep 573: Putting the Brakes on Bullying with Samantha Sosnik and guest Ben Cohen on hmTv In this episode of Putting the Brakes on Bullying on hmTv, host Samantha Sosnik welcomes Ben Cohen for a powerful conversation about cyberbullying, resilience, personal growth, and turning pain into purpose. Ben shares the story of a traumatic college incident that was misrepresented online and...

Send us Fan Mail In this powerful episode of Habits of a Whole Heart on hmTv, host Arnie Herz welcomes legendary actress, educator, and humanitarian Phylicia Rashad for Part 1 of a deeply personal and reflective conversation about service, trust, heritage, stillness, and the inner journey toward wholeness. Arnie and Phylicia look back on their four-decade friendship, beginning with their time in I...

Send us Fan Mail In Part 2 of Habits of a Whole Heart on hmTv, host Arnie Herz continues his heartfelt conversation with legendary actress, director, educator, and humanitarian Phylicia Rashad . Building on Part 1’s reflections on stillness and inner wholeness, this episode explores legacy, leadership, parenting, collaboration, and community . Phylicia shares how her work as a director is rooted i...

Send us Fan Mail Ep. 570 | Many Voices One Community with Gaitley Stevenson Mathews and Constanza “Connie” Pinilla on hmTv In this inspiring episode of Many Voices One Community on hmTv, host Gaitley Stevenson Mathews welcomes Constanza “Connie” Pinilla, President of the North Shore Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, attorney, realtor, community leader, and longtime advocate for connection across cultu...

Send us Fan Mail Ep. 569 | Many Voices One Community with Gaitley Stevenson Mathews and Jeanine DiMenna on hmTv In this heartfelt episode of Many Voices One Community on hmTv, host Gaitley Stevenson Mathews welcomes Jeanine DiMenna, beloved Glen Cove chef, owner of Jeanine’s American Bistro, community supporter, and longtime friend to many across the North Shore. Jeanine reflects on growing up in...

Send us Fan Mail Ep. 567 | Ordinary Heroes with Bernie Furshpan and Carolyn Enger on hmTv In this moving episode of Ordinary Heroes on hmTv, host Bernie Furshpan welcomes international concert pianist Carolyn Enger for a powerful conversation about music, memory, identity, and the moral responsibility of sharing family history. Carolyn discusses her deeply personal performance piece, Mischling Exp...

Send us Fan Mail Ep. 568 | Many Voices One Community with Gaitley Stevenson Mathews and Howard Stillwagon on hmTv In this powerful episode of Many Voices One Community on hmTv, host Gaitley Stevenson Mathews welcomes Howard “Howie” Stillwagon, Commander of VFW Post 347, Vietnam War veteran, community leader, and stained glass artist. Howard reflects on growing up in the close-knit Orchard neighbor...

Send us Fan Mail In Episode 566 of The Israeli Bond on hmTv, host Gal Swisa Cohen welcomes Neta Moallem , an Israeli lawyer, former university international marketing director, and founder of Israel EduExpo , a new platform connecting North American students and families with academic opportunities in Israel. Neta shares how the aftermath of October 7 revealed a surprising and powerful shift: more...

Send us Fan Mail In Part 2 of this powerful Habits of a Whole Heart conversation on hmTv, host Arnie Herz continues his discussion with Ira Kohler, author of Once a Paratrooper: The Story of a Lone Soldier in the Gaza War . Ira recounts the harrowing events of October 7, 2023, when he and his fellow IDF paratroopers were transported by helicopter to the Gaza envelope and suddenly found themselves...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode of Putting the Brakes on Bullying on hmTv, host Samantha Sosnik sits down with Bernie Furshpan for a candid and important conversation about narcissism, narcissistic behavior, and its connection to bullying. Samantha shares deeply personal reflections from her own upbringing, describing the lasting impact of growing up in a home marked by chaos, manipulation, intim...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode of Habits of a Whole Heart on hmTv, host Arnie Herz speaks with Professor Peter Decherney, award-winning documentary filmmaker, photographer, author, and Director of the Penn Global Documentary Institute at the University of Pennsylvania. Together, they explore the power of photography and documentary filmmaking to reveal hidden stories, preserve memory, deepen hum...

Send us Fan Mail In this milestone 50th episode of Habits of a Whole Heart on hmTv, host Arnie Herz speaks with Ira Kohler, author of Once a Paratrooper , about his extraordinary journey from Long Island college life to serving as a lone soldier in the IDF. In Part 1 of this powerful conversation, Ira reflects on the values, identity, and sense of purpose that led him to leave the comfort and fami...

Send us Fan Mail In Episode 561 of The Butterfly Effect on hmTv, host Gilad Avrahami and co-host Bernie Furshpan explore conformity, the bandwagon effect, fear of missing out, and groupthink, examining how people are often pulled into beliefs, behaviors, movements, and social trends simply because others around them are doing the same. Building on their previous discussion about critical mass, Gil...

Send us Fan Mail In Episode 560 of Raised by Survivors on hmTv, host Bernie Furshpan welcomes Marlene Steiner, a dear friend and daughter of Holocaust survivors, for a deeply personal conversation about memory, survival, trauma, resilience, and joy. Marlene shares her mother’s harrowing story of being forced from Rădăuți, Romania, and marched toward Ukraine, where families were torn apart and surv...

Send us Fan Mail In Episode 559 of Raised by Survivors on hmTv, host Bernie Furshpan welcomes Irene Dunkel Rivera, a retired educator, assistant principal, professor, and daughter of two Holocaust survivors. Irene shares how her parents’ experiences in Łódź, Warsaw, the ghettos, Auschwitz, Majdanek, and the Jewish Labor Bund shaped her understanding of justice, identity, memory, and human responsi...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode of Voices of Diversity on hmTv , host Sherona Varulkar welcomes psychotherapist, author, and eating disorder specialist Eve Eliot for a deeply personal conversation about identity, family history, grief, resilience, and healing. Eve shares the remarkable story of her Sephardic Jewish grandparents, who came to America from Greece and built a new life in Brooklyn wit...

Send us Fan Mail In Episode 557 of Raised by Survivors on hmTv, host Bernie Furshpan welcomes Caryn Bachar for a heartfelt conversation between two childhood friends who grew up in the shared world of Holocaust survivor families in Brooklyn and Queens. Together, Bernie and Caryn reflect on what it meant to be raised by survivors, from the anxiety, overprotection, food, humor, accents, and deep fam...

Send us Fan Mail In Episode 556 of Legacy Chronicles: Honoring the Past, Shaping the Future on hmTv, host Donna Rosenblum welcomes Dr. Lenny Kristal for a moving conversation about growing up as the son of Holocaust survivors and the responsibility of carrying memory forward. Lenny shares the powerful stories of his parents: his mother’s escape from Nazi-occupied Vienna after Kristallnacht, and hi...

Send us Fan Mail Ep 555: Inheriting Memory with Rebecca Sparacio and Guest Alex Teplish, Part 2 on hmTv In Part 2 of Inheriting Memory , host Rebecca Sparacio continues her conversation with Alex Teplish, exploring how his grandparents’ Holocaust survival stories inspired a lifetime of education, advocacy, and remembrance. Alex discusses the creation of his award-winning graphic novel, Survivor: A...

Send us Fan Mail Ep 554: Inheriting Memory with Rebecca Sparacio and Guest Alex Teplish, Part 1 on hmTv In this powerful episode of Inheriting Memory , host Rebecca Sparacio speaks with Alex Teplish about growing up as a third-generation Holocaust survivor in a Russian-speaking Jewish family from Odessa, Ukraine. Alex shares how his grandparents’ survival stories were woven into everyday family li...