On the season finale, I round out my Education Panels by speaking with Jo Ann Cimato (Theatre, English - NYC), Mike O&apos;Keefe (Elementary,  NJ), and Kristina Ulmer (English, PA) A huge thank you to Producer Katie Mare for her work and PodBear Audio for the phenomenal editing.  VOTE  <a rel="payment" href="http://patreon.com/lightersidepodcast">Support the show</a> (http://patreon.com/lightersidepodcast)

Replay: Stephanie Wittels Wachs

It started as a weight loss podcast, which quickly became a mental health podcast, which somehow became a pandemic podcast.  Jay, your host  (anxiety/depression/OCD/childhood trauma/family addiction)  lost 185 lbs after having bariatric surgery.  Guests have ranged from actor Ken Marino to a woman you have never heard of who lost 250 lbs, to a recovering addict, to essential workers during COVID-19. In 2020, the show became daily and ran for 100 episodes in 100 days. The culmination of everything The Lighter Side strove to be, Jay created an oral history of the pandemic, as told through the voices of the people who lived through it. There's something for everyone on the Lighter Side.