Today's guest is one you don’t want to miss. Rabbi Ron Symons has been the senior director of Jewish Life, since July 2015, at the Jewish Community Center of Greater Pittsburgh, in Pennsylvania, and also the founding director of the organization’s Center for Loving Kindness, since August 2017. In our conversation with Rabbi Ron, we discuss so many pressing matters happening around the world, but especially here in the United States like living wages, demoralizing rhetoric in public discourse, and especially gun violence. Rabbi Ron shares very poignantly about his experiences with an antisemitic terrorist attack in the form of a mass shooting, which took place at the Tree of Life Synagogue, in 2018 – in the Squirrel Hill neighborhood of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. In the midst of tragedies such as this one, Rabbi Ron reminds us what it means to move from being a bystander to an upstander who ‘Loves your Neighbor as Yourself.’

 From now until the end of 2026, we are going to do some reflection on some of the very special podcasts that we were able to air over the last eight seasons. As we approach our 15th anniversary on January 1st, 2027, we thought that it would be a good time from now until the end of the year to be able to replay some of our favorite and some of the most impactful podcast that we have been able to do. This is one of them.

Stephanie Sarazin understands the unique challenges of grieving the loss of a loved one who is still alive. Through trials and tears, she’s traveled around the United States and Central America in search of understanding this grief and healing her heart. Along the way, she has met so many others who were also grieving a loss not from physical death and found that this kind of grief is largely overlooked and almost always misunderstood. Now her mission is to ensure that no one navigating ambiguous grief suffers alone or forever. Her book Soul Broken won the 2023 Nautilus Award: Books for a Better World in the category of Death & Dying and Grief & Loss.

This bonus episode is a live recording from our spring event, the SouthCentral PA Premiere of the documentary Friends & Neighbors. It is not necessary to have watched the documentary, however, it does add to the richness of the conversation.

If you haven't watched the documentary yet or would like to rewatch it click on the links below.

AMAZON | APPLE | PBS

In this bonus episode of Season 8 of the Someone To Tell It To Podcast, Michael, Tom, and Angie discuss the themes and learnings taken from the recently concluded season.

Brice Sanders has dedicated his life to service. First in the United States Marine Corps and active deployment to war zones, then as the pilot of Marine One and Marine Two, the helicopters that fly the President and Vice President of the United States, and now as the Director of Flight Operations for the helicopters that provide emergency transport for patients of the Penn State Hershey (Pennsylvania) Medical Center. In each of these extremely high-intensity and high-stress roles, he talks with us about the importance of listening acutely and deeply, because others’ lives absolutely depend on it.

Heather Hockenberry has a strong passion for teaching, training, and coaching. She is deeply passionate about optimizing individual and organizational performance. She loves to guide executives and teams to reach their full potential, through her unique approach and unwavering commitment to their success. Heather values listening as the top skill to ensure that trust is built, connections are deepened and strengthened, and people live to be their best selves in everything they do.

Connect with Heather and Hockenberry Coaching & Consulting: https://www.hockenberryconsultants.com/

Sandi Smith is one of Someone To Tell It To’s trained compassionate listeners. We can attest that she is a tremendous example of one who embodies the values and virtues of what good, intentional, and compassionate listening is all about. Sandi lives out those values throughout every aspect of her life. Most publicly, she founded, along with her husband Tom, Sandi’s Breads, offering a thoughtfully curated menu of artisan breads, pastries, and desserts, all baked in small batches with quality ingredients. Just as importantly, Sandi offers her staff and customers an atmosphere of kindness, excellent service, attentive listening, and a very real sense that her business is not transactional, but is connectional, showing everyone that they are truly valued and cared about.

Over the past thirty years, Benjamin Wagner has worked at the intersection of media and technology as an award-winning journalist and documentarian. In May, Benjamin’s new documentary, Friends & Neighbors, premieres nationwide. The film weaves together moments from his own life and career with the broader social forces around us, asking what’s broken, what it costs us, and what real healing could look like in an anxious and uncertain world. We discuss the film in this episode.

On April 23, Benjamin will be with Someone To Tell It To, to premiere the film in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, before the nation-wide premiere. Fred (Mister) Rogers provided personal support to young Benjamin during a traumatic period in his life. Because of Someone To Tell It To’s co-production of the play, I’m Proud of You, in the spring of 2025, Benjamin connected with our mission and invited a collaboration with us. We are honored to be connected with him and this beautiful film. Get tickets here: https://secure.givelively.org/event/someone-to-tell-it-to-inc/the-friends-neighbors-southcentral-pa-premier-presented-by-sttit