Lemonada Media Announces New Season of Award-Winning Podcast Series, Last Day, A Show Devoted to Tackling Massive Epidemics with Humanity and Finding Solutions

The Network's Flagship Show Returns for Season 3 on April 6th to Confront Gun Violence in America 

Listen to the Trailer HERE

LOS ANGELES, March 24, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Lemonada Media, the podcast network that makes life suck less, today announces the return of their award-winning flagship podcast series, Last Day, which looks to confront massive epidemics with humanity, wit, and a quest for progress. Hosted by Lemonada co-founder and author, Stephanie Wittels Wachs, season three returns April 6th to address the harrowing reality of gun violence in America while seeking out answers to the question that so many are asking, "How can we live safely in a country that has more guns than people?"

Stephanie Wittels Wachs and Jessica Cordova Kramer created Last Day, and subsequently Lemonada, after each lost their brothers to overdoses. They realized that building a community around their grief could pull them—and others suffering from profound loss —out of darkness. Wittels Wachs expanded beyond her own story of loss, speaking to people affected by addiction and suicide in the first two seasons of Last Day, and this new season is no different. Over the course of 10 episodes, the team travels to Montana and Georgia to carry out honest and compassionate conversations with families who have lost loved ones to gun suicides and stray bullets. They also speak to those that are creating community-based solutions to reduce gun-related deaths – all while gaining perspective on gun culture across the U.S.

"We always say at Lemonada that first person stories can save lives, and that's been especially striking this season," says Wittels Wachs. "I, personally, had a very specific point of view around guns at the outset of this process, but traveling to different parts of the country, meeting people in their living rooms, hearing them share their stories in real time -- it was incredibly powerful and really shifted my own point of view on this issue. I hope it has the same impact on our audience."

For the third season of Last Day, Lemonada has partnered with the following organizations: The Kendeda Fund, an Atlanta-based foundation working to build safer, healthier communities by investing in transformative leaders and ideas; Pritzker Pucker Family Foundation, a Chicago-based private family foundation that supports programs that seek to transform individuals, families, and communities through innovative, collaborative, and scalable approaches; The Annie E. Casey Foundation, which is developing solutions to build a brighter future for children, youth and families; The Jed Foundation, leaders in emotional-health advocacy and suicide prevention, that empowers teens and young adults with the skills and support to grow into healthy, thriving adults; Levi Strauss & Co., the global apparel company working to mobilize the business community in the U.S. around gun violence prevention efforts; and Everytown For Gun Safety, a nonprofit organization which advocates for gun control and against gun violence.

"Last Day's new season brings depth and humanity to the challenge of gun violence, a uniquely American public health crisis that can and must be solved," said David Brotherton, who leads the Kendeda Fund's gun violence prevention grantmaking. "With more than 40,000 lives lost to guns each year, the problem can seem overwhelming to many people. The stories lifted up in Last Day Season 3 remind us that the victims of gun violence are our family members, friends and neighbors, and we owe it to them to speak honestly, listen openly, and embrace reasonable solutions to this solvable crisis." 

Lemonada's production team for this show includes: Jackie Danziger, supervising producer; producers Kegan Zema and Giulia Hjort; associate producers Hannah Boomershine and Erianna Jiles; and executive producers Jessica Cordova Kramer and Stephanie Wittels Wachs.

The first episode of Last Day Season 3 will be available on all major podcast platforms on April 6th, and the trailer is available now. Subscribe to listen HERE.

ABOUT STEPHANIE WITTELS WACHS: 
Stephanie Wittels Wachs is co-founder and Chief Creative Officer of Lemonada Media, a podcast network that makes life suck less. She co-created and hosts Last Day, Lemonada's award-winning flagship show confronting massive epidemics with humor, compassion, and a quest for progress. Its first season focused on the opioid crisis, which took the life of her brother, writer-producer-comedian Harris Wittels (Parks & Recreation, Master of None). Thanks in part to her wit and forthrightness, Wittels Wachs has appeared as a guest on a plethora of podcasts (from Comedy Bang Bang to Pod Save the People) public radio programs (NPR's Morning Edition), and TV shows (Late Night with Seth Meyers). She's the author of the best-selling book Everything Is Horrible and Wonderful: A Tragicomic Memoir of Genius, Heroin, Love, and Loss, which Kirkus anointed "a powerful debut" upon its release. A well-known voice actor appearing in countless anime series and movies, she founded Lemonada Media with Jessica Cordova Kramer, who also lost her brother to an overdose, because, Wittels Wachs says, "Community is a life jacket."

ABOUT LEMONADA MEDIA: 
Founded in 2019 by Jessica Cordova Kramer and Stephanie Wittels Wachs, Lemonada is an award-winning, independent, audio-first podcast network, with a mission to make life suck less. The company is also the creator of the audio reality™ podcast genre, and launched BEING Studios, where reality TV meets podcasting. Lemonada has created hit series including the Gracie award-winning podcast Last Day, In the Bubble with Andy Slavitt, Our America with Julián Castro, Add to Cart with Kulap Vilaysack & SuChin Pak, Believe Her and The Untold Story with Jay Ellis. Lemonada's roster of guests has included an array of luminaries from across the entertainment, media, politics and science worlds.

For sponsorship opportunities, contact: [email protected]. For press inquiries, contact: [email protected]. For more information on Lemonada and its podcasts, please visit www.lemonadamedia.com. 

ABOUT THE KENDEDA FUND
The Kendeda Fund is a private grantmaking foundation that invests in transformative leaders and ideas, empowering communities across the U.S. and around the globe to enhance equity, vibrancy, resourcefulness, and resilience. The Kendeda Fund helps underrepresented but trusted voices build social and community capital by supporting experienced, and emerging, leaders who have the vision to see problems differently and the courage to challenge conventional thinking. More at www.kendedafund.org. 

ABOUT PRITZKER PUCKER FAMILY FOUNDATION
Pritzker Pucker Family Foundation supports high impact programs that seek to transform individuals, families, and communities through innovative, collaborative, and scalable approaches. https://pritzkerpuckerfamilyfoundation.org/

ABOUT THE ANNIE E. CASEY FOUNDATION The Annie E. Casey Foundation creates a brighter future for the nation's children and youth by developing solutions to strengthen families, build paths to economic opportunity and transform struggling communities into safer and healthier places to live, work and grow. https://www.aecf.org/

ABOUT THE JED FOUNDATION
The Jed Foundation is a nonprofit that protects emotional health and prevents suicide for our nation's teens and young adults, giving them the skills and support they need to thrive today…and tomorrow. https://jedfoundation.org/

ABOUT LEVI STRAUSS & CO.
Levi Strauss & Co. (LS&Co.) is one of the world's largest brand-name apparel companies and a global leader in jeanswear. For more information, go to http://levistrauss.com.

ABOUT EVERYTOWN FOR GUN SAFETY
Everytown is the largest gun violence prevention organization in America. https://www.everytown.org/

SOURCE Lemonada Media