What Happens in the Aftermath of a Major Life Event?

The dramatic podcast "First Day Back" offers a combination of in-depth reporting and brilliant narrative storytelling. For each season creator, producer, and host Tally Abecassis, follows a person who's living the aftermath of a major life event. Abecassis, who has a background in documentary film, interviews not only the subject but a whole cast of characters including family and friends to tell the story of what led up to the event, how it went down, and how a person processes what happened afterward. 

In season 1 Abecassis chronicled her own experience returning to work after maternity leave—a joyful yet fraught experience. The next season takes up a less common experience that is also much darker: a loving wife who shot her husband without meaning to, and doesn't remember any of it. Season 3 follows Jason Weems, a comedian who suffered a life-threatening asthma attack on stage. The series' multifaceted approach to understanding how humans can overcome transitions and upheavals makes even the most mundane aspects of life seem newsworthy.