Last Day: How to Stop Losing Our Loved Ones to the Opioid Crisis

Based on the podcast of the same name, Last Day heartbreakingly yet hopefully weaves Stephanie Wittels Wachs’s personal story of her brother’s deadly overdose alongside expert voices on opioid addiction in this clarion call for change in an ongoing and overwhelming opioid crisis.

Based on the groundbreaking podcast of the same name, Last Day is borne of Stephanie Wittels Wachs’s determination to shed light on the ongoing opioid epidemic in America. After the tragic and untimely death of her brother due to opioid addiction, Stephanie connected with Jessica Cordova Kramer, whose brother died under nearly identical circumstances. Together they launched Last Day, a podcast that facilitates conversations with people in recovery, public policy experts working to effect change in the opioid crisis, medical professionals, and many others, to backtrack from their loved ones’ last days on earth and determine what might change lives moving forward so that overdose deaths can be diminished. Ten years ago, Stephanie lost her brother—her person—and over the last five years, her interviews and research have become a resource to help other people out there not lose their person. Both heartbreaking and hopeful, at its core, Last Day is a family story about love, grief, and learning after tragedy.

© 2026 Simon & Schuster Audio (Audiobook): 9781668131244

Release date

Audiobook: 4 August 2026