December 25, 2025 • 32 mins
A heartfelt memoir about the search for religion and identity “I’m not Jewish.” For years, that’s what David Weill told anyone who asked about his religious background. Yes, his father was a Jew who had left Nazi Germany as a boy. But his mother was a Southern Baptist. Growing up in New Orleans, religion wasn’t something his family discussed, let alone practiced. As an adult, he developed a fervent zeal and profound devotion to his work as a specialist in organ transplants. Transplantation was all he needed to define and fulfill him—until a crisis shook him to the core.
In 2015, after the simultaneous unraveling of his carefully crafted career and the death of his father, Weill began to doubt everything, including his purpose in life. While grappling with emotional pain and sinking deeper into despair, he began to suffer perplexing physical symptoms. In his moment of crisis, he was seized by a strong desire to practice a formal religion. But for Weill, the real question was, Which religion? Eventually, he chose Catholicism and was baptized at age fifty. He found solace in heart-to-heart talks with a priest and his daughters’ happiness at having the whole family at church together. Everything was fine—until 2020, when he learned that his mother had converted to Judaism right before marrying his father. He was born a Jew. And in the eyes of the Jewish faith, he would always be Jewish. That realization sparked his second quest.
Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/arroe-collins-like-it-s-live--4113802/support.
In 2015, after the simultaneous unraveling of his carefully crafted career and the death of his father, Weill began to doubt everything, including his purpose in life. While grappling with emotional pain and sinking deeper into despair, he began to suffer perplexing physical symptoms. In his moment of crisis, he was seized by a strong desire to practice a formal religion. But for Weill, the real question was, Which religion? Eventually, he chose Catholicism and was baptized at age fifty. He found solace in heart-to-heart talks with a priest and his daughters’ happiness at having the whole family at church together. Everything was fine—until 2020, when he learned that his mother had converted to Judaism right before marrying his father. He was born a Jew. And in the eyes of the Jewish faith, he would always be Jewish. That realization sparked his second quest.
Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/arroe-collins-like-it-s-live--4113802/support.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
There is so much going on on arrow dot net
A r r oe dot net. If you like me
when it comes to podcast listening, I want a variety,
So that's why we created this network Arrow dot net.
We're talking sports, ya, author's spiritual quests, even grocery store nightmares.
Arrow dot net A r r oe dot net. Enjoy
(00:21):
your exploration. Hello and good morning doctor. Hey, how are
you fantastic? How about you today? Sir?
Speaker 2 (00:28):
Oh very well. Happy Christmas Eve.
Speaker 1 (00:31):
Same to you, Same to you. A celebration of the
holidays for all people. And that's that's all I ever
want to promote. It's for everybody. We can all get
together for a big, old, gigantic group.
Speaker 2 (00:41):
Hug, you got that, right, you got that.
Speaker 1 (00:44):
I'll tell you what. I've had the most beautiful opportunity
to share your book with so many people in the
way that you are giving many of them the opportunity
to be seen. Do you know what I mean by that?
Speaker 2 (00:54):
When?
Speaker 1 (00:55):
When? Because I mean when you write a book called
tell Me I Belong? That now includes the openness that
people are seeking because they don't know if they belong.
They're just trying to fit in.
Speaker 2 (01:07):
That's really why I wrote the book, to be perfectly honest.
You know, yes, it's my story, but I think it's
so many people's story, don't you.
Speaker 1 (01:17):
Well, yeah, because I mean you look at the stories
inside the Bible, be it the Older the New Testament,
and what are you fighting in there, David? But stories
about us?
Speaker 2 (01:25):
That's right, That's exactly right.
Speaker 1 (01:27):
How did you get the confidence to be able to
do this? Because this means that you know, people are
going to look at you differently because you bring up
things that, oh my god, even my mother would never
say that.
Speaker 2 (01:38):
Yeah. You know, this is my second memoir. I wrote
my first memoir and publishing twenty twenty one, more about
my professional career, kind of the emotional ups and downs
and doing the kind of work I did in the
transplant space. And so I've gotten kind of used to
the big reveal, and so when this book, I always
(02:00):
knew I was going to write this book, even before
I wrote my first one. I didn't worry a lot
about it. I recognize that people are going to look
at me differently after they read the book, but it
really didn't worry me. I've gotten over that part of it,
you know, I'm more at this stage of my life
take me for what I am, you know, take me
(02:20):
or lead me?
Speaker 1 (02:21):
So oh my god, I mean you got to teach
me how to do that. And the reason why is
because when I decided to start talking about the openness
of any type of spirituality. You should have seen my
numbers drop on every social media network. And I'm going, well,
your lost people that it's not my loss, it's yours will.
Speaker 2 (02:37):
That's the attitude to have. You know, I'm afraid there's
so many people that are so afraid. You know, it's
all based in fear. Yeah, they're so afraid of revealing
themselves that they just they get bottled up in their
own you know head. I don't have that problem. I've
got other problems.
Speaker 1 (02:56):
So then, so to be able to sit down to
put both of these books together, the latest one being
Tell Me I Belong? Did it start out in daily journals?
Because I've been a daily writer since July of nineteen
ninety four, and there are a lot of books that
have come out of that.
Speaker 2 (03:11):
Yeah, I didn't really journal for this one. I did
for my first book when I was it was more
of a hospital based book. For this book, I wanted
to string together the greatest hits of my spiritual journey,
if you will. And you know, the book moves geographically,
it moves in time, and that's what I'm trying to do.
(03:32):
I'm trying to figure out what are the most important
things that informed my search for my faith and my
sense of identity. And that's really how I framed the book,
and I hope it worked. You know, that's what any
writer wants to do. Does that structure make sense to
the reader.
Speaker 1 (03:51):
I think the reason why this book hits me strong
is because just the other day I had lunch with
a preacher and he was and I asked my I says,
how are you doing well? I'm still questioning life. I
think I can find some answers if I just keep
working at it. And I'm thinking, you're one of those
people up front and you're questioning life. You've now made
yourself just as human as the rest of us.
Speaker 2 (04:11):
Uh. Yeah, I mean that's a bit that's really revealing,
isn't it. I mean, I guess we're all doing that
at the end of the day, some more than others.
But I started doing it a long time ago.
Speaker 3 (04:21):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (04:22):
I first started seeing patients in the hospital and seeing
what they were going through and experiencing their own, you know,
inevitability of dying and what his life mean and what
his family mean and things like that. I was attended
to it pretty early on.
Speaker 1 (04:39):
But see, you know what, what's so inspiring about your
story as being a doctor and you being inside that room.
I have always had this vision and I would love
to pass it on to you in the way of
that there's going to be a story. It's going to
be about you, but you're going to be on that
table and all of those people that you helped, they're
the ones on the operating table with you. They're the
ones doing the operation. But because you took the time
(05:00):
out of your life to share your skills and gifts,
they were able to live and now they're returning the
favor to you. And I just I want to write
that story or I want to read that story so
desperately because we don't know what you go through, doctor.
Speaker 2 (05:15):
I think that that's right. I think one of the
neat things about memoir, and I read a lot of
memoir and now I've written too, is that it allows
you to put yourself in the shoes of another person
that you wouldn't normally. You know, walk next to maybe
and it's kind of it's kind of voyeuristic in certain ways,
(05:35):
isn't it. I mean, you know you're you're sort of
looking at, you know, say, an alcoholics journey. Well, I'm
not an alcoholic, but I'm interested in that joy or
you know, I'd rather a memoir recently about a doorman
in New York in a big, fancy condo building. You know,
(05:56):
I'm never going to be a dormant in New York.
I never aspired to be one. But I am interested
in what that person has to say about what that
experience is like. So that's why. That's why a memoir
is such a neat form, I think, and it's I
think it's getting more popular because people are starting to
explore these topics.
Speaker 1 (06:14):
That's so funny that you bring that up, because in
twenty twenty, I want I being in radio for all
these years, I really don't see people. I imagine people
being out there listening. And the thing is is, I
thought I need to have a real job, and so
I thought, just go get a job at a grocery
store and be with real people. That was life changing.
So it's like being right there like you in the
operating room. You're with real people, real stories, real emotions,
(06:38):
and it's like, what am I going to do with it? Now?
Speaker 2 (06:43):
That's right? And I saw people at their most vulnerable period.
People by definition that are that need a transplant are
going to die, right, I mean if they don't get one.
And so I saw people the most vulnerable period. And
what's amazing is what those people had to teach me,
you know, about life. And in fact, I just gave
(07:04):
a Ted talk a couple of months ago about you know,
the lessons that you get from hearing from people every
day that are facing these big, big, big issues.
Speaker 1 (07:14):
You know, So are you like my heart doctor, doctor,
my cardiologist, doctor Fandetti while I was having operating or
that he was operating on my heart, he actually made
me watch that screen and he kept telling me, I
want to make sure that you are never back here again.
And and and I watched it. I watched it on
that screen him inside my heart.
Speaker 2 (07:35):
Yeah. I mean, I think the more you can get
a patient involved in the don't care, the better. And
I tried to do as best I can, and certain
patients want to do that on certain patients. Do you
kind of have to read the broom. You know.
Speaker 1 (07:49):
So now one of the things that really caught my attention, doctor,
and I really want to study this even more because
you bring something up in here that it was such
an eye opening heart moment, and that is is that
it's for anyone searching for an elusive sense of belonging.
Speaker 2 (08:04):
Man.
Speaker 1 (08:05):
I dove into that dictionary to find out if my
definition of elusive is the same version as you and
elusive it doesn't that mean it doesn't exist.
Speaker 2 (08:15):
It either means to me it means and I did
not let that word up, but to me, it means
either it doesn't exist or it's damn hard as on. Yep. Yeah, yeah,
it's one of the two, and I guess I think
it's the latter at the end of the day. But
I say, what you mean, maybe it doesn't exist, maybe
(08:35):
it's an illusion.
Speaker 1 (08:37):
But the thing is, though, is that I mean the
way that you started out when you talk about your
parents and how they didn't talk about religion with you,
but then again they did talk about it because they
asked you, do you want to do this? I wish
my parents would have done that because I grew up
in a household were my parents my dad just basically said,
I don't do it. Okay, Well I'm not you. I'm
not listening to you, dude. So how were you able
(08:57):
to move through your storm knowing or even you're growing period,
knowing the kind of platform that you had. Just be
what you want to be. Just make sure that we
know what's going on.
Speaker 2 (09:07):
Yeah, I think that that's the key. I you know,
it's almost like any choice is a good one, but
just you know, know what it is, you know. And
I think I look at my own kids, who have,
you know, a lot less ambiguity toward religion, for instance,
than I did. And that's a blessing. I mean, that's
a total blessing. And I think I'm very gratified that
(09:30):
my kids are never going to have to write a
book called tell me So.
Speaker 1 (09:34):
How far along the journey when you spent three years
reading the Testament over and over again, when did you realize,
wait a second, I'm not digesting this. I'm going through
the motions. But I need to start activating this in
my life.
Speaker 2 (09:50):
Well that's why I read it three times, because I
read through it. I read through it the first time,
got some of it, I got a little more of
the second time. A little more of the third time.
But my issue was without any formal religion in my
life at that point, I didn't have any contexts for it.
I was just reading the words, and I could understand
(10:10):
the words. I mean, a lot of them obviously are
quite meaningful, but I was missing the context for it.
And that's when I decided this probably isn't going to do.
I mean, I could keep reading the Bible until you know,
I'm blue in the face, but without any context for
understanding it, I wasn't going to get very far.
Speaker 1 (10:29):
When you talk about tell me I belong, now, there
are so many different versions of that that can be
told today because you know, there are so many different
people coming from every direction and they don't feel like
they belong.
Speaker 2 (10:43):
Yeah. Yeah, I think the belonging actually can happen in
a lot of different ways. And mean, I write about
it in the book that I was you know, and
I'll say this with all immodesty. It was popular when
I was younger. I was good at sports, know, had
friends and dates and all that kind of stuff. So
(11:04):
it's really hard to say that I didn't belong at all.
What was missing, though, was a key element to be
able to answer that question, what religion are you? Yeah,
and I couldn't answer the question. It may be uncomfortable.
I think religion is important in our society, and I
(11:25):
think that that was a missing piece. It doesn't mean
that I said, you know, in my parents' basement when
I was growing up and didn't see anyone. It's not
that it was this key element, because I think religious
identity is an important part of the identity.
Speaker 1 (11:42):
Yeah, did your mother ever talk about what she went
through in making that transition from Christianity to Judaism? Because
there are a lot of families these days that you
know that they're pretty much like mine, where my wife
is Jewish, I am Christian, and there are certain things
we do together and other things that we don't do together.
How do we bridge those gaps? Knowing what your history is,
(12:02):
because that seems to be the teaching tool here. How
did your mother grow into this moment of right now?
Speaker 2 (12:10):
You know? I think as best I could piece it together.
And I came to this news relatively recently that she
had converted to Judaism, and that really kind of put
me into a tailspin. And that's that's why I decided, Okay,
I'm writing this book right now. I just found out
a few years ago. I mean, and I think I
(12:31):
think my mother, and not to diminish, it was checking
a box when she converted from being Southern Baptist to Jewish.
She was doing it because she was marrying my father.
And I don't think either one of them had any
intention of practicing any religion. Yeah, I think I think
(12:51):
they were satisfying the external and not the internal. If
you catch my drift, I mean, I think you know
a lot of people actively convert to a religion with
the intention of practicing in I don't think that's what
my mom there diad at all.
Speaker 3 (13:09):
Please do not move. There's more with doctor David Wyle
coming up next. The name of his book tell me
I belong. We're back with doctor David Wyle. It's such
a great snapshot of where we are in this day
of history because with so many people moving worldwide. I mean,
you've got people who believe in Hinduism, you've got Judaism.
(13:30):
I mean, you've you've got all different types of spirituality,
and all of a sudden you come to an area
where you've got you've got to make that separation.
Speaker 1 (13:37):
That's what I mean. By when I say, you're putting
an identity on a lot of people, because even with
my own granddaughter, she's Cuban of Mexican. So therefore, what
about these new immigration things. She's forced to take her
her identity with her at all times to prove she's American.
At the same time, with my wife's blood inside of her,
she's also Jewish. And you talk about this, it's in
your blood.
Speaker 2 (13:57):
That's right. And one, you know, one thing that I
really wanted to point out in the author's note, which
is always a neat thing to write, could you kind
of frame it, frame it for the reader, you know,
is how tribal our society has become. And you know,
we really want to identify as part of a team,
(14:20):
no matter what that team is. And unfortunately that can
often be done for more nefarious reasons than not. But nonetheless,
we're a very tribal and I think that that's getting
more so. You know, we're a progressive or we're a conservative,
we're in a blue state or a red one. You know,
(14:41):
we're Jewish or we're gentile. And there's even a male
female divide I think the country right now. And also
I think importantly I don't know where you're call where
we're taking where you are right now. But we're also
dealing with the real rural versus urban divide, and so
you know, we're dealing with a lot of that in
American culture certainly, but I think it's worldwide.
Speaker 1 (15:04):
Yeah, because it's one of those things where I've done
this many times with the younger generation. I'll say, just
be patient. What's happening is the older generation, it's moving on,
and I'm so sorry, but you're stuck in the middle
of all of this that's moving on. You need to
have your own personal, solid foundation. And I will introduce
this book to more people because this is a it's
a step in a direction to where they can find
(15:26):
that that firm foundation.
Speaker 2 (15:29):
I think that that's right, and you know, I think
they could. What I hope a reader would take away
from it is I'm not you know, that reader may
not write a book about all of this, but what
they'll see is that it is possible, with some search
to really understand you know, where'd you come from. You
didn't just pop on the earth, I mean, and it
(15:50):
was important for me to understand that there was this
large group of people that made it possible that I
could actually write a book like this and do this
kind of work and then all set the stage for me.
And I think that that's important to recognize.
Speaker 1 (16:03):
You say something in your book that really made me smile,
and that is is that I grew up. We didn't
grow up in a house. We grew up in a home.
And so when you went to Berlin to visit your
father's home, you had my attention. You used that word.
Speaker 2 (16:19):
Yep, Yeah, I think there's it can never be underestimated
the impact it has on people of all sorts when
they're yanked from their home. You know, that's a disrupting thing,
no matter how it happens. My father obviously his family
was persecuted by the Nazis and so they were taken
(16:40):
from their home. And I think that that I think
it stayed with him. I really do think. I think
it changed him as a human being. I think it
influenced a lot of his subsequent behavior. Some you know,
that I admired quite a bit and some that I didn't.
And yeah, I think I think it never can I mean,
(17:02):
home is vital, yeah to people, and you know, I
look at people that have had disrupted homes for a
variety of reasons, and I think they're really impacted on.
Speaker 1 (17:13):
What's really interesting about your book is your transparency and
how it says, you know, believe in what you need
and you want, but understand where you're growing from. And
the thing is I've always this is this is just
the writer in me that's always believed this. I've always
believed that we are living a life that's changed and
challenged right now because I think we're the writers of
the new book, and the Doctor David book is part
(17:34):
of that, to where one day in the future, one
hundred years from now or something, someone's going to come
back and they're going to do quotes from your book
and they're going to say, this is the way this happened.
Here's how doctor David grew from it, and he maintained
a stronger relationship with the people that he changed around them.
And you see what I mean. There's so much energy
in this book and in what you're doing that people
(17:54):
have got to talk about it.
Speaker 2 (17:57):
I think, you know, I hope so, I really do,
because that was the intention all along. You know, obviously,
if I write a book that's entirely my story and
only my story, you know that may not resonate with folks.
I wanted to sort of, and I hope I did
make it so that people can see themselves in this
(18:17):
work and see their own journey. And that's really what
I was hoping for.
Speaker 1 (18:22):
God that's a scary place to be, though, because once
people start making that change, and then all the people
that knew them beforehand go come back to the way
you used to be. You know, it's like losing weight.
I lost my cake, buddy, Come on back here. Because
when you start to change, that means sacrifice, that means
perseverance and believing in your true path.
Speaker 2 (18:42):
That's exactly right. I mean, you know, look, I recognize
that every time I put a book out, and this
is my third people that I'm closest to look at
me a little bit differently each time. And that's you know,
that's kind of the price, if you will, of being
a writer. It's a price I'm happy to pay, But
it's a price.
Speaker 1 (19:02):
Do you have to pay a price? To the HR department?
Sometimes when people come to you for answers, and even
though it was as positive all as all can be,
that person that received it goes, you just offended me.
Have you been in those HR meetings like me.
Speaker 2 (19:18):
Yeah, well, especially when I was working, you know, in
the hospital setting where HR is these days, especially, HR
is a big part of working in a hospital. And
you know, look, we're also in a society. And I
talked to my daughters about this, who are twenty three
and twenty eight years old. You know, we're in a
(19:39):
grieved society. I mean, grievance is very very popular right now,
and if you want to look to be offended, you'll
find it. And that was not the case when I
was coming up professionally in the world, but a chure
is now.
Speaker 1 (19:59):
When I I studied the artwork of Julia Cameron in
the artist way, one of the things that she spoke
about is getting into our personal closets and clearing that
monkey out. What was it like for you to step
into that closet with this book and do you have
enough room in your soul to be able to say,
I'm going to try new things and I'll see you
at the next book releasing.
Speaker 2 (20:21):
Definitely. You know, this has been a great experience for me.
I mean I you know, I spent three years on it,
and I tried as best I could to dig into
all of the different aspects of my identity, and I'm
happy to, you know, continue to do that kind of work.
(20:41):
I don't have something right now that I'm saying I'm
obsessed with and I have to write about it. I
definitely wanted to write about the emotional rollercoaster of being
a transplant doctor yep at a big hospital, so I
did that. I definitely wanted to write about religious identity
and my Florida I did that. I don't have right
(21:02):
now something that's burning, like those two topics burned for me.
But we'll see, We'll see what happens.
Speaker 1 (21:08):
Well. That's that's part of the disease of being a
creative mind, is that it's like when you when you
least expect it, all of a sudden, you could be
in a mall or a taco bell, and all of
a sudden that idea hits you.
Speaker 2 (21:19):
You got it. That's part the blessing and the curse.
Speaker 3 (21:22):
That's it.
Speaker 1 (21:23):
Oh my god. And then now try to put that away.
Did you write this with a writing instrument or did
you go in with a computer to put this book together?
Speaker 2 (21:31):
I put it. I do a lot of note taking
on three x five cards, and I have a big
bulletin board where I kind of put them all up
and there ends up being fifty or sixty in the
books that I write, where it's all little scenes, Yeah,
and I'll put them on note cards and then I
don't start typing for a while. It takes me a
while to get to that stage.
Speaker 1 (21:52):
Yeah, but you're using your god giving talent though as
a writer, you're using your entire body when you put
that ink on that page. Go back and feel the
texture of that page due to that card, no.
Speaker 2 (22:04):
Doubt about it. And I actually like I like both processes.
I mean I like the note card stage and I
like the word processing stage. I mean I like both
of them, you know, And I kind of look forward.
I'm not in the note card stage right now, but
I kind of look forward to that next one.
Speaker 1 (22:22):
When you say that you spent three years writing this book,
I've got to dive into that thought because that's really
three years you're not getting back. So therefore, what kind
of memories did you create?
Speaker 2 (22:33):
You know, to me, the thing that's going to stick
out the most is getting to know the people that
came before me on the page. And then it was
the travel. To be honest, with you. I went all
over the world doing this work, and you know, putting
those little pieces together and the people you need along
the way, that was the most memorable part to me
(22:56):
and the most significant. I've done some books events since
the book came out, and spoken in front of some audiences,
and you know, the other thing is getting people's feedback
about the book. I think we as writers, we think
we know what the book is about and we write it,
but then the readers tell you what the book's really about.
(23:18):
And I like that process as well.
Speaker 3 (23:21):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (23:21):
Yeah, getting to know real people. I mean that's like
one of my co workers is is hard core sabat,
So I make sure that I say Sabat shalom, so
that she understands that we may be different on religious beliefs,
but we are one in the same as in spiritual walks.
And I just wish that more people would bridge their things,
(23:41):
that there is no difference between the two. Let's just
share the thoughts and experiences.
Speaker 2 (23:47):
Yeah, I agree. I mean there's a certain universality to
all of these beliefs, is and there, and I think
that we've we've spent too much time making the distinctions. Yep.
When I don't think there's important as we think they are.
And that's why I'm doing this kind of work, I realize.
But I have a ton of respect for Catholicism. That
(24:10):
doesn't mean I don't love Judaism. Yeah, it just means
I have a ton of respect for Catholicism, for example.
And I think that it's almost like we turned it
into a zero sum game. Well, if you're Catholic, you
can't respect Judiaism advice versus, which makes absolutely no sense
to me.
Speaker 1 (24:29):
Yeah, because I mean one of my journeys back in
the nineteen nineties was I wanted to learn as much
about religion as possible from all corners of the world,
which included I mean, we were talking about Buddhism and
Judaism as well as Native American spirituality. And what's so
interesting about that is is that and I'm gonna I
feel it also inside your book as well, is that
we're the ones that created the boundaries. There's a lot
(24:52):
that are the same between everybody's belief.
Speaker 2 (24:57):
One hundred percent, I mean one hundred percent. Wish you know,
I wish the world were with us on that, But
you know it's not obviously all you have to is
pick up the newspaper and see that. So it's frustrating.
Speaker 1 (25:11):
How do you teach the world now this book? Because
I mean, you're inside that that operating room you're in,
you you're with those people that are really turning to
you for leadership. Now, how do we get those that
are beyond those four walls?
Speaker 2 (25:25):
You know? That's one reason I wrote the book. Talk
about the book. I wanted it in as many hands
as possible because I think we can spread that message
and I think books are a great way to do that.
But there's other medium as well, you know, as you
know that are that I think are important and I'd
like to explore all of them.
Speaker 1 (25:43):
Does that include that maybe you're hinting that you're going
to do a podcast, you know, I've.
Speaker 2 (25:49):
Always liked to. I don't know if the world needs
another podcast necessarily, but but I think we've got to
the point now. And I was an early adopter or
podcast It was amazing. I was living in Palo Alto
at the time, working at Stanford and one of my
close friends worked at Apple, and I asked her, I
can't get these podcasts to work, and she was like,
(26:11):
we didn't even know anybody was listening to right, and
at that time, it would have been a neat thing
to get into. Like I said, I'm not sure the
world needs one. Now I think there's over I think
there's over a million of them.
Speaker 1 (26:28):
Every week there's a new million of them. Yes there are.
Speaker 2 (26:32):
Yeah, But I certainly enjoy the median and I like
I do podcast interviews pretty frequently about the books I
write and other things, and I really, I really like it.
It gives you kind of space, you know, whereas you know,
Instagram doesn't.
Speaker 1 (26:50):
Right right, or even Twitter the way that it used
to be. I remember back in twenty twelve sitting down
with the heads of iHeartRadio and I was displaying this
thing that I guess it would called a podcast. I
was so brand new to it, and those upper managements
they looked at me and said, we don't know what
you're doing. Just don't stop. And then now the company
brags about being the number one. I'm going no, back
(27:12):
in twenty twelve, you had no damn idea what I
was doing. What are you talking about that you're number
one now? And so that's why I'm so inspired by
people like yourself, David, because you give us that opportunity
to believe beyond where we're presently standing. And that's what
I feel inside this book tell me I belong.
Speaker 2 (27:28):
Well, I appreciate that that was the goal and hopefully
I've accomplished it.
Speaker 1 (27:33):
Are you prepared to hear from people around the world,
because I mean, like I said, there's eye opening things
here for all different things to bring up.
Speaker 2 (27:41):
Yeah, I really am. I'm pretty easy to find out there,
and I'm happy to engage in conversations with this or
people have reached out to me and you want to
talk about it, I'm happy to do it. I think
it's I think it's part of the process.
Speaker 1 (27:53):
What did you learn about yourself? Because we all are
on journeys to learn something. So while you're searching life
and religion, but what about the book of doctor David Well?
Speaker 2 (28:05):
I think you know, it's so important to look back
a little bit and figure out where we came from,
and that does help explain a lot about ourselves. One
thing that I found very interesting in doing this book
was the parts where I look into the emotional inheritance
of Holocaust survivors and whether it's first generation, second generation,
(28:29):
or third and I'm a second generation there is a
very defined inheritance that we all seem to have. It's
this sense of never being enough, trying to accomplish, want
ingratitude from people. It's an uneasiness and I never understood
(28:50):
I knew I had that, and I never understood it
about myself, and it's probably why I became a transplant doctor.
But I really enjoyed figuring out, you know, this body
of research about Holocaust survivors. It's very it's very specific,
very specific, and very interesting.
Speaker 1 (29:08):
Well it's so inspiring because that's one of the things
that I learned in becoming a third degree black belt
is that we had to learn the history. The two
thousand years that it took to get up to me
getting that belt wrapped around my waist, they didn't just happen.
And so I'm so inspired by what you're doing in
this book because you're not afraid to go back and
you're not trying to rewrite that history. You're trying to
share the story before somebody else writes it for you.
Speaker 2 (29:32):
I think that that's right. I mean, you know, I
kind of took the history as it was, as I
found it. I wasn't trying to manipulate it in any way.
You know, there was a history in some Alabama.
Speaker 1 (29:47):
Yes, yes, your mom.
Speaker 2 (29:49):
Yeah, and we know what happened there. There was a
history in Nazi Germany, and we know what happened there.
And I was trying to take that as it was.
You know, both parents suffered some form of persecution for
a variety of reasons, and they both of them really
saw the worst in humanity, you know, one with the
(30:13):
persecution of black folks and the American South, and the
other persecution of Jews and you know, Europe. And to
think that they weren't influenced and therefore I wasn't influenced
by that experience, I think is fanciful.
Speaker 1 (30:30):
Isn't that weird that that you you know what, the
way your parents acted and reacted to certain things is
how we have become as adults. And because I always
sit there sometimes and go people are only celebrating Christmas
today because we were trained as children to give and
accept presents. Do they really really really get into the
moment of what it's all about, or even with with
(30:50):
with Hanukkah, does the new generation understand the building and
the reasons why we're doing what we're doing.
Speaker 2 (30:59):
I doubt it by and large. I you know, this
is what we do as a society. It's a commercial holiday. Yeah,
you know, I mean more or less, and I hate
to diminish it. But you know, hopefully, at its best,
all these holidays become family events and they become a
celebration of family. But you know, sometimes that comes through
(31:23):
and sometimes it doesn't. It seems like it's mostly a
mad dash to the shopping the hanging. Yep.
Speaker 1 (31:29):
Well, you've got guts to put this book out here, man,
I mean guts in the way that because of your
transparency and because you're really opening up doors. You know what,
you're working on a heart before that heart goes sick,
or if that's sick, if that heart's already sick, you're
giving them an opportunity to help heal it.
Speaker 2 (31:44):
Yeah. I mean, I think that both my transplant journey
and this journey kind of go together more than I figured,
more than I figured. So that was one thing I learned.
Speaker 1 (31:58):
Wow, where can people go to find out about you? Doctor?
Because I want them to understand where you've been, especially
with these three books, because you know, if you're gonna
get one, you might as well get all three and
make sure that you make sure get a yellow highlighter
and start, you know, colorizing those pages.
Speaker 2 (32:12):
Well, I'm pretty easy to find. So it's David Wild,
David W. E I l L dot com. And there's
links too, but to all the books and talks I've
given and like I mentioned as a Ted talk up
there and some press and other things. And I'm easy
to find this contact information too.
Speaker 1 (32:31):
So well, dude, you're gonna get You're gonna have to
come back to this show anytime in the future. The
door is always going to be open for you.
Speaker 2 (32:38):
Well, I appreciate that I've really enjoyed the conversation.
Speaker 1 (32:40):
Will you be brilliant today?
Speaker 2 (32:42):
Okay, doctor, okay, thanks very much for your time.
There is so much going on on arrow dot net
A r r oe dot net. If you like me
when it comes to podcast listening, I want a variety,
So that's why we created this network Arrow dot net.
We're talking sports, ya, author's spiritual quests, even grocery store nightmares.
Arrow dot net A r r oe dot net. Enjoy
(00:21):
your exploration. Hello and good morning doctor. Hey, how are
you fantastic? How about you today? Sir?
Speaker 2 (00:28):
Oh very well. Happy Christmas Eve.
Speaker 1 (00:31):
Same to you, Same to you. A celebration of the
holidays for all people. And that's that's all I ever
want to promote. It's for everybody. We can all get
together for a big, old, gigantic group.
Speaker 2 (00:41):
Hug, you got that, right, you got that.
Speaker 1 (00:44):
I'll tell you what. I've had the most beautiful opportunity
to share your book with so many people in the
way that you are giving many of them the opportunity
to be seen. Do you know what I mean by that?
Speaker 2 (00:54):
When?
Speaker 1 (00:55):
When? Because I mean when you write a book called
tell Me I Belong? That now includes the openness that
people are seeking because they don't know if they belong.
They're just trying to fit in.
Speaker 2 (01:07):
That's really why I wrote the book, to be perfectly honest.
You know, yes, it's my story, but I think it's
so many people's story, don't you.
Speaker 1 (01:17):
Well, yeah, because I mean you look at the stories
inside the Bible, be it the Older the New Testament,
and what are you fighting in there, David? But stories
about us?
Speaker 2 (01:25):
That's right, That's exactly right.
Speaker 1 (01:27):
How did you get the confidence to be able to
do this? Because this means that you know, people are
going to look at you differently because you bring up
things that, oh my god, even my mother would never
say that.
Speaker 2 (01:38):
Yeah. You know, this is my second memoir. I wrote
my first memoir and publishing twenty twenty one, more about
my professional career, kind of the emotional ups and downs
and doing the kind of work I did in the
transplant space. And so I've gotten kind of used to
the big reveal, and so when this book, I always
(02:00):
knew I was going to write this book, even before
I wrote my first one. I didn't worry a lot
about it. I recognize that people are going to look
at me differently after they read the book, but it
really didn't worry me. I've gotten over that part of it,
you know, I'm more at this stage of my life
take me for what I am, you know, take me
(02:20):
or lead me?
Speaker 1 (02:21):
So oh my god, I mean you got to teach
me how to do that. And the reason why is
because when I decided to start talking about the openness
of any type of spirituality. You should have seen my
numbers drop on every social media network. And I'm going, well,
your lost people that it's not my loss, it's yours will.
Speaker 2 (02:37):
That's the attitude to have. You know, I'm afraid there's
so many people that are so afraid. You know, it's
all based in fear. Yeah, they're so afraid of revealing
themselves that they just they get bottled up in their
own you know head. I don't have that problem. I've
got other problems.
Speaker 1 (02:56):
So then, so to be able to sit down to
put both of these books together, the latest one being
Tell Me I Belong? Did it start out in daily journals?
Because I've been a daily writer since July of nineteen
ninety four, and there are a lot of books that
have come out of that.
Speaker 2 (03:11):
Yeah, I didn't really journal for this one. I did
for my first book when I was it was more
of a hospital based book. For this book, I wanted
to string together the greatest hits of my spiritual journey,
if you will. And you know, the book moves geographically,
it moves in time, and that's what I'm trying to do.
(03:32):
I'm trying to figure out what are the most important
things that informed my search for my faith and my
sense of identity. And that's really how I framed the book,
and I hope it worked. You know, that's what any
writer wants to do. Does that structure make sense to
the reader.
Speaker 1 (03:51):
I think the reason why this book hits me strong
is because just the other day I had lunch with
a preacher and he was and I asked my I says,
how are you doing well? I'm still questioning life. I
think I can find some answers if I just keep
working at it. And I'm thinking, you're one of those
people up front and you're questioning life. You've now made
yourself just as human as the rest of us.
Speaker 2 (04:11):
Uh. Yeah, I mean that's a bit that's really revealing,
isn't it. I mean, I guess we're all doing that
at the end of the day, some more than others.
But I started doing it a long time ago.
Speaker 3 (04:21):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (04:22):
I first started seeing patients in the hospital and seeing
what they were going through and experiencing their own, you know,
inevitability of dying and what his life mean and what
his family mean and things like that. I was attended
to it pretty early on.
Speaker 1 (04:39):
But see, you know what, what's so inspiring about your
story as being a doctor and you being inside that room.
I have always had this vision and I would love
to pass it on to you in the way of
that there's going to be a story. It's going to
be about you, but you're going to be on that
table and all of those people that you helped, they're
the ones on the operating table with you. They're the
ones doing the operation. But because you took the time
(05:00):
out of your life to share your skills and gifts,
they were able to live and now they're returning the
favor to you. And I just I want to write
that story or I want to read that story so
desperately because we don't know what you go through, doctor.
Speaker 2 (05:15):
I think that that's right. I think one of the
neat things about memoir, and I read a lot of
memoir and now I've written too, is that it allows
you to put yourself in the shoes of another person
that you wouldn't normally. You know, walk next to maybe
and it's kind of it's kind of voyeuristic in certain ways,
(05:35):
isn't it. I mean, you know you're you're sort of
looking at, you know, say, an alcoholics journey. Well, I'm
not an alcoholic, but I'm interested in that joy or
you know, I'd rather a memoir recently about a doorman
in New York in a big, fancy condo building. You know,
(05:56):
I'm never going to be a dormant in New York.
I never aspired to be one. But I am interested
in what that person has to say about what that
experience is like. So that's why. That's why a memoir
is such a neat form, I think, and it's I
think it's getting more popular because people are starting to
explore these topics.
Speaker 1 (06:14):
That's so funny that you bring that up, because in
twenty twenty, I want I being in radio for all
these years, I really don't see people. I imagine people
being out there listening. And the thing is is, I
thought I need to have a real job, and so
I thought, just go get a job at a grocery
store and be with real people. That was life changing.
So it's like being right there like you in the
operating room. You're with real people, real stories, real emotions,
(06:38):
and it's like, what am I going to do with it? Now?
Speaker 2 (06:43):
That's right? And I saw people at their most vulnerable period.
People by definition that are that need a transplant are
going to die, right, I mean if they don't get one.
And so I saw people the most vulnerable period. And
what's amazing is what those people had to teach me,
you know, about life. And in fact, I just gave
(07:04):
a Ted talk a couple of months ago about you know,
the lessons that you get from hearing from people every
day that are facing these big, big, big issues.
Speaker 1 (07:14):
You know, So are you like my heart doctor, doctor,
my cardiologist, doctor Fandetti while I was having operating or
that he was operating on my heart, he actually made
me watch that screen and he kept telling me, I
want to make sure that you are never back here again.
And and and I watched it. I watched it on
that screen him inside my heart.
Speaker 2 (07:35):
Yeah. I mean, I think the more you can get
a patient involved in the don't care, the better. And
I tried to do as best I can, and certain
patients want to do that on certain patients. Do you
kind of have to read the broom. You know.
Speaker 1 (07:49):
So now one of the things that really caught my attention, doctor,
and I really want to study this even more because
you bring something up in here that it was such
an eye opening heart moment, and that is is that
it's for anyone searching for an elusive sense of belonging.
Speaker 2 (08:04):
Man.
Speaker 1 (08:05):
I dove into that dictionary to find out if my
definition of elusive is the same version as you and
elusive it doesn't that mean it doesn't exist.
Speaker 2 (08:15):
It either means to me it means and I did
not let that word up, but to me, it means
either it doesn't exist or it's damn hard as on. Yep. Yeah, yeah,
it's one of the two, and I guess I think
it's the latter at the end of the day. But
I say, what you mean, maybe it doesn't exist, maybe
(08:35):
it's an illusion.
Speaker 1 (08:37):
But the thing is, though, is that I mean the
way that you started out when you talk about your
parents and how they didn't talk about religion with you,
but then again they did talk about it because they
asked you, do you want to do this? I wish
my parents would have done that because I grew up
in a household were my parents my dad just basically said,
I don't do it. Okay, Well I'm not you. I'm
not listening to you, dude. So how were you able
(08:57):
to move through your storm knowing or even you're growing period,
knowing the kind of platform that you had. Just be
what you want to be. Just make sure that we
know what's going on.
Speaker 2 (09:07):
Yeah, I think that that's the key. I you know,
it's almost like any choice is a good one, but
just you know, know what it is, you know. And
I think I look at my own kids, who have,
you know, a lot less ambiguity toward religion, for instance,
than I did. And that's a blessing. I mean, that's
a total blessing. And I think I'm very gratified that
(09:30):
my kids are never going to have to write a
book called tell me So.
Speaker 1 (09:34):
How far along the journey when you spent three years
reading the Testament over and over again, when did you realize,
wait a second, I'm not digesting this. I'm going through
the motions. But I need to start activating this in
my life.
Speaker 2 (09:50):
Well that's why I read it three times, because I
read through it. I read through it the first time,
got some of it, I got a little more of
the second time. A little more of the third time.
But my issue was without any formal religion in my
life at that point, I didn't have any contexts for it.
I was just reading the words, and I could understand
(10:10):
the words. I mean, a lot of them obviously are
quite meaningful, but I was missing the context for it.
And that's when I decided this probably isn't going to do.
I mean, I could keep reading the Bible until you know,
I'm blue in the face, but without any context for
understanding it, I wasn't going to get very far.
Speaker 1 (10:29):
When you talk about tell me I belong, now, there
are so many different versions of that that can be
told today because you know, there are so many different
people coming from every direction and they don't feel like
they belong.
Speaker 2 (10:43):
Yeah. Yeah, I think the belonging actually can happen in
a lot of different ways. And mean, I write about
it in the book that I was you know, and
I'll say this with all immodesty. It was popular when
I was younger. I was good at sports, know, had
friends and dates and all that kind of stuff. So
(11:04):
it's really hard to say that I didn't belong at all.
What was missing, though, was a key element to be
able to answer that question, what religion are you? Yeah,
and I couldn't answer the question. It may be uncomfortable.
I think religion is important in our society, and I
(11:25):
think that that was a missing piece. It doesn't mean
that I said, you know, in my parents' basement when
I was growing up and didn't see anyone. It's not
that it was this key element, because I think religious
identity is an important part of the identity.
Speaker 1 (11:42):
Yeah, did your mother ever talk about what she went
through in making that transition from Christianity to Judaism? Because
there are a lot of families these days that you
know that they're pretty much like mine, where my wife
is Jewish, I am Christian, and there are certain things
we do together and other things that we don't do together.
How do we bridge those gaps? Knowing what your history is,
(12:02):
because that seems to be the teaching tool here. How
did your mother grow into this moment of right now?
Speaker 2 (12:10):
You know? I think as best I could piece it together.
And I came to this news relatively recently that she
had converted to Judaism, and that really kind of put
me into a tailspin. And that's that's why I decided, Okay,
I'm writing this book right now. I just found out
a few years ago. I mean, and I think I
(12:31):
think my mother, and not to diminish, it was checking
a box when she converted from being Southern Baptist to Jewish.
She was doing it because she was marrying my father.
And I don't think either one of them had any
intention of practicing any religion. Yeah, I think I think
(12:51):
they were satisfying the external and not the internal. If
you catch my drift, I mean, I think you know
a lot of people actively convert to a religion with
the intention of practicing in I don't think that's what
my mom there diad at all.
Speaker 3 (13:09):
Please do not move. There's more with doctor David Wyle
coming up next. The name of his book tell me
I belong. We're back with doctor David Wyle. It's such
a great snapshot of where we are in this day
of history because with so many people moving worldwide. I mean,
you've got people who believe in Hinduism, you've got Judaism.
(13:30):
I mean, you've you've got all different types of spirituality,
and all of a sudden you come to an area
where you've got you've got to make that separation.
Speaker 1 (13:37):
That's what I mean. By when I say, you're putting
an identity on a lot of people, because even with
my own granddaughter, she's Cuban of Mexican. So therefore, what
about these new immigration things. She's forced to take her
her identity with her at all times to prove she's American.
At the same time, with my wife's blood inside of her,
she's also Jewish. And you talk about this, it's in
your blood.
Speaker 2 (13:57):
That's right. And one, you know, one thing that I
really wanted to point out in the author's note, which
is always a neat thing to write, could you kind
of frame it, frame it for the reader, you know,
is how tribal our society has become. And you know,
we really want to identify as part of a team,
(14:20):
no matter what that team is. And unfortunately that can
often be done for more nefarious reasons than not. But nonetheless,
we're a very tribal and I think that that's getting
more so. You know, we're a progressive or we're a conservative,
we're in a blue state or a red one. You know,
(14:41):
we're Jewish or we're gentile. And there's even a male
female divide I think the country right now. And also
I think importantly I don't know where you're call where
we're taking where you are right now. But we're also
dealing with the real rural versus urban divide, and so
you know, we're dealing with a lot of that in
American culture certainly, but I think it's worldwide.
Speaker 1 (15:04):
Yeah, because it's one of those things where I've done
this many times with the younger generation. I'll say, just
be patient. What's happening is the older generation, it's moving on,
and I'm so sorry, but you're stuck in the middle
of all of this that's moving on. You need to
have your own personal, solid foundation. And I will introduce
this book to more people because this is a it's
a step in a direction to where they can find
(15:26):
that that firm foundation.
Speaker 2 (15:29):
I think that that's right, and you know, I think
they could. What I hope a reader would take away
from it is I'm not you know, that reader may
not write a book about all of this, but what
they'll see is that it is possible, with some search
to really understand you know, where'd you come from. You
didn't just pop on the earth, I mean, and it
(15:50):
was important for me to understand that there was this
large group of people that made it possible that I
could actually write a book like this and do this
kind of work and then all set the stage for me.
And I think that that's important to recognize.
Speaker 1 (16:03):
You say something in your book that really made me smile,
and that is is that I grew up. We didn't
grow up in a house. We grew up in a home.
And so when you went to Berlin to visit your
father's home, you had my attention. You used that word.
Speaker 2 (16:19):
Yep, Yeah, I think there's it can never be underestimated
the impact it has on people of all sorts when
they're yanked from their home. You know, that's a disrupting thing,
no matter how it happens. My father obviously his family
was persecuted by the Nazis and so they were taken
(16:40):
from their home. And I think that that I think
it stayed with him. I really do think. I think
it changed him as a human being. I think it
influenced a lot of his subsequent behavior. Some you know,
that I admired quite a bit and some that I didn't.
And yeah, I think I think it never can I mean,
(17:02):
home is vital, yeah to people, and you know, I
look at people that have had disrupted homes for a
variety of reasons, and I think they're really impacted on.
Speaker 1 (17:13):
What's really interesting about your book is your transparency and
how it says, you know, believe in what you need
and you want, but understand where you're growing from. And
the thing is I've always this is this is just
the writer in me that's always believed this. I've always
believed that we are living a life that's changed and
challenged right now because I think we're the writers of
the new book, and the Doctor David book is part
(17:34):
of that, to where one day in the future, one
hundred years from now or something, someone's going to come
back and they're going to do quotes from your book
and they're going to say, this is the way this happened.
Here's how doctor David grew from it, and he maintained
a stronger relationship with the people that he changed around them.
And you see what I mean. There's so much energy
in this book and in what you're doing that people
(17:54):
have got to talk about it.
Speaker 2 (17:57):
I think, you know, I hope so, I really do,
because that was the intention all along. You know, obviously,
if I write a book that's entirely my story and
only my story, you know that may not resonate with folks.
I wanted to sort of, and I hope I did
make it so that people can see themselves in this
(18:17):
work and see their own journey. And that's really what
I was hoping for.
Speaker 1 (18:22):
God that's a scary place to be, though, because once
people start making that change, and then all the people
that knew them beforehand go come back to the way
you used to be. You know, it's like losing weight.
I lost my cake, buddy, Come on back here. Because
when you start to change, that means sacrifice, that means
perseverance and believing in your true path.
Speaker 2 (18:42):
That's exactly right. I mean, you know, look, I recognize
that every time I put a book out, and this
is my third people that I'm closest to look at
me a little bit differently each time. And that's you know,
that's kind of the price, if you will, of being
a writer. It's a price I'm happy to pay, But
it's a price.
Speaker 1 (19:02):
Do you have to pay a price? To the HR department?
Sometimes when people come to you for answers, and even
though it was as positive all as all can be,
that person that received it goes, you just offended me.
Have you been in those HR meetings like me.
Speaker 2 (19:18):
Yeah, well, especially when I was working, you know, in
the hospital setting where HR is these days, especially, HR
is a big part of working in a hospital. And
you know, look, we're also in a society. And I
talked to my daughters about this, who are twenty three
and twenty eight years old. You know, we're in a
(19:39):
grieved society. I mean, grievance is very very popular right now,
and if you want to look to be offended, you'll
find it. And that was not the case when I
was coming up professionally in the world, but a chure
is now.
Speaker 1 (19:59):
When I I studied the artwork of Julia Cameron in
the artist way, one of the things that she spoke
about is getting into our personal closets and clearing that
monkey out. What was it like for you to step
into that closet with this book and do you have
enough room in your soul to be able to say,
I'm going to try new things and I'll see you
at the next book releasing.
Speaker 2 (20:21):
Definitely. You know, this has been a great experience for me.
I mean I you know, I spent three years on it,
and I tried as best I could to dig into
all of the different aspects of my identity, and I'm
happy to, you know, continue to do that kind of work.
(20:41):
I don't have something right now that I'm saying I'm
obsessed with and I have to write about it. I
definitely wanted to write about the emotional rollercoaster of being
a transplant doctor yep at a big hospital, so I
did that. I definitely wanted to write about religious identity
and my Florida I did that. I don't have right
(21:02):
now something that's burning, like those two topics burned for me.
But we'll see, We'll see what happens.
Speaker 1 (21:08):
Well. That's that's part of the disease of being a
creative mind, is that it's like when you when you
least expect it, all of a sudden, you could be
in a mall or a taco bell, and all of
a sudden that idea hits you.
Speaker 2 (21:19):
You got it. That's part the blessing and the curse.
Speaker 3 (21:22):
That's it.
Speaker 1 (21:23):
Oh my god. And then now try to put that away.
Did you write this with a writing instrument or did
you go in with a computer to put this book together?
Speaker 2 (21:31):
I put it. I do a lot of note taking
on three x five cards, and I have a big
bulletin board where I kind of put them all up
and there ends up being fifty or sixty in the
books that I write, where it's all little scenes, Yeah,
and I'll put them on note cards and then I
don't start typing for a while. It takes me a
while to get to that stage.
Speaker 1 (21:52):
Yeah, but you're using your god giving talent though as
a writer, you're using your entire body when you put
that ink on that page. Go back and feel the
texture of that page due to that card, no.
Speaker 2 (22:04):
Doubt about it. And I actually like I like both processes.
I mean I like the note card stage and I
like the word processing stage. I mean I like both
of them, you know, And I kind of look forward.
I'm not in the note card stage right now, but
I kind of look forward to that next one.
Speaker 1 (22:22):
When you say that you spent three years writing this book,
I've got to dive into that thought because that's really
three years you're not getting back. So therefore, what kind
of memories did you create?
Speaker 2 (22:33):
You know, to me, the thing that's going to stick
out the most is getting to know the people that
came before me on the page. And then it was
the travel. To be honest, with you. I went all
over the world doing this work, and you know, putting
those little pieces together and the people you need along
the way, that was the most memorable part to me
(22:56):
and the most significant. I've done some books events since
the book came out, and spoken in front of some audiences,
and you know, the other thing is getting people's feedback
about the book. I think we as writers, we think
we know what the book is about and we write it,
but then the readers tell you what the book's really about.
(23:18):
And I like that process as well.
Speaker 3 (23:21):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (23:21):
Yeah, getting to know real people. I mean that's like
one of my co workers is is hard core sabat,
So I make sure that I say Sabat shalom, so
that she understands that we may be different on religious beliefs,
but we are one in the same as in spiritual walks.
And I just wish that more people would bridge their things,
(23:41):
that there is no difference between the two. Let's just
share the thoughts and experiences.
Speaker 2 (23:47):
Yeah, I agree. I mean there's a certain universality to
all of these beliefs, is and there, and I think
that we've we've spent too much time making the distinctions. Yep.
When I don't think there's important as we think they are.
And that's why I'm doing this kind of work, I realize.
But I have a ton of respect for Catholicism. That
(24:10):
doesn't mean I don't love Judaism. Yeah, it just means
I have a ton of respect for Catholicism, for example.
And I think that it's almost like we turned it
into a zero sum game. Well, if you're Catholic, you
can't respect Judiaism advice versus, which makes absolutely no sense
to me.
Speaker 1 (24:29):
Yeah, because I mean one of my journeys back in
the nineteen nineties was I wanted to learn as much
about religion as possible from all corners of the world,
which included I mean, we were talking about Buddhism and
Judaism as well as Native American spirituality. And what's so
interesting about that is is that and I'm gonna I
feel it also inside your book as well, is that
we're the ones that created the boundaries. There's a lot
(24:52):
that are the same between everybody's belief.
Speaker 2 (24:57):
One hundred percent, I mean one hundred percent. Wish you know,
I wish the world were with us on that, But
you know it's not obviously all you have to is
pick up the newspaper and see that. So it's frustrating.
Speaker 1 (25:11):
How do you teach the world now this book? Because
I mean, you're inside that that operating room you're in,
you you're with those people that are really turning to
you for leadership. Now, how do we get those that
are beyond those four walls?
Speaker 2 (25:25):
You know? That's one reason I wrote the book. Talk
about the book. I wanted it in as many hands
as possible because I think we can spread that message
and I think books are a great way to do that.
But there's other medium as well, you know, as you
know that are that I think are important and I'd
like to explore all of them.
Speaker 1 (25:43):
Does that include that maybe you're hinting that you're going
to do a podcast, you know, I've.
Speaker 2 (25:49):
Always liked to. I don't know if the world needs
another podcast necessarily, but but I think we've got to
the point now. And I was an early adopter or
podcast It was amazing. I was living in Palo Alto
at the time, working at Stanford and one of my
close friends worked at Apple, and I asked her, I
can't get these podcasts to work, and she was like,
(26:11):
we didn't even know anybody was listening to right, and
at that time, it would have been a neat thing
to get into. Like I said, I'm not sure the
world needs one. Now I think there's over I think
there's over a million of them.
Speaker 1 (26:28):
Every week there's a new million of them. Yes there are.
Speaker 2 (26:32):
Yeah, But I certainly enjoy the median and I like
I do podcast interviews pretty frequently about the books I
write and other things, and I really, I really like it.
It gives you kind of space, you know, whereas you know,
Instagram doesn't.
Speaker 1 (26:50):
Right right, or even Twitter the way that it used
to be. I remember back in twenty twelve sitting down
with the heads of iHeartRadio and I was displaying this
thing that I guess it would called a podcast. I
was so brand new to it, and those upper managements
they looked at me and said, we don't know what
you're doing. Just don't stop. And then now the company
brags about being the number one. I'm going no, back
(27:12):
in twenty twelve, you had no damn idea what I
was doing. What are you talking about that you're number
one now? And so that's why I'm so inspired by
people like yourself, David, because you give us that opportunity
to believe beyond where we're presently standing. And that's what
I feel inside this book tell me I belong.
Speaker 2 (27:28):
Well, I appreciate that that was the goal and hopefully
I've accomplished it.
Speaker 1 (27:33):
Are you prepared to hear from people around the world,
because I mean, like I said, there's eye opening things
here for all different things to bring up.
Speaker 2 (27:41):
Yeah, I really am. I'm pretty easy to find out there,
and I'm happy to engage in conversations with this or
people have reached out to me and you want to
talk about it, I'm happy to do it. I think
it's I think it's part of the process.
Speaker 1 (27:53):
What did you learn about yourself? Because we all are
on journeys to learn something. So while you're searching life
and religion, but what about the book of doctor David Well?
Speaker 2 (28:05):
I think you know, it's so important to look back
a little bit and figure out where we came from,
and that does help explain a lot about ourselves. One
thing that I found very interesting in doing this book
was the parts where I look into the emotional inheritance
of Holocaust survivors and whether it's first generation, second generation,
(28:29):
or third and I'm a second generation there is a
very defined inheritance that we all seem to have. It's
this sense of never being enough, trying to accomplish, want
ingratitude from people. It's an uneasiness and I never understood
(28:50):
I knew I had that, and I never understood it
about myself, and it's probably why I became a transplant doctor.
But I really enjoyed figuring out, you know, this body
of research about Holocaust survivors. It's very it's very specific,
very specific, and very interesting.
Speaker 1 (29:08):
Well it's so inspiring because that's one of the things
that I learned in becoming a third degree black belt
is that we had to learn the history. The two
thousand years that it took to get up to me
getting that belt wrapped around my waist, they didn't just happen.
And so I'm so inspired by what you're doing in
this book because you're not afraid to go back and
you're not trying to rewrite that history. You're trying to
share the story before somebody else writes it for you.
Speaker 2 (29:32):
I think that that's right. I mean, you know, I
kind of took the history as it was, as I
found it. I wasn't trying to manipulate it in any way.
You know, there was a history in some Alabama.
Speaker 1 (29:47):
Yes, yes, your mom.
Speaker 2 (29:49):
Yeah, and we know what happened there. There was a
history in Nazi Germany, and we know what happened there.
And I was trying to take that as it was.
You know, both parents suffered some form of persecution for
a variety of reasons, and they both of them really
saw the worst in humanity, you know, one with the
(30:13):
persecution of black folks and the American South, and the
other persecution of Jews and you know, Europe. And to
think that they weren't influenced and therefore I wasn't influenced
by that experience, I think is fanciful.
Speaker 1 (30:30):
Isn't that weird that that you you know what, the
way your parents acted and reacted to certain things is
how we have become as adults. And because I always
sit there sometimes and go people are only celebrating Christmas
today because we were trained as children to give and
accept presents. Do they really really really get into the
moment of what it's all about, or even with with
(30:50):
with Hanukkah, does the new generation understand the building and
the reasons why we're doing what we're doing.
Speaker 2 (30:59):
I doubt it by and large. I you know, this
is what we do as a society. It's a commercial holiday. Yeah,
you know, I mean more or less, and I hate
to diminish it. But you know, hopefully, at its best,
all these holidays become family events and they become a
celebration of family. But you know, sometimes that comes through
(31:23):
and sometimes it doesn't. It seems like it's mostly a
mad dash to the shopping the hanging. Yep.
Speaker 1 (31:29):
Well, you've got guts to put this book out here, man,
I mean guts in the way that because of your
transparency and because you're really opening up doors. You know what,
you're working on a heart before that heart goes sick,
or if that's sick, if that heart's already sick, you're
giving them an opportunity to help heal it.
Speaker 2 (31:44):
Yeah. I mean, I think that both my transplant journey
and this journey kind of go together more than I figured,
more than I figured. So that was one thing I learned.
Speaker 1 (31:58):
Wow, where can people go to find out about you? Doctor?
Because I want them to understand where you've been, especially
with these three books, because you know, if you're gonna
get one, you might as well get all three and
make sure that you make sure get a yellow highlighter
and start, you know, colorizing those pages.
Speaker 2 (32:12):
Well, I'm pretty easy to find. So it's David Wild,
David W. E I l L dot com. And there's
links too, but to all the books and talks I've
given and like I mentioned as a Ted talk up
there and some press and other things. And I'm easy
to find this contact information too.
Speaker 1 (32:31):
So well, dude, you're gonna get You're gonna have to
come back to this show anytime in the future. The
door is always going to be open for you.
Speaker 2 (32:38):
Well, I appreciate that I've really enjoyed the conversation.
Speaker 1 (32:40):
Will you be brilliant today?
Speaker 2 (32:42):
Okay, doctor, okay, thanks very much for your time.
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