The New Yorker: “First Day Back”: A podcast in which a comedian returns from the dead
“(…) This is the theme at the heart of “First Day Back”: the preciousness of everyday life, the hard work it takes to maintain and hold on to it, and the aching to get it back once it’s gone.”
The Guardian: This week’s best home entertainment
“Like the similarly minded Heavyweight, this series turns weighty subject matter into something deeply affecting.”
The standup whose heart stopped live on stage
“Tally Abecassis has a knack for getting to the heart of a story. She is back with a third season of the brilliant podcast about trying to get your life on track after a big event.”
Vulture: The 10 Best Podcasts of 2017:
“The second season of First Day Back retains Abecassis’s gentle touch and carries forward the key ideas laid down in that smaller season: of transformation, of mothers and motherhood, of rebuilding one’s identity and finding your way home after an event that changes your life forever. In its success, the show also serves as a strong template for how an artist can evolve within the medium.”
The 50 Best Podcast Episodes of 2017 So Far:
“To call “First Day Back” a true crime podcast almost seems reductive. The elements that make its second season so engaging are the ones that aren’t necessarily the exhaustive details of the accidental shooting that forms this story’s foundation. Instead, host Tally Abecassis also focuses on the emotional and psychological weight that her main subject Lucie carries in the wake of time spent serving her prison sentence.”
The New York Times: What We’re Reading: Special Podcast Edition
” A masterful job of bringing the listener inside their world, while exploring a central mystery — self-forgiveness.”
The New York Times: Stuck in Memorial Day Traffic? Here Are 15 Podcasts to Distract You
“The breathtaking story of a woman who doesn’t remember killing the love of her life, and what she returns to now that she’s alone…The first episode will pull you in.”
USA Today: Podcast pick: What would you do if you didn’t remember killing your husband?
“So how do you recover from the worst blackout night of your life? How do you cope with the lawyers, the jail time, the isolation from friends and the knowledge that you did the worst thing imaginable? That’s what the riveting First Day Back explores.”
“Abecassis is a mesmerising storyteller (…) Each episode reveals a new detail, which, combined with the host’s incredible way with words, is enough to make First Day Back quietly absorbing and gripping.”
“With this second-season premiere, host and producer Tally Abecassis pulls off one of the most interesting acts of about-face in recent podcasting memory. (…) What can be happily reported is that the show is successful in this shift right out of the gate.”
The Timbre Best Podcasts of the Week July 6-12:
“In much the same way that Death, Sex & Money’s Anna Sale opens up others to admitting their fears and failures, Abecassis has a knack for bringing out the vulnerable side in guests and embracing doubt as the human condition.”
The Timbre Best Podcasts of the Week June June 8-14:
“If you’ve ever dared to create, you shouldn’t miss this one for the world.”
Huffington Post: “First Day Back” Podcast Offers Poignant Look at Motherhood and Career
“It’s a common narrative in media to question whether parents, women especially, can ‘have it all’: a thriving career, strong bonds with their kids, a spotless home. Abecassis’ podcast puts a zoom-in lens on this issue, her confessional storytelling taking the work/life balance question out of think pieces and into a real-life setting.”
Ryan Steiner’s Podcast Reviews: First Day Back:
“FDB is not a navel-gazing think piece but a seat-of-your pants how-to manual. Watching Abecassis work through her insecurities, fears, and hesitation while she’s figuring out how to do it turns First Day Back into a vital voice of an everlasting dialogue.”
The Timbre: Taking on the Personal: First Day Back:
“…the show demonstrates that her skills as a documentary filmmaker translate to the podcast realm. (…) Abecassis is building something here with real substance. She has a documentarian’s ear for good tape and solid editing. The third episode is the strongest yet, expertly bookended by the suspense of whether she’s received approval for the grant to make her film.”