Think Aorta, Think Family

I Left Acting for a Decade—Here's Why I Came Back

Erika sits back down with actress and writer Samantha Shea — and from the first minute, it's clear this is a conversation that's been a long time coming. Samantha first caught the acting bug through her mom's storytelling and early theater experiences, finding in performance something that built real confidence and gave her a way to process the world. She trained and worked through her teens and early twenties — and then, like so many creatives, life intervened. A decade passed. Now she's back. And she's not pretending it was easy. In this episode, Samantha gets honest about what returning actually felt like — the doubt, the imposter syndrome, the question of whether she still belonged. She talks about rediscovering the magic of being on set, the found-family energy that makes film work unlike anything else, and how working on projects like the horror short The Locked Room, the trauma drama Broken Redemption, and the raw, unscripted Circle of Stories has helped her redefine what this career means to her.

Think Aorta, Think Family

Think Aorta, Think Family: Dr. Ben Youdelman on Aortic Disease, Screening, and Life-Saving Surgery Host Erika welcomes longtime family friend Dr. Ben Youdelman, a cardiac surgeon specializing in aortic and endovascular aortic surgery at Maimonides Medical Center’s Aortic Center in Brooklyn. Youdelman explains what the aorta is, why aortic aneurysms and dissections are dangerous “silent” conditions often found incidentally, and how elective surgery risks compare with emergency dissection surgery. He emphasizes that aortic disease is genetic and urges families to share medical histories, seek screening, and establish regular care—especially men who often avoid doctors. Delman describes founding the Aortic Bridge support group and annual Brooklyn Bridge walk, discusses the significant mental health impact of aortic events including high PTSD rates from patient surveys, and highlights surgical advancements such as minimally invasive incisions and endovascular stent graft and branched devices.