Totally Booked with Zibby

Guest: Elie Sharabi (“HOSTAGE”)

Date: October 7, 2025
Host: Zibby Owens

Episode Overview

This deeply moving episode marks the second anniversary of the October 7th attacks in Israel. Zibby Owens interviews Elie Sharabi, a survivor of 491 days in Hamas captivity and author of the bestselling memoir Hostage. Their conversation explores not just the details of Sharabi’s ordeal, but the extraordinary resilience, practical wisdom, and hope that shaped his survival and continue to guide his advocacy for remaining hostages and his embrace of life post-release.

Key Discussion Points and Insights

The Will and Practicality to Survive

• [05:02] Mission to Survive:

  • Elie immediately understood his situation: "The minute they drugged me from my house, I understood I'm going to be in a hostage and I need to do everything I can to survive this hell." (Elie Sharabi, 05:15)
  • His survival was driven by his promise to his daughters: “For me to survive was my mission and I knew I'm going to do everything to do that.” (Elie, 05:15)

• [05:51] Leadership in Captivity:

  • Elie’s managerial experience on the kibbutz helped him not only survive but also support fellow hostages: "It's not really fair to expect someone is half of my age to have all this experience. So I knew it’s on me... to manage every situation." (Elie, 06:11)
  • He emphasized compartmentalizing emotion from mission: "I knew I need to separate between my emotion and my mission." (Elie, 06:11)

Aftermath of Trauma

• [07:05] Managing Trauma and Nightmares:

  • Interestingly, Elie reports he hasn't suffered from nightmares, crediting his ability to divide emotion from experience:
    “I was probably very good, as I said, to separate between, you know, my emotion and...the hell that we had...for me, it's not something that was a problem for me.” (Elie, 07:20)
  • He tried to support other hostages who did experience nightmares.

• [08:07] Relationship with Food:

  • Deep appreciation for basic things has stuck with him:
    “Suddenly everything is very tasty for me...I'm not spoiled anymore with food...But I'm not eating a lot now because I didn't have food, you know, for 16 months.” (Elie, 08:18)

The Power of Story (and Shadow and Bone)

• [08:50] Books as Lifelines:
  • In a powerful segment, Zibby reads how Leigh Bardugo’s Shadow and Bone became a beacon of hope and strength for hostages:
    “They obsess about this book. Something about it... gives them strength. They told me that the protagonist learns to navigate her way through the darkness and that although fictional... her character holds lessons about surviving in the dark, about captivity.” (Zibby, 09:26)
  • Elie relays:
    “Because I couldn't read that [without glasses]...sometimes it scared them how much it’s...by the details, it look like...what we have in the tunnels and in captivity, sometimes it was scary for them as well.” (Elie, 10:14)
  • One fellow hostage even learned English through the novel.

Finding and Inspiring Hope

• [11:14] On the Book’s Unexpected Effect:
  • Zibby expresses how surprisingly hopeful and inspiring Elie’s memoir is: “You were so in command of your emotions and it was really quite inspiring.” (Zibby, 11:40)
  • Elie responds, “I’ve always been optimistic, always try to find solutions and not to cry about any situation...self pity...it’s like a curse for me anyway.” (Elie, 17:12)

The Global and Personal Aftermath

• [17:52] Hopes for a Hostage Deal:

  • Elie shares cautious optimism for an imminent deal for remaining hostages, including his brother: “I really believe that...this time it looks closer than ever.” (Elie, 18:03)

• [18:45] Shock at Global Antisemitism:

  • The increase in antisemitism shocks Elie: “The hate that is all over the world for the Jews, it's unbelievable, unimaginable. That is happening still in 2025 and not in 1940.” (Elie, 19:07)

How Listeners Can Help

• [20:13] Advice for Allies:
  • Elie urges everyone, “Jewish, non Jewish, I don't care. [If you] can explain to ignorant people about facts, about not to hate other people...just speaking against antisemitism all over the world, that will be more than enough for me as Israeli and as a Jewish.” (Elie, 20:32)

Grief, Memory, and Rebuilding Life

• [21:13] Living with Loss:

  • Elie’s family (wife, daughters, brother) were killed. He says: “I don't need any Memorial Day...They're with me all the time...But it will be in this alongside my life, not instead of them. I'm intending to rebuild my life.” (Elie, 21:29)

• [22:43] Public Figure Reluctance:

  • He’s learned to accept his role as a public figure (“I'm not a poster anymore. I'm a real man. I'm back from hell...to appreciate every basic thing...you have all the time the choice to decide one thing or another.”) but also shares, “I will be more than happy to come back to be anonymous and maybe I'll succeed one day.” (Elie, 24:12)

Notable Quotes & Moments

• “It was like talking to God.”
  (Zibby expressing awe at interviewing Elie, 02:02)

• “For me to survive was my mission and I knew I'm going to do everything to do that.”
  (Elie Sharabi, 05:15)

• “Self pity… it's like a curse for me anyway. I'm trying to find all the time a solution and to look forward and that's it. This is me.”
  (Elie Sharabi, 17:12)

• On the impact of reading Shadow and Bone: “Her character holds lessons about surviving in the dark, about captivity.”
  (Zibby Owens reading Elie, 09:45)

• “The hate that is all over the world for the Jews, it's unbelievable, unimaginable. That is happening still in 2025 and not in 1940.”
  (Elie Sharabi, 19:07)

• “Just speaking against antisemitism all over the world, that will be more than enough for me as Israeli and as a Jewish.”
  (Elie, 20:32)

• “I'm not a poster anymore. I'm a real man. I'm back from hell, rebuilding my life, happy, very optimistic for the future.”
  (Elie, 22:55)

Key Segment Timestamps

• 02:02 – 05:00: Zibby’s introduction, context, Elie’s bio, the impact of October 7th
• 05:02 – 07:05: Elie on the mission to survive, compartmentalizing, leadership in captivity
• 07:05 – 08:07: Post-release trauma, nightmares, effects on daily life
• 08:07 – 10:14: Food after starvation, the power of Shadow and Bone in captivity, the role of story
• 11:14 – 17:12: On the inspiration of his memoir, practical optimism
• 17:52 – 21:13: Hostages’ fate, public and political response, global antisemitism, what listeners can do
• 21:13 – 24:30: Living with loss, rebuilding, balancing public and private self

Tone and Takeaways

The tone is deeply empathetic, respectful, and awe-filled, as Zibby allows Elie's extraordinary strength and clarity to take center stage. Elie, in turn, is calm, thoughtful, optimistic, and focused on what people can tangibly do to push back against hate, raise awareness, and choose hope and rebuilding—even after unimaginable loss.

This episode powerfully demonstrates how literature (even fantasy novels) can help sustain hope in desperate situations, and how even those most wounded can model optimism, practical action, and community care.

For new listeners:
This is a brisk but profoundly memorable conversation about survival, humanity, and the relentless search for meaning and healing after horror. Elie Sharabi’s journey and wisdom, as captured in both his memoir and this interview, serve not only as a testimony to what he endured but as a call to action and compassion for all.

Recommendation:
Everyone, regardless of personal background, will find inspiration and perspective in both Elie's book and this intimate, timely conversation with Zibby Owens.