The Upfront Podcast
Thought-provoking, in-depth talks with incredible people, thinkers, experts, change-makers, leaders & community influencers from around the world.
Listen wherever you usually get your podcasts. Send us your comments, remarks, questions, and opinions in writing or as an audio recording through one of these channels:
Instagram & Facebook @theupfrontpodcast
E-Mail [email protected]
12/08/2024
The new cover for The Upfront Podcast is finally up. đđŒ
Catch up on previous episodes before the next episode airs!
17/05/2024
Eitan Chitayat is a creative director, copywriter and brand-builder, and founder of the Natie Branding Agency in Tel Aviv. Eitan has been delivering branding campaigns for B2C and B2B clients for over 25 years. He has lived in Hong Kong, London, Tel Aviv, New York, and Boston, working with clients such as Google, Volkswagen, American Express, and Toyota, as well as Israeli companies like Amdocs, NICE, The Jewish Agency for Israel, and Taglit. In 2015, he created the viral video âIâm That Jewâ which has been viewed over 15 million times on various platforms. He also gave a TED talk about why he created the piece. Heâs consistently been an advocate for Israel and the Jewish People, gaining a following on social media, but since October 7th he has dedicated all of his time to fighting Jew hatred and anti-semitism, focusing on building Jewish pride.
We are speaking about his advocacy work, how we as a minority need to get better at advocating for ourselves to change the current narrative, and how we should be talking to our Jewish kids about how to deal with whatâs going on and how to explain this spreading hatred. Eitan and I are also talking about the value and importance of integrity, as we attempt to find a reason behind so much misinformation being spread about Israel, the war, and the Jewish people, with age-old blood libels resurfacing, holocaust inversion and relativization and other forms of antisemitism, as well as who is leading, driving and funding the pro-Hamas/anti-Jewish, supposedly pro-Palestinian demonstrations.
đ Listen to the full conversation on all podcast platforms or at the link in the bio đ§
Join the conversation and leave us your comments, remarks, and opinions below.
14/03/2024
My guest today is the eloquent Yirmiyahu Danzig, known as on social media. Yirmiyahu is an educator and activist for Jewish and indigenous rights. He holds a degree in Political Science, Homeland Security, and Public Diplomacy. Yirmiyahu will tell us how his own family background led to him inherently feeling and thinking more intersectional and realizing that there is a need for social justice and education overall.
Today, we are talking about Jewish identity, values and visibility, our own personal feelings about the hate we are being subjected to as a people, the danger of antisemitism and anti-jewish caricatures and stereotypes festering and remaining unchecked, as well as about why and how antisemitism differentiates from other forms of xenophobia.
Yirmiyahu and I are addressing the identity crisis and dichotomy of Jewish people in the diaspora trying to fit in while attempting to reconcile with the increasingly apparent becoming feeling of never truly belonging, what the current situation is like for Jewish students, specifically on university campuses in the United States, and weâre also addressing even the short-term dangers of aligning ourselves with politically right wing ideologies due to a supposed solidarity with the Jewish people and Israel as an extension,.. Yirmiyahu is also speaking on how terminology is a determining factor of how a narrative is formed, the Jews returning to their ancestral homeland being the most successful project of Decolonization, and how the diverse society of Israel, including, Muslims, Arabs and Druze are feeling. Yirmiyahu also speaks directly to our listeners who are parents of Jewish kids about how to talk to them about who and what they are, and why we as Jews owe it to our people and our ancestors to speak up.
đ Listen to the full episode at the link in the bio.
Unpacked on Youtube https://www.youtube.com/
On instagram
08/02/2024
My guest is Matan Peretz, who makes a living as a comedian in Israel, and as an Israeli citizen he also serves in the IDF when called up for reserve duty. Matan has been using his platform to advocate for Israel, and against terrorism and will be sharing some important points of his activism and the social media information war. Based on his own experience, Matan will tell us about what life is like in Judea and Samaria, otherwise referred to as âsettlementsâ in the West Bank, and how they have had to experience similar violence to what Hamas perpetrated on October 7th, 2023, long before any antisemites on social media caught wind of it that are now calling for the eradication of the entire Jewish people.
Matan graciously took time out of his busy schedule between serving in defense of our country and performing comedy to talk about various points in this war between Israel and Hamas. We are touching on the United Nationsâ countless antisemitic resolutions, history revisionism running rampant online on social media platforms, and how Israel is held to a different standard than any other sovereign country ever that has come under attack by terrorists. Matan and I are also discussing gun ownership in Israel in comparison to the United States, and why there are no school shootings in Israel. We are also talking about how far indoctrination of hate and brainwashing can go, or whether evil could be a basic human trait that just needs to be activated, whether there is a difference between the motivation of the N***s and the Islamic terrorists of Hamas, and what the aftermath of this war could look like.
đ Listen to the full conversation at the link in the bio or wherever you listen to podcasts.
10/01/2024
Have you listened to the latest episode with CĂ©cile Nebbot .cecile on The Upfront Podcast yet? Stay tuned for the next one where we continue our conversation and deliver the ultimate reckoning!
đ Listen to this and all other episodes for free on all streaming platforms or at the link in the bio.
Photo credit & rights: Christian Werner
12/10/2023
This is not the time to be silent. Stand up, speak up, stand with đźđ±.
This is the time to unequivocally make your stance known.
24/08/2023
My guest today is Raul Krauthausen . He lives in Berlin, Germany, and is a well-known activist and author who advocates for the inclusion of disabled people, basing his work on his own life and experience because Raul was born with Osteogenesis imperfecta and is therefore using a wheelchair. Raul is a published author of several books about inclusion, disability, and activism, with his latest book being âWhoever wants inclusion, finds a way. Whoever doesnât want it, will find excusesâ.
Raul and I are talking about his work as an activist, what parents should consider teaching their kids about people with disabilities, and how we as adults can learn to reflect on our own behavior or how we can unlearn prejudicial thinking patterns. Once again, we will be hearing about the issue of people making decisions about a community that they are not part of without including or hearing any people from the community to base these decisions on.
đ Listen to the full podcast episode at the link in the bio.
Join the conversation and leave us your comments, remarks, and opinions.
10/08/2023
Ainhoa Martinelli .ginia.ainhoa._ is from Switzerland and is 19 years old. She works in a Montessori school and will begin to study geography in the fall. Ainhoa started her activist work in her early teenage years with Fridays for Future. She is now an active part of various international climate movements such as the Global Climate Strike, Debt4Climate, and the Global Youth Biodiversity Network, making her the perfect person to talk to about the issues we will all have to face.
Ainhoa and I will be talking about activist burnout, the dark side of volunteer tourism, what the climate movement has to do with the exploitation of formerly colonized countries, the climate crisis overall, and how Eurocentrism, privilege, and inequity are often disregarded factors that should be taken into account in environmental discussions. We are also talking about how our consumerist ways are hindering environmental protection efforts and what we can do to decrease the pace at which this planet is dying.
đ Listen to the full episode at the link in the bio.
10/02/2023
The first episode of season 2 is out!
My guest is Rabbi Akiva Weingarten , born and raised in the Jewish ultraorthodox âSatmarâ community in New York. He decided to leave the community, lived abroad for many years, then studied âJewish Studiesâ in Germany and eventually became the Rabbi for two liberal Jewish communities in Switzerland and Germany. His own book by the title âUltraorthodoxâ has recently been published.
We are talking about Judaism specifically, other religions, spirituality, and also what it was like for him to leave his old life behind. How he dealt with the struggles of entering a whole new world, redefining himself, and how his stance on identity, religion, and spirituality has changed. He will also tell us what he thinks of pop culture depictions of ultraorthodox Jews, such as the Unorthodox series on Netflix.
đ Listen to the full episode at the link in the bio or wherever you listen to podcasts.
07/02/2023
The Upfront Podcast has been listened to across 32 countries in 2022! I am so grateful for the support you all have shown this podcast, and for the people that were open to sharing and discussing their stories, talking about important societal matters and their convictions to making a difference. âš
Letâs spread this podcast even farther in this new season, airing this coming Thursday!
Send in your story, topic, observation or commentary via email to [email protected] and make sure you are subscribed to The Upfront Podcast on your preferred podcast platform, so you know right away when new episodes are available to listen to. Iâd greatly appreciate it if you could leave a review wherever you are usually listening to the podcast, so that it will reach even more people.
Have you happened to listen to Episode 22 yet?
My guest Naftali Aklum is a public speaker and lecturer from the Beta Israel, the community of Ethiopian Jews. He tells us of his familyâs harrowing journey to Israel and what Ethiopian Jews are facing, the split between forced assimilation and respecting oneâs own identity while dealing with systemic discrimination and racism.
Find Naftali on Instagram at
The Yerus Project at www.jewsofethiopia.com
đ Listen to the full episode on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or at the link in the bio.
You can join the conversation and leave us your comments, remarks, and opinions down below. If you have an important topic, thought-provoking observation, or experience to share that needs more awareness and should be discussed, reach out to us at [email protected].
A new episode is out! Listen on Spotify, apple podcasts, and all other podcast platforms or at www.theupfrontpodcast.com.
Feminism does have a few different principles, but what they all share is the plea for gender equality. Liz from Episode 3 is back, and we are discussing different stances on feminism and how this comes into play in our dating life when trying to determine peopleâs compatibility and whether we should lower our standards to accommodate others.
Join the conversation and leave us your comments, remarks, and opinions below. If you have an important topic, thought-provoking observation, or experience to share that needs more awareness and should be discussed more, reach out to us at [email protected].
18/10/2022
Go listen to the latest episode of the where host Patrick and I discuss podcasting and what it is like to put yourself out there so publicly. You can also find the episode on The Upfront Podcast, Episode 20. Listen wherever you get your podcasts.
Patrick Jones is a journalist, originally from New York, now living in South Carolina, and host of the "That Gives Me Anxiety Podcast".
On this episode of The Upfront Podcast, Patrick and Nina discuss dealing with expectations of hosting a podcast, mental health, conspiracy theories, death, politics, and other fun stuff.
You can find the âThat Gives Me Anxiety Podcastâ on Instagram at , and the âDeath Space: Filling The Voidâ podcast at .
Send us your comments, remarks, questions, and opinions in writing or as an audio recording through one of the following channels, and be sure to follow The Upfront Podcast.
đ find the full episode at the link in bio or wherever you usually listen to podcasts.
Todayâs guest Katharina Höftmann Katharina Hoeftmann Ciobotaru was born in Rostock in East Germany. She studied Psychology and German-Jewish History at Humboldt University in Berlin while working as a journalist for various newspapers. Due to receiving a scholarship for Ben Gurion University in Israel, she first stayed in the land that would later become her home base of choice. Katharina converted to Judaism and later wrote about her experiences in the Holy Land in several books and is an accomplished writer and author living in Tel Aviv.
We are talking about her conversion process into Judaism, whether one can learn to believe in God, and how Katharina lost and found her identity whilst attempting to reconcile the Holocaustâs perpetrator-victim relationship for herself.
Listen to the full episode wherever you usually get your podcasts, or at www.theupfrontpodcast.com.
Find Katharina's books, including an excerpt in English of her latest novel in the show notes of the podcast episode.
Send us your story, comments, remarks, questions, and opinions in writing or as an audio recording on Instagram, Facebook or via E-Mail to [email protected]
03/08/2022
In preparation of a new podcast episode airing soon! đđ
My guest on this episode is Juliet Taylor, who grew up in a Jewish modern orthodox family in London, England. Juliet moved to Israel 9 years ago and worked as the educational director for a school. In the midst of her daily life, a mental health crisis slowly crept in and altered her life. Juliet was able to change her perspective on life and focus on what she values most, which eventually brought her to express her feelings through art in her spoken poetry. She has just finished her masterâs degree in early childhood education.
We are speaking on working towards eliminating the stigma of mental health issues, going through countless pandemic lockdowns and war by yourself, and what ultimately matters most.
Find Juliet and her spoken poetry on Instagram at
đ Join the conversation in the comments and find the full episode on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
My guest today is Maysa Resende Maysa Resende. Maysa, originally from Brazil, moved to Israel in 2016 to do her Ph.D. in Biotechnology Engineering at Ben Gurion University (BGU). She is currently a postdoctoral fellow at Tel Aviv University (TAU), and during the pandemic, she founded a brand of natural and sustainable cosmetic bars called "Bars from Mars". barsfrommars.cosmetics.
We are talking about consumer behavior, greenwashing, the impact on sales through âcleanâ claims, and what natural and chemical ingredients in cosmetics mean. Maysa will also share what it took to establish a sustainable brand of her own.
Find "Bars from Mars" at https://barsfrommars.com.
Send us your comments, remarks, questions, and opinions in writing or as an audio recording through one of these channels:
Instagram & Facebook
E-Mail: [email protected]
19/07/2022
What topic do you wish to hear more on đ€? Comment below!
The first episode of season two has aired!
My guest is Tomer Yair Zemel, who was born and raised in Jerusalem, Israel. He is a social activist for causes that he is most passionate about. Tomer works in the high-tech industry and has been living close to Tel Aviv in Israel for the past several years. Tomer Yair Zemel
We are speaking about his coming out, what he would recommend for other people to focus on when coming out themselves, what pride month and the pride parade are really all about and what still needs to change to give everyone equal legal rights.
Please join in on the conversation in the comments.
If you are in need of support, please find some sources in the show notes of the episode.
đ find this and all other episodes wherever you get your podcasts.
07/07/2022
Make sure youâre all caught up on previous episodes, before the new season airs next week! đđŒ
Link in bio for more. Listen on all platforms, or wherever you get your podcasts.
Don't miss out on the latest episode from last week!
Listen to the full episode of "The Upfront Podcast" wherever you get your podcasts.
My guest is Rebecca Sigala. Originally from Minneapolis in Minnesota (USA), Rebecca made Aliyah in 2009 (Jewish immigration to Israel) and now lives in Israel with her husband and three children.
Rebecca is a self-employed bo***ir photographer, self-love activist, and a body image and self-love coach for women.
We are talking about what her own journey has led her to, what societal expectations women are facing nowadays, how we handle these, and how we can all learn to love ourselves through a process of self-acceptance and self-love.
Find Rebecca on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/rebeccasigalabo***ir/ and on Facebook Rebecca Sigala - Bo***ir Photography and at Rebecca Sigala.
Rebecca's website can be found at https://rebeccasigala.com.
Have you listened to the latest episode yet?
Rahel Cucchia was brought up in a very small town in Central Switzerland. In 2018 she started working out to build her fitness and competed in her first bodybuilding competition within a year. After several successful national competitions, she then went to Romania to compete in an international pro qualification that she won overall and in her class. Rahel became an IFBB Pro and has been a professional bodybuilder ever since.
We will talk about her career and exceptional accomplishments, what it takes to be a bodybuilder, body image issues, and what it is really like being a woman in this male-dominated field.
You can find Rahel on her Instagram page at https://www.instagram.com/rahelanastasia_ifbbpro/.
Listen and subscribe to The Upfront Podcast wherever you get your podcasts.
A new episode is up!
My guest is a very well-known journalist, that reports on extremism and war from within. Due to his very dangerous occupation and his covert travels to certain places, we are protecting his identity by using the pseudonym "Kay" instead of his real name.
We will be talking about insights from a war correspondentâs perspective who has witnessed and experienced war in Syria and other places firsthand on the ground, as well as the current threat level of terrorism and extremism.
In this episode, my guest is Sam (they/them). Sam and their family moved to Israel from California when they were 11 years old and became an advocate for intersectional disability and mental health. Sam is a writer and is currently also studying. We are talking about gender identity, disability, mental health, and how Sam handles living with cerebral palsy.
This is part 1 of 2 of this interview.
Find Sam on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/disabledreamer/ and on their website at https://www.disabledreamer.com.
Subscribe and listen to The Upfront Podcast wherever you get your podcasts.
Ruth Peri was born and raised in a small town in Bulgaria, close to the Romanian border. She lived in Berlin and eventually moved to Israel 8 years ago. In Tel Aviv, her roommate invited a guest over for dinner one night and that is how Ruth came into contact with Muhammed from Ramallah in the West Bank. This encounter inspired her to participate in the work of local NGOs and she discovered the commonalities of Jews and Arabs coexisting in Israel. During a visit back home in Bulgaria, Ruth was arrested and jailed for trying to help a refugee that had fled the oppressing forces of the Hamas in Gaza. Two years ago Ruth then co-founded HOLY LOCAL ALIENS, which is an organization and community that brings people of different backgrounds together that usually donât have the chance to interact.
We are discussing the continuous conflict between Israel, Gaza, and the West Bank, which most recently has amounted to an unprecedented amount of missiles being fired towards Israel in May of last year.
Find Ruth Peri and Holy Local Aliens on Facebook at Holy Local Aliens and on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/holylocalaliens/
Subscribe to The Upfront Podcast wherever you listen to podcasts !
On this episode: Born and raised in India, Siddaq Singh first studied in India and received a Bachelors Degree in Mechanical Engineering, as well as an MBA, and then went on to do a Masters Degree in Environmental Studies in Israel. Siddaq is a thinker, educator and sustainability facilitator and currently teaches a course called Sustainability in Practice at Thapar School of Management in which the business students become sensitized to the challenges of human existence and allows them to develop positive impact projects with local communities.
We are talking about the basic principles of sustainability, how the economy can potentially hinder our collective efforts towards protecting the environment and how technologies could open up a chance for a systemic overhaul.
Find Siddaq on Facebook at Siddaq Singh and on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/siddaq/.
Join the conversation in the comments and tell us what you think!
SUBSCRIBE to The Upfront Podcast wherever you get your podcasts! You can also find us on Instagram at www.instagram.com/theupfrontpodcast, and on our website.
Have you listened to the latest episode yet?
Our guest for this episode is Emily Katz. She was born in Israel, raised in the UK and Spain and currently lives in Israel but is planning on moving back to Spain in a few months. Emily had studied organization behavior development and now works as an Organizational and Self-Healing Consultant, a professional problem solver, on a mission to try and help heal humanity. She is working on different projects to heal the collective, but is currently focusing on helping individuals with their mental health. Emily is sharing parts of her personal story, which entail harrowing events that ultimately led her to a path of self-healing, self acceptance and love.
Find Emily on Facebook at Emily Katz and at The Self-Healing Consultant.
For support, please visit https://en.eran.org.il or call *3201 (in Israel). For support in other countries, please visit https://www.helpguide.org/find-help.htm or look up your local mental health helplines.
SUBSCRIBE and listen to The Upfront Podcast wherever you get your podcasts!
You can also find us on Instagram, and on our website at www.theupfrontpodcast.com.
Todayâs guest is the inspirational Roy Freeman who originally grew up in the UK in Luton, just north of London. He moved to Sydney in Australia at the age of 28 and lived there for 11 years until he moved to Israel in 2012. Roy works in High-Tech as an Instructor and in 2013 he dedicated his spare time to founding his own organization by the name of âLGBT Olimâ LGBT Olim for the LGBTQ+ community in Israel.
We talk about what the organization does, what the LGBTQ+ community is still having to deal with nowadays, and how we can all contribute to a more inclusive society.
If youâd like to sign-up for their newsletter, please send an email to: [email protected] and for donations, collaborations and inquiries, please reach out to Roy Freeman at [email protected].
đ Be sure to follow us on here and subscribe to The Upfront Podcast wherever youâre listening so you will know right away when a new episode is available.
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A new episode is out, featuring Elizabeth Bass. Elizabeth was born in Russia, grew up in Bangladesh, and has lived and worked in several countries. She had studied psychology in the United States and later moved to Israel. Nowadays, Elizabeth works as a Jeweller and Yoga teacher. She is sharing a personal story that has influenced her life and journey to more self-awareness and acceptance and has inspired her to rethink the entire concept of one's intuition, self-care, and how to balance societal expectations.
Find Elizabeth on Instagram at or at .
đ Subscribe and listen to The Upfront Podcast wherever you get your podcasts.
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