The Upfront Podcast
Welcome to The Upfront Podcast, where you can listen to compelling in-depth, honest, and thought-provoking conversations with international guests from all walks of life.
The aim is to raise awareness and amplify the voices of change-makers, thinkers, experts, leaders, and community influencers, to challenge pre-existing views that shape our everyday life, discuss current events, share personal stories, answer uncomfortable questions, and have upfront discussions important to our lives and society because knowledge truly is power.
This podcast covers topics people typically do not discuss, including societal fragmentation, politics, relationships, mental health, religion, community, civil rights, and lifestyle.
This is an independently produced podcast, without any media network affiliations. Please subscribe and leave a review so that The Upfront Podcast can reach more people!
Episodes
39 episodes
Ruthi Forer - Insights From A Sex Therapist
My guest today is Ruthi Forer, who is a Sex Therapist based in central Israel. We are talking about how she combines her extensive experience, training, and knowledge to teach people how we can regulate our nervous system, why institutions crea...
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Episode 38
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1:12:11
Roy Barkan | Nepotism, Addiction & Scandal
My guest today is Roy Barkan, a writer, performer, and public figure from Israel. He is the son of the late prominent Israeli actor and pop culture phenomenon Yehuda Barkan. Roy wrote a book based on his life experiences that touches on many to...
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Episode 37
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51:35
Eitan Chitayat | Narrative & Counterpropaganda
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...
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Episode 36
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1:19:47
Yirmiyahu "That_Semite" | Intersectional Jewish Advocacy
My guest today is the eloquent Yirmiyahu Danzig, known as @that_semite 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. Yir...
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Episode 35
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55:43
Matan Peretz | Comedian - Soldier - Activist
My guest today is Matan Peretz, who makes a living as a comedian in Israel, and as an Israeli citizen he also serves in the IDF, the Israel Defense Forces, when called up for reserve duty. Matan has been using his platform to advocate for Israe...
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Episode 34
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51:46
Cécile Nebbot | Living In The Post-Truth Era
Cécile Nebbot is back for a deep dive into history. We are talking about ancient to recent historical events, covering the Jewish people, as well as some important events throughout Christian and Islamic history that would be crucial for people...
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Episode 33
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1:17:25
Cécile Nebbot | Reawakened Zionism
Cécile Nebbot was born in Marseille, France in 1967 to liberal Jewish parents whose recent ancestors had been expelled from Spain, and then eventually from Tunisia and Algeria.She is an economist and communication expert with a backgrou...
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Episode 32
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1:05:59
The War on Israel
Have you ever wondered how 6 million Jews could be murdered by the Nazis in cold blood in the Holocaust while the world was silently watching? Let me tell you...On the morning of October 7, 2023, during the holiday of Simchat Torah, hund...
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Episode 31
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23:03
Raúl Krauthausen | Disability Exclusion in Politics
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 ...
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Episode 30
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25:59
Ainhoa Martinelli | The Climate Emergency
Ainhoa Martinelli 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...
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Episode 29
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1:03:51
Stephanie Horwitz | Managing Career Expectations
Stephanie Horwitz from the “What Should I Do With My Life” podcast is joining us today from Tel Aviv, Israel. Steph will tell us how we might have been misled since many people are figuring out that a career might not follow a one-and-done reci...
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Episode 28
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41:45
Alejandro Salas | Corruption Unpacked
My guest today is Alejandro Salas, the head of global movement at the global anti-corruption organization Transparency International. Alejandro is originally from Mexico and has studied political science. He now lives in Berlin, Germany. Al...
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Episode 27
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59:08
Jolanda Spiess-Hegglin | Victim Blaming Rhetoric
My guest today is Jolanda Spiess Hegglin, a journalist and former Swiss politician. One harrowing night, everything changed for her. In the aftermath, her name was extensively used in Swiss tabloid media in attempts to ruin her reputation and t...
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Episode 26
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47:45
Rabbi Akiva Weingarten | Leaving The Ultraorthodox Life
My guest today is Rabbi Akiva Weingarten, born and raised in the Jewish ultraorthodox “Satmar” community in New York. He decided to leave the community, lived abroad for many years, then studied “Jewish Studies” in Germany and eventually became...
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Episode 25
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57:41
End of Year 2022
For the final episode of the year, I am saying goodbye for now until we meet again in the new year!
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Episode 24
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1:48
Victoria Vlasenko | The War In Ukraine
On February 24th, 2022 Russia invaded Ukraine and launched a full-scale war on the sovereign nation. My guest today is Victoria Vlasenko, who is coming to us directly from Kyiv, the capital of Ukraine. We will be speaking about her own experien...
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Episode 23
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47:04
Naftali Aklum | Beta Israel - A Minority Within A Minority
Naftali Aklum is a public speaker and lecturer from the Beta Israel, the community of Ethiopian Jews. He tells us of his family’s harrowing journey to Israel and what Ethiopian Jews are facing, the split between forced assimilation and respecti...
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Episode 22
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39:25
Elizabeth Bass | Feminism & Dating Compatibility
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 ...
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Episode 21
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46:20
Patrick Jones | Putting Yourself Out There
Patrick Jones is a journalist, originally from New York, now living in South Carolina, and host of the "That Gives Me Anxiety Podcast". Patrick and Nina discuss dealing with expectations of hosting a podcast, mental health, conspiracy theories,...
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Episode 20
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49:37
Katharina Höftmann Ciobotaru | Learning To Believe
Today’s guest Katharina Höftmann 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...
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Episode 19
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1:03:03
Juliet Taylor | Destigmatizing Mental Health Issues
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 healt...
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Episode 18
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48:46
Maysa Resende | Challenging The Beauty Industry
Maysa Resende is originally from Brazil, and she 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, ...
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Episode 17
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43:35
Tomer Yair Zemel | The Importance of Pride Month
Tomer Yair Zemel 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.
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Episode 16
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42:46
The Essence
Nina is giving an update on what is happening with The Upfront Podcast, how it will go on, and what the true, important essence of this podcast is.Send in your comments, remarks, and opinions in writing or as an audio recording through ...
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Episode 15
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5:49
Lauren Adilev | Single Parenting & Minimalism
Lauren Adilev is originally from the United States and relocated to Israel in the '80s. She is a single mom of two, living in Efrat in the Gush Etzion Region, and runs two businesses, a boutique content agency and a home/life organization servi...
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Episode 14
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36:15