What Came After

For months, Yoni Heilman and I kept missing each other. When I was in Israel, Yoni was serving in reserve duty. When Yoni was available for an interview in Israel, I was back in America. Finally, this past April, we...

On March 18th of this year, I'd been back in America for a few days after getting stuck in Israel during the war with Iran. I still felt scattered, jet-lagged and wrung out. So I decided to treat myself to the ultimate...

When I first met with our guest, Dekkel Bachar, at the end of 2025, we talked about Shesek, an initiative of the Israel ParaSport Center. Shesek was designed to help rebuild the lives of Israelis. Nearly three years...

In March, I was in Israel when war broke out with the Iranian regime. Since I couldn't leave the country, I wanted to make the most of the time, A mutual friend suggested I meet with Orit Gidali between missile alarms...

This is my first time back in Israel since the war with the Iranian regime. Things feel different now — and that old line about an hour being a long time in the Middle East has never felt truer. I wanted to release more...

Last November, I spent nearly ten hours at Einot Bar, otherwise known as Ripples of Healing, which many of you may have learned about through various interviews on this show. While I was there, I met a young woman named...

I sat down with Samantha Robinson in Jerusalem in February 2026 — weeks before any of us knew that a second war with the Iranian regime was on the horizon. Sam is the Director of Community Resilience and Development at...

In November 2025, I sat down with Israeli military photographer Oren Cohen in Jerusalem. Oren's book, 06:29 — named for the moment the Hamas onslaught began — is the most powerful photojournalism collection I've seen on...

I met Shelly (who asked that her last name not be shared) in a shelter in central Israel in March during Israel's war with the Iranian regime. Shelly was 21, confident, radiant and articulate. I gravitated towards her...

This past November, I sat down with Amanda Borschel-Dan, Deputy Editor of The Times of Israel . Ever since the war began, it's been her voice on the Times of Israel Daily Briefing that has kept me — and so many of us in...

I learned about Channi Rabinovitz through her husband, Itzhik. Itzhik appeared in an earlier episode — ⁠"A Tsunami of PTSD Is Coming" ⁠ — where he spoke about the mental health journey of one of his sons, who found...

On March 11th, I sat down with Alyssa Annis, a native of Manchester, England, now living in Israel. Several years ago, while working closely with Holocaust survivors, Alyssa promised them that their stories would not be...

This episode features Danesh Malmir, who was born in Iran and later came to the United States as an asylum seeker. Introduced to host Manya Marcus through a mutual connection, Danesh shares the story of his activism...

When the What Came After team traveled to Israel this past February, we arrived with a plan: a slate of interviews, a full itinerary, and a clear sense of direction. But when war with the Iranian regime began on...

Recorded during the first days of Israel’s second war with the Iranian regime, this chapter explores the role of dark humor in moments of crisis. From bomb shelters to everyday interactions, laughter emerges as a...