What Came After

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. Orit is a renowned poet and children's author. She spent an afternoon with me, against the backdrop of an active war, talking about what it means to make art in the aftermath of tra...

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 of the recordings I made during the war, and being back here felt like the right moment. We’ve put them together into a series called Between Sirens. In this episode, you’ll hear f...

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 Ellah Gotman. She was spending her day leading thirty first responders from October 7th through sound healing rituals. She had a peaceful, grounding, almost ethereal quality that s...

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 the Jewish Agency, where she’s part of JReady⁠, the Agency's global initiative for emergency preparedness and community rehabilitation. It was a role she held before October 7th — a...

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 October 7th and its aftermath. His images are unflinching: A computer screen glowing white with dental records, needed to identify remains. A funeral for a military dog killed in s...

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 immediately. When she mentioned she was an officer in the army training to be a combat physician, I knew she'd have important things to say. Once we were out of the shelter, we sat...

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 the English-speaking diaspora — feeling oriented and sane. She is one of my heroes of journalism: someone who has reported on October 7th and the subsequent wars with extraordinary...

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 healing through a hydrotherapy-based trauma treatment clinic in Israel called Ripples of Healing, also known as Einot Bar.  It was Itzhik who told me about Channi. Channi has worked as...

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 forgotten. This promise has become the defining mission of her life. Today she works with ⁠Sharaka⁠ , bringing Holocaust education to Muslim leaders in the Arab nations that are si...

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 against the Iranian regime and the personal cost of that work. He was shot during an anti-government protest, witnessed the IRGC kill a close friend, and was ultimately forced to flee...

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 February 28th, everything changed. In the days that followed, we continued searching for voices that could help make sense of the moment. One of them was Netta Hultqvist, whom host Manya M...

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 powerful way to cope with fear, uncertainty, and life under fire.   Learn more about our podcast at https://www.whatcameafter.com/

Professional para-athlete Asael Shabo lost his leg in a terror attack at the age of nine—an attack that also took the lives of several members of his family. In this episode, he shares a personal update from wartime Israel, reflects on his journey to wheelchair basketball, and speaks about trauma, resilience, and the long path to recovery. To support the Israel ParaSport Center- which played a cri...

In this episode, Manya Marcus speaks with award-winning Israeli screenwriter Eden Gurion about his latest film, called Remnants in English The film follows a teenage girl whose older sister was killed at the Nova music festival during the massacre in Israel on October 7, 2023, and offers several intimate portraits of grief. In their conversation, Eden reflects on the many faces of grief and on why...

Hi, this is Manya Marcus. It’s March 16th, 2026, and I’m recording this from not Israel. I was able to fly home last week and arrived back in Chicago just a few hours before Shabbat began. What you’re about to hear are reflections from several people about how they left Israel during the war - and what those departures meant to them.  During my unexpected 13 days in Israel at the start of the war,...

This chapter, recorded in Israel on March 12th, 2026, during the second war with the Iranian regime, brings together three voices reflecting on life in wartime. Rabbi Joe Wolfson of Tel Aviv speaks about the powerful urge to volunteer in moments of crisis - and how that impulse has been constrained by the realities of sheltering close to home. In Rehovot, Manya Marcus meets Binyamin, who sits outs...

Hi everyone, this is Manya Marcus. This episode is being released from Israel on March 11th, 2026, where I’ve been stranded since the war with the Iranian regime began. Since the war started, we’ve been releasing short episodes we’re calling chapters. The last one was called "Anna from the Tel Aviv Bomb Shelter", a conversation with a woman I met while we were both sheltering in the basement of my...

In this chapter from What Came After's reporting from the Second War with Iran, Manya Marcus speaks with Anna, a woman she met in the bomb shelter of the Ink Hotel. The conversation ranges from how to keep a bomb shelter safe to Anna's view that the beauty of Israeli culture and the Hebrew language take precedence over the significance of the land to a discussion of contemporary and classic Israel...

Manya Marcus continues to send audio postcards from the Second Iran War with Israel. In these vignettes, she shares what it's like to receive virtual medical care from doctors who are also tending to victims of missile fire; how it feels to know where her children are in their day- without her; the exhaustion of going back and forth to the bomb shelter; and how even grocery shopping is anxiety-pro...

In this chapter, Manya Marcus shares two interviews: the first takes place in a Tel Aviv bomb shelter with Nicole from Rome, who wonders if she would still have moved to Israel if she had known what life would be like for her and her children during a war. The second interview takes place in a bomb shelter in Rehovot with a man named Nissim. Nissim, who was born in Morocco and served for 28 years...

Manya Marcus, host of What Came After, got stuck in Israel during the Second Iran War. Manya continues to send audio impressions of her time on the ground, this time from Rehovot, where Purim celebrations remained lively- both inside and outside the bomb shelter.

Manya Marcus, host of What Came After, spent two weeks in Israel doing interviews for the podcast when war with the Iranian regime broke out. She has been recording on-the-spot interviews in bomb shelters, cafes, and on the street since then. This is her first reflection, recorded during a break between rocket barrages in Tel Aviv. Please stay tuned for more short episodes chronicling this war on...

Manya Marcus continues to report live from the war between Israel and the Iranian regime. These are audio postcards from various scenes she is experiencing on the ground in Israel: in bomb shelters, cafes between rocket barrages, in elevators, and beyond. 

What Came After sat down with Rabbi Hody Nemes this past February. Rav Hody, as he is called by his congregants, is the Assistant Rabbi of Skokie Valley Agudath Jacob (the shul that WCA host Manya Marcus calls home!), as well as the Program Director of Solu, an organization based in Skokie that develops relationships between the Orthodox community and other communities through service and learning...

This past fall, I sat down with Nadine Greenfield-Binstock, a longtime Jewish communal professional who has devoted her career to strengthening Jewish life as well as Israel advocacy. After more than 20 years working with the American Jewish Committee, Nadine reflects on the AJC’s role in building bridges—both within the Jewish community and beyond it. She also speaks candidly speaks about the dev...