The Frieda Vizel Podcast

Video link to this conversation: https://youtu.be/uQ8YqHA_id8

📸 Videography: Upperdeck Film / https://www.instagram.com/upperdeck_film/ 
✂️ Edited: Lee Kupac / @mayo.nap 
👰 Wedding footage: Shmilly Feldman / https://www.instagram.com/chasidish_lifter/
More content with Pearl: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLhW2QoO54ycylVdMte0xOgmKWkyksKzyv&si=hOy-eozSCg2cWErr

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-frieda-vizel-podcast--5824414/support.

Video link to this monologue: https://youtu.be/A1aOTCsYQfM

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-frieda-vizel-podcast--5824414/support.

Video link to this conversation: https://youtu.be/92Q4LAxh_Ug

A year ago, Pearl sparked one of the most heated discussions on this channel.
As a Satmar Hasidic woman, she shared her views on the Holocaust, anti-Semitism, Israel, and Zionism—views that many viewers strongly disagreed with. The response was intense.
In this conversation, I sit down with Pearl again and ask her how she feels about the backlash, whether she regrets speaking so openly, and why she continues to stand by her beliefs.
This interview is not about agreeing or disagreeing. It is an opportunity to hear, in Pearl's own words, how a deeply religious Hasidic woman understands Jewish history, suffering, faith, anti-Semitism, and the role of Israel in the modern world.

Whatever your perspective, I hope this conversation helps illuminate a worldview that is rarely heard and often misunderstood.

As always, please keep the discussion respectful.

You can find many of my other podcasts with Pearl on podcast apps or on Youtube through this playlist:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLhW2QoO54ycylVdMte0xOgmKWkyksKzyv

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-frieda-vizel-podcast--5824414/support.

Link to video version of this episode: https://youtu.be/aeVekOqP7-Y

The tables have turned! The wonderful, renowned Orthodox Jewish podcaster Dovid Bashevkin, host of 18forty, who interviewed me for his podcast, returned the favor and joined me for a candid conversation about the inside-outside perspectives. He inside, I outside, together we have an interest in the same thing from different angles.

Bashevkin is one of the most thoughtful voices in the Orthodox Jewish world, for a wide-ranging conversation about faith, doubt, Shabbos, Jewish identity, community, America, Israel, assimilation, spirituality, and what it means to build a meaningful Jewish life in 2026.
What makes this conversation especially interesting to me is that Dovid and I approach many of the same questions from different locations. He speaks from deep inside Orthodox communal life; I often speak from the margins, or from outside looking in. And yet we share a fascination with how people search for meaning, belonging, transcendence, and authenticity.

Links:
• Dovid Bashevkin on Twitter/X: [@DBashIdeas](https://x.com/DBashIdeas?utm_source=chatgpt.com)
• 18Forty podcast: [18Forty](https://18forty.org/podcasts/?utm_source=chatgpt.com)
• My appearance on his podcast: [My conversation with Dovid Bashevkin on 18Forty](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GEaI-Paltfc&t=1s&utm_source=chatgpt.com)

We talked about:
• why he created the 18Forty podcast
• the “institutional scaffolding” of modern Jewish life
• why younger Jews are restless even inside successful communities
• Shabbos as both beautiful and difficult
• assimilation, identity, and the pressure to “earn” love
• celebrity culture and existential longing
• the future of American Orthodoxy
• why so many young Orthodox Jews are drawn to Israel
• cultural translation between Jewish worlds
• gum as contraband in Hasidic childhoods 😭

Thank you to all channel members, subscribers, viewers, and commenters who make these conversations possible.
Frieda

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-frieda-vizel-podcast--5824414/support.

Video link to this interview: https://youtu.be/fV8LeAiQQe8

Join us for an insightful conversation with Dr. Yossi David, a leading researcher in social biases, migration trauma, and media influence. We delve into how leaving insular communities mirrors migration challenges, the impact of fiction and AI on perception, and the importance of trust and skepticism in society today.

Key topics discussed:
-The psychological challenges faced by individuals leaving ultra-Orthodox communities, compared to immigration trauma 
-Language barriers and cultural transitions when integrating into secular society
-The influence of fiction, media, and AI technologies on shaping perceptions and biases
-Trust in science versus authority and the role of scientific methodology in building credibility
-The importance of a society that balances trust and skepticism for healthy self-correction
-Strategies for raising awareness about fiction, misinformation, and fake content
-Personal experiences of transition, identity, and resilience amid societal change
-The role of education in developing critical thinking from a young age
-The significance of physical challenges and community support in personal transformation

Research that inspired this conversation:
📄 “The Search for Meaning and Belonging After Leaving a High-Cost Religion” PDF: https://app.luminpdf.com/viewer/698b43ca5896b082df3e537b Journal link: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/10508619.2025.2553407#abstract Former

Haredi? Consider participating in Yossi’s current research: 
📝 2026 Annual Survey for Former Haredi Individuals https://bgupsych.eu.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_elMDRXhMsMVr23c Follow me: Instagram / X / TikTok: @FriedaVizel

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-frieda-vizel-podcast--5824414/support.