April 14, 2023

When Ben Freeman was growing up in his hometown of Glasgow, Scotland, he frequently faced antisemitism. 

“In middle school, I was told by a non-Jewish boy that being Jewish made me abnormal,” he told the Journal. “I was also asked by a friend to borrow money as we walked home from school. When I responded that I had no money, he said, ‘But all Jews are rich.’”

Unfortunately, these incidents weren’t isolated. While in university, Freeman’s peers and professors made anti-Zionist comments, and left-wing anti-Israel protests would become so violent that there was often a police presence at Jewish and Israel-themed events. Years later, when Freeman criticized Jeremy Corbyn, the leader of the British Labour Party who failed to confront antisemitism within his own party, Corbyn’s followers doxxed him.

“They contacted the school I worked at in Hong Kong for six years, where I taught the Holocaust and Jewish studies at various institutions, and tried to get me fired,” Freeman said.

Even though Freeman has experienced so much antisemitism, that doesn’t stop him from being proud of his Judaism. In his small community in Glasgow – which is home to 4,000 Jews today – he learned to stand up for himself.

“My parents had to work incredibly hard to instill a strong Jewish identity in me and my siblings, and that effort is what made me the proud Jew I am today,” he said. “I think sometimes Jews are more committed to their Jewishness when it is harder to be Jewish. This was certainly my experience.”

Now, Freeman speaks at Jewish organizations and posts about Jewish topics on his Twitter and Instagram pages, where he has large followings. He currently lives in London and focuses on antisemitism and anti-Zionism within the UK, where they have reached record levels.

“My mother experienced horrendous Jew hate in the UK, even at work in the NHS, the national health service, where she worked as a dietician,” he said. “Corbyn helped unleash Jew hate into the center of political and social life in the UK, which has since spread to the U.S., among other places.” 

In August of last year, Freeman released his book “Reclaiming Our Story: The Pursuit of Jewish Pride,” which explores how Jew hatred has impacted the community throughout history and Jews have internalized this prejudice. The book also inspires Jews to reclaim their Jewish stories and have pride in their identities.

“Pride teaches us that we have value, and that we should not be treated in the way that we are,” he said. “Jewish pride is the most effective way to fight Jew-hate, because it empowers Jews to stand up and fight and to encourage our allies by being able to share our experiences. We should not be afraid to center ourselves in our own stories.”

In response to antisemitism, Freeman encourages Jews to stand up for themselves. It’s not effective to ignore it and hope it just goes away. 

“I heard high-profile Jews say we should keep quiet about Kanye in case he gets canceled, which would then be used as a kind of proof Jewish power,” he said. “That is an atrocious attitude. We must fight back.” 

Freeman’s point is that Jews have done nothing to deserve the treatment they’ve experienced throughout time. And Jews should never be ashamed of who they are. 

“We must live Jewish lives,” he said. “I see Jewishness as a great buffet table. It is loaded with Jewish goodies, which represent Jewish action, and each of us must get off our seats and choose something from the table. We may all choose slightly different combinations of Jewishness to engage in, and that is OK. Our community has and will always have great diversity, which is our strength. But we have to choose from the Jewish table.”

Freeman, who is in his 30s, believes that the Jewish community can encourage the younger generation to be proud by telling Jewish stories.

“As Jews, we are part of a much greater story, something bigger than us, and we have to help our young people understand that.” 
– Ben Freeman 

“As Jews, we are part of a much greater story, something bigger than us, and we have to help our young people understand that,” he said. “Similarly with Israel, we have to help people understand what we mean when we refer to it as ‘the promised land.’ What we really mean is that it is our indigenous land and that we have indigenous rights there, meaning we have the right to self-determination in it.”

By teaching pride to the Jewish community, Freeman said it could help Jews withstand the increasing hate from the world around them. 

“Being Jewish is a wonderful thing,” he said. “It’s my life’s work to help all Jews see that.”

Louise Palanker has been podcasting since 2005. The radio veteran hopes her fifth podcast — the “Media Path,” which she co-hosts with Fritz Coleman, KNBC’s weather reporter for nearly 40 years — may be the charm.

With more than 100 episodes, “Media Path” explores “the deep dives we take into films, books, TV and music when we become obsessed with a given topic.” On each episode, Coleman and Palanker take listeners on a journey down a new path of remembering, learning and reevaluating shared memories and histories.

“It’s very rewarding,” Palanker told the Journal. Palanker and Coleman see it as a gift to get to know their guests and then interview them. 

“We wouldn’t have an author on without first reading the book, or we wouldn’t have a filmmaker on without first seeing the film,” she said. “I think our guests enjoy the conversations because people feel more like themselves when they know that you know them.” 

Media Path’s eclectic guests range from television legend Henry Winkler to congressional leader United States Representative Adam Schiff (D-Burbank). Every show, which is released on video as well as audio, includes a discussion of current cultural events and recommendations from the hosts, as well as extended, deep-dive discussions with figures who have had meaningful and memorable impact on the media world.   

Palanker said that when she and Fritz met, they just clicked. He was her dream podcasting partner. However, it wasn’t until he retired from doing the weather two years ago that he was able to explore podcasting. “He was contractually obligated not to discuss anything other than the weather, outside of his weather job, because you certainly don’t want your weatherman out there selling donuts or something,” she said.

Palanker, a cofounder of Premiere Radio Networks (now a division of iHeartMedia), has been producing radio entertainment for decades. A writer, producer, director, comedian, filmmaker, photographer, songwriter and drummer, her previous podcasts include “Weezy and The Swish,” “Talk It Over,” “Journals Out Loud” and “Things I Found Online.” 

The granddaughter of immigrants (second generation), Palanker grew up in Buffalo, New York, and now splits her time between Los Angeles and Santa Barbara with her husband, attorney Ron Zonen. 

Palanker and Zonen are involved with the Jewish Federation in Santa Barbara. After interviewing Holocaust survivors about 15 years ago, she made her first film, “We Played Marbles: Remembering a Stolen Childhood.” She also made the 2019 documentary, “Margaret Singer: Seeking Light,” featuring local artist and Holocaust survivor Margaret Singer, which was selected  by the Santa Barbara International Film Festival. Singer got to see it with her community mere months before she passed away.

“I always wanted to be in the entertainment business, but nobody in Buffalo is, so there’s really no one to ask,” Palanker said. “And it’s not something that you even want to say out loud, because it sounds kind of silly. Also it was pretty clear to me by the age of 10 that I wasn’t particularly good at singing or acting, even though I tried.” 

Palanker wasn’t sure of her other options: “What else was there to do in entertainment?” She would have to grow up and figure it out. 

After staying on the East Coast for college, Palanker told her family she wanted to go to Los Angeles for grad school, knowing that as soon as she got situated, she would figure out how to get into show business.

Her cousins, who went to UCLA, would write down the internships listed on the job board at school, and give them to Palanker. Those internships led Panaker to securing a job as a studio page (an usher for the studio audiences that come to tapings). After a year, that led to a job on a show called “PM Magazine,” where she came to the attention of Rick Dees, the Los Angeles disc jockey best known for 1976’s chart-topping novelty hit, “Disco Duck.” 

“He liked the way I wrote, and he offered me a job writing his new syndicated radio show, called ‘The Rick Dees Weekly Top 40,’” Palanker said. That led to her meeting her Premier Radio partners and “the rest is history.”

When asked how her Jewish background has impacted her storytelling path, Palanker said, “It could be hereditary or it could just be generations of sharing stories.” 

When asked how her Jewish background has impacted her storytelling path, Palanker said, “It could be hereditary or it could just be generations of sharing stories.” 

She explained how when our ancestors were on the run, all they had was their identity, their memories and what’s been handed down. In any ethnicity or any cultural background, it becomes what creates you or what formed the basis of your sense of identity.

“For Jewish people it has been perseverance, love, knowledge, wisdom and becoming lifelong learners,” she said. “[We] celebrate knowledge and the sharing of information and humor. And that is how we persevere.” 

Palanker believes it’s a part of who we are. “If you meet someone and you learn that they’re Jewish, you just know a certain amount about each other with it being unsaid, and I’m sure that’s the way with every cultural identity,” she said. “With ours it’s both a religion and an ethnicity, so it runs deep. We’re definitely very funny, loving storytellers. So I know that informs me in every possible way.”