Israelis have become experts at finding unusual ways to cope with an unusual reality.
In Episode 21 of ALL CAPS, host Nitsana Darshan-Leitner and the panel begin with a look at how Israelis are confronting the psychological toll of years of war, uncertainty and trauma, sometimes through methods that may look unconventional from the outside.
Watch ALL CAPS latest episode
From group red-light therapy in Tel Aviv to Israel's growing "trauma tech" sector, the panel discusses how the country's culture of innovation is increasingly being applied to mental health and recovery. "When humans go through the impossible, the trauma, they find creative solutions to fight back," India Naftali says. "At least Israelis do." The conversation then turns from Israel's borders to Europe's.
Spain, migration and a question of double standards
The panel examines Spain's response to thousands of migrants attempting to reach the Spanish enclave of Ceuta from Morocco, questioning whether European governments apply the same standards to their own border security that they demand of Israel.
The discussion quickly becomes a broader argument about sovereignty, migration and the international criticism Israel has faced since October 7.
The panel also turns to developments surrounding Gaza and the debate over what genuine Hamas disarmament would have to look like, and whether weapons stored inside Gaza under outside supervision could truly constitute disarmament.
But Episode 21's guest brings the conversation somewhere very different: the kitchen.
Meet Falmer: Cooking up Jewish pride
Joshua Halmer, better known online as Falmer, is a British chef and content creator whose videos mix cooking, humor, Jewish culture and an increasingly outspoken defense of Israel. His path into food, he tells ALL CAPS, began around eight years ago during a personal transformation.
"I started cooking about eight years ago when I was extremely fat," he says, explaining that friends began calling him "Fat Halmer." After he lost the weight, the nickname remained — eventually becoming Falmer.
But what began as cooking content gradually became something more. Halmer started posting seriously on social media in January 2025, initially documenting his food journey. As he began speaking more openly about being Jewish and supporting Israel, the response changed.
So did his content. Rather than backing away when hostile comments arrived, he leaned further into his Jewish identity. "I started learning more in the process and learning about my homeland and learning about my culture," he says.
For Halmer, October 7 was the catalyst. He describes himself as fully Ashkenazi, with Russian, Polish and Belarusian roots, but says his online journey has also pushed him to learn more about the extraordinary diversity of Jewish communities, from Mizrahi and Sephardi traditions to Jewish food and culture across the world.
Jewish joy as an answer to hate
Halmer's mission now goes beyond recipes. "What my mission is to spread Jewish joy," he tells the panel. That means introducing audiences to Jewish food, traditions and diaspora cultures while encouraging younger Jews not to lose their connection to their heritage.
For a creator who built his following around cooking, food becomes a particularly effective way to do it. Asked what Israeli dish every visitor should try, his answer comes quickly: shawarma. And yes, he makes it himself. His audience, meanwhile, isn't entirely what he expected. Halmer jokes that his core demographic appears to include "Jewish mums around the world," along with plenty of non-Jewish followers curious about Jewish culture and, inevitably, anti-Israel users who follow closely enough to attack him in the comments.
Halmer's response? They are still helping his engagement.
'We're here to stay'
The humor, however, sits alongside a much darker reality. Halmer says he has received death threats because of his online presence and support for Israel. He also says a planned appearance at London's JW3 Jewish cultural center had recently been canceled over security concerns.
He no longer routinely walks through London with his Star of David visible. According to Halmer, conversations about whether Britain still has a future for Jews are increasingly taking place around Jewish dinner tables. "Every Jew in this country is having the same conversation behind closed doors," he says, including the possibility of leaving Britain. Halmer has already made his choice.
He tells ALL CAPS that he intends to make Aliyah next year and is already learning Hebrew, even if mastering the past tense is proving more difficult than expected.
The ALL CAPS panel
His decision, he says, crystallized after spending time in Israel during the war with Iran. For him, the events since October 7 have also changed what it means to defend Jewish identity publicly. "We're strong. We have Israel," Halmer says. "We're here to stay. And there's no getting rid of us."
Ariana Grande video sparks debate
Later, ALL CAPS turns to pop culture and Ariana Grande's new music video, with the panel questioning whether the depiction of old Hollywood executives evokes longstanding antisemitic stereotypes.
The discussion moves beyond one music video to the history of Hollywood itself, an industry in which Jewish immigrants and their descendants played an enormous role after frequently facing exclusion elsewhere in American society.
The panel debates whether the imagery is intentional, careless or simply being interpreted differently because of the surge in antisemitism since October 7.
Either way, the question at the center of the discussion is larger: At what point does an old visual trope stop being harmless entertainment and begin reinforcing stereotypes that have historically had dangerous consequences?
When an Israeli and Iranian become friends
The episode closes with a story that offers a very different vision of relations across seemingly impossible divides. Israeli Olympic judoka Sagi Muki and Iranian-born judoka Saeid Mollaei became symbols of an extraordinary friendship after Mollaei faced pressure from Iranian authorities to avoid competing against an Israeli.
Their relationship has since become a reminder that the hostility between governments does not necessarily reflect the relationship possible between people. At a moment when Israel and Iran are most often mentioned together in the language of missiles, military confrontation and regional war, their friendship offers another possibility.
And perhaps that message connects back to Falmer's own philosophy. Whether through judo or Jewish food, politics doesn't always have to be the only language people understand.
Sometimes a bridge can begin with a handshake. Sometimes, apparently, it begins with shawarma.