The Spiro Circle – Details, episodes & analysis

The world woke up today with the news that Israel and Hamas have finally secured a deal to release some of the hostages from the October 7 attack and slowly begin the end of the war.

It was news met with mixed emotions: some thinking the deal was a bad one and many just praying for the return of as many hostages as possible.

To discuss some of the details and emotions behind the arrangement, I invited Eitan Goldstein to share his views on the last 24 hours and predict the next stage in Israel’s journey of the war.

Readers of The Spiro Circle may already be familiar with Eitan. He is a Middle East expert who served as a policy NCO in the Foreign Relations division of the IDF. He was also a senior editor at Ynetnews, the English-language edition of Israel’s largest newspaper. Eitan currently works in public relations where he promotes Israeli organizations in the international press. He is fluent in English, Hebrew, and Arabic and previously wrote a story for us which can be read here:

Today we discuss:

* The details of the hostage deal

* The world’s reaction to the news

* Biden and Trump: Two leaders fighting for credit!

* Life after the war and ‘the least bad option’ for Israel

Please note that The Spiro Circle is still a new and growing project; the sound will improve as we grow in experience and equipment! I appreciate your patience.

Starting a new media venture can be daunting, especially since the results are published online for the world to see.

Of course, we all know that more often than not it is because the world does *not* see what is published. And it’s easy to be discouraged when your content is getting lost in the forest of creators.

I’ve been interested in this for a while; I purchased my microphone in 2019 intending to start a podcast - truthfully, that would have been the best time to do it right before a pandemic! Fate had other plans and it sat in my office collecting dust for a few more years.

2025 and things are different. Over the years I have built a strong network of founders, personalities, tech experts, and friends who have been instrumental in forming this new media landscape. And with everything going on in the world, now truly is the best time to jump in.

But it’s scary! Of course it is. To learn more about this process I spoke to Yoel Israel, the Founder and CEO of Wadidigital and founder of IsraelTech, an online show where innovators, VCs, and personalities all gather to share news from Israel’s tech community.

He’s already been in the game for a year and the chances are you’ve seen his content in your Instagram, X, or LinkedIn feeds.

Here are some of the things we spoke about:

* Taking the plunge to follow a passion

* Gamifying rejection

* Identifying tipping points

* Supporting the Israeli tech ecosystem online

* The future of media

* … and my own technical difficulties!

At the end, I battled a technical issue that I left in the show for two reasons: First, I needed a sign-off for the episode. But more important than that, I wanted to show the viewer at home the messy process this can take. Yes, there will be mistakes, but I hope over time to get more experience and help tell stories around the world.

I invite you to please tune in to the first episode and follow IsraelTech for more news.

https://x.com/YoelTIsrael

https://x.com/IsraelTech

https://www.linkedin.com/company/israel-tech

https://www.facebook.com/IsraelTech48/

https://www.instagram.com/israeltech48/

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For the last few months, I have been sharing written work and short video interviews conducted on behalf of my work at CTech. Today, I wanted to share for the first time here a long-form interview from its popular BiblioTech series.

A few months back I spoke to Judah Taub, Co-founder and Managing Partner at Hetz Ventures, about his book ‘How To Move Up When The Only Way Is Down’. It is designed to transform readers’ decision-making by recognizing Local Maximums and skill-building based on lessons from AI.

I first read Judah’s book in October 2024 when I was on a long-haul flight to the Philippines and it was a pleasure to speak to him about his experience, his writing process, and some of the practical lessons that can be gleaned by readers. The conversation was wide-ranging, but we managed to discuss some of the following topics:

* His IDF experience

* Jewish philosophy and ‘The Devil's Advocate Unit’ [known as ‘Ipcha Mistabra’ in Hebrew]

* The Netflix/Blockbuster competition and the Theranos story

* What modern-day businesses can learn in their journeys

Judah Taub is co-founder and managing partner at Hetz Ventures. Previously, he served as Head of Data for Lansdowne Partners as well as an advisor to multiple young startups. In the Israel Defense Forces, Taub served as an officer in a classified intelligence unit where he engineered a large-scale project that won the IDF 2014 Creativity Award.

Please enjoy the video, and feel free to read the (slightly edited) transcript directly on CTech.

I hope that there will be more video content in the future, so watch this space!

The Spiro Circle is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

Here I tell the story of my experience visiting Kfar Aza and Nova, two sites impacted by the Hamas attack across Israel on October 7, 2023.

I discuss the following topics:

* The pain of the locals in the Kibbutz

* The Nova site and modern-day memorials

* Israel’s new responsibility as a site for “Tragedy Tourism”

* UNRWA trucks were giving aid… but no one talks about it!

My latest article, published in The Times of Israel, provides an in-depth review of my day. You can read it below:

https://blogs.timesofisrael.com/kfar-aza-and-me/

This week, I spoke with Hillel Fuld, an American Israeli business technology advisor.

A lot of you are probably already familiar with Hillel. He's got a large social media following online where he talks about all things Israeli high-tech, Startup Nation, Zionism, but also Israel's fight with Hamas.

Importantly, he's also fighting for its reputation as it struggles to gain sympathy among young people.

I wanted to speak to Hillel about a bunch of things. Honestly, we could have spoken all day. But we limited it to Israel's tech sector and also the fight online against ‘anti-Zionism’ - which, as many of us know, is often a dog whistle for antisemitism.

We spoke about some of the media personalities in the space and how they've tackled the conversation surrounding Israel. Notably, Piers Morgan and Joe Rogan’s recent episode with Dave Smith and Douglas Murray.

We also spoke about Israel's tech sector and what the anti-Zionists may be missing when they think of Israel.

Those calling to boycott our country underestimate the presence that Israel has in shaping the technology of our world.

I hope you enjoy.

The Spiro Circle is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

Today, I wanted to dive into another episode from the CTech BiblioTech archive. This time, my conversation with Nimrod Vromen, author of “Prompting Happiness: A Guide to Prompting a Life Worth Living” recorded in July, 2024.

The book is an exploration of the human condition and the pursuit of true happiness. Nimrod navigates the complexities of midlife challenges, leveraging the potential of AI to provide practical strategies for personal growth and well-being.

In perhaps one of the first times I can think of, Nimrod also openly admits to using ChatGPT to help him pen his work.

“When I suddenly started playing with ChatGPT in October 2022, my philosophizing exploded because I felt that I was playing around with a technological revolution that was akin to the atomic bomb,” he told me during the episode. “I felt that I had seen technological revolutions in my 17 years as a professional. I saw the Internet in 1999 as a teenager, and computers before that in 1993. I thought to myself, ‘there's been nothing like this’. Every single technological revolution since the atomic bomb was an acceleration of a process that humanity has been dealing with forever, which is a process of interconnectivity, working together, and increased productivity.”

“But if you think about the atom bomb, that's a revolution where you do not live in the same world afterward. You think about AI now in that context, a day before this revolution. Humans are defined by their subjective experience of life and their collective experience of life, which is defined through their communication with one another, right? A day after AI passes the Turing test, the whole experience is going to change because now I can connect with infinite versions of humans. It's just a different world. And that set me off on a course of thoughts about my profession, about my family, about education.”

Nimrod is Founder and CEO of Ark Empowerment and Consiglieri - aiming to transform the world of professional services with AI. He is also the Chief Growth Officer for the Startup Sector at Arnon, Tadmor-Levy, after 16 years as a corporate lawyer at the firm. For the soul, he wrote and produced “Startup: Confidential”, an internet video series hosted on CTech and Calcalist, and authored “Prompting Happiness: A Guide to Prompting a Life Worth Living”. The book follows Nimrod as he addresses the complexities of modern life while offering a road map for navigating those intricacies, ranging from stimulating conversations on the future of AI to helpful strategies for fostering happiness in an increasingly digital society.

Those interested in an extended written interview with Nimrod can find it on CTech via following this link.

You can also buy your own copy here: https://www.amazon.com/Prompting-Happiness-Guide-Worth-Living-ebook/dp/B0D369PVDN

This week, I decided to do something a bit differently. I wanted to post a video episode from BiblioTech, a CTech video series I produced just over a year ago.

In the summer of 2023, I interviewed several authors about their newly published books, and today’s episode will be from its archive: Meet Yaniv Rivlin.

Yaniv is the Founding General Manager of Bird in Israel, where he also ran the EMEA Government Partnerships department. Before that, he co-founded and served as the Executive Vice President of Comtribute, a company that provided organizations with an online platform to raise funds and engage with consumers.

When we recorded this episode in September 2023, he had just celebrated the English release of "Live Like a Startup: Take The Initiative and Transform Your Life”. The book, originally published in Hebrew, was a #1 bestseller in Israel and is available now for readers looking for invaluable insights on creating genuine, lasting success in business and life.

“It is totally chaotic, but our life is chaotic. One of the things that I talk about throughout the book is getting into that state of fear,” he told me at the time. “When you start a startup, you take a risk. You go into that state of fear.”

In some ways, The Spiro Circle has been my startup. I left my comfort zone to take on a new task, learn a new skill, and make myself more vulnerable. I am incredibly proud of what I have achieved so far and look forward to seeing all the ways this project will go in the future.

For now, please enjoy our conversation. We discuss:

* Yaniv’s personal journey and the start of his career.

* The concept of Israeli “Chutzpah” and how it helps founders.

* What business leaders, entrepreneurs, or startup founders can learn from this book.

You can also read my entire interview with Yaniv on CTech’s website, which goes into far more detail about his book and journey.

Those who enjoyed our conversation are invited to purchase Yaniv’s book here:

https://www.amazon.com/Live-Like-Startup-Initiative-Transform/dp/B0CGL4H5S5

I’ve been thinking a lot about parenthood recently. Those who know me personally will know that I have my first child on the way. In the summer, I’ll be the father to a little boy - and I couldn’t be more excited and more nervous.

But today’s world isn’t easy for boys. They’re being raised to think that any masculinity they possess is somehow toxic. Or that they should or should not be acting a certain way.

On top of that, western nations are seeing men as the victims of deaths of despair - that is, death by suicide, drug overdose, or alcohol-related illness.

Women are outpacing men both in terms of university degrees and salaries in some working areas, making men’s traditional roles more obsolete.

This has all been on my mind. Men need strong mentorship, family structures, and inspiring leaders to help them grow and succeed - but where from?

This week I spoke to JP Dumas. Originally from a working-class upbringing in LA, he dodged the twin evils of gang violence and the crack epidemic, to become an executive in corporate America.

I wanted to hear from him about his journey and the lessons of resilience and leadership. I hope you enjoy it.

Notes:

* You might see my camera angle change for a few minutes - that was just a little technical glitch!

* At the start of the video, I make reference to JP currently working with children as a mentor. This is incorrect and something he did in the past.

As I approach the 10-episode milestone of this podcast, I have been on a journey to discover what exactly I want this to be. I am meeting with guests who all have unique insights or experiences in their personal lives or in a professional capacity.

It’s been a challenge, but I feel each episode gets a little easier; every time I whip out the camera, I get a little more confident at producing these, and each episode gets a little better.

I suppose what I’m trying to say is that I remained motivated to keep going - to overcome the obstacles of making this show and keeping a positive mindset.

This brings me to my latest guest, Swati Shirname. Swati is originally from India and moved to the United States to embark on several high-level jobs before becoming an executive at a corporate company. Then, she went off on her path and wrote a new book: “Generative AI for Leaders: Playbook for Innovation.” [link below"]

She did all this while being the single mother to two young daughters and overcoming not one, not two, but three different diseases over her life that doctors described to her as ‘incurable’.

This week, I spoke to Swati about her career trajectory, the parallels between parenthood and executive leadership, and how mindset really can be everything.

I hope you enjoy it.

Check out her book here: https://www.amazon.com/Generative-AI-Leaders-Playbook-Innovation/dp/B0DPLP4C2S

It's no secret that Israel’s reputation has taken a tumble after the Hamas attack on October 7 and the subsequent war fought in Gaza, headed by Iran and its proxies.

We’ve all seen the online conversation and the physical protests at college campuses and across the streets of European countries.

Whereas many of Israel’s supporters suggest that a loud minority creates this noise, sadly data is showing this changing sentiment toward Israel has further intensified: a poll by YouGov shows that in the last five months, American sympathy toward Israel has dropped: despite maintaining a plurality of support, the second highest number of respondents are now ‘unsure’.

The 4% drop in support represents 10 million Americans.

This news was also coupled with Israel’s dead-last ranking on the 2024 Nation Brands Index, thanks to perceptions among Gen Z as a country associated with the "forces of chaos" rather than as one contributing to global stability. This makes it less popular than North Korea, Russia, or other Middle Eastern countries.

I spoke with writer and strategic consultant Joanna Landau about these findings and what they mean for Israel in the future. She is the co-author of “Ethical Tribing: Connecting the Next Generation to Israel in the Digital Era,” and we discussed a variety of topics:

* The YouGov poll that shows a fall in American support for Israel

* How countries can improve their reputations

* Taking the reputation fight onto the online battlefield

* Joanna’s new initiative, Israel & Partners, to help improve the country’s reputation

You can find a link to her book, which I recommend (with no commission!), here:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Ethical-Tribing-Connecting-Generation-Digital/dp/1959840347

Enjoy!