Free Daily Podcast Summary
LIZ’S COFFEE CONNECTION: Daily Summaries Delivered
by Liz Hirsh Naftali
Tired of all the bad news? Liz’s Coffee Connection is a weekly podcast hosted by Liz Hirsh Naftali, featuring real conversations over coffee with thoughtful voices from all walks of life. Each episode explores stories of heart, humanity, and hope—reminding us what’s still good in the world. Part healing balm, part caffeine pick-me-up for the soul, this podcast invites you to stop doom scrolling, start joy scrolling, and remember that we have far more that connects us than divides us.
Latest Episodes
The most recent episodes — sign up to get AI-powered summaries of each one.
- 1 weeks ago37 min
Rabbi Noa Kushner: Pretend You Believe, Lead with Humility, and Re-dig the Wells | S4E5
Liz sits down for a virtual coffee with Rabbi Noa Kushner, founding rabbi of The Kitchen in San Francisco and author of Pretend You Believe: How to Enter Religion. Noa traces her lifelong conversation with God back to an apple-picking childhood in Sudbury, Massachusetts, and to the teacher who left a two-word note on her desk that she never forgot. She explains how her years at Brown made her want to be a bridge between tradition and the modern world, and why she started a Shabbat in one of the most secular cities in the world. She also explains why a synagogue should never be a customer service institution, and why the way into religion is to experience it before you analyze it. Plus: the story of Isaac re-digging his father’s wells, her rapid-fire favorites, and the meaning behind the name Noa, which she shares with Liz’s daughter.
- 2 weeks ago52 min
Shira Efron Israel Election 101: Coalitions, Blocs, and a Country at a Fork in the Road | S4E4
Liz sits down with Shira Efron, senior fellow and distinguished chair of Israel policy at RAND, for a clear and human guide to Israel’s election. Shira explains why Israelis vote for parties instead of people and how a party that misses the 3.25% threshold can make thousands of votes disappear. She also explains why no one will know who leads the country on election night. She breaks down the Netanyahu bloc, the opposition led by Gadi Eisenkot, Naftali Bennett, and Yair Lapid, and the Arab parties, who represent 21% of Israel’s citizens and may decide the outcome. Liz shares why a national commission of inquiry into October 7 matters so deeply to her family. Plus: the issues voters care about most, what people abroad can do, and what still gives Shira hope.
- 3 weeks ago51 min
Etienne Maurice: Walking Good, Healing Together, and Leading with Love | S4E3
Liz sits down with her “nephew” Etienne Maurice — actor, filmmaker, and founder of the nonprofit Walk Good — for a deeply personal conversation about service, survival, and community. Etienne traces his instinct to serve back to his grandparents, his mother, his father, and his stepfather, shares how the killings of Ahmaud Arbery, George Floyd, and Breonna Taylor led him to gather more than 400 people in a Mid-City park and launch Walk Good, and why he believes healing has been sold to communities of color as a luxury instead of a birthright. He opens up about surviving gun violence 14 years ago, the grief and substance use that came before it, and the sobriety and purpose that came after. Plus: meeting his wife Stephanie, his rapid-fire favorites, and why he defines joy as living without shame.
- Oct 6, 202641 min
Jonah Platt: 'I'm Here to Speak as One of You, Not for All of You' | S4E2
Before October 7th, Jonah Platt was a Broadway leading man — he starred in Wicked, booked TV and film roles, and built a career in entertainment just like his father before him. Then everything changed. Liz sits down with Jonah, now host of the #1-ranked Being Jewish with Jonah Platt, to talk about the moment he realized his effort belonged somewhere else. Jonah opens up about growing up a natural leader since kindergarten, meeting his wife while starring in Hair at the Hollywood Bowl, and the Mark Cuban quote that pushed him to pivot his entire career. He talks candidly about being Jewish in Hollywood right now, why he's back in school for a Master's in Antisemitism Studies, and the tattoo — Gam zeh ya'avor, this too shall pass — that keeps him grounded. The conversation closes with Jonah's rapid-fire favorites and his hard-won thoughts on where he still finds hope.
- Sep 29, 202637 min
Todd Gloria Grace, Grit, and a City Built for Everyone S4E1
Todd Gloria is San Diego’s first mayor of color and first openly gay mayor — a legacy rooted in a grandfather who wore a three-piece suit every day, even to mow the lawn, just to be seen as a man worthy of respect. In this conversation with Liz, Todd opens up about the shy kid who found his voice, why he’d rather tell people what they need to know than what they want to hear, and how he’s tackling San Diego’s housing crisis as mayor and president of the U.S. Conference of Mayors.
- Aug 11, 202619 min
Francisco Palomares: Painting a Visual Diary of Downtown LA | S3E22
Liz sits down with East LA-born painter Francisco Palomares in his downtown LA studio for a conversation about art, migration, and belonging. Francisco walks through paintings inspired by childhood car rides with his mom through the fashion and flower districts, his 2022 piece “City of Inmates,” and the piñata paintings that explore both celebration and what it feels like to be “the other.” He shares how a high school teacher's encouragement led him to Ryman Arts and a scholarship at USC, how his mother's journey from Michoacán inspired his “Homage to My Mothers” series, and why he sees vulnerability as essential to being an artist. The conversation closes with Francisco's rapid-fire favorites and his reflections on the small, everyday moments that bring him joy.
- Aug 4, 202620 min
Charlie Edmiston: Art, Legacy, and Finding the Studio That Was Meant to Be | S3E21
Liz sits down with LA-based contemporary artist and muralist Charlie Edmiston for a conversation about creative freedom, mentorship, and the pull of home. Charlie traces his path from a childhood spent constantly drawing, through Otis College where he found his way from graphic design into fine arts, to the years he spent supporting his art practice with freelance design work so he could paint without pressure. He opens up about the moment his work started selling in a meaningful way, the toll of making art to please collectors, and how he found his way back to creative freedom. Charlie also shares the personal story of how his grandfather's downtown LA clothing store led him, decades later, to his dream studio in the same neighborhood — the historic Bendix Building. The conversation closes with Charlie's rapid-fire favorites and his reflections on choosing joy, even through difficult moments.
- Jul 28, 202625 min
Jonah Elijah: Painting Memory, History, and the Bad American Dream | S3E20
Liz visits the Los Angeles studio of painter Jonah Elijah, whose work reimagines childhood memory, Black history, and identity through portraiture, assemblage, and sculpture. Jonah walks through a globe sculpture series exploring the history of the term “Globetrotter,” an assemblage piece built around a spinning bicycle wheel from his old Houston neighborhood, and an ongoing “Prayer Series” rooted in his own childhood memories. He shares how growing up in Houston's Third Ward and playing sports for most of his life led him, almost by accident, to painting in a college class for non-art majors — and how that class changed the course of his life. The conversation also covers his “Bootlicker” series, his surrealist “Bad American Dream” body of work, and his reflections on freedom, respect, and what joy really means to him.
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About LIZ’S COFFEE CONNECTION
Tired of all the bad news? Liz’s Coffee Connection is a weekly podcast hosted by Liz Hirsh Naftali, featuring real conversations over coffee with thoughtful voices from all walks of life. Each episode explores stories of heart, humanity, and hope—reminding us what’s still good in the world. Part healing balm, part caffeine pick-me-up for the soul, this podcast invites you to stop doom scrolling, start joy scrolling, and remember that we have far more that connects us than divides us.
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