Founded in 2013, TLV1 is an English-language podcast network based in Tel Aviv. Our acclaimed shows engage local and international audiences on topics in Israel that matter, whether from street-level or the hallways of government. Our podcasts are produced and recorded in the TLV1 studios located in Tel Aviv, a city which represents Israel’s progressive voice and is its cultural barometer.
Location
TLV1 shows are produced and recorded from our studios in Kikar HaMedina, Tel Aviv. The studio has a rich recording tradition; it was previously a venue where some of the greats of Israeli rock, from the legendary bands ‘Natasha’s Friends’ and ‘Eifo Hayeled’ to singers-songwriters Meir Ariel and Efrat Gosh, were recorded.
Who We Are
Avner Shelem – Founder
Avner was a General Partner in Ascend Technology Ventures, a fund that invested in early-stage technology companies. He also served as the General Manager of Gasonics International (NASDAQ: GSNX) and COO of AG Associates in San Jose, California. He’s held senior positions at Intel, both in the Silicon Valley and in Israel.
Itai Shelem – Studio Manager
Itai is a podcast fanatic. He grew up on NPR, back when it was broadcast over the airwaves, and later transitioned to downloading and syncing his favorite shows to an iPod. A child of the Silicon Valley, he returned to Israel after completing his master’s at Duke University.
Gizem Ozdemir – Audio Engineer
Gizem is responsible for all our fantastic-sounding podcasts. They simply wouldn’t sound the same without her professional touch. She records, edits, mixes, and masters everything that comes out of the TLV1 studios.
Niv Elis – Contributor
Niv Elis is a reporter at The Hill, focusing on federal spending and economic issues. Prior, he spent five years reporting from Israel on business and economics for The Jerusalem Post. @NivElis
Miriam Herschlag – Presenter, WhyWhyWhy!
Miriam is opinion and blogs editor at The Times of Israel. She was an anchor, reporter and editor at the Israel Broadcasting Authority’s English TV and radio news programs. She lives in Tel Aviv.
Susan Warchaizer – Presenter, WhyWhyWhy!
Susan is a gynecologist, and new to the world of stories and podcasts. She lives in Tel Aviv with her sweetheart Noah, her amazing children, their beloved dog, and the cat. If anyone goes into labor during the story telling, she’ll know what to do.
Noah Efron – Presenter, The Promised Podcast, WhyWhyWhy!
Noah is a senior fellow at the Shaharit ‘think-and-do’ tank, and he teaches at Bar Ilan University, where he was founding chairperson of the Program in Science, Technology & Society. He also served on the Tel Aviv-Jaffa City Council. @noahjefron
Allison Kaplan Sommer – Presenter, The Promised Podcast
Allison grew up in the smallest state in the US, before settling in another small state – Israel – in 1993. She is a journalist at Haaretz.com, where she has a blog that chronicles the mix of the extraordinary and mundane that makes up the fabric of Israeli life. @AllisonKSommer
Don Futterman – Presenter, The Promised Podcast
Don is the Israel Program Director of the Moriah Fund, and Director of the Israel Center for Educational Innovation. He is a columnist for Ha’aretz and a frequent blogger for Open Zion of the Daily Beast.
Guy Sharett – Presenter, StreetWise Hebrew
Guy Sharett has always loved languages. Today he teaches Hebrew in the INALCO University in Paris, France. He has a B.A in Hebrew Language from the Hebrew University in Jerusalem and an M.A in Southeast Asian Studies from the University of London. Guy speaks seven languages. @Guyshiel
Gilad Halpern – Presenter, The Tel Aviv Review
Gilad is a journalist, broadcaster and media historian. He is also a founding co-editor of the Tel Aviv Review of Books magazine, an English-language online quarterly, and an Idit Fellow at the University of Haifa, researching the history of the Jewish press in Mandatory Palestine. @Gilad_Halpern
Marcela Sulak – Presenter, Israel In Translation
Marcela is an associate professor of literature in the Shaindy Rudoff Graduate Program in Creative Writing at Bar-Ilan University. Her fourth book-length translation of poetry, Twenty Girls to Envy Me: The Selected Poems of Orit Gidali, was nominated for the 2017 PEN Award for Poetry in Translation.
Samuel Green – Presenter, Kol Cambridge
Samuel, aka DJ Antithesis, founded Kol Cambridge at the University of Cambridge in 2005. After a few years in the Geneva HQ of Procter & Gamble, he moved to Israel, and in 2012 left the company to become a licensed tour guide.