Being Jewish with Jonah Platt

Jonah Platt: [00:00:00] We're all familiar with the narrative by now, a young Jew, typically between 18 and 35 years of age, often a day school or Jewish summer camp grad announces themselves as a member of the anti-Israel crowd via social media posts or through conversations with family or friends. Perhaps they don't even fully announce it.

Jonah Platt: Cognizant of the backlash they'll receive from their childhood communities. More often than not, these are not the people wearing masks and kafis and harassing Jews on the streets. More often than not, they strongly identify as Jewish, but without any connection to Israel, which sounds like a contradiction to us, but isn't to them.

Jonah Platt: Usually this specific kind of anti-Israel Jew is of Ashkenazi descent. They're at least second generation American. Usually third or more, they were raised conservative or reform and are not particularly observant. Now they're not meaningfully connected to Jewish life in their day-to-day activities.

Jonah Platt: They don't go to Temple. They are not involved in any [00:01:00] communal programs or on any Jewish boards or connected to legacy Jewish organizations. They don't have children. They do have strong Jewish roots. They are Jewishly literate. They know the holidays, the prayers, the songs, the customs. They were bar bat mitzvah, had Jewish wedding ceremonies.

Jonah Platt: They've likely never been to Israel or have only been with family or as a student, and usually not very recently. To categorize these folks as anti-Jewish or self hating is to misunderstand them entirely to participate in the same binary polarized thinking, being weaponized so effectively against mainstream Jews by our enemies.

Jonah Platt: You're either pro-Israel or a self-hating antisemite. As usual. The truth is much more nuanced. Allow me to illustrate the reality with a concrete example, the 2022 hit song, pink Pony Club by Avowed anti-Israel recording Artist Chapel Rone, both because it's an app [00:02:00] parallel and because it's been stuck in my head for three years.

Jonah Platt: It tells a story of a young, free spirited queer Genzer who leaves behind her traditional Tennessee upbringing, which she still openly loves and thinks of all the time to join the world of the Pink Pony Club, a special place where everyone's a queen every single day. It's where she belongs. In this scenario, Tennessee is the childhood Jewish community of our young anti-ISIS.

Jonah Platt: Israels. It represents their parents, teachers, synagogues, family, friends. This is a community with whom they share bonds of love and history, but also when they left some time ago and no longer have any engagement with on a day-to-day basis. Not out of shame or spite or any fault of the hometown, but simply because it's not the Pink Pony Club, it's no longer their core community.

Jonah Platt: It's no longer where they belong, and there's nothing inherently wrong or malicious about that. The Pink Pony Club represents the leftist progressive [00:03:00] community in which they have been building their adult lives. We love to use the term echo chamber with its decidedly negative connotation to describe folks who surround themselves entirely with people who act and think as they do, but in practice, if we're being real, another way to say echo chamber is friend, group or community.

Jonah Platt: Most of society functions this way. You're not a sheep or an idiot because you and your friends have the same values, priorities, ideas or approaches. If your friends are going out to a restaurant, are you a sheep for also going there because you enjoy doing what your friends do and trust they picked somewhere good.

Jonah Platt: That takes into account your likes and dislikes. As usual, when there's discord and misunderstanding, it means we aren't talking to each other, we aren't asking questions and listening to the answers. Instead, we're making assumptions from our own viewpoint rather than discovering the truth of theirs. And the truth is that though anti-Israel Jews are obviously viewed as an [00:04:00] extreme fringe minority within the mainstream Jewish world, AKA Tennessee, that world is not of great importance to the Pink Pony clubbers anymore.

Jonah Platt: Who matters to them are the girls and boys inside the club. They're true community, and within this circle, they're actually the majority. So when mainstream Jews wonder how these young folks are standing against their own community, remember they aren't. Your community is not their community anymore. And herein lies the actual problem.

Jonah Platt: One, that it's too late to solve its scale for this current crop of kiddos, but must be urgently corrected for the generation just behind them and forevermore. Other than the profile I've already outlined. Two other things need to be true for these specific kinds of anti-Israel Jews to exist. The first is that they must already be estranged from the day-to-day life of the mainstream Jewish community.

Jonah Platt: If there's nothing Jewish about you except the way you were raised, that's basically the same as being born in Oklahoma and living in Japan. It's where you came [00:05:00] from. It's a part of you and it always will be, but it has very little to do with how you spend your time, prioritize your life, or move throughout the world.

Jonah Platt: The second condition, and in a way these two are linked, is that to be an anti-Israel Jew, you must by default, uneducated about what Jews are, what Israel means to Jews, and the reality of life on the ground. In Israel, any person of any stripe who is well educated in these three areas cannot possibly be anti-Israel.

Jonah Platt: They can be anti the current government as a huge number of both Diaspora and Israeli Jews certainly are. But when you have all the facts, you cannot possibly remain anti the entire country in the face of them unless you truly are an anti Jew racist who wants to see us destroyed, which as we've already established, it's not usually the MO for this particular group of Jews.

Jonah Platt: Now, you might be wondering if these Jews are not actively connected to the community and only know about this conflict through cherry picked [00:06:00] facts and the privileged lens of assimilated American Jewish culture, why are they saying anything on this topic at all? And it's the right question to ask. The answer is exactly what I discussed in my monologue two episodes ago.

Jonah Platt: Contemporary Society and the pervasiveness of social media have given people the false notion that they are both obligated and entitled to weigh in on the topics of the day, regardless of their capacity to meaningfully do so. In other words. People who, as we've established know little about Israel and are not actively connected to the mainstream Jewish community, feel a social responsibility to weigh in on the former as representatives of the latter.

Jonah Platt: And with this microphone thrust upon them and no ability to engage on the topic in a deep or nuanced way. They find themselves backed into a corner, pick a side they know they can't possibly be on the side of the group that's killing God and children on their TikTok feeds. So that must mean they're on the [00:07:00] other side.

Jonah Platt: It's the binary trap. Even if they believe, as many of these anti-Zionists do, that Israel actually does deserve its own sovereign state, which would in fact make them Zionists. But tomato, tomato, they still consider themselves part of the anti-Israel camp because they can't possibly be pro. If pro means being on the side of the army that's bombing babies.

Jonah Platt: We've talked about this a hundred times on the show. People with no grip of the subject dumping their low information opinions into the public sphere with seemingly no desire to get it right, which is precisely the case here. These are folks with no skin in the game, so there's no incentive for them to take the time and effort required to actually get it right in their circles.

Jonah Platt: They're already right, and to do the extra homework takes intention and effort that they simply don't care enough to put in. If they did, they would've already done it in the first place. A year ago I met with some folks from Search for Common Ground, a [00:08:00] global conflict resolution organization actually on the ground with key stakeholders working on geopolitical stalemate like this all around the world.

Jonah Platt: The idea that stuck with me from that meeting was that it's always the people who are the least involved. I. The least touched by a conflict, who formed the most rigid opinions and are the least helpful in bringing the conflict to an end. Think about that. Those are our well-meaning, but woefully misguided anti-Israel Jews, they remind me of Tom and Daisy Buchanan from the classic novel, the Great Gatsby Careless people.

Jonah Platt: Careless people who smash things and then retreat into their carelessness and let other people clean up the mess they made. It's maddening, it's dangerous, it's irresponsible, it's shameful, but it isn't nefarious. It isn't Jew hatred. It isn't self hatred, and it honestly isn't that difficult to understand.

Jonah Platt: These are disconnected, [00:09:00] uneducated people surrounded by like-minded peers, all reinforcing one another in their disconnected, uneducated worldviews that they're not all that concerned with anyway, and are only focused on because progressive society says they're supposed to be. So what do we do about it?

Jonah Platt: Well, we deal with the present and we deal with the future For the present, we need to stop being hypocrites. You don't wanna be painted as a baby killer just because you're a Jew who supports Israel. Don't paint every anti-Israel Jew as a self hating Hamas supporter because they don't like seeing children starve or get crushed by buildings.

Jonah Platt: We need to talk to the anti-Israel Jews in our lives using my four Cs of difficult conversation, of course, which you can find in episode six if you're new here. Communication leads to understanding and with understanding there's at least room to breathe, to be connected. Room for love and respect. The changing of the minds part, if it happens at all, can [00:10:00] only happen once there is mutual respect, trust and understanding.

Jonah Platt: You need to pave the road first before anybody can meet you on it. As for the future, we need to deal with this problem. A few clicks upstream. The problem isn't that disconnected. Uneducated Jews are turning against Israel. The problem is that we're failing to stop our children from becoming disconnected.

Jonah Platt: Uneducated Jews, the onus falls on both the parents and our Jewish institutions. Jewish children must understand that we are a people, an ancient tribe for whom religion is, but one facet of always share. It's much harder to disconnect from your family than it is from your soul. Jewish children must know that Jews are not rich, white Europeans, but that the world is full of Jews, of all colors and countries and socioeconomic backgrounds, and even the ones who present as white do so conditionally.

Jonah Platt: Jewish teens must know the history of our people, not just the Bible, and not just the Holocaust, but [00:11:00] everything else in between. They must understand that they live on a point, on a long line of resilience in the face of Unceasing persecution. They must know what happened to us in England and France and Spain and Russia and North America.

Jonah Platt: They must know the ins and outs of 48 and 67 and the fall of the Shah and the far and the adas and every other pivotal moment in Israeli history from all angles. If all we're teaching them is holidays songs and Tikun Olam, we can't be surprised when the only things they know about being Jewish are holidays, songs and tikun Olam.

Jonah Platt: We can fix this. We have to fix this, and we will. If there's one thing Jews know how to do, it's endure. And so we beat on oats against the current, but we always find a way. This is the 35th episode of being Jewish with me, Jonah Platt. Hey, Jewish people. My guest today [00:12:00] is all about putting smiles on people's faces, putting delicious food into his.

Jonah Platt: He's a rising star in the social media world with half a million followers who all tune in to be part of the multicultural community he's building. Through his unique blend of humor, earnestness, and 11 secret herbs and spices, he is the epitome of an ally who not only lifts up other communities, but stands up for them too, especially ours in this difficult time when fellowship means so much.

Jonah Platt: Started from the bka. Now he's here. Please welcome the Babka King himself. Chris cares none.

Chris Caresnone: What's up brother?

Jonah Platt: Welcome. That's a hell of an

Chris Caresnone: intro.

Jonah Platt: Thank you. I, you know, I try, I, I try to do my best.

Chris Caresnone: That was a good intro. Thank you, man, for saying that for sure.

Jonah Platt: I think, I feel like this is the black and white cookie the world needs right now.

Chris Caresnone: Is that how it was started? The black and white cookie? What? Blacks and white people. No, but makes it's chocolate and vanilla. It makes, okay.

Jonah Platt: Alright. So this is not gonna be an ordinary episode of being Jewish because I don't have just an ordinary guest here. I got the B King. So we're gonna do a little Chris style food tasting as we go.

Jonah Platt: Okay. And I'm gonna show you some [00:13:00] LA's most delicious Jewish foods. I'm, I'm an Angeleno. I'm born and raised. Got a lot of pride for this city. I think LA is the best food city in the world. Mm. You know, I'm putting that down there. Mm. You know, because we, we got, we have a lot of places that'll fight with that.

Jonah Platt: I know. But we got, we got everything. We have every ethnicity, every geographic representation. Like everybody who's good comes here and makes their thing here. So. Makes sense. You know. So we're gonna start off, uh, and our intern, Sasha and our, uh, EP Matthew are gonna come on in with some delicious looking Barca plates.

Jonah Platt: Okay. Okay. Thanks y'all. These are from our friends at Barca. Sephardic Pastries in Sherman Oaks. Uh, chef Uzi Wizman and Gal Bengo. And, uh, we got two different kinds. So you're Holden, you've got, uh, the potato filling, which is like classic Barca, and then they also do a, a cheese and spinach, which is like the fan favorite.

Jonah Platt: These barass, uh, came from a, a Turkish pastry called a barre, which means to twist. And, uh, Turkish nomads spread [00:14:00] them all over the Ottoman Empire. So that's why you have people do their own version of this. Yeah. Asia, middle East, north Africa. And the Sephardic version Breca is sort of a mix between the Breca and empanada.

Jonah Platt: So they like sort of filled it up and close it out. Less the twist. Yeah. 'cause they got that Spanish heritage and, uh, it's now like a staple of Israeli cuisine. 'cause all the different people who ended up in Israel are eating this thing. So let's, uh, let's give it a taste. Which one you starting with?

Chris Caresnone: I'm gonna go, uh, spinach.

Chris Caresnone: Spinach. Let's do it on,

Jonah Platt: this is about to be an A SMR show.

Chris Caresnone: All right. You said the first one was potato?

Jonah Platt: Yeah. Potato and brown butter.

Chris Caresnone: Okay. That sounds fire. Mm-hmm. So let's do this. All right, I'm gonna do this. Mm-hmm. That sauce is fire. Mm-hmm.

Jonah Platt: Wow. I didn't think I was gonna like this potato on as much as I did, but this was really good.

Jonah Platt: I think I might like it better. Mm-hmm. Not as delicious

Chris Caresnone: actually. Really good bro.

Jonah Platt: Growing up at my Jewish, at my Jewish sleepaway camp, they would give us BCAs and they were terrible and I didn't want to eat them at all 'cause they were gross. Like these are [00:15:00] so much flakier. The filling is so good. Butter.

Jonah Platt: Like this is definitely the best brown I've ever had. Brown. It actually really

Chris Caresnone: is good, like no joke. What's that place called again?

Jonah Platt: Barass. Sephardic Pastries what? Legit out the valley. Legit.

Chris Caresnone: Alright.

Jonah Platt: All right.

Chris Caresnone: Hey, BA King can prove y'all. He was good. Yeah, and I, like I said, I'll be honest, I like the potato one better.

Chris Caresnone: They're both good.

Jonah Platt: So how'd you get into this whole thing, this food game? The BA King, all of that.

Chris Caresnone: So I do have to go back a little bit. Yeah. What started, uh, I heard a quote once. Okay. Don't create the content, be the content.

Jonah Platt: People connect to the authenticity. That's like the number one thing they tell you to do online.

Jonah Platt: It's like my whole thing, bro. Yeah.

Chris Caresnone: So I've, I've always just been kind of like showing my personality and things that I, talking about what I'm working on. So you can go back, like if you went through my social media, you could tell what my focus in, in life was. Even in the podcast. Like in the beginning it was just because, and then it turned into entrepreneurship, then it turned into, uh, social anxiety, like, [00:16:00] and it just, I'm just be, be the content,

Jonah Platt: right?

Chris Caresnone: One day randomly driving DoorDash, ah, I stopped and I looked at my phone and I had a, uh, I said, Hey, white people. Sorry. And mind you, I've been around a ton of whites my whole life. I grew up in a very wide area and I said, how long y'all gonna hold out on the fact that apples and cheese is a good combination?

Chris Caresnone: So I made this video and it did well. And one thing, uh, about social media is when you find something that clicks, you attack that thing, that idea. So then the comments actually gave me the content. So they're like, oh, you think that's good? Wait till you try this. Oh. So then I said, okay, I'll try that.

Chris Caresnone: Right? And then I just kept doing those things. Um, then I. It was a lot of white people content in the beginning. So then I just, I said, no, lemme switch it out. What can I do? And then I went to like Mexicans, right? Because I live in a very predominantly Mexican area now. And I said, Hey Mexican people. And then that picked up [00:17:00] steam.

Chris Caresnone: And then I just did all these different cultures and I'll be honest, in the beginning, I didn't want to feel like I was pandering. So that was like, I think the way to not feel like I'm pandering is to do all the cultures. That's to do everybody, right, have fun with it, and learn again, be the content. I think I've always said this, my perfect life would be to just travel the world, talk to cool people, and try cool shit.

Chris Caresnone: And it, it, it got a conflict, which

Jonah Platt: was crazy. Yeah. You're doing it. I

Chris Caresnone: always said that, like, that's, that's what I wanna do. I didn't make any Jewish content for like seven months. There was no reason. I just, it didn't come top of mind until a buddy was like, dude, come to this place. I think it's called Max and Beanie or something about the house of Jewish Deli.

Chris Caresnone: So we went there and we had Crep lock, what's in this?

Jonah Platt: You got Masi Ball, you got CRE lock, you got actual chicken.

Chris Caresnone: And I had that chocolate phosphate drink and it was, it was a great time. Right.

Jonah Platt: Those are hit and miss for me though. All of us. Sometimes I think it's delicious. I've heard of times it's, it depends out how it's made.

Chris Caresnone: You know what's funny that we'll circle back, but people always tell me, does you like everything? 'cause [00:18:00] like, well first of all, I was 417 pounds. I like food. When were

Jonah Platt: you

Chris Caresnone: 417 pounds? I think 12, 13, 14 years ago. Damn. And lost 175 pounds. Wow. Um, so yes, I like a lot of food. Right? Yeah. Clearly you don't, you probably like a lot of food if you get that heavy.

Jonah Platt: I know you're getting a lot of love from a lot of different people. What kind of messages mean the most?

Chris Caresnone: Believe it or not, the the Jewish ones man, because I, I guess I didn't realize the, the effect, 'cause I'm like, I'm just trying pop, like Right. Somebody sent me something, I liked it. Like honestly, it was so, oh, this whole thing is so organic.

Jonah Platt: Yeah.

Chris Caresnone: And there's so many people from rabbis to famous people to the regular Joe Schmo who's like, dude, thank you. Like genuinely mm-hmm. No, no. Don't want anything. I, you know how many times I get, I've never reached out to anybody before online. I get that like 30 times a day now. Wow. And I literally only tried the food and said it was good.

Chris Caresnone: I didn't say, these people are better than those people. I didn't say [00:19:00] I, like, I just said, this food is good. Like I do all the cultures. Right. Sure. And it's just kind of interesting that I did that and the Jewish culture was like, we're going to, we're gonna ride with them because I only showed love to the food, which means that what you guys are going through, it's clearly a thing.

Jonah Platt: Yeah. It'd

Chris Caresnone: be one thing if I was like. You know, pro, pro Israel and everything that, all I did was say, damn, the Barack are awesome.

Jonah Platt: Right?

Chris Caresnone: And then I got that death threat. And I'll be honest, I was a little like thrown back. 'cause I never got something like that.

Jonah Platt: Like a real one or just like a No no.

Chris Caresnone: They, they found my per, not even my business address, or they found my personal email and sent some of the craziest things I've ever heard.

Chris Caresnone: Damn. I remember thinking like, damn, I, am I gonna, you know, am I gonna die over it? Talking about Bob? Like seriously?

Jonah Platt: Yeah. Yeah.

Chris Caresnone: But then I thought about, I said, you know what, man? This, this is your double down moment. I feel like, like, this is, so, my favorite quote in the history of reality is, oh, my top two is the treasure [00:20:00] you seek is inside the cave.

Chris Caresnone: You're afraid to enter. Mm-hmm. And so whenever I feel like a little fear. Fear, yeah. It's like that, that seems like the, that's the sign.

Jonah Platt: Yep. You know? Yeah. I, I, I think of that in terms of like, the hard thing to do is usually the right thing to do. A hundred

Chris Caresnone: percent.

Jonah Platt: Yeah.

Chris Caresnone: And so I was like, you know what?

Chris Caresnone: I'm a double gun in my whole life, bro. My whole life since I was a kid, I've been that way. Yeah. I'm the kind of person who I feel like it's my, like I used to bully the bullies in high school because I was four. I was a big dude and you know, I was the prom king. People liked me. So like, I would always, I didn't bully people unless I saw you bullying someone, like come mess with me and I was four oh pounds.

Chris Caresnone: No one was messing with me. Yeah.

Jonah Platt: Sounds to me like you're a leader. I mean, that's what that sounds like. You know, when there's a space to be filled, you say, okay, I'm gonna go fill it.

Chris Caresnone: You know, my teachers used to always, so I was a little, I was a class clown, right? Yeah. Used to, used to class clown a lot.

Chris Caresnone: And I'd be in, uh, you know, my grandmother. Like, you know what Chris is, the class follows him. If he's not being disruptive, then the [00:21:00] class isn't being disruptive. I was the same

Jonah Platt: way. A man, I used to get in trouble all the time 'cause someone else would be doing something and I'd be like, why am I in trouble?

Jonah Platt: Like, you started this, I and you're a kid. I'm like, I don't know what you're talking about. Yep. But they feed off your energy when you're the leader and you know that's something you gotta learn. And I learned from a young age that you, we can really have a power full effect on the people around us, whether we know it or not.

Chris Caresnone: And it's kind of like kind of reflects back to what's going on now. 'cause I don't feel like I'm doing anything. People calling me a hero and shit. What do, what do you mean a hero? I'm just being Chris. Yeah. They don't, I'm trying Bobcat, to me, it's not a hero thing to do and it's weird how it's become that.

Chris Caresnone: Yeah. Which makes me feel like it's, that's why it's natural. It don't even feel like I'm doing anything. Yeah. I go around and have a conversation and try cool shit.

Jonah Platt: Yeah. What do you think that says about the Jewish community and like how things are right now? The fact that you eating Bob makes you a hero.

Chris Caresnone: It is very interesting that I literally just tried their food and they took that as a culture to say like, thank you for not being a dick. Right. [00:22:00] Essentially. Right. And I, and, and listen, all the cultures show me love, don't get me wrong. Right. But it was overwhelmingly, and a lot of times it's the. Since October 7th, it is been fear.

Chris Caresnone: I, I'm scared to tell people I'm Jewish. I'm like, damn. And I'm sitting here. You got this black dude, not Jewish who's just proudly like yeah, the bas dope, who calls himself the Bka King. But to me it wasn't like a scary thing, right? I grew up in the North Shore, which is I, I learned as one of the top five biggest Jewish populations in the country.

Jonah Platt: I was just there on Monday. I was in Glenco.

Chris Caresnone: Yep. I know the area very well. Yes.

Jonah Platt: That's down. You were, you grew up in Wheeling.

Chris Caresnone: Yeah. But like Deerfield, Buffalo Grove, all that. Yeah. Yeah. Very Island Park. Yep. The one thing about Wheeling, I would say is it was more diverse than a lot of the other schools. I mean, we had Indians, black, white, Mexican, Jews, like it was, it was, it was out of all the neighboring schools that felt like we were the one of the most mixed, and, and I'll be honest, man, how I thought about America, how I've always envisioned it from what I stories and books is it was a melting [00:23:00] pot.

Jonah Platt: Yeah.

Chris Caresnone: I thought that that's what the whole America thing was like. We're the giant melting pot. Totally. And it's kind of interesting that it seems like the half of the country's like, eh. You know, it's kinda like, I'm like, damn, that's just not what I believe. And you go over to that side of the pot, the golden rule.

Chris Caresnone: Right. Treat people how you want to be treated. Like me, don't look at me for being a black dude. Look at me for being Chris. Yeah. Am I cool or not? And, and I'm going to bet on me that you'll probably think I'm cool.

Jonah Platt: Yeah,

Chris Caresnone: right. As long as you don't have preconceived notions about what you think. Right.

Jonah Platt: Yeah.

Chris Caresnone: So that's the answer to that question.

Jonah Platt: And I know growing up you, you had a difficult family situation. Your mom died young. How old were you?

Chris Caresnone: Uh, 14.

Jonah Platt: Okay. So not little, little but not little. Little but but young. But young.

Chris Caresnone: But to be fair, my grandmother raised me little. I know. Yeah.

Jonah Platt: And, uh, your dad was not present.

Chris Caresnone: 0%.

Jonah Platt: 0%. Is he, have you seen him since? Don't even know his name. Don't even know his name.

Chris Caresnone: I would say that my upbringing was, uh, was tough when, when you [00:24:00] think about it from perspective of like everyone else. Now I look at it as the best thing that's ever happened.

Jonah Platt: In what way?

Chris Caresnone: Because it, it gave me like resilience of life early.

Chris Caresnone: Right? Yeah. So I got to feel some shit early.

Jonah Platt: Yeah. And you got through it. You go, I can get through this. I get through a hundred

Chris Caresnone: percent of them.

Jonah Platt: Yeah.

Chris Caresnone: There's nothing I, as a matter of fact, I always like, so I, I do, I do public speaking.

Jonah Platt: Yeah.

Chris Caresnone: And a lot of times in my speech, I always say like, well, think about it.

Chris Caresnone: Think about every time you, I I'm ask you

Jonah Platt: Yeah,

Chris Caresnone: yeah. In your life, every time you've ever been like, oh no, I'm, I'm screwed. Yeah. You've survived a hundred percent of those. Exactly. And I know that for a fact because you're talking to me now. Now that don't mean you didn't have to feel it a little bit life.

Chris Caresnone: You gonna feel life, right? You had to sleep in your car for a little while. Maybe you got arrested, but you survived it. So that gives me a lot of like ease going forward. Once I realized like, damn, I, dude, I am like, first of all, humans in general are pretty overall resilient.

Jonah Platt: Yeah.

Chris Caresnone: Like we're just a resilient [00:25:00] species on this planet.

Chris Caresnone: Totally. But then like personally, damn, I overcame a lot and you know, so I got diagnosed right in 2021 with chronic lymphocytic leukemia. So for three days all I hear is what L Lou what? Yeah. L Lou. What? And, and all I heard was the C word cancer, right? Sure. And so for three days, bro, and to me this is actually the sauce, man.

Chris Caresnone: This the sauce. Because in those three days when I thought I was dead right, a hundred percent. You know what? I was not thinking about money.

Jonah Platt: Right?

Chris Caresnone: Fame girls. Clothes, none of that shit. Not even family. Honestly. You know what I was, what I was really thinking about just not being here. Like, damn, I'm not gonna, I'm gonna miss this thing.

Jonah Platt: Yeah.

Chris Caresnone: I'm gonna miss this thing called like life, you know, like, I don't know. And I just, and then when they were like, the doctor's like, come on in, I gotta tell you some stuff. So, and this is during the COVID time, so you couldn't have no one come in. So my buddy Steve was on the, was on the speakerphone.

Chris Caresnone: Listen, just for support

Jonah Platt: with you. I mean, you [00:26:00] must be terrified.

Chris Caresnone: Horrid, right? Yeah. So then the, he's like, so I think I know what you got. You don't have to do a bi, we don't have to do this. We don't have to do that. I think you have something called CLL. I'm pretty for sure. I'm like, okay, what the hell is that right?

Chris Caresnone: And he's like, it's a very slow moving cancer of the blood. I'm like, okay, but you're going to, you're good. We got all kind of medicine. The medicine's dull and it's improving every six months. So I'm like, like real, really? He goes, yeah. I'm like, so, so I said, clear cut. Am I gonna live? He goes, you're gonna live.

Chris Caresnone: The feeling, bro. And I'll never forget. So finally after I go downstairs, Steve is waiting out in the car, I'm like, Hey. I'm like, I'll never forget that feeling. And we were like, bro, crying. He's hugging me like, you know, he's, my God. He was also there when I lost my mom too. That's why this guy's my, yeah, he's your ride die.

Chris Caresnone: He was next to me when I heard my mom died. So then, and then the hug, you know, you know how guys can get weird about hugs? No, man, he let me give [00:27:00] him the whole energy. Yeah. And I'll for like 20 minutes and I'm sobbing, and, and he was there. So he's always there. He always shows up, you know?

Jonah Platt: Mm.

Chris Caresnone: And to, to circle back.

Chris Caresnone: I take that shit serious because of these kind of things. So like, if I, if if you are in, you are in, so like, even like the Jewish community, y'all putting me, we in, we in now. You know, y'all, y'all showing me love, I'm gonna show it back.

Jonah Platt: All right. That seems like a good place to take a little break. Get a little more food.

Chris Caresnone: Let's do it.

Jonah Platt: So, I know you've had Shawarma before. Well, this is special. This is unlike any shawarma you've had. This is, uh, from our friends at Avi Q in Studio City from Chef Lene. Uh, this is Wagyu Shawarma. Yeah. I think they use Australian Wagyu.

Chris Caresnone: My bad. Yeah, man. So

Jonah Platt: a little background for those who don't know Shawarma, it's another Turkish origin kind of food.

Jonah Platt: Like the Breas, uh, comes from the Turkish word chema, which means to turn 'cause it's on that spit. Oh yeah. And that's how you make it. You turn it around, it's all over the Middle [00:28:00] East.

Chris Caresnone: You know, it's, it's ironic 'cause uh, somebody followed me today and I followed him. I think it's Kevin Hamilton, black Jewish guy.

Chris Caresnone: He's like, dude, Kenny

Jonah Platt: Hamilton. He's been on this show. Kenny. Kenny. Kenny was my third guest. Kenny around here? Yeah. Yeah.

Chris Caresnone: Okay. So he hit me up and he's a man and he goes, shout out to Kenny. Yeah. Shout out to you. He goes, dude, trust me. Go to this place. Yep. And I was like, all right, because I'm leaving in the morning.

Chris Caresnone: I'm like, all right. I got, and I was like, I gotta go. He goes, trust me. He goes, I'm a black Jew. Yeah. And what he says, he goes, trust me. Go there. And then it was this ironic that y'all brought it in. So shout out to you, bro. Hell yeah.

Jonah Platt: And they do it simple like some shwarma places. They're putting in all kinds of stuff.

Jonah Platt: This is just tomato, parsley, onion, little tahini. That sesame sauce. So it's like

Chris Caresnone: you, you like letting the meat do the taco. Exactly. Okay.

Jonah Platt: There's, you got tahini on the side, you got souk on the side. It's like a Yemeni spicy sauce.

Chris Caresnone: Okay.

Jonah Platt: So you can do a little dip in there, but um,

Chris Caresnone: does it have add, you know this, this looks crazy.

Chris Caresnone: [00:29:00] Yeah. Insane.

Jonah Platt: The PETA's so good too. Really soft p

Chris Caresnone: little messy. But it's why That's good. What one

Jonah Platt: is always messy.

Chris Caresnone: Holy. So that wa good. You can taste that.

Jonah Platt: Yeah.

Chris Caresnone: It's different.

Jonah Platt: Mm-hmm. It's like a thicker, thicker cut of meat.

Chris Caresnone: Wow. Yeah. All right, I'm get one more good bite. No,

Jonah Platt: check your time. I'll start talking.

Jonah Platt: You can keep beating. Your real name is Chris Campbell. You become, Chris must laugh first. Is that what you said? Make laugh. Make laugh now. You're Chris cares. None Where cares none come from.

Chris Caresnone: I told you I was started off with comedy sketches. Right. At the end of each video, I would say Cares none. And that was like my way of saying, regardless of what you feel about this joke I made, it cares none.

Jonah Platt: Right.

Chris Caresnone: So it's essentially like a, I don't matter what you think, it has evolved since then because now how I look at it, it is. 'cause it used to be like, I don't care what people think. Right. But the more soul searching I do, I think it's obvious. I [00:30:00] care a lot. I think I, I make it known. I think just my actions.

Chris Caresnone: I used to be called sensitive as a kid, and, and albeit I, I agree now.

Jonah Platt: Yeah. Sensitive as an adult.

Chris Caresnone: I heard a quote once that said, the trick to life is to love everyone while not giving a damn what they think. And I've been trying to like live my life and, and aim for that.

Jonah Platt: Yeah.

Chris Caresnone: And it's, it is a, you put yourself in a difficult game when you're on social media playing that game.

Chris Caresnone: Right. Ever since I could remember, I have always felt like I should be on a stage. Like, so even like in eighth grade, or I think it was like the eighth grade talent show, like I, I went up and I remember being like kind of terrified. I did it and I did it. It was a great moment. All the, all the lights, I loved it.

Chris Caresnone: Right? Uh, and then life happens and I gained all the weight. And then you, you, you get the jokes and all this kind of stuff. And then I kind of, uh, started to like lose, like confidence in, in, in myself. And then I came across something called, uh. Exposure therapy.

Jonah Platt: Okay. [00:31:00]

Chris Caresnone: And it changed my life, bro.

Jonah Platt: That means you just doing the thing that you don't wanna be doing.

Chris Caresnone: The the treasure you seek is inside the cave. You're afraid to enter, right? That's right. I'm like, oh, it makes sense. You gotta feel it in order to do it. But even before that, logically, so there's something called the spotlight Effect, and they studied this at Cornell University, and this changed the game for me.

Chris Caresnone: They studied this.

Jonah Platt: Okay.

Chris Caresnone: So what it means is it's the tendency for people to overestimate how other people perceive them.

Jonah Platt: Oh, yeah. We, we always think people are thinking about us. No one's thinking about it. Think about yourself. You're always thinking about yourself. Everybody's thinking about themselves.

Chris Caresnone: Until somebody says that and it clicks, it clicked. I'm like, that's a good point, man. We're all, so, we're all focused on everyone. Looking at us. So how could you be, how could you be looking at me when you know, you think I'm looking at you, right? Like logically. Um, so then what I did, I said, okay, and now I don't know what I gotta do.

Chris Caresnone: So I did the exposure therapy, and I would literally, and I got this all on, on social media, and this is where I like, first blew up, blew up, blew up doing like these, uh, I would wear like crazy wigs and like very funky [00:32:00] wigs. And I, uh, and I'd put mustard on my, on my beard and mayonnaise. Like, I would just do crazy stuff, googly eyes.

Chris Caresnone: I would go to the pump on a gas tank and ask for like a dollar 15 on pump one with googly eyes. And the guy would be like, are you being serious? I'm like, yep.

Jonah Platt: What's the exercise there? Just like making a fool outta yourself publicly to feel

Chris Caresnone: comfortable. Right. Being,

Jonah Platt: being, being, doing, being perceived uncomfortable stuff because I, I'm an

Chris Caresnone: extreme guy.

Chris Caresnone: So then what would happen is I would realize in the ca like I would be editing the clip. Mm-hmm. And people would walk by then, no one's looking.

Jonah Platt: Right. You think they're looking

Chris Caresnone: no one

Jonah Platt: notice

Chris Caresnone: exist.

Jonah Platt: Yeah. They don't even know you exist, bro. They're think they're gonna to their appointment. You know? That's what they're thinking about.

Jonah Platt: I'll

Chris Caresnone: you another example. I was sitting there, uh, one day this back when I was a big boy, big boy, and I'm eating chicken wings at the Jewel oco. Shout out to Jewel Great Wings. They got great wings. They calling wings zings or something really good. And I'm sitting there parked on like my lunch break eating chicken, right.

Chris Caresnone: Doing my thing, which is already just hilarious. This black dude. You're filming yourself? No, no, no. This is, no, I was just eating on for [00:33:00] lunch. Okay. And then a lady pulls next to me, right? And I remember feeling like, I don't want her to see me eating these wings. I don't know why. That was just the feeling I had.

Chris Caresnone: So like, in hindsight, that's a, it's crazy that like that my brain went there. 'cause like number one, human beings eat. It's not weird, right. But I felt like it was weird.

Jonah Platt: I feel like there's gonna be a lot of people who really relate to that story. Oh, I know for a fact.

Chris Caresnone: Yeah. People gonna see because that's so I kept putting myself in that idea, that thought.

Chris Caresnone: I just keep doing that. And then I, I kept doing the cont and then I kind of overcame it.

Jonah Platt: Yeah. I, I, you and I are similar in a lot of ways. For me it wasn't social anxiety. It was a DHD and when I became, I got diagnosed as an adult and like understanding what that meant for me, unlocked all this stuff, I was able to start dealing with it in, in a way that was, I could work with it and use it to my advantage or understand where it wasn't working for me.

Jonah Platt: Gimme an example. So like, uh, here's, here's a [00:34:00] phrase that's really changed. The way that I think about A-D-H-D-A-D-H ADHD is not people who don't know how to pay attention. It's people whose brains have a hard time choosing what to pay attention to. Mm. So like last night, I'm trying to work on the outline for this show, and my wife watches TV to go to bed.

Jonah Platt: Next thing I know, I've been like watching Grey's Anatomy for an hour. Oh. And I, because I like when it's on. I have a hard time doing both of them at the same time. But when I now that, but I know that about myself, so I can be like, all right, I gotta shut this off so that I can do this thing

Chris Caresnone: now. Is that like a chemical thing in the brain, or is that the way our, the way we live in our lives on the phone?

Chris Caresnone: No, it's

Jonah Platt: a brain thing. It's really, our brains don't produce the same amount of dopamine. So we like our, uh, our, it's something about like searching for dopamine in, in ways that the regular brain doesn't have to. So like your brain, if you're looking at something, even if it's boring, your brain is gonna be releasing dopamine, which like rewards you for staying and paying attention to it.

Jonah Platt: My brain isn't giving that dopamine, so I'm not getting the chemical reward for being there. So I'm looking for something else that's got [00:35:00] the, the dopamine

Chris Caresnone: that works actually, that makes it, makes sense. I never knew that. Mm-hmm.

Jonah Platt: Wow. Yeah.

Chris Caresnone: Okay.

Jonah Platt: Yeah. So. But then once I realized that that is, that

Chris Caresnone: curable,

Jonah Platt: it's not curable.

Jonah Platt: Like you can't get rid of it, but you, you can take different medicines that like affect different parts of it. And then the big thing is like learning behavioral things. It's mostly behavioral. Like I know that if I don't, if I'm doing something that's out of routine, I need to bring this package to UPS, which I don't do that every day.

Jonah Platt: If I don't leave it right by the door where I can see it, I'm never gonna remember to bring it with me. Mm. I have to see it all the way. 'cause I'm gonna forget.

Chris Caresnone: All right, brother,

Jonah Platt: your hat be dope. That's the saying of yours. It's the merch. What does that mean

Chris Caresnone: to me? I'd rather live in a world where everything feels awesome.

Chris Caresnone: Right? Some people are like, well, that's not realistic. This whole idea about being realistic and, and that always kind of threw me for a loop. And I, and I understand what you're saying, but think about it. If you would've asked them or told somebody 2000 years ago, dude, one day you're gonna have a thing in your pocket that you can talk to [00:36:00] anyone real time across the world or on the moon.

Chris Caresnone: Right. They would've been like, dude, that's not realistic. That's crazy.

Jonah Platt: Right?

Chris Caresnone: Or you're gonna be able to get into this silver tube and fly anywhere within 15 hours. Back in 2000 years ago, they'd have been like, that's not realistic. You, you're gonna be able to drink water that doesn't kill you. All kind of stuff.

Chris Caresnone: Right? All kind of stuff. So it's like, man. So to me, I think about that when someone tells me like, something's not being realistic, which actually goes to my third favorite quote. So that's my, then the first two is my third one. They shout out to my grandmother, like, planned

Jonah Platt: it.

Chris Caresnone: Lemme tell you the story. I was a sweet kid.

Chris Caresnone: Very adorable

Jonah Platt: dude. When, when you, when you tried Bob for the first time in that video, like you look like a child. Oh, it was on that Christmas morning. Good. Your face like lights up like a little kid. That's what I thought when you were eating. Yeah.

Chris Caresnone: You know, at least I was told I, I was adorable. So I used to always say, man, I can't do that, man.

Chris Caresnone: Even if it wasn't bad, she'd be like, oh, go play with those kids. Like, oh, I can't, [00:37:00] I go pick this up. I can't. And I, I guess I must have said I can't one too many times. And my grandmother was pissed. She goes, you know what? That's it. She gave me a pen, gave me a piece of paper, and she made me write 100 times.

Chris Caresnone: I'm like, nine. If you think you can't. No, I wasn't Nine. Probably like 12. If you think you can't say, you can. And I was pissed. I was so mad. I was so mad because as a child, I'm thinking, you are mad at me 'cause I can't pick the box up. You're mad. Mm-hmm. I'm in trouble.

Jonah Platt: Not fair.

Chris Caresnone: Right. That's what I'm thinking.

Chris Caresnone: And mind, mind you, she's my grandmother, not my mom. Like, you're not even my mom. Like, I, I hit her. 'cause I was, I was feeling it. Yeah. But she stayed strong. Nope. Don't care. Right. Finally, after calming down and finishing it, she rewrote in her very nice penmanship. Right. And then she put it on my wall. For like the next eight years.

Chris Caresnone: It was, if you think, you can't say you can't end my, it was like the essence. So even if, even if I didn't see it, it's the essence in my [00:38:00] room. Right? That's the energy of my room is you can accomplish it. Right? You know what, I never had thought about it until that story came up about my grandmother making me write that, and I'm like, I had like this epiphany, like mm-hmm.

Chris Caresnone: Oh, it's my grandmother in that specific moment, because you, I don't think you can find anything online with me saying I can't do something.

Jonah Platt: Right. I

Chris Caresnone: despise that shit. I like, if, if you were to like, as a matter of fact, let's say we're sitting here and, and we're talking about making social media content.

Chris Caresnone: You're like, oh, I can't do that. Like I, my knee jerk reaction to be like, okay, my filter goes in. I gotta help this person believe that he can.

Jonah Platt: Mm-hmm.

Chris Caresnone: That's like my content, like, and that's just who I am. I can't help it. Like I'll, I'll be talk, I'll be at a bar and like this guy just bombing with this girl, right?

Chris Caresnone: Just totally doing everything wrong. And I can't help myself to be like, dude, come here. I got you. And give him some game. Right? I just feel like it's my job and no one's told me to do that. It just feels right. And more often than not, no, sometimes it's not great. Some people are like, dude, I don't need your help.

Chris Caresnone: And I'm [00:39:00] learning that, right? Mm-hmm. Um, and maybe I'm kind of moving the goalpost a little bit, but what I'm learning now about helping is to just be the lighthouse, right? You shine the light and then the people who are ready to see the light, they'll come. And if they crash, even though I was shining the light that's on them, that's not on me.

Chris Caresnone: And to me, I would've wanted to get those people too. But that causes suffering inside of me. If I'm trying to put you on, and I know it's your need, but you not there yet. Not right or wrong, just your, your journey. And they used to, I'm like, man, you're not getting it. And I would get frustrated. Mm-hmm. So now I'm teaching myself still deal with it.

Chris Caresnone: Sure. Just be the lighthouse, bro. Be the lighthouse. Be the example. Right. And just, and just trust that biton. Yeah. Yeah. What does

Jonah Platt: that mean, Beaton? I forget

Chris Caresnone: radical trust. Ah, right. Knowing that God's got you regardless. Right. You where you're supposed to be. And like, man, I, I'm writing a book on that right now [00:40:00] actually.

Chris Caresnone: Um, on, on radical trust and energy currents, but that's so true from my worldview is that dude, just trust the moment. Because think about it from this perspective. What's more important than right now? That's all there is. Literally. Yeah. The, the, the past don't even exist.

Jonah Platt: Yeah.

Chris Caresnone: The future don't even exist.

Chris Caresnone: Yeah. You know what exists right now, and, and that's where the sauce says, and you start meditating, doing all that kind of stuff. You start to, and then when you think you're dead for three days, you realize no, that really is a thing.

Jonah Platt: Yeah.

Chris Caresnone: Because then I don't need nothing. Right. Because I'm already good.

Chris Caresnone: I'm good. I'm good right Now, let me ask you a question.

Jonah Platt: Yeah.

Chris Caresnone: If I offered you no strings attached, do whatever you want.

Jonah Platt: Okay.

Chris Caresnone: A million dollars cash, tax free, whatever you want. Would that be cool? Would you accepted?

Jonah Platt: Yeah. That sounds cool to me. Obviously. Yeah.

Chris Caresnone: What if I said a hundred million?

Jonah Platt: Great. Even better.

Chris Caresnone: Now, what if there was a caveat? Okay, a hundred million. You're good. How about this? A [00:41:00] trillion?

Jonah Platt: Okay,

Chris Caresnone: but you can't wake up tomorrow, would you take it?

Jonah Platt: No, of course not.

Chris Caresnone: Why not?

Jonah Platt: What good is the money if you're not allowed to use it?

Chris Caresnone: So what you're saying is. Your life as is today is priceless. That's right.

Chris Caresnone: And we forget that we be forgetting that shit. We forget that shit. Yeah. And, and I know, 'cause I'm like, I, I felt the like No, it really is priceless. Yeah. Because when you think you're gone. That, that feeling is like really a thing.

Jonah Platt: Yep.

Chris Caresnone: And I, and I lead with that now. So like now, now my social anxiety is gone because I'm like, what could, what could you say?

Chris Caresnone: Like, even if you're like, dude, I couldn't stand Chris terrible podcast. It still don't accept it. It still does not negate the fact that I would rather be alive. I'd rather you think that I sucked and still be alive than not. All

Jonah Platt: right, let's go into, uh, course three here. So we had the deo, we had the shawarma, and now we're gonna have a little dessert.

Jonah Platt: Do, is it Bobcat? Can you read this second word for me? Kill hell. Hey. Okay. You know, now you know what the sounds are, Lord. [00:42:00] So, uh, the, the little bow tie guy is called ol. These are from bees bakery also in the valley. All three spots in the valley. A lot of, a lot of Jews and Israelis up in the, up in the valley here in la uh, been in LA since 1968.

Jonah Platt: So the ol comes from the Yiddish word for K, which means cake. And Kiko is like little cake, and it's kind of like shtetl food. Do you know the word shtetl? Mm-hmm. Like the, the small Jewish village kind of food where it's just eggs, flour, and sugar. Mm-hmm. So like real frugal. It's like if you didn't have milk, you didn't have butter, you could still make this.

Jonah Platt: And, uh, and it's pared. Do you know that word?

Chris Caresnone: Yes. Uh, with no meat. No

Jonah Platt: meat, no milk

Chris Caresnone: is par. Right? Okay. Yeah.

Jonah Platt: So then you can have it with whatever you're having. So there's no milk, no butter actually in both of these. So this is Parv. Uh, the second one is called, well, now, just for fun, let's see how you say it.

Jonah Platt: It's not too hard. The bottom one.

Chris Caresnone: Oh, Mandel bread.

Jonah Platt: Close Mandel Bread. Oh, okay. But I lot people

Chris Caresnone: told me to try this, so this would be the first time I've [00:43:00] tried that, for sure. Oh, hell yeah.

Jonah Platt: Okay, so this is Mandel Bread, which comes from, uh, I wish I

Chris Caresnone: could said that

Jonah Platt: right close. You know, I was hoping you were gonna say Mandell Bread.

Jonah Platt: Oh, shout out to my cousins. The Mandels, actually. Okay, let's take that one. Uh, it comes from the Yiddish for Mandel Bright, which is almond bread. So it's like made with almond. They're sort of like, um, do you know what a ucci is?

Chris Caresnone: No.

Jonah Platt: Like, do you know Biscoti? Yes. In Italy. It

Chris Caresnone: kinda looks like that. Yeah.

Jonah Platt: So do you know what I learned?

Jonah Platt: I was just in Italy. So biscoti just means like cookies in Italian. Really? Ucci is actually like what we think Biscoti are. Really? Yes. And I didn't, I didn't, this never, I've never known that. They were like, do you want a tuchi? I was like, what are you talking about? That's a biscoti. So

Chris Caresnone: if I go to Italian joint, say I want a Biscoti, they'll be like, what?

Chris Caresnone: What kind They'll be Which

Jonah Platt: one? Yeah. Yeah. So it's like a biscoti, but a little softer. That's why we got coffee with us. 'cause it's gonna be good with the coffee. They, they bake it twice, so it's like a little crispy. Always have almond, but sometimes they throw in like a cinnamon or a cranberry or whatever.

Jonah Platt: All kinds of funky

Chris Caresnone: things. Like a Bosco. Like a Bosco.

Jonah Platt: Like a Bosco. Yeah. So, um. Help yourself. All right.

Chris Caresnone: Okay. You got the coffee too? You got the coffee and the got the brand [00:44:00] bugs. I know you like your coffee.

Jonah Platt: Folgers, Folgers. No, we got intelligentsia, man. You're a dipper with these. I'm dipping

Chris Caresnone: all. Let's see.

Chris Caresnone: Keep em kind of, it's like Bosco. I would've dip.

Jonah Platt: Little softer.

Chris Caresnone: It is softer. All right, so, oh, these are light.

Jonah Platt: Mm-hmm.

Chris Caresnone: So do you dip these or you eat these in

Jonah Platt: you? You can dip. It's less dippy than, like, it doesn't automatic dip. It. It'll work. I'm gonna try it first, right? Yeah. Yeah. It'll work.

Jonah Platt: Alright, good ahead. Yeah. I like that better than the, than this Mondo.

Chris Caresnone: Me too. I like the consistency.

Jonah Platt: Mm-hmm. It's kind, it's like airy

Chris Caresnone: a little bit, but like not too airy. Alright. You said it's not a great dipper though, huh?

Jonah Platt: No, no, no. I think you can, it's like, it's not, um, necessarily the natural dip, but it, it does work.

Jonah Platt: Alright.

Chris Caresnone: Let's see.

Chris Caresnone: I see what you're saying. It's, um, like, you can, but it, it's better to do it regularly. Yeah.

Jonah Platt: I think it's better by itself. This is like, you [00:45:00] would have this like, uh, a lot in synagogue at the end of like the Saturday Shabbat service. You would have like a, it's called a kiddish. It's like they do the blessing over the wine and there's like some snacks and whatever.

Jonah Platt: And this is where you might find a kle these days.

Chris Caresnone: You know, it's funny, I've been invited to maybe like 4,000 Shabbats. You been to one? Seriously. I have not been to one in your whole life. I have been to a Passover though.

Jonah Platt: Wait your whole life. And Cedar

Chris Caresnone: never been to one. Never was invited.

Jonah Platt: If I didn't have to go to this wedding thing tonight, I would, I would invite you to my house for Shabbat.

Jonah Platt: Like, we gotta get you to a Shabbat next time you're in town. A hundred percent. You gotta promise me you're coming over for Shabbat. Love that I'm done. Because Shabbat is like all about being present. That's, oh, I feel you'd really like it. It's like you talk about preserving energy. Shabbat is literally, let's take a break from the week.

Jonah Platt: If you're super observant, you're like, you turn off the electricity, you turn, you don't work, you turn everything off. And it's just about slowing down, being together, making this day different from all the other days by chilling. The way that a friend of mine, uh, spoke about it once, shout out to David Susa, is it's making [00:46:00] time.

Jonah Platt: Holy. And I, I just love that way of thinking about it, that like, we're gonna appreciate this time in the present because we have to, every week we have to make ourselves be present and, and sanctify that time. Dude, I feel like it's right up your alley, man. So

Chris Caresnone: I'm, I'm gonna talk about this from the non-Jewish perspective.

Chris Caresnone: I'm not a, I'm a Gentile. I'm a Gentile. That's right. And um, the whole idea, I think all cultures. I should consider that practice. Yeah. Especially with the cell phone age.

Jonah Platt: Exactly.

Chris Caresnone: Right. Like so you mean to tell, and we all know this, we all know everyone on earth knows that, uh, we're all hooked on these things.

Chris Caresnone: So to make it a priority,

Jonah Platt: that's it.

Chris Caresnone: Like, no, we're going to do that. Everybody. I don't care. Jewish or not. Mm-hmm. Whether you like Jews or not, you could use that practice. Yep. So I'm, I'm all for I Do you ever been to a float tank? Yes. Once. Sensory deprivation. Yep. It's like the same principle, but that's only, but it's, it's the same principle.

Chris Caresnone: You for an unplug for [00:47:00] an hour and I know how great I feel after unplugging for an hour. So imagine unplugging every week for the day with the people you, with the people you care about. Yeah. How could that not be great?

Jonah Platt: Exactly. Where are you traveling to next? What's next on your agenda? Yeah, I'm going to Israel.

Jonah Platt: No way. Oh, what can you tell me about that?

Chris Caresnone: Yeah, so there's a, there's a, uh, organization called Reality.

Jonah Platt: Yes, I know Reality. Sure. So they invited me. Are you going with like

Chris Caresnone: storytellers? Yeah, the entertainers and influencer section. I just know me right now, being in Israel is going to be one of the most like, big energy shifts.

Chris Caresnone: It just feels right. Right. It just feels like me being out there just feels right. And the amount of dms and comments we need to get you to Israel. Right? Oh my God, they gonna be so

Jonah Platt: psyched to see you there.

Chris Caresnone: It was for reality, but they were very ambiguous about exactly what it was. Right? Mm-hmm. So then we, there was this mandatory Zoom call.

Chris Caresnone: The people who were there kind of talked to you about it, and then I kind, and I asked the question like, like, what are we doing here? Right? What is the, are you you trying to [00:48:00] tell me a story from one specific lens because mm-hmm. And I'll say this publicly and I'll take it what it is. I am not the Jewish guy.

Chris Caresnone: I am the humanity guy. Mm-hmm. The Jewish people happen to rock with me heavy. You see what I'm saying? Totally. I'm never gonna pick a side again. The side I'm picking is be versus humanity versus aliens.

Jonah Platt: Yeah. Yeah. I'm

Chris Caresnone: picking alien, or I'm alien. I'm, I'm sorry, I'm picking the aliens. No, I'm going here so that I, and I wanna make that Every interview I do, every podcast I do in any publications, I make that very clear.

Chris Caresnone: It's about humanity, period. It just so happens that it all worked out the way it's working. Yeah. And I'll show love all day, but I, I'm not a side picker.

Jonah Platt: You don't need to be.

Chris Caresnone: And, and, and no one's made me, but I just, I just know, like, and maybe this is my own fears and stuff, like optics and, and doing this.

Chris Caresnone: And then like, if I make a Palestinian piece of content and, and you know what? I'm gonna say it publicly. I can ask you a, a question in good faith. Yeah. So my whole thing [00:49:00] is like building bridges.

Jonah Platt: Yeah.

Chris Caresnone: Even when it's uncomfortable, I've made it very clear, I say in a lot of my captions, if you rock with what I'm rocking with you are, you are at least a little bit okay.

Chris Caresnone: With considering talking to someone who you might not like. Mm-hmm. You are, you are. At least you might not be there. But let's see,

Jonah Platt: it's something you want, you're aspirationally there at least

Chris Caresnone: Yes. That that, yeah. That you like, I just want this stuff to stop. This ain't right. And, and, and obviously I don't understand what's going on with the conflict.

Chris Caresnone: Right. It's, it's big as hell. Right. Yeah. So I, I also care about my Jewish community, but I also care about the Palestinians too.

Jonah Platt: Sure.

Chris Caresnone: And, and it's funny 'cause a lot of my dms and Jewish people are saying, Chris, we don't want that. We want like good, like we, we don't want all this. Right. And I, I get that a lot.

Chris Caresnone: So I'm like, okay. I know personally from what I'm hearing, the people like, we, we don't all this stuff used on tv. That's not how I feel. Right. I get a lot of that.

Jonah Platt: Yeah.

Chris Caresnone: So here's my question to you. How would you feel knowing what you know of me and my content strategy, if I had wore, if I did [00:50:00] like a, a babka and I'm like, same thing, but I'm wearing a hat with a Palestinian flag, how would that make you feel?

Jonah Platt: Interesting. It's a tricky question. If the video would be exactly the same. Yep. I wouldn't even mention, I wouldn't

Chris Caresnone: even mention the flag at all. It would just be in there.

Jonah Platt: I mean, it would certainly color the way I would receive the video. I, I, knowing what

Chris Caresnone: you know of me though. Yeah.

Jonah Platt: I mean, I, I would have a, I would have questions and I'd want to be like, can you ask me those questions now?

Jonah Platt: Yeah. I'd be like, are you from Palestine? Is that why Iraq? Are you trying to make a statement in this video?

Chris Caresnone: I mean, it'd be the same reason why I'd wear the Israeli one. I wear Israel flag in all my content too. You know what I'm saying? I'm not, I'm not scared to, to show love to the Jewish culture. I'm also not scared to show love.

Jonah Platt: But it'd be, it'd be one thing if you were wearing an Israeli flag and eating a Palestinian food with no explanation and no context.

Chris Caresnone: I would like to talk to the people that I don't rock with. Like I'd be willing to talk to someone who hates black people just because mm-hmm. And I would listen, I'm gonna protect myself.

Chris Caresnone: Don't get me wrong. Right. Right. I'm not gonna put myself in [00:51:00] harm's way. Right. Like, I'll be, I'm intelligent, but like, if we can get in a situation where I could talk to you in a good faith conversation Yeah. Without like the, I'm not trying to dunk on you. Let's talk man. Let's, so I actually want to say this publicly,

Jonah Platt: hit it.

Chris Caresnone: The Jewish plight and the, the black plight. A lot of similarities.

Jonah Platt: Oh hell yeah. That's, I mean, we know that, that's, I gotta get you looped into this stuff, man. This is, I, I spent a lot of time working on bringing our two communities together. 'cause we got so much in common. Not just on that level, but like.

Jonah Platt: Historically what we've been through, what we've built together in this country.

Chris Caresnone: I just think that that's a space that, uh, I feel like I didn't hear a lot about that before I got into this space, kind of. Mm-hmm. But I feel like I should, I'd be a good person to start. I think so too. Bringing that thing up.

Chris Caresnone: Yep. Just be nice to people. Then guess what? The world tends to show you. Good. I'm proving it. I'm proving it as we speak right now. Show put the good energy out there and good energy comes back.

Jonah Platt: Yeah.

Chris Caresnone: But if you're constantly [00:52:00] looking for some bullshit, you're going to see it too. So, I don't know. I just feel like that's kind of also my thing is to teach that energy.

Chris Caresnone: The truth behind it is I'm trying to find new ways to, to build bridges and, and tear down invisible walls. 'cause at the end of the day, you know what I've noticed? I've gone to all these different cultures, restaurants, it's the same stuff. It's people eating. With their family working to provide for their family.

Chris Caresnone: Good food's, pretty much a protein, a veggie and an apparatus. Right. You either got the pasta, the tortilla, the, you know. Yep. It's this, it's, it's the essential. A vessel. It's the vessel. Yeah. We all got a little spices on it for the most part. Yeah. You know, but for the most part, what it is, yeah. It's the same thing.

Chris Caresnone: Mm-hmm. I think we're so much more aligned. Then what we think. And that's my job. And yes, I'm, I've been the food guy and I love food. So, um, but I do think my thing is much bigger than food. I just know that food for me was a good entry point into what I really want to do, which is transformation.

Jonah Platt: Well, I'm definitely [00:53:00] here to support you in that for sure.

Jonah Platt: 'cause we need it.

Chris Caresnone: Uh, here's a stat that I learned with Miriam actually. Um, he asked, he asked me like, how many Jewish people do you think there are on earth?

Jonah Platt: This is always fun to ask.

Chris Caresnone: And I'm like, I don't know. Some crazy number, right? Yeah. A hundred million. Like a crazy, I said this, yeah. And then he was like, bro, like 15 million.

Chris Caresnone: That's it. And then he showed me a clip on online where people, this guy went around and asking people and these numbers built. It was always a crazy number. And I'm like. Oh. So then you wonder why of course you're going to be a little bit more, uh, yeah. Like we're close to not being, you know what I'm saying?

Chris Caresnone: Yeah. I, I, I understand the sentiment. Of course, we

Jonah Platt: stick together. There's not that many of us. Why would you not? Yeah.

Chris Caresnone: I mean, every other culture does it, right. You just get mad at y offer doing it. So it's like, okay, I'm, I'm, I'm listen and I'm, I'm willing to say things that uncomfortable. 'cause I'm willing to go inside that cave than most of us are not.

Chris Caresnone: So, and if I'm willing to, I even in the beginning with the, hey, fill in the blank people.

Jonah Platt: Yeah.

Chris Caresnone: Like, if, if I'm like in public and I'm making a video, I would feel kinda weird, right? 'cause I know that if you don't know Right. Like, [00:54:00] and people have, you know, DM me, don't say that. You shouldn't say, Hey white people.

Chris Caresnone: But then when you think about it logically, what's, what's wrong? Or do you not classify as white? Right. I

Jonah Platt: mean, it's, it's what you are if you're, you know, it's

Chris Caresnone: preconceived notions of what you think is gonna come after that statement. Right, right, right. So anyone who watches my content after the hook, which is I understand life, it's a hook.

Chris Caresnone: Mm-hmm. That's why it's called a hook.

Jonah Platt: Yeah.

Chris Caresnone: Oh, anybody with half a brain, he's like, okay, no,

Jonah Platt: no. He's doing a thing.

Chris Caresnone: Yeah, it is a thing and it's working. Yeah.

Jonah Platt: Alright, so we're gonna bring it on home here. We're getting to the end. Usually what I do, I end the show with a lightning round, but I'm gonna do something a little special with you because we got, we got a special guy here.

Jonah Platt: So I, I made up a little game here. The game is called House it, taste it or toss it. Okay. I'm gonna give you three things in the food world. You say if you would house it, just taste it or toss it. Breakfast, lunch and dinner. House it. Taste it, toss it.

Chris Caresnone: I would toss lunch. Yep. I would taste breakfast and then I would house dinner.

Jonah Platt: [00:55:00] We are, we're aligned on that, my friend. There you go. Alright. Kala, plain raisin chocolate chip

Chris Caresnone: raisin. I would toss it. Yep. Plain. I would taste and chocolate I would house.

Jonah Platt: Okay. I, I would flip the, the chocolate and the raisin's gone. Always. Yeah. Um, all right. Hum. And I know you've tried hum to a lot of them.

Jonah Platt: Okay. Filling chocolate. Apricot berry. What? Berry? Good question. I couldn't decide. I was like, shit, do I say strawberry or raspberry? So I'm just gonna say berry. So dealer's choice.

Chris Caresnone: All right. Uh, apricot number. I'm house in the apricot. Oh, interesting house. Yeah. Like even rugal. My, my favorite have been It's the apricot.

Chris Caresnone: Huh? It is been my favorite. Of all those interesting. Berry. Might be the toss. Chocolate would be the, the taste. No. You know what, I'd probably toss chocolate now I think about it in Haage. Okay. In Haage. And then I'd probably keep the berry, I think in the haage. I think I like the, the fruitier ones. Okay.

Chris Caresnone: Or the poppy seed, which [00:56:00] shockingly I like.

Jonah Platt: Yeah, I kind

Chris Caresnone: of like that corn beef pastrami and roast beef. That's brutal. Uh, roast beef. I would house. Oh pastrami. I would house. You just house

Jonah Platt: in all of them.

Chris Caresnone: I, I would actually would house all of 'em. There you go. Triple duck sandwich. I'm sorry. I would throw away the roast beef.

Chris Caresnone: Yep. House the pastrami. Yes. Taste the corn beef.

Jonah Platt: Correct

Chris Caresnone: Answer.

Jonah Platt: Um, babka, Rach and uf. We already know. Okay.

Chris Caresnone: E Even if it wasn't you, I would never say you can never be to I'm saying bka. Okay. Uh, which is actually funny. 'cause Ish. What's that? I love when I know more juice. Does it co ish, co ache cake? I don't know.

Chris Caresnone: It, it's like a B on steroids and it's like less bread and all. Ridiculous. Is it as like wet

Jonah Platt: as good, Bob?

Chris Caresnone: Wetter. Oh shit.

Jonah Platt: More wet. You've been gate keeping the kish for [00:57:00] me. All right. Uh, wheat bread, rye bread, pumpernickel wheat.

Chris Caresnone: I would throw away rye. I would house pumpernickel. I would taste Hmm. Nice. I could probably house pumper nickel from Cheesecake Factory.

Jonah Platt: Okay. I don't, I think Don't try particular. Got a little

Chris Caresnone: tip. I got a tip for y'all. I used to work at the Cheesecake Factory. Oh, okay. When you go to Cheesecake Factory and you get you, you get the bread with the The butter. Yeah. Ask for the recycled butter.

Jonah Platt: What does that even mean?

Chris Caresnone: It's the butter that, like from the last table.

Chris Caresnone: So it's not like it's already softer. Yes. That's a low key little trick. Because if I liked you, I'd be like, I got you. That's, and I would get you the good stuff.

Jonah Platt: That's a bonus for everybody who stayed this long, the episode. You got that. No gatekeeper and

Chris Caresnone: the butter.

Jonah Platt: There you go. This was meant to be an opinion thing, but you're also acing it.

Jonah Platt: Just, just so you know, um, coming up right after this airs is a holiday called Shavuot. Have you heard about this one?

Chris Caresnone: I just made a video that went crazy about it, about Shavuot, uh, about a delicious B bob cheesecake from a place called Shout [00:58:00] Out to Lilac and Cream. Y'all look at this and tell me it doesn't look insane.

Jonah Platt: Ooh, wait, wait. It's a Bob Cheesecake. Or a Cheesecake Bob.

Chris Caresnone: Bottom layer B and they like found a way like to make like little swirls at the bottom cheesecake, and then like some crazy fi ridiculous. Whoa. The video went crazy. They sold out overnight. You know how many non-Jewish people hit me up. It was like, bro, I gotta have that.

Jonah Platt: Yeah. It sounds like the delicious, right? No matter who you're,

Chris Caresnone: that's, that's all perfect. And, and I realize, and I learned because of the holiday. That's why it's a big thing.

Jonah Platt: Okay. So for those of you who don't know, Shavuot is, uh, it, it means weeks in, in Hebrew. 'cause it's like at the end of these, these weeks, it's this harvest festival tied to the agricultural season in Israel.

Jonah Platt: Uh, and it's got nothing to

Chris Caresnone: do with like the end of Passover or something. Yeah. So

Jonah Platt: you count from Passover these seven weeks to this date, which also, it basically is like the birthday of the Jewish people. It's like remembering the day when the Jews and God were at Mount Sinai and God like, made the covenant with the [00:59:00] Jewish people.

Jonah Platt: Mm. And uh, there's a lot of different customs of why you eat dairy. It's like not a law, it's a custom thing. 'cause they were like. Innocent is newborns when they got this new thing and newborns drink milk or they were, there was too much work to do butchering and eating meat. So they just like only ate dairy.

Jonah Platt: Is there

Chris Caresnone: like a lot of the kosher laws and stuff based on like older rules back then where it was like not safe to do certain things?

Jonah Platt: Yes. That's part of some of those too. For sure. Like that's some of why you don't eat like the, like the shellfish. They're like bottom feeders. They were just like gross fish.

Jonah Platt: Um, yeah, but not now.

Chris Caresnone: It's considered delicacy to a lot of the world. Yeah, right. Is interesting.

Jonah Platt: Yeah. Which is why I don't keep kosher. But uh, so here's the Shavuot Trio. Blin is Kugel and Cheesecake

Chris Caresnone: Kugel. I'd probably house. Believe it or not,

Jonah Platt: somebody just asked me in something I did this week, like, what's your favorite Jewish food?

Jonah Platt: And I said, my mom's cheese kugel.

Chris Caresnone: Yeah. I, I would say I would house that. Mm-hmm. Um, what were the other two again? Cheesecake and Lins. I would probably taste the cheesecake. Yeah. And throw away the blitzes. But I lins [01:00:00] good. Too hard. You know what I

Jonah Platt: learned today about blitzes is that, you know, so it's a crepe basically rolled up around cheese or whatever.

Jonah Platt: Mm-hmm. And it's rolled to resemble a tous roll. Really? Yeah. That's what I learned today. The more you know, the more you know I was researching for this. Alright, last one. Different from the game, but we ask it of all of our guests, challah, do you rip it or do you slice it?

Chris Caresnone: I've done both, but if you ask me what I prefer, then yeah.

Chris Caresnone: What feels

Jonah Platt: right.

Chris Caresnone: Ever since I did the cha judging competition. So like I, which sounds like

Jonah Platt: a great time. It's hilarious.

Chris Caresnone: And And then they were like, no, just literally grab it. So I think I'm a grabber now. Now you're a ripper. Yeah, I'm a ripper now for sure. All right. For

Jonah Platt: sure. My man. Chris, thank you so much.

Jonah Platt: I appreciate this. I had a good time. Oh good. I'm glad Chris conversation.

Chris Caresnone: I like you, man.

Jonah Platt: I like

Chris Caresnone: you too. We'll do it again. We'll do it again

Jonah Platt: around the Shabbat table. Hey,

Chris Caresnone: you said it all. You got it publicly in there. We do. It's all right, brother. Mark it.

Jonah Platt: That was delicious. Thanks to our friend Chris, follow his adventures at Chris Nan on IG and TikTok.

Jonah Platt: Another [01:01:00] big thank you to our friends at Reca, Sephardic pastries and Avi Q will have more info on them in the show notes for sure. To those who celebrate happy week's holiday. Hope you all get some good all night tourist study. Let me know what you'll learn. Alright, I'm stuffed. Roll me outta here. I'll see y'all for the next scrumptious episode of Being Jewish With me, Jonah Platt, big ups to everyone who makes this show possible.

Jonah Platt: Every week, my executive producer, Matthew Jones, story producer Sean Lis Veli and editor Mike O'Brien of Rainbow Creative Consulting producer Bethany Mandell, research associate, Samantha Greenwald, my amazing executive assistant, Josie Rothchild, social media manager, Yuval Yosha and graphic designer extraordinaire Noah Bell.

Jonah Platt: Most of all, thanks to you dear listeners, we even stuck around to listen to all these credits and I freaking love you guys.