How would you react if thousands of strangers chose to berate you online?

Adam Becker, CEO of HeadOn, shares what happened when he, a Jew living in Israel, began video-chatting with complete strangers online right after October 7th, 2023. Some insulted him. Some threatened him. But instead of clicking away, he chose to stick it out.

Through thousands of conversations, Adam discovered surprising ways to humanize conversations that usually turn hostile. Those experiments eventually became the foundation for HeadOn, a platform where AI helps match people, set conversational “challenges,” and reduce misunderstanding.

ABOUT THE GUEST

Adam Becker is the CEO of HeadOn, an online platform designed to help people have good-faith conversations about deeply divisive issues including the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. (https://headon.ai)

Episode transcript - https://uncomfypodcastbyu.blogspot.com/2026/01/he-let-strangers-yell-at-him-and-it.html

CHAPTERS

(0:00) Introduction

(0:37) Meet Adam Becker: CEO of HeadOn

(2:36) Experimenting with Conversations on Chat Apps

(3:54) Handling Hostility and Building Understanding

(7:53) Humanizing Through Shared Experiences

(10:05) Scaling Conversations with AI

(11:13) How HeadOn Matches and Moderates Conversations

(15:13) The Goal: Reducing Misunderstandings

(16:58) Conclusion