SPEAKER_02

Hi everybody, we're just having a little bit of technical issues. We'll start in just a moment. You know, worst case scenario. Nicole, how do you feel about being on speaker on WhatsApp? And I'll just put you near my microphone. Alright. Let's get started. So uh this is gonna be interesting for my hand, but you know what? For the sake of podcasting. Hey everybody, welcome to the Geopats Podcast. It is in audio experience to scratch your cultural curiosity itch with many different expat themed shows. You're about to experience one of the newer shows that we have called Expat Podcasters. It was supposed to officially launch next Monday after our Expat Podcasters uh session for International Podcast Day. But since Nicole's doing a live International Podcast Day event, we thought we'd bring her on a bit early to talk about her podcast expat podcasting life in Germany. Welcome to the show, Nicole!

SPEAKER_03

Thank you so much for having me, and thanks for being patient with the tech issues.

SPEAKER_02

Oh, I'm patient. I kind of want to throw the laptop out the window right now, though. So let's just dive in. Let's dive in. Because I know you're on your lunch hour, so let's let's get to it. Can um let's do the exped basics first. Where what is your passport country? Where are you now? And how long have you been there?

SPEAKER_03

I am from the United States of America, specifically from Philadelphia. I am now living in Freiburg, Germany, and I've been here for about two years now.

SPEAKER_02

Fantastic. What how much of that time have you been podcasting for?

SPEAKER_03

About half. So I started podcasting almost a year into my life here, and now I'm a little bit over two years in.

SPEAKER_02

Wow, that's pretty quick. Uh what's your why? Why did you?

SPEAKER_03

Yeah, I started working on it early. I started working on it as early as maybe six months into living there, and then it just took a while before I felt ready to get it out into the world.

SPEAKER_02

Fantastic. Why did you start it?

SPEAKER_03

I guess if I look back, I have two, we'll call it three main reasons. So, one, when I was making the move over to Germany, there was a possibility that I would have moved to a really small village where there wouldn't have been much of an international scene. And having moved to a bigger city and experienced all the benefits of living in a big place with a lot of infrastructure for international faults, it was such a help. And I just look back in utter terror of what might have happened if I'd been alone in this tiny village. So part of the podcast is dedicated to alternate reality, Cole, who's just off on her own and terrified. Um, and I think there are many actual listeners who are in similar boats as that. Part two is because I was working at an American cultural center in Germany and learning so much about different people's stories and the resources that helped them feel at home abroad. And I felt like it was a waste if that all ended with me. So I wanted to share that with a broader audience. And then the third one that I just kind of threw in there at the end is uh we are my but my boyfriend already had podcasting equipment and knew how to set it all up. And so the hurdle of learning how to podcast was taken away from me, which was great because I don't know if I would have pushed through if I had to figure it out all by myself.

SPEAKER_02

That's fantastic. That that's a very good uh good head start is having the equipment already available and with someone that can help you use it.

unknown

Absolutely.

SPEAKER_02

Cool. Okay, so we're again we're doing uh for the listeners, if you have any questions as we're talking, go ahead and put them in the chat room. We'll bring them up either during this call or if we run out of time, we'll bring them up if Nicole is gracious enough to come back on a full episode. Planting a seed. Okay, so you listen to podcasts that come from your passport country, right? Yes, many. Do you listen to any that come from Germany or that are made in Germany?

SPEAKER_03

Um working on it. I'm more back and forth with that. So I listened to several and I was really focusing on learning German. There were some really good ones I found very, very helpful even before I moved here. But I found that once I did move here, and especially once German became less of a barrier for me, once I became fluent enough, I really wanted to value my free time media um as free time and not as work. And so that includes reading. I don't read that much on in German, and if I do, it's more for practice and podcasts. I just want to listen to things that feel comfortable and familiar and not have to work too hard on concentrating to them and you know, decoding the German. But it's also partially because podcasting really wasn't big in Germany and it's still not big, but it's getting bigger. And um, so the quality of the shows is also rapidly uh increasing just in the last six months to a year. But now I have a renewed interest in listening more. And actually, this is perfect timing because just before I stepped out on my lunch break, I was working with a magazine um where there was an advertisement for a podcasting app in Germany. So they're actually getting that big that they have their own infrastructure for podcasting and they're advertising for it in common uh mediums. So I'm pretty excited to see that growth.

SPEAKER_02

What is the name of the app?

SPEAKER_03

Audio now. And I just downloaded it, but I have not had a chance to dig into it at all. But it does already. I can see I can find so many more German language and German produced podcasts because that's another barrier, is a lot of them aren't on all of the apps, and I don't have um Apple podcasts anymore, and so finding them on some of the other apps can be a challenge.

SPEAKER_02

Right. That makes sense. That makes sense. So is it safe to say that the vast majority of the podcasts in Germany are in German? Yes, definitely. Okay. Do you do you listen to any of the ones? And it's sorry if this is beating a dead horse, but I I I have to ask obvious questions. Are there any podcasts coming from Germany that are in English that you listen to?

SPEAKER_03

I'm sure that there are some, but the only one that I can think of, or I guess there's two, and they're expat podcasts. So one is my my rival. We're trying to really boost this idea that we're rivals and hate each other. It's failing miserably because we're getting along. But um, expat Life Germany is a podcast hosted by a South African living in um the area of Nuremberg. And uh it's made in yes, the people want to know because I believe it was on one of your shows, uh the host, Sean. Right. So that one, and then there's another one called Big Dreams Bold Moves, and she is, I believe, based in Heidelberg. I'm not don't quote me on that though, but she um is a mom who moved abroad with her young family, and she interviews different families around the world about how and why they moved abroad with families.

SPEAKER_02

Gotcha, gotcha, gotcha. Okay. So I guess I'm yeah.

SPEAKER_03

I'm sure there's far more other uh English language and also other language podcasts in Germany, but I just I haven't sought it out, honestly, and I haven't also stumbled across it. So um, if they're authored, if there are ones, especially if anyone has recommendations, I'm very open to it, but I don't personally know very many.

SPEAKER_02

No, no worries, no worries at all. Hey, it's it's not a research podcast. I just like peep picking people's brains on what they stumble across. And that seems to be the biggest way that people find podcasts, right? Somebody recommends it or they see it somewhere, or you know, it's very, very uh kind of an accidental learning process in podcasting right now.

SPEAKER_03

I would definitely agree with that, yeah.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah. So tell us about your International Podcast Day event that's coming up.

SPEAKER_03

Yes, it's so soon now. It's on Monday on International Podcast Day. It's gonna be hosted at the German American Center in Freiburg. So the Karl Schutz house, it's called. And I developed this event um in collaboration with, well, for one, another local Freiburg podcast. So there are a couple other people in the Freiburg and make podcasts. Um, one of the groups, they're called Jungen Freudels, and it's in German as one might guess by the title. Um they're hosted out of the university hospital in town, and they discuss um different mental health uh issues. And they're gonna come on to a panel with me to discuss our podcasts, how we've developed them, how and if they're supported financially and within larger infrastructures, all this kind of stuff. So that'll be first off. Well, actually, very, very first off. I'm gonna do a quick five-minute overview on what a podcast is because as said, it's not that big in Germany. And some of the attendees may very well have heard the word, but not really know what it even is. So we're gonna start there. Then we're gonna go to the panel, um, and then we're gonna follow that up with a live recording of the X podcast, which is my podcast. Um, we're going to discuss if the American dream is more viable in Germany than in America. So that also should be a pretty exciting episode. And then at the end, we're gonna have some QA and give the other podcast a chance to say how does my approach to podcasting, which they've just seen, demonstrated compare to their approach.

SPEAKER_02

Oh, okay. That last part sounds really interesting. Can you give us a little teaser on what you might what you're gonna say during that part?

SPEAKER_03

I uh about the part of um how our approaches differ.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah, I'm I'm really just curious to see what they say because they'll they'll have a scene live me do mine. Um, I don't know exactly what goes into theirs, but we have met and chatted about it. And they are, for instance, supported by um the university hospital, they had a budget for equipment. They're a team, there are four co-hosts, and I believe a larger team who's involved, so they just have so much more support. I'm like some person in her basement, but doing this all alone every week. Um I think that alone creates a huge um difference in approach. And so I'm I have a lot of questions for them, really, and I'm excited to hear what they have to say once they see how I do it. Um, for me, what's interesting too is how you approach conversation. So I'm just one person interviewing a guest, and there are four people talking and also sometimes interviewing a guest. So that's also very, very different.

SPEAKER_02

Right, right, right. So are is it going to be available after the event? Like, are you guys recording it and posting it somewhere?

SPEAKER_03

We're gonna be recording the expect cast live recording part. Um, that's probably clear from calling it a live recording. The rest of it, I don't know yet. Um this is an event that I kind of organized and put together on my own, and I don't have any equipment like a camera or anything to record it all on. So I would really like to, or at least see if we can live stream it on Instagram or something like this. But those are logistics that um honestly for me, they've had to come last because what's most important to me right now is is bringing this whole podcasting experience to real life. You know, sometimes as much as I love the community that we have online, I'm bummed out that it's not a thing I can, you know, walk into in real life. Like it stays on my phone or my computer. So it's important to me that this is a step over that boundary. And I want to prioritize the live audience. But again, hopefully over the weekend when I have time, I can try and see if there's a way to make it possible for others to engage with it from afar.

SPEAKER_02

Right, right, right. Well, that's a really good point. Are there things like Podcast Brunch Club or any podcasting meetups in Freiburg?

SPEAKER_03

Not that I know of. Uh I I know several exped that listen to podcasts, but because it's so new in Germany, I don't think there's that many listeners in that demographic. And I think maybe that could be something to look into for the future. And especially this kind of event is the first of its kind in Freiburg. So it'd be really good to see what the turnout is, what the interest level is, um, and where it grows from here. The event was slid into the program of the institute that we're hosting it at not last minute, but you know, fairly last minute. And so the expectations for how much press we'd get locally um were somewhat low. Um, but I just wrapped up um an interview with one of the local newspapers um yesterday. So there's gonna be an online article about it, and there's already been some other little write-ups. So that shows me at least that the press has interest in this area of podcasting, and I'm hoping that that then translates to people also picking that up and and growing more of a community of podcast listeners.

SPEAKER_02

Um, I guess it's no big secret anymore that we're looking to relocate to to Berlin hopefully by January, but anything could happen in the world of expot job hunting. Um, but I so I've I've already put out the feelers as far as podcasting goes, and I'm in probably to their chagrin, because I'm not physically in Berlin, but I'm in a Berlin podcasting meetup. I don't know if you've tried to look or start anything on meetup.com, but that might be a way to get some of that in-person podcasting community.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah, I think something like that would be so fun. I just I question sometimes if I'm the right person to do that. I'm not very um like outgoing and it it really drains me to host like the idea of a hosting like something like that sounds really exhausting to me. Sure, sure, sure. Well, not just feel like I might be the wrong candidate.

SPEAKER_02

But it may it might exist in Freiburg or some I I'm not that familiar with what's around Freiburg. Like is there a major another city close by?

SPEAKER_03

No, we're kind of the city for for a good while because it's just the black forest all around us. Sure. Oh, bigger cities are like Strasbourg in France or Basel in Switzerland, or within Germany, maybe Stuttgart, but Stuttgart's pretty pretty far. I would have to make a real trip there.

SPEAKER_02

Not just a little bit. Sorry. Nicole, I have to stop you. You just said there's just the black forest all around you. That sounds glorious.

unknown

It is. It so is.

SPEAKER_02

Oh, torture. No, we don't have concrete jungles. Yeah, we have the black forest. Oh, okay. That is wonderful.

SPEAKER_03

I love it so much.

SPEAKER_02

Too funny, too funny. Okay, so tell us again, remind us uh where we can find your podcast. And let's do that first. Where can people find your the expatcast?

SPEAKER_03

So anywhere that they're listening to this podcast right now, they can likely also find my podcast. Just search in your podcast app of toys for the expatcast, or you can find us on social media at also at the expatcast on Instagram and on Twitter. Um, and I'm also always open for email communication. So the expatcast at gmail.com. If anything that I said right now last night and you want to chat.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, and if you guys have any uh questions for Nicole about her podcasting life as an expat in Freiburg, Germany, go ahead and type them in right now. And as we're wrapping up, I'll kind of throw them in and see if Nicole has time to answer them now or if she comes back on the show. Um, okay, so what else do we want to do? And your event in Freiburg, do people need to sign up for that or is can they just show up to it?

SPEAKER_03

Nope, they can just show up. So I said it's at the Karl Schutzhaus, which is on Eisenmanstraße. It's right near the main train station in Freiburg, and the event starts at 6:30. Um we will have popcorn and beer.

unknown

That's typically all it takes to entice people to come.

SPEAKER_03

So the guy I'm interviewing for my live recording actually owns a small uh craft brewing company. So we're gonna be serving some of his beers afterwards so we can all mix and mingle.

SPEAKER_02

That's very cool. Wow, wow, wow, wow, wow. And next I can't wait. Yeah, and next year I hope you'll be you'll uh talk to Dave about being on the International Day Podcast Day sessions, like doing a whole session from Germany. That would be very cool. Wow, that would be really, really neat.

unknown

Step for step.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, yeah. Yeah. Well, you're doing the hard one first. You're doing the live in-person stuff with lots of moving parts. The the online streaming one, you just sit in front of a computer. So you're you're literally doing the harder one first.

SPEAKER_03

We'll see if I make it through next week, and then if so I'm mostly excited, but sometimes I think about it and then I'm like, oh God, what am I doing?

SPEAKER_02

It's gonna be great. It's gonna be wonderful. Wonderful, wonderful.

SPEAKER_03

Any final hopefully I would love to come back on your show again sometime when it's uh not live and we're having better, better equipment.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, sorry to tell you how it all goes. Absolutely. Yeah, absolutely. Let's definitely do that. Yeah, sorry for the listeners. We had a little bit of technical problems, and Nicole's not technically coming through the live, the podbean live right now. She's on my phone into the same microphone that I'm speaking on. Yikes. So, um, yeah. This app is in beta for a reason, and I'm sure they will fix this. So I'm not terribly worried about that. But yeah, definitely we'll have you on. We'll go through the regular list of questions and dig some more into what you find out after the live event and uh what kind of community you start to build there. That would be very cool.

unknown

Awesome.

SPEAKER_03

All right, I gotta run back into work, but thank you so much for having me on. It was really fun to experiment with this live podcast. Yeah, even if it didn't go. Sorry. But it was really fun. It's probably also partially the fault of there's a you know a common joke um in Germany, just the the the data connection here is abysmal. Um countries like Romania that are less wealthy have far better infrastructure. So I'm also I'm gonna take a wild stab and say that some of the time when things weren't working or were only working very slowly, that had faults to lay in the German infrastructure for home nuts or whatever they call it.

SPEAKER_02

So yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_03

I'll take I'll take part of the blame on behalf of my my uh new home country. Absolutely.

SPEAKER_02

Totally fine. Well, thank you so much, Nicole. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

SPEAKER_03

Bye. Okay, bye.

SPEAKER_02

Okay, listeners. I'm really sorry that happened, but I hope you could I hope you were able to hear Nicole to some degree, and I'll see what I can do with the audio for that, and we'll post it on the geopaths.podbean.com website. If you like what you just heard or any of the geopath podcast episodes, please, please, please, and this is a new request, a new call to action from me, go to podchaser.com and leave a review for us. I don't care how many stars you give us, but I do care what you say about the podcast, because I want to make sure that we're doing something that interests you and me and our guests, all three of those at the same time.

SPEAKER_01

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SPEAKER_00

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