Running a restaurant in Paris is fraught in the best of times but the last several years have presented additional challenges. Some have closed as a result but I’m happy to report that many of the city’s best independently run establishments spanning street food to fine dining have held on and even grown stronger. I know my own desire to support them has grown — certainly a result of having experienced more than 6 consecutive months of restaurant closures between 2020-2021 — as well as my desire...
Mar 01, 2022•50 min•Season 5Ep. 92
With less than three months to the French presidential election, 59 days to the first round to be exact, there are a number of worrying discussions taking place online and in the media that risk distracting from the most pressing issues for French citizens but have taken up considerable airtime. In 2020, that was the controversial idea of islamo-gaucmhisme, or islamo-leftism. Since, the buzzword in heavy rotation trotted out by talking heads and politicians has become wokism, a term that has bec...
Feb 10, 2022•34 min•Season 5Ep. 91
At the very end of 2021, one of the highlights was getting to meet a whole new batch of readers when I did a book signing for The New Parisienne at the home goods store Landline which I discovered during the lowest moments of Covid. This is in the 11th arrondissement which is an area I know intimately. The French American owner Caroline Morrison opened the doors to her nostalgic general store at the end of 2020 and has become, like the most charming independent bookstores and thoughtfully design...
Jan 28, 2022•36 min•Season 6Ep. 90
If you’ve followed the news out of France in recent weeks, you know a couple of things. One, France has entered campaign season, with the Presidential election awaiting us in April 2022. Two, among the many disconcerting absurdities in said campaign, we have a far right, antisemitic, misogynistic pundit whose message at his first public rally last weekend played on the French perception and panic surrounding their own country’s decline and took an expected anti-immigration, make-France-Great-Aga...
Dec 18, 2021•1 hr 4 min•Season 4Ep. 89
A recent New York Times story had a lot of us Parisians up in arms. It’s mayhem on rue de Rivoli and streets across Paris, we’re told, as bikes take over and the mayor pursues an ambitious goal of making the city a European cycling capital by 2024. The journalist includes comments such as “it’s like anarchy! everyone is just doing as they please. There are no police, no fines, no training and no respect.” Not only did it sound like a car wrote most of the piece but it was sensational and in many...
Dec 08, 2021•41 min•Season 4Ep. 88
First, some real talk. I know little to nothing about French cinema but I do know that when the actor Jean-Paul Belmondo died in September, it came as a massive loss to a great many French people. As it happens, talking about Belmondo online, and what little I knew about him, connected me to someone who knows quite a lot about French cinema and I thought, now’s the time to do an episode on film. But not just any discussion — I’ve brought on Laure Astourian , an assistant professor of French at B...
Oct 30, 2021•41 min•Season 4Ep. 87
Which country has the best healthcare system? It’s a question that is regularly tossed around, particularly as America’s healthcare system looks more and more broken with every passing year. The stories of Americans putting off doctor’s visits due to fees and the fear that a costly ailment will be discovered are so common they seem pulled directly from a dystopian novel. In comparison, experts look to the Australians, Brits, Dutch, Germans, Swiss, and French who have strong public health systems...
Oct 12, 2021•34 min•Season 4Ep. 86
I didn’t grow up with much exposure to Vietnamese cooking so it wasn’t until I arrived in France 15 years ago that I actually discovered the nuances in the cuisine. That’s not all that surprising: France is home to the oldest Vietnamese diaspora, which pre-dated the fall of Saigon. The first waves of Vietnamese immigration to France started over a hundred years ago, following colonization in the 19th century. While Vietnamese restaurants in Paris have long been tied to the 13th arrondissement wh...
Sep 13, 2021•37 min•Season 4Ep. 85
Making sense of your identity when you live abroad can be a fraught endeavour. For third culture kids, identity is even more complex. My friend and fellow creative who goes simply by the name Pushan, understands this especially well. He’s French, Basque, Indian, and American and has lived even further afield for his work as a photographer and videographer. He joins the show today to talk about growing up between France and the US, Indian culture in Paris, and our favorite topic of conversation w...
Aug 23, 2021•41 min•Season 4Ep. 84
Without question, Paris and the arts go hand in hand. The density of public museums and galeries small and large make Paris one of the most enriching artistic capitals to visit. In recent years, that has expanded to include private collections in shiny, multi-million euro spaces that have the potential to change the French art world permanently. Today’s guest, Susan Taylor Leduc, is an art and garden historian, tour guide, and former arts educator who joins me to talk about some these institutio...
Jul 06, 2021•34 min•Season 4Ep. 83
When I think of women in the food media, I instantly think of Victoire Loup, a French-born writer and consultant who goes between Paris and Los Angeles. For a time she was the communication director for Le Fooding and has written for a number of international magazines and newspapers. More recently, she has published two cookbooks in French and consulted for an international network of chefs. She joins the show today to talk about changes to the food scene, what Los Angeles gets right about cook...
Jun 11, 2021•32 min
It’s been a while since I’ve done a France news update but there are so many pressing issues facing the country now besides Covid that it was time to jump back in. And this time, I’m joined by Yasser Louati, a human rights and civil liberties activist, a community organiser, and political analyst. He also co-founded the NGO CJL, a transnational human rights and civil liberties organisation. A fellow podcaster at Le Breakdown and Les Idées Libres, I couldn’t think of anyone better to join me to d...
May 25, 2021•34 min
Talking to strangers is a part of my job. I interview people for work, most of whom I don’t know personally in advance, but is generally arranged. I know what I’m about to do and so does the person I’ll be speaking with. But approaching strangers on the street to learn bits of their story is something else altogether. That’s why I’ve been fascinated by the work of Stéphanie Pfeiffer , a photographer in Paris whose project Les Gueules de Parisiens, is the result of serendipitous encounters and st...
May 10, 2021•35 min
Have you ever found yourself endlessly fascinated by something, to the point of obsession? For me, that’s probably coffee and chocolate but for others deeply passionate about food and the way it is made, that might be bread, cheese, or even wine. Those are the three loves explored by my friend Katie Quinn in her new book "Cheese, Wine, and Bread: Discovering the magic of fermentation in England, Italy, and France." As she puts it: it’s the story of one woman’s obsession with some of humanity’s m...
Apr 26, 2021•40 min
Mastering a language is a lifelong endeavour, one that can be complicated by the very fluidity and ever-evolving nature of language itself. Slang and idiomatic expressions change with each generation but require an education all the same. Understanding conversational and street French, for example, is a way into understanding who the French are today and their relationship to one another. Also, it’s quite fun. Divya Bala, an Australian fashion journalist, started Paris Phrase or (Paris Phrase in...
Apr 12, 2021•34 min
What does it take to open and run a restaurant in Paris? What about building a brand that not only reaches a wider audience but that that may be protected from the unexpected and very disruptive obstacles, from protests to health crises? Ali Terry and Isabelle Cote have taken Sunday in Soho from a canteen they thought Parisians would enjoy to a nutrition-focused subscription option and product line, building off the insight that some of the best ideas really do come from listening to your custom...
Mar 26, 2021•47 min
If there’s one thing that springs to mind when it comes to French lifestyle, it’s the importance of farmer’s markets. Few places in the world can claim to rival the multitude of marchés that are both destinations and fixtures of everyday life across France. And for many, they are a source of tremendous inspiration. That was certainly the case for Amy Feezor and her husband Pierre Haberer who started Fed by a Frenchman, a playful Instagram account to document market life and explore the lessons i...
Mar 09, 2021•41 min
How important is travel in our lifelong education? For Kévi Donat, founder of Le Paris Noir walking tours, it’s a crucial element to understanding a place, a culture, a past, and a present and above all, builds empathy. He chronicles chronicles the city’s connection to Africa, the Caribbean, and the United States, covering critical themes from colonization and immigration to the literary, political, and artistic figures that have influenced the course of French history. And today, we talk about ...
Feb 24, 2021•38 min•Season 4Ep. 75
"The Paris Library", the New York Times Bestselling book by novelist Janet Skeslien Charles, is based on the true story of the heroic librarians at The American Library in Paris during WWII who not only kept the library alive but continued making books available to soldiers and Jewish members in hiding. The story follows Odile, a bibliophile who works at the library as the Nazis march into Paris. She joins the Resistance but grapples with the consequences of the choices she makes, with her frien...
Feb 09, 2021•31 min•Season 4Ep. 74
Many of us can recall moments from childhood when there was nothing more appealing than being anywhere but at home. Someplace more dazzling, someplace where every day life takes on a more special sheen; someplace like Paris. That moment is captured perfectly in Paris by Phone, the new rhyming picture book for kids by today’s guest, Pamela Druckerman. She is the author of five books including Bringing Up Bébé, a worldwide bestseller, and writes a column about France for The New York Times. She jo...
Feb 02, 2021•38 min
This is the final episode of this train wreck year. But to recap in a way that goes beyond the specifically wrenching horror of Covid, I’m joined by my friends and regular guests Lauren Collins and Aida Alami. We’re going to chat about some of the OTHER big stories that shaped France in 2020. MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE: Lauren Collins: https://twitter.com/laurenzcollins Aida Alami: https://twitter.com/AidaAlami Benjamin Griveaux scandal: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/14/world/europe/france-pari...
Dec 31, 2020•46 min
For many people around the world, 2020 has contributed to more than just personal upheaval but a professional uprooting as well. Lost jobs, cancelled opportunities, disrupted projects, and in some cases, it’s the realization that now is as good a time as any to bring about changes. To navigate all that, there are experts like Zeva Bellel, a career and life coach based in Paris who has been through several of her own transformations. On today’s episode, she talks to me about her arrival in France...
Dec 23, 2020•41 min
Of all the conversations I’ve had on and offline since the show Emily in Paris first aired in October, perhaps my favorite (and least heated) has been the one you’re about to hear with Sutanya Dacres, a friend of the show and the host of the podcast Dinner for One. In this episode, we talk about our lockdown behaviors, the categories of foreigners living in Paris, and which one someone like the show’s protagonist falls into. MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE: Dinner for One podcast: https://www.dinnerfo...
Dec 13, 2020•42 min
On April 15, 2019, the world watched in horror as the Notre Dame cathedral became engulfed in a fiery inferno and the city came dangerously close to losing its 850-year-old treasure. Now, a new documentary called "Saving Notre Dame", airing on the PBS science series NOVA, tells the story of the fire and the race to stabilize the structure and stave off a total collapse. Director Joby Lubman follows a team of architects, engineers, scientists, and master craftspeople, as they work to read the min...
Dec 04, 2020•30 min
Some of my favorite reporting assignments have involved spending time in the Champagne region, getting to know its producers and uncovering the stories behind the bottles. Among the most memorable discoveries over the years has been AR Lenoble, a 4th generation family-run and independent operation that is heavily involved in making the industry more inclusive to women. I wondered, however, how Anne and Antoine Malassagne have fared during these last eight months of the pandemic. Anne and her dir...
Nov 27, 2020•33 min
Women and Champagne have a long history together. In fact, If Champagne became shorthand for luxury and celebration, it’s entirely thanks to the business acumen of Barbe-Nicole Clicquot Ponsardin, commonly referred to as “La Veuve (widow) Clicquot.” Not only did she invent the riddling table, but she also turned the small, fledgling business she took over after her husband’s 1805 death into a global empire. Still, as is true with much of the broader world of wine, women in France’s Champagne reg...
Nov 13, 2020•37 min
Cocktails in Paris have evolved radically in the last ten years and certainly rival what you can get in any of the big cocktail hubs, such as New York and London. So it’s only natural that from a more sophisticated scene we would see more sophisticated and inventive concepts emerge. Allison Kave is involved in one such project. The creator of Brooklyn’s Butter & Scotch bakery and bar has co-founded Izzy’s, a new plant-based cocktail brand delivered to homes across Paris. Allison talks about ...
Nov 07, 2020•32 min
There are a million different reasons people move to Paris. In many cases, the move is meant to be temporary and invariably becomes more permanent. Even more often, the person finds themselves in an entirely different line of work or ends up pursuing a passion project once they’ve settled in. Tanisha Townsend had a radically different career path before she developed a love for wine and let that guide her life. With Girls Meets Glass, Tanisha works as a wine educator, guide, and writer. Today, s...
Oct 30, 2020•38 min
This episode is the first in what I hope to be a monthly series picking up apart one news story impacting France. And each time, I’ll be joined by my two friends Lauren Collins and Aida Alami. Lauren is a reporter for The New Yorker and the author of When in French: Love in a Second Language and Aida Alami is a journalist for The New York Times and NY Review of Books, among other outlets, and a filmmaker. Both have been guests on this show before. The idea emerged out of our Whatsapp group -- we...
Oct 16, 2020•39 min
Cathleen Clarity, a chef, cookbook author, and culinary teacher, has called Greater Paris home for 30 years and has championed both French and American cuisine through her work. Her daughter, Cécilia, has been living away from the French capital for seven years but returned home to reconnect with Paris and family. One day, she’ll return to Paris bearing the knowledge and experience of life lived abroad. How does each woman shape her identity? How has Cathleen seen the food industry shift since s...
Sep 28, 2020•38 min
