The Culture Guy

Suni grew up in Lima, Peru. Allen met her in the Czech Republic, where she was studying abroad. In this episode she takes us home with her. We start with what she missed most while she was away: ceviche in the spring and summer, Andean food in the fall, and pachamanca, a meal cooked underground with hot stones. Her grandfather’s story about it leads into the Pachamama and the respect for the Earth...

A special extended episode. Allen sits down with his friend Henry, who grew up in Cartagena on Colombia’s Caribbean coast and now lives in New Hampshire, for a longer, unhurried conversation about what life in Colombia is really like. Henry explains why Colombia isn’t one culture but many, shaped by mountains, climate and region, and why even Colombians can fail to place each other’s accents. He r...

Allen sits down with Nina, a Moldovan from the capital, Chișinău, to learn what life in this quiet corner of Europe is really like. Nina grew up on the edge of the city, in a house with a big yard full of fruit and walnut trees, and she shares her childhood memories. Friends had to shout over the fence to call her out to play, and she spent weekends doing chores. She also describes how Moldovan ki...

Allen sits down with Diva Fristika Lordya, an international relations graduate from Jakarta whom he met at a kintsugi workshop in Japan, to hear what Indonesia is like from the inside. Diva is Javanese on her mother’s side and Madurese on her father’s. She talks about missing Indonesian food while living in Kyoto, and about the years she spent in a small central Javanese town with her grandparents...

Allen sits down with Suneel Munir, a Christian engineer from Lahore, to hear what everyday life there is like. Suneel takes us through the old city of Lahore, its monuments, and a street where neighbors of different faiths share food at Eid and Christmas and play cricket in the lanes. He explains mehman nawazi , the hospitality that says a guest must eat, and sabr , the patient endurance he learne...

Allen sits down with his friend Elisa, who grew up in central Mexico, to talk about what makes her country feel like home. She explains why Día de Muertos is so central to Mexican identity, and how families gather and cook together to remember loved ones. They also cover everyday greetings, the way each Mexican state feels like its own small country, and the tortillas and tortillerías that are par...

Allen sits down with his friend Ismael, who lives in Buenos Aires, to talk about daily life and culture in Argentina. Ismael shares photos from home, including an asado, Iguazú Falls, the Basilica of Luján and his family’s garden. Along the way they cover: Growing up in Misiones, on the border with Paraguay and Brazil Mate: what it is and how it’s shared in a circle Homeschooling with Khan Academy...

Marichka grew up in Ukraine and now works with students from around the world. In this episode she walks Allen through the everyday culture that shapes how Ukrainians live, work and relate to each other. They talk about: why a Ukrainian full name has three parts, and what the patronymic says about family how formal and informal address works, from school hierarchy to how you speak to a teacher or...

The Culture Guy is about getting to know people from every place on the planet. In each episode, I talk with ordinary people who love where they’re from: what growing up was like, the food they enjoy, their favorite places, and the rhythms of daily life. This isn’t about politics or headlines; it’s about real life and the stories you don’t usually get to hear until you spend a little time together...