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With both the Lunar New Year and the Winter Olympics in Beijing this month, we’re heading back to China in this special reissue of our “Goat Eyes & Chinese Banquets” episode from June 2018! Please enjoy this classic offering, and stay tuned for tasty new episodes in the coming weeks. Happy Year of the Tiger! Dean and Tom are back in this episode to sink their teeth into what...

Needing some tropical warmth this winter (for those in the Northern Hemisphere, that is)? Well, look (or listen?) no further, because here’s a special reissue of our “Island Hopping: U.S. Virgin Islands” episode, recorded in St. Thomas exactly two years ago: January 2020. Sit back in your indoor beach chair and soak it in! Dean and Tom are on location in the U.S. Virgin Islands t...

In the finale of their two-part gleeful gabfest, Dean and Tom continue to delight in the complexities of humor, language, and culture. Then, they elatedly explore similarities and differences in how joy is expressed communally across cultures, in Bhutan, Denmark, Brazil, and the U.S., and in birthday celebrations in Europe, the Middle East, and East Asia. Happy holidays everyone, and we’ll see you...

What’s so funny? In this jolly episode, Dean and Tom gleefully gab about what is, and is not, considered funny across cultures – and how laughter can also be interpreted differently depending on where you are. Plus, Grammar Time makes a brief cameo! You don’t have to wait anymore for the punchline; it’s here for you. En-joy! Have a cultural question or episode idea for Dean and Tom? Reach ou...

With All Hallows’ Eve & Día de los Muertos rapidly approaching, it’s a frighteningly perfect time to reissue our episode on death celebrations and festivals across cultures, “Who Died?”, from July 2019. The episode description is below, and we’ll be back soon with new episodes about joy of a very different kind! Enjoooooooooy! 👻 Don’t fear the reaper, dear listeners! In this...

In this episode, Dean and Tom dig into the cultural origins of US norms & practices that can come off as a bit odd to our global neighbors – from the beach, to the restaurant, to the bathroom (not necessarily in that order!). They reference an article from Insider named “23 things that are considered ‘normal’ in the US but that the rest of the world finds weird” –  clic...

Bonjour mes amis! In this episode, Dean and Tom promenade along the riverbanks of French culture, from Descartes and Cartesian Logic to French cheese, wine, champagne, fashion, and art, to bringing dogs inside of restaurants. We invite you to revel in the hosts’ joie de vivre without delay, s’il vous plaît; à bientôt! Have a cultural question or episode idea for Dean and Tom? Reach out on Twitter...

Oi! With the U.K. being in the news a lot lately – from the G7 summit to Wimbledon to England’s heartbreaking loss in the Euro 2020 final – we feel it’s bloody high time that we reissue our U.K. (and U.S.) focused episode, Brits & Yanks, from September 2018. The episode description is below, and we’ll be back soon with a new episode about another European country...

While remembering pets both old and new, Dean and Tom take the op-purr-tunity to discuss which animals do and don’t constitute pets across dif-fur-rent cultures. (Without any pet puns in the actual episode, we just had to include some here; thank you for understanding.) Plus: Wondering how long pet parrots can live, or where you can safely cross a piranha-infested river in the Amazonas? Well then,...

Fully vaccinated, Dean and Tom jump into a discussion of changes, as well as the lack of changes, in behaviors and cultures resulting from the pandemic this past year (and thankfully, they also decline to bungee-jump naked off of a building in Queenstown New Zealand, at least for now). Plus, Dean offers some tantalizing cultural predictions. Cue the trumpets! Have a cultural question or episode id...

In the grand finale of their two-part shroom-inations, Dean and Tom return to the Balkans, where they find literal dividing lines in Sarajevo as well as cultural similarities & differences between Serbia and Croatia, plus a few no-nos to bear in mind when traveling between countries, and much more. We recommend that you sip some rakia (fruit brandy popular in the Balkans) while you listen and...

In this new episode (recorded September 2020, when it was still warm enough in the northeastern U.S. to record outdoors!), Dean and Tom repel giant squirrels while they ruminate (or perhaps shroom-inate?) on mushroom-picking in the Baltics. Plus, they dig into differences between the Baltics and the Balkans (hint: start by looking to the ends of one’s “Bal”s). Mycologists and non...

Last Wednesday’s insurrection at the U.S. Capitol was a tragic & unprecedented example of what happens when elements of culture are manipulated by powerful political interests at the expense, in this case, of democracy. Politics, like every aspect of human activity, is profoundly determined by culture, which can be manipulated for good or bad by those with the power to do so, and last week in...

Happy holidays! When you’re giving holiday gifts to friends or colleagues in other cultures, how, I ask, can you possibly have an idea whether your gift may delight or distress them? Well, I’ll tell you: By listening to and enjoying this reissue of our Gift-Giving: Tips & Taboos episode from December 13th 2018! The episode description is below, and we’ll be back soon with new...

It’s the biggest October surprise of all! We’re dropping this episode on the same day as the previous episode because there’s no time to waste: it’s October of a presidential election year in the United States. Millions of votes have already been cast through mail-in ballots and early in-person voting, so Dean and Tom head outdoors again to explore how U.S. culture has dire...

Dear listeners, we hope you’re doing well and staying safe in this novel coronavirus pandemic. Dean and Tom head outdoors and stay six feet apart to discuss how culture has impacted responses to this pandemic in societies around the world. Listen to Dr. Fauci, and listen to this episode. (Those are two separate statements, though maybe Dr. Fauci would also recommend this episode. Who’s...

We’re back with a new “island hopping” episode that was recorded prior to community spread of COVID-19 in the United States, so please forgive any mentions of “Corona” in this episode – we’re referring to the beer! Dean and Tom are on location in the U.S. Virgin Islands to explore features and culture in St. Thomas, St. John, and St. Croix, and to sip grea...

In this episode, Dean and Tom scratch away at cultural associations related to itchy noses, itchy palms, and itchy feet around the globe – so keep that hydrocortisone handy! Plus, all-time fan-favorite segment Grammar Time makes its return, and soon-to-be all-time fan-favorite segment Recap Time makes its first appearance. And of course, our friends at Licensing pop in once again to give Dea...

Happy New Year! As we close out 2019, we didn’t want to leave you old in the cold when it came to exploring New Year’s traditions around the world. Therefore we’re reissuing our New Year’s episode, Shoes & Argentinian Pink Underwear, from March 22nd 2018. Dean and Tom begin reveling in New Year’s traditions (with a bowl of, yes, pink underwear) at 21:43, though fe...

We’re back with a special “island hopping” episode: between the North and South Islands of New Zealand! Dean and Tom dive into Dean’s recent travels along the stunning TranzAlpine railway, and to the hub of extreme adventure activities in Queenstown on the South Island (where Dean may or may not have bungee jumped in the nude). Then, they visit the All Blacks rugby team and...

In this episode, Dean and Tom explore magical thinking across cultures, conjuring up the origins of good luck charms while clutching their rabbit’s foot, knocking on wood, and spitting to ward off the evil eye. They also dive into how and why myth-making, from Harry Potter to Groundhog Day to Loch Ness, appeals to so many of us across cultures – but not before our friends at Licensing return...

Don’t fear the reaper, dear listeners! In this journey along the River Styx, Dean and Tom explore how death is celebrated across cultures: from the joyous customs of Mexico’s Day of the Dead and Irish wakes, to the burning of papier-mâché effigies during East Asia’s Ghost Festival and of wooden pyres in India’s Varanasi, and so much more. We know you’re dying to hear this episode, so listen and en...

We’re very (not) sorry to say that Dean and Tom are talking apologies across cultures, particularly in the U.K. and East Asia, in this episode. Also, Producer Torin brings in a recent New York Times article about apologetic tweets from British railway companies (sorry if you missed the article), while Dean and Tom chat about how the train system in New York doesn’t seem to want to apologize for an...

Dean and Tom are back from a hiatus to continue exploring the creation and use of names across the globe: this time, in Latin America, Germany, the Middle East, India, and New Zealand. They also honor honorifics, epitomize eponymous names, and generate their genealogy – all while butchering or mastering “The Name Game,” depending on your interpretation! Lincoln lincoln bo-bincoln, bo-nana fa...

In this first episode of 2019, Dean and Tom apply a cultural lens to Shakespeare’s classic question: “What’s in a name? That which we call a rose; by any other name would smell as sweet!” After leaving their mohel in the back seat of a car ( per this commercial ), they begin to explore the creation and use of first names, family names, and nicknames across the globe: in Eas...