Episodes

We’re popping open a bottle of Mirto from Sardinia in celebration of our 50TH EPISODE! First, Dean caps off our prior episode about music and dance with the happiest song he’s ever heard, Jambo Bwana, from East Africa, and with an Italian version of the card game Spoons in which the losing player sings an aria. From there, Dean and Tom explore divisions between the north and south of Italy, the cultural prominence of “la bella figura” across Italy, and the intersection of transactions and person...

We’re groovin’ to the tunes in this episode! Join Dean and Tom as they explore varying expressions, along with common purposes, of music and dance across cultures: from an indoor wedding in Cairo and music bar in Dublin, to an outdoor opera in Rome and the salsa-filled streets of Havana. Everybody gather ’round now. Let your body feel the heat. Don’t you worry if you can’t dance. Let the music move your feet! (Well said, Gloria Estefan!) ***Subscribe to Dean’s Substack here for all of Dean’s Cu...

If you’ve paid attention to U.S. national news recently *ahem Kristi Noem ahem*, you’ve surely been reminded that many U.S. Americans love love love dogs and have them as pets. Therefore, we thought it would be the perfect time for a special reissue of our May 2021 episode, “Pets Around The World! Meow.” Enjoy! 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...

Earth Day 2024 was this past Monday April 22nd! In honor of our one and only Earth, Dean brings Tom (and us) along with him on his recent excursion to Antarctica in this episode, where he walked among thousands of non-tap-dancing penguins and giant calving glaciers on the warmest day ever recorded there to-date. Specifically, Dean details his conversations on his Antarctic journey with global climate leader Christiana Figueres on how cultural “DNA” underlies the US-American case, the Asian case,...

Dean and Tom have truly “fallen down the rabbit hole” in this episode as they explore different idioms across cultures, offering context as well as advice on what to do when faced with unknown idioms on your travels. (A preview: An idiom in another country may feel like it “comes out of left field,” but give yourself some grace – you’re not an ‘idiom idiot’!) We know that you’ll enjoy listening to this idiotic idiomatic episode “as soon as possible” (when is this? that’s up to you!) because you’...

Introducing…Dean’s new “Culture’s Consequences” Substack column, in which he reveals the hidden cultural reasons behind the daily headlines! In this episode, Dean and Tom bite into Dean’s February 2024 “Culture’s Consequences” article about Dong Phuong Bakery’s luscious King Cake, available only during New Orleans’ Mardi Gras season, and how it represents a melding of New Orleans, Creole, French, and Vietnamese cultures. Plus, they float into talk of krewes and parades during Mardi Gras, involvi...

With next month marking 10 years since Russia’s invasion and annexation of Crimea in Ukraine, and 2 years since the start of the current war there, we will continue to keep Ukraine & Ukrainians in our ears, hearts, and minds with this special reissue of our “For Ukrainians, the sunflower is an incredibly powerful symbol” episode from April 2022. 🇺🇦 Slava Ukraini 🇺🇦 Stay well & stay strong, dear listeners – and stay tuned for new episodes of Oops, Your Culture’s Showing! in the coming months. De...

Happy holidays, dear listeners! Welcome back for the thrilling conclusion of our Cornucopia series, in which Tom and Torin now face off in the final two of six of Dean’s CultureQuizzes: that is, brief quizzes about fundamental culture concepts in different regions of the world. They’re playing for the prize of, well, it’s unclear, as the culture-curious fellows are now into their third successive episode of imbibing frivolity. As time passes and the point totals rise, the decorum tumbles, someon...

Happy Thanksgiving to our U.S. American listeners! Before, after, or perhaps while you’re feasting at the dinner table, enjoy feasting your ears on this continuation from last month’s episode about Dean’s CultureQuizzes, or brief quizzes about fundamental culture concepts in different regions of the world. This time, Tom and Torin take on quizzes about countries in Asia and then in Europe, while quickly losing their senses as they consume a few more sudsy potables. (Case in point: The phrase “I ...

As the three culture-curious mates remedy last episode’s sangria-lessness with beer and chianti, Dean (our resident global cultures expert) challenges Tom and Torin (our very-much-not-experts) to play six of his self-written CultureQuizzes – that is, brief quizzes about fundamental culture concepts in particular regions – against each other. Perhaps due to their mild inebriation or Torin’s overactive competitive side, or both, Tom and Torin agree to duke it out over two quizzes about Australia a...

It’s always nice to imbibe with a companion, so this month, we’re pairing up last month’s “Alcohol Across Cultures” chat with a companion piece on what to do (or not do) when drinking tea and other libations across the globe. So grab your potable of choice (potent or not) and please enjoy this special reissue of our second-ever episode, “Tea & Magnetic Pole Flips”, from March 2018! (Also: It appears that the topic of magnetic pole flipping has stayed in the news even five years later!) This epi...

Dean may have neglected to bring sangria for this episode, but that doesn’t stop Dean and Tom from sliding into a spirited dialogue on Dean’s experiences with alcohol across countries & cultures: from gin amidst the dizzying dunes of Libya, to the “easy going down” caipirinha of Brazil (with subsequent lizard-negotiating), to early-morning Unicum in a Budapest boardroom, and much more. Plus, do Dean and Tom decide to push their limits after imbibing a few tequilas together in Mexico? Call us old...

In this episode, Dean lights some powerful incense (can you smell it?) before recounting his travels through the massively multicultural nation of India, and exploring personal instances of cultural dissonance in Pondicherry and elsewhere. Plus, Tom points out the elephant in the corner (of a Hindu temple), and Producer Torin needs to know if Dean walks the walk there. Remember: Everything will be okay in the end, so if things are not okay now, don’t worry; you’re just not at the end (of enjoyin...

As Dean and Tom (metaphorically) cross the Rio Grande in this episode, they find themselves wading into the rich complexities of Mexican culture and identity – particularly, into the shifting impact of the historical figure La Malinche. Plus, Dean revisits his great Mexican cultural faux-pas, which may or may not have involved male genitalia; you’ll have to listen to find out! Then, don’t forget to read about Dean’s greatest-ever cultural faux-pas, and much much more, by subscribing to Dean’s Su...

After Dean and Tom kicked off last month’s episode by recalling their very first island-hopping episode, “Island Hopping: Iceland & Malta,” we felt it’d be the perfect time for a special reissue. Here is that legendary land-leaping conversation from September 2018, provided for you in its entirety. Enjoy! Don’t despair, dear listeners! While the days may be getting shorter, Dean and Tom are back to boost your spirits in this episode as they “island hop” from incredible Iceland to majestic Malta...

Drumroll please! In the thrilling conclusion of this two-part series, we crown the winner of last month’s game show, and discover what Dean and Tom can possibly remember about the first ten episodes of their own podcast – all in celebration of FIVE YEARS of ‘Oops, Your Culture’s Showing!’. Plus, vital questions for humanity are broached in this episode, such as: Is five years, in fact, “more than enough”? IS this “the final episode of the podcast”? (The answer to both: Umm, no! We’ll return with...

Join us, dear listeners, as we celebrate FIVE YEARS since the launch of ‘Oops, Your Culture’s Showing!’…with a game show! In part one of this jubilant two-parter, Dean and Tom begin accessing their “brain castles” to recall what in the world (literally) they gabbed about in selected episodes over these past five years. We invite you to play along with them – AND, a quick reminder that ALL THIRTY-SEVEN PAST EPISODES are now up on our NEW YouTube channel here, for your listening (or re-listening) ...

Want more Oops Your Culture’s Showing!, but not too much? In this episode, Dean and Tom deliver just that as they comfortably wade into an exploration of how the Swedish ethos of ‘lagom’, which roughly translates as “just the right amount,” relates to Scandinavian, Dutch, and in some ways, Japanese cultures. Plus, after returning to fan-favorite segment Wordplay!, they can’t help but go a little overboard when briefly introducing new segments Analogy Hell and Therapy Time. We’ve already overstay...

New Zealand’s iconic prime minister, Jacinda Ardern, has announced she’s stepping down in the coming days. In honor of her 5+ years of Kiwi leadership, we’re heading back ‘down under’ with a special reissue of our “Island Hopping: New Zealand” episode from November 2019. Enjoy! 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 adven...

Happy holidays, dear listeners! We’re doubling your dose of joy this holiday season with BOTH parts of our ‘two-part gleeful gabfest’ from Nov/Dec 2021, “Joy To The World!” – packaged together in this supersized, super-special reissue. Both episode descriptions are below, plus the link to our new YouTube channel (while on a plane ride or road trip these holidays, head there to hear or rehear our original episodes!). A very happy new year to all, and we’ll be back with new episodes in 2023! PART...

Happy Thanksgiving to our US American listeners! In this episode, Dean dishes to Tom about both experiencing US American holidays like Thanksgiving while in different countries, as well as immersing himself in different countries’ holidays over the years – from Slovakia to India to China, and many more! Plus, Tom searches for wordplay (but does he find it?) and producer Torin calls out semantic satiation when he hears it (but can he say “satiation”?). Enjoy gobbling up this episode, and thank yo...

Listening to this while eating lunch in the workplace? Fais attention (be careful!) because if you’re in France, that’s illegal. In this episode, Dean and Tom get to work contrasting how countries from France to Japan to the US value, and even legislate, work-life balance – and, bien sûr (of course!), how it’s all grounded in culture. Plus, a Grammar Time segment somehow sneaks up on all of us…est-ce possible? (Here are the referenced NPR articles on the French lunch law and the Portuguese ‘righ...

Why did Dean, the global cultures expert, cross the road? To chat with Tom about navigating street crossings in cities from Rome to Hong Kong, and the corresponding cultural implications – of course! Plus: Don’t miss the exciting premiere of Wordplay!, a subset of Grammar Time, later in the episode. We’re giving you the walk sign to stroll through this episode and enjoy it, hopefully without jaywalking involved (but if you do, we won’t – and can’t – tell on you). Have a cultural question or epi...

We hope you’re staying as cool as can be, listeners! Since Dean and Tom will be chatting about global transportation customs in next month’s brand-new episode, we’re ‘crossing the road’ to there with a special reissue this month of our “Taxis & Malaysian Smiles” episode from May 2018. Enjoy this off-the-rails (or whichever transportation idiom you prefer) episode, hopefully while sipping on an ice-cold beverage! In this episode, Dean and Tom share taxi adventures and delve into what to do, and ...