Hello! Or should that be hej hej?
Here comes a brand new podcast, The Earful Sweden! The first season is underway with episodes you can find anywhere you find podcasts (including Spotify).
This show is the little brother to The Earful Tower: Paris, which has been around since 2017 and ranks among the most popular travel podcasts in the world (and was recommended by the New York Times). The Paris episodes will continue to be released on Mondays, as always, with the Sweden episodes coming out on Wednesdays.
So what is The Earful Sweden?
The idea is to give a deep dive (in English, of course) into Sweden. The Swedes, their language, their habits, their music, their food, their culture. Everything.
The first three episodes feature an expert on the Swedish Royal Family, a tour guide in Stockholm’s Old Town (Gamla Stan), and my own Swedish wife talking about odd Swedish habits.
Speaking of Gamla Stan, here’s a Walk Show video I made there during the summer of 2020.
Why Sweden?
I lived in Sweden from 2010 to 2015, speak Swedish, and got married in Sweden to a Swedish woman (see photo below). I find the country deeply interesting, love the language, and find the locals to very eyebrow-raising indeed.
I worked as a journalist in Stockholm for three years, got a taste for writing columns about my opinion on the Swedes… and want to continue.
Also, I spend a lot of time in Sweden and I figured I may as well try to capture it all via podcast while I visit.
How can I listen?
Here are all the episodes via iTunes. Please subscribe.
And also via Spotify. Please follow 🙂
You’ll notice above that I kept the logo for The Earful Tower: Paris but changed the colours to match Sweden’s yellow and blue flag.
What’s coming up?
The first season includes interviews with several prominent voices, including Sweden’s Eurovision King Christer Björkman, the Australian Ambassador, and a deep behind the scenes at the Vasa Museum (the country’s best museum if you ask me).
How can I support?
Just by listening, that’s all I ask. Please do share with like-minded friends, leave reviews, and follow on Instagram too. But the future of this podcast depends on its reception, so if you like it, please spread the word 🙂
I won’t set up a website for this podcast, nor a Facebook page, nor a Patreon account. So for now at least, it’s just podcast and Instagram 🙂
Who’s Oliver Gee?
Why, it’s me! I’m an Australian who has lived in Paris since 2015. I wrote a book called Paris On Air that’s nearing its third printing run, and my new children’s book Kylie The Crocodile is out now!
The Earful Tower is my full-time job and turned into a fully-fledged company in December 2020!
I have an obsession with untranslatable words, I love finding hidden secrets in a city, and I’m unhinged when it comes to great doorways.
I hope you’ll like my new podcast 🙂
Ohhh love this, thank you
Bonjour Oliver and Lina, Your The Earful Sweden podcast is NOT available on my Google Podcast App FYI. I only use Google Podcast App on my android tablet to register for podcasts. Cheers Paul
Done! Please let me know if you can’t find it there now, but it has been accepted!
Oliver – I listened to your podcast on the Swedish Royal Family – and your expert neglected an interesting note on the Bernadotte dynasty. General Bernadotte married Desiree Clary who was once engaged to Napoleon – he jilted her to marry Josephine. They were very young. General Bernadotte and Desiree had one son (only) Oscar who married a granddaughter of Josephine by her son (Eugene deBeauharnais) from her first marriage (not Napoleon). So the current Swedish Royal Family is related to Josephine Empress of the French! There is a 1954 movie (Desiree) starring Marlon Brando as Napoleon based on a novel by Annamarie Selenko all about this very romantic story. After Waterloo, Napoleon in Paris surrendered his sword to Desiree Queen of Sweden. Desiree did not like living in Sweden where her in-laws were rude and the weather was disagreeable. Not like Paris at all.