When it comes to artistic endeavors, Paris shines bright as a historically welcome place to pursue them. The city that gave us the Louvre and some of the finest galleries in the world is full of creative talent or, at the very least, creative inspiration. But how it feels living and working as an artist in Paris is an altogether different story. Today’s guest trained as an architect but has been working as an illustrator and painter for several years and has a unique viewpoint on the arts....

Running a business in Paris is a dream for some, a hardship for others. But for today’s guest, Jane Bertch, it has been a variety of things including life changing. 15 years ago she confounded La Cuisine Paris, a French cooking school that is still going strong. She talks about the journey to Paris and running a cooking school in her book: The French Ingredient: Making a Life in Paris One Lesson at a Time which hits shelves April 9. Our conversation covers the Jane from Chicago to the Jane of...

There’s nothing like leaving Paris for a short time to reset perspectives. I’ve recently returned from 10 days in New York and the Philadelphia region and I was struck by how worn and behind both destinations felt. Part of that is lingering socio-economic impact of the pandemic, and part of it may be insufficient funds devoted to much-needed improvements to public services and transportation. It only served to amplify how good we have it in Paris where major infrastructural investment and...

Paris has always been a refuge for foreigners. For a lifetime for some, for a chapter of their lives for others. One of my very best friends in Paris was drawn to many of the qualities that I’ve described on the show over the years (and in The New Paris book) and falls into one of those categories. Like me, she’s been an avid storyteller and reporter covering the many ways that old meets new in the city and how it’s changed over the years. But now, she’s gearing up to leave which is exciting...

Welcome to the end of 2023! Let's take a look back at the challenging, protest-heavy, crisis-generating year in Paris and beyond, with a few thoughts for 2024. Bonnes fêtes et bonne année! Season 8 will begin in the second half of January. Buy my book: The New Paris Buy my book: The New Parisienne Follow me on social: @LindseyTramuta Follow the show: @TheNewParisPodcast Audio production & editing: Matthew Jordan Music by Little Glass Men

Paris has a long legacy not merely as a world capital of culture but as a literary capital. Some of the world’s greatest writers and thinkers have created some of their best work in or about Paris and found homes for it in bookstores, to be sure, but also libraries. Two years ago I interviewed the bestselling author Janet Skeslien Charles on this show about her novel The Paris Library (Episode 74) but today I’m excited to be joined by the executive director of The American Library in Paris...

It’s the week of thanksgiving and that seems like an appropriate time to bring back an American friend. Amanda Bankert is a previous guest of this show (episode 8!) and the owner and pastry chef behind Boneshaker, the only donut shop in Paris worth your time, money, and sweet tooth. She’s also just released her first book in English called Voilà Vegan. We talk about how she got into baking, becoming vegan, how easy it is to find veggie or vegan food in Paris these days, and why all of this...

I have been waiting to talk about the new book by today’s guest for years. Actually, since I met him some 7 years ago when he was already hard at work researching it. Jon Bonné has worked as a journalist for three decades and currently serves as the managing editor at RESY. He is, particularly for wine lovers, best known for his wine reporting and two essential wine books :The New California Wine and The New Wine Rules, which has sold more than 50,000 copies and has been adapted into numerous...

If you spend any amount of time on social media, chances are good you’ve come across the very viral videos of today’s guest. Cécilia Jourdan is a language teacher, content creator and entrepreneur who started Hello French in 2020 with an Instagram account that has since become a full blown business. She joins me today to talk about her trajectory from Paris to New York and in between, building a linguistic career, and what words and ideas seem to cut through the noise most on social...

In the previous episode, you heard from four incredibly smart people invested in both raising awareness and pushing for change when it comes to the fashion industry as a whole. But what practical steps are needed? In this episode, I'm joined again by Aja Barber, Khémäis Ben Lakhdar, and Esha Chhabra to talk about accountability, transparency, decolonization, brands that are doing things right, and slowing down our own consumption as a means to extract ourselves from the performative cycle of...

(Special two-part episode!) Every season, all eyes are on the Parisian runways as onlookers try to get a peak at what big and disruptive trends await for the following year. But few know about the history of how this industry came to be, the role of colonialism in its development, and how the industry upholds many of the same ideas and practices today. As you will discover, the legacy of colonialism lives on within the fashion industry, and not only in France. You’re going to hear from a...

It’s la rentrée! I’m back to my usual home studio and routine which means I’m ready to kick off the fall, and the end of season 7, with some fresh conversations. Let’s kick off September with a friend, entrepreneur and previous guest of this show, Jay Swanson. We’re going to talk about his new project, Paris in My Pocket, Paris news, and what you really need to know if you’re coming to the city this fall.  Mentioned in this episode: Jay Swanson on YouTube Jay Swanson on Instagram Paris...

Of all the cuisines that have had a presence in Paris but always deserved to be more prominent, Lebanese cooking ranks high among them. France is home to the largest Lebanese diaspora in Europe so it’s no surprise that key dishes and ingredients are familiar to many diners. But most establishments hew to classics— that is until the opening of Kubri on the rue Amelot at the end of last year that has lent a creative, contemporary twist. That’s thanks to today’s guest and tremendously talented...

We are quickly approaching three years since my second book The New Parisienne was released. The year 2020, as you may remember, was not an ideal time to release art into the world. Later that year, we would see that the best thing you could have offered people sheltering at home was food and cookbooks,  home decor books, or any kind of guide to DIY-ing your existence. A book about women, including women of colour, should have resonated strongly given its release in the middle of a period of...

Aside from the last episode of last season, which was more about the President than the World Cup, I’ve almost never talked about sports on this show. And that’s strange given the role it plays  in local culture. When I learned about the work of today’s guest, I knew it was time to record a special episode. Lindsay Krasnoff is a historian and sports diplomacy expert who teaches at NYU and wrote a book called Basketball Empire: France and the Making of a Global NBA and WNBA that will be...

Of all the cooking essentials we buy and consume, few are as taken for granted or even misrepresented as extra virgin olive oil. Imagine you’re in France scanning the shelves in your local market for a new bottle. The labels might lead you to believe the oil is 100% French, Italian or Greek but inspect the fine print and a fuller picture emerges: Pressed in Italy, Produced Outside of the European Union. And that’s if the bottles specify that distinction at all. But if I learned anything from...

If you like art or are even mildly interested in art, Paris has both an abundant and intimidating level of choice. The exact number of museums varies according to how you might define a museum but it’s been estimated that there are over 130 museums in Paris, including marquee destinations and smaller museums that showcase a wide range of art, history, science, and culture. And if you like or are curious about contemporary art, there are countless galleries and private foundations. Navigating...

The work to live vs live to work ideology was among the earliest characteristics of French life that appealed to me as a student. I didn’t know the extent to which that would bear out until I had lived in Paris for a number of years and discovered it firsthand. For Ajiri Aki, the Nigerian-American founder of the online linens and antiques brand Madame de la Maison, her decade in Paris has similarly crystallised a number of life lessons which she has now put on paper in her new book: Joie, a...

Much like fashion, Paris is a global reference for design. There are the iconic interiors one might imagine when thinking of Paris but then there are the more sceney or concepty places that seem to have big design firms and big investors behind them. In the last 8 or so years, it feels like every new spot has a resident interior designer or architect or a theme that they’re going for. In some ways, it feels more like London with its developed restaurant groups and their sharp designs. What...

The music you’ve just been listening to was performed by today’s guest, Bonnie Brown, a concert pianist and piano instructor who works out of her home in Paris. She joins me to talk about her connection to France, working as a musician, and the places she loves most to listen to music in Paris.  PS. If you’re a fan of the show, please share it with a friend and leave a review on Spotify, Apple Podcasts or wherever you stream your podcasts! It helps ensure the show gets discovered by new...

If you were to walk the streets of Paris today, you’d see about 7,000 tons of garbage piling up on sidewalks. The stench after a week of no garbage collection is, you might say, ungodly. Some residents have seen an uptick in rat socialising. And according to reports, this could go on until at least next Monday March 20th. This trash assault is the result of strikes in response to the Macron government’s pension reform plans which lawmakers are debating and voting on this very week. In this...

If I think about some of the women that have defined Parisian and French history, I instantly think of Marie Antoinette. The long maligned figure of French royalty and one of many unfortunate symbols of the French Revolution, the former queen has rarely been painted in a positive light. But what if that is an incomplete story? What if new scholarship points to a more nuanced picture of Marie Antoinette and the empresses that followed in her footsteps? That’s part of what today’s guest...

If I think about some of the women that have defined Parisian and French history, I instantly think of Marie Antoinette. The long maligned figure of French royalty and one of many unfortunate symbols of the French Revolution, the former queen has rarely been painted in a positive light. But what if that is an incomplete story? What if new scholarship points to a more nuanced picture of Marie Antoinette and the empresses that followed in her footsteps? That’s part of what today’s guest...

If you were to scan a Parisian city block, you’ll land on at least one caviste or wine seller. But while there are a lot of them, they’re not all created equal. Alison Eastaway, an Australian who has lived in Paris for 12 years and today’s guest, saw an opportunity to offer something different. She left her last career in tech to start Cavewoman Wines, a wine store and tasting room in the 11th arrondissement which opened last July. On today’s show, We talk about nonlinear career paths, the...