I may have given a TEDx Talk last weekend, and it might never see the light of day... Although we CAN fix that. Thanks for all your support in making this show! To support my creative projects of all stripes (but mostly YouTube videos) be sure to jump in with us over at https://patreon.com/jayswanson ★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★…

In this long-overdue episode, my dad has to try mystery cheese from the grocery store because no one has the missing cheeses from my list (and the rest are closed). It's been one of those weeks 😂 Thanks for all your support in making this show! To support my creative projects of all stripes (but mostly YouTube videos) be sure to jump in with us ove…

Sunshine on Cooper is definitely high on this list, but in this episode I talk about a handful of practical things I've been doing to affect my mood, improve my days, and help me get out of the rut that I fell into for a few weeks there. I hope they're helpful =) Thanks for all your support in making this show! To support my creative projects of al…

They can't all be highs, but what do you do when your best weeks somehow feel like the worst? I hit some real walls this last month, especially in the last couple of weeks, and I haven't had a good chance to share about why. At the same time, there are so many great things happening and so much to be grateful for. Life is downright confusing someti…

I've known Mark Shrime for almost 13 years. He's a surgeon, author, and American Ninja Warrior. Grab a copy of his book here: https://amzn.to/3n5Ijn3 And enjoy our conversation as we dive into the struggles of impostor syndrome, living abroad, and doing our best to share what we love with the people we love. The cheese list, for those who'd like to…

Puxan sits down to try some delicious cheese with me, wax lyrical on what it means to be French, and discuss our place in the world. Enjoy! https://instagram.com/puxanphoto for all his photographic skills And thank you so much for listening! You can support the show and get future episodes in real time at https://patreon.com/jayswanson ★ Support th…

I've got good news! Fresh off the presses (or out of the post, rather). The Road to Citizenship continues, as do updates around the 2023 guide and coming of the app. Thanks for listening! You can support the show and all my work by becoming a Patron at https://patreon.com/jayswanson ★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★…

Matt Jordan is a great friend I've had the pleasure of knowing for the last few years, with whom I just returned from a five day trip to Lapland (Finland) with a group of ten friends to celebrate his birthday. We had a blast, and our conversation about Matt's road to French citizenship led us to the importance of friendship, the challenges of makin…

This is the week I get my citizenship application in, if all goes well, and there's a lot of momentum building behind the Paris app too! Keep your eyes and ears peeled for early access to the app, hopefully in the next few months (Spring 2023) and cross your fingers that my application is accepted by the French government without too much hassle =D…

It's time to start my road to French citizenship! Today's guest is Emily Guernesy, the newest addition to my team, who shares her very recent experience taking the French citizenship interview. We also try 13 French cheeses as we chat, in my quest to try every protected French cheese. If you're enjoying these episodes and would like the podcast to …

As promised, the longer more linear story of how I was raised in the church and why I eventually left it. If you want to hear these podcasts as they drop in real time, become a Patron and jump into the member's only feed at https://patreon.com/jayswanson - you'll find the instructions in your welcome message. ★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★…

Nathaniel Drew talks about the ever-evolving nature of creating, YouTube, podcasts, and where he hopes to go from here. If you want to hear these podcasts as they drop in real time, become a Patron and jump into the member's only feed at https://patreon.com/jayswanson - you'll find the instructions in your welcome message. ★ Support this podcast on…

It's a Thanksgiving Extravaganza! Which means it's time to look back on the year and be thankful. What are you thankful for? Spoiler: I'm thankful for YOU. Thanks for listening <3 Want to listen to me go on about how thankful I am ON Thanksgiving next time? Head to https://patreon.com/jayswanson right now, become a Patron, and you'll have access to…

Ever wondered what it's like to date French men, or work for an American man in France? Kate has you covered. We covered a lot of ground in this episode and there's plenty more we could have gotten into, but time is short when old friends are afoot. I hope you enjoy this chat with Kate: Sender of Stickers! Want to listen to these podcasts fresh out…

The behind-the-scenes of Secret Project Number Two - about a decade in the making. I've been working on an app to make your next trip to Paris even easier and filled with more fun. Now to see if we can make it work for real. This episode dives into the origins of "The Game" from a few years ago, the process I've been going through so far to get an …

I got a severe dressing down for my lack of depth and the total lack of story in my last few vlogs from a close friend and trusted advisor, and I think it helped things click. Dorian and Ashley both called me out for being boring recently, and they both had excellent cases. Part of that is a lack of story structure in my videos - something that's a…

Jess shares her experience in gaining French citizenship, and we both talk at length about the pros and cons of living in France and settling in for the long haul in Paris. Jess has been a friend basically since I moved to Paris, has worked with me a little, and knows me very well, so her insights were a lot of fun to glean in this episode. I hope …

How taking breaks, saying no, and focusing on healthy priorities is having real, tangible results. Among the many, many lessons I've learned and managed to start applying, saying no more often has been one of the hardest but one that brings about the most benefit - because it means when I say yes, it's yes to what I want. Or at least to what's best…

A little more TMI for you as we dive into the behind the scenes of Kill the Swimmers, the mini documentary I made about my pandemic project: searching for a way to render myself temporarily infertile. If the idea of male contraception is a bit much for you, this episode might not be one to listen to. Otherwise, enjoy! Kill the Swimmers video: https…

Lindsey Tramuta comes on as the Garage Monologues Season 2 opener, to talk about everything from home ownership in France to the reasons we need more discussions (and videos) surrounding things like reproductive health and how to bring men into the broader conversation (as spurred by Jay's recent mini-documentary Kill the Swimmers). You can find he…

Happy New Year! I am so excited for everything coming in 2023! https://patreon.com/jayswanson In this episode I look back at 2022 and some of the highlights in what was a crazy year. Then look forward to 2023 and everything that's got me excited about Paris, app development, and saying no to all kinds of things - even the projects I was most excite…

The Season One Finale - reflecting and looking forward. It's interesting to hear my thoughts here, five months later, as they reflect both how I'm looking to 2023 and how I've half-handled the last half of 2022. I definitely have some patterns to break. Be sure to snag a two year plan with four months free from the sponsor, NordVPN using my link ht…

The sister episode - where Kaarin, my little sister, joins for a chat in her back yard in San Diego, California to spin her insights into gold for my benefit, as well as a little pain, and your complete listening pleasure. Thanks to today's sponsor NordVPN who are offering my listeners 4 months free w…

Originally posted in May 2022, Garage Gratitude is a dive into exactly that: what I'm grateful for. And largely, it's you! But also many other things. I hope you enjoy! Be sure to grab NordVPN using this link https://nordvpn.com/jayswansonvpn and get those loans REDUCED! And if you want to jump into P…

Paul Taylor stops by to discuss buying an apartment in Paris, and the challenges of building and maintaining community in an urban setting with the additional challenges of having a family. Whether it's the challenges of having kids, finding a place to live, or managing to cross paths with friends, we cover it all in this episode of Garage Monologu…

I spent a lot of the last year doing a lot of hard things. I burned out on vlogging, got my French drivers' license, lost 50lbs, and adopted a puppy in the midst of carrying out a ridiculous self-experiment (as yet undisclosed when recording). I could use a break. https://garagemonologues.com Want to get fully caught up on these podcast episodes? Y…

The very first Garage Monologue as a podcast is more of a dialogue between Jay and @puxanphoto, who dropped by to pop a bottle of champagne and celebrate the end of season 8 of Jay's vlog, talk about the behind the scenes, and draw out a brutal story from Jay's recent brush with the French tax man. It's episode 5 of the first season in real terms (…

Good morning! Jay Swanson here, and welcome to Garage Monologues. This podcast was originally a video series for my Patrons, inspired by my old garage monologues back when I was daily vlogging. A Garage Monologue, in case you’re new around here, was something I did back in a more difficult era of my life. I was living with my parents, spending all …

We made it to the end of Season 1 of Building the Oracle! And everything went exactly according to plan ... well, not quite. In our final episode of Season 1, we look back on our initial hopes and dreams for the podcast and discuss what we learned, which goals we achieved, and those that we failed to reach. We reflect on world events over the last …

Jane Friedman is the author of The Business of Being a Writer, and one of the most trusted consultants and reporters in the publishing industry. We asked her for some advice on our own publishing plans, and she gave us the reality check we definitely needed. Jane also shared some of the wisdom she's learned through building her own business, pointe…

What's the best way for an author to keep track of a sprawling and evolving fictional universe? And how can we take of all these wonderful little worldbuilding details to help readers explore and discover our universe beyond the pages of a book? We discussed these questions, and much more, with Dave Robison, the founder of Archivos, a visual story-…

Worldbuilding! It's one of the defining elements of the science fiction and fantasy genres, in which the world itself, and how it differs from our own, is a central feature of the story. Readers should feel like they can escape into, and explore, and tell their own stories in the worlds we create for them, and so these worlds must be imbued with en…

Kameron Hurley is a Hugo Award-winning author and a trained historian. She was the guest of honor at this year's ConFusion, and she joined us on the pod to talk about the challenges of living a creative life, along with what it takes to support yourself as an author. We discuss the importance of perseverance and why it is crucial to develop multipl…

Michelle Kuo is an immigration lawyer, and currently teaches on issues of race, punishment, immigration and the law, at the American University of Paris. She is also the author of Reading With Patrick, a deeply moving memoir about the power of storytelling to connect with, and learn from, each other. We talked to Michelle about the importance for a…

Mike Underwood is a rare jewel in the publishing world - a successful author of several (very excellent) SFF novels who also happens to have invaluable sales and marketing expertise with some of the leading publishers in the world. He was also one of Jay's first and best friends within the professional SFF community, so when Jay attended ConFusion,…

Rick Morton is the host of San Diego's highest rated breakfast morning show, Hey Morton!, on radio Z90. But Rick's career path has been anything but smooth. He started at the very bottom of the radio food chain, doing everything he could to get his chance on air. From 3am radio slots to driving around in a giant boombox, rising through the ranks to…

r/fantasy is the internet's largest discussion forum for speculative fiction, and one of Reddit's most popular and inclusive communities. It has almost 800,000 members and has become the go-to location for SFF fans of all stripes, including the authors and publishers themselves. Its success is in no small part due to the efforts of its creator, Ste…

Asking for help and building a support team can be one of the most difficult but important things for a creative entrepreneur to do as their business grows. Jay was as surprised as anyone to discover that his youtube channel had grown too big for him to handle on his own. Over the last two years he brought in Kate, Richard and Zach to help him mana…

Lindsey is a Paris-based journalist writing for the New York Times and Fortune amongst many others. But she’s best known in our circles as @LostnCheeseland, the name of her fantastic Instagram account chronicling life in Paris. She wrote a fantastic book on the cultural shifts in our hometown, The New Paris, and hosts The New Paris Podcast, which i…

Jay attended ConFusion, a Science Fiction & Fantasy convention in Detroit, Michigan. While he was there he talked to some of our favorite SFF authors about why they attend conventions like ConFusion, and how professional conventions have helped them through their careers. Should authors go to conventions and what should they expect from them when t…

Natasha Ngan hit the New York Times bestseller list with her breakout YA novel, Girls of Paper and Fire. She joins us to talk about writing marginalized characters, connecting with readers, working with publishers, going on tour, and doing it all with a chronic illness. Book 2 in the Girls series, Girls of Storm and Shadow is out now. You can find …

Oliver Gee and John Clarke join us to share their own experience with podcasting, and to give us some friendly advice to help launch "Building the Oracle". You can find out more about both of our guests and give them a follow on their websites: Oliver Gee - The Earful Tower John Clarke - Private Practice Workshop HOW YOU CAN HELP Rate and Review Us…

Dropping on the 1st and 15th of every month in 2020 - Building the Oracle follows the process of building a publishing house and film studio from the ground up, all based around the universe of Jay Swanson's Sci-Fantasy "Oracle of the Dread Gods." Subscribe today at buildingtheoracle.com Apple Podcasts | Android | RSS ★ Support this podcast on Patr…