Whether you’re enjoying the start of spring in the Northern Hemisphere, or autumn in the Southern Hemisphere, it’s a great time for an outdoor stroll – with ‘Oops, Your Culture’s Showing!’ playing in your ears, of course. But when you’re navigating street crossings on this stroll, are there cultural implications attached to what you and those around you are doing? (Hint: There are!) Find out more about those, and much more, in this special reissue of our 34th episode, “There’s no chicken lane in Amsterdam!”, from August 2022. Enjoy, and don’t forget to look both ways!

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).

***Dean’s book, “Business Beyond Borders: Stories, Tales, and Lessons Learned from Working in 100 Cultures Around the World”, IS OUT NOW – order it today! And: Subscribe to Dean’s Substack to find all of Dean’s “Culture’s Consequences” articles, CultureQuizzes, and much more!***

Have a cultural question or episode idea? Reach out on X/Twitter & Facebook (@OopsCultureShow) or by email at oopscultureshow@gmail.com.

Hosts: Dean Foster & Tom Peterson

Audio Production: Tom Peterson & Torin Peterson

Music: “Little Idea” – Bensound.com

Merriam-Webster defines “talking turkey” as “speaking frankly or bluntly”, but, honestly, where’s the fun in that…so instead, we’re talking about Turkey, the country, in this episode. Dean brings Tom and Torin along on his recent expedition there: from “fabulous, glorious center of the word” Istanbul, to the “fascinating” fairy chimneys of Cappadocia and the “enlightening” ceremony of the whirling dervishes – all while sipping on the freshest of pomegranate juice. There was so much Turkey to talk that they balked at trying to fit all the Turkey talk into one overstuffed pod-block (i.e., episode); therefore please enjoy this Part 1, and stay tuned for Part 2 next month! (‘Enjoy!’ in Turkish: ‘Tadını çıkar!’)

[As this episode was recorded remotely, please forgive any technical hiccups and/or audio oddities. Thank you!]

***Dean’s book, “Business Beyond Borders: Stories, Tales, and Lessons Learned from Working in 100 Cultures Around the World”, IS OUT NOW – order yours today! And: Subscribe to Dean’s Substack here to find all of Dean’s “Culture’s Consequences” articles, CultureQuizzes, and much more!***

Have a cultural question or episode idea? Reach out on X/Twitter & Facebook (@OopsCultureShow) or by email at oopscultureshow@gmail.com.

Hosts: Dean Foster & Tom Peterson

Audio Production: Tom Peterson & Torin Peterson

Music: “Little Idea” – Bensound.com

If you find yourself itching to hear Dean and Tom this month, we’re happy to oblige: here is a special reissue of our January 2020 episode, “Which Body Part’s Itchy?”. There’s certainly no dry spell happening in this episode – enjoy!

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 Dean and Tom a rough time!

***Dean’s book, “Business Beyond Borders: Stories, Tales, and Lessons Learned from Working in 100 Cultures Around the World”, IS OUT NOW – order it today! And: Subscribe to Dean’s Substack to find all of Dean’s “Culture’s Consequences” articles, CultureQuizzes, and much more!***

Have a cultural question or episode idea? Reach out on X/Twitter & Facebook (@OopsCultureShow) or by email at oopscultureshow@gmail.com.

Hosts: Dean Foster & Tom Peterson

Audio Production: Tom Peterson & Torin Peterson

Music: “Little Idea” – Bensound.com

With Mardi Gras 2026 right around the corner, sink your teeth into a special slice – erm, reissue – of our Mardi Gras-themed episode, “Culture’s Consequences: King Cake At Mardi Gras”, from February 2024. Enjoy this purple, green, and gold delight!

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, involving some of the cutest dogs you’ve ever seen. We hope you find this episode to be the same as Dean’s description in the article of the Dong Phuong King Cake: “layer upon layer upon layer upon layer of just-right.” Don’t be afraid to drool if so, dear listeners, and laissez les bons temps rouler (i.e., let the good times roll)!

***Dean’s book, “Business Beyond Borders: Stories, Tales, and Lessons Learned from Working in 100 Cultures Around the World”, IS OUT NOW – order it today! And: Subscribe to Dean’s Substack to find all of Dean’s “Culture’s Consequences” articles, CultureQuizzes, and much more!***

Have a cultural question or episode idea? Reach out on X/Twitter & Facebook (@OopsCultureShow) or by email at oopscultureshow@gmail.com.

Hosts: Dean Foster & Tom Peterson

Audio Production: Tom Peterson & Torin Peterson

Music: “Little Idea” – Bensound.com

Happy (almost) new year! In this episode, Dean remembers his experience of ‘rum, rhumba, and remembrance’ in Havana Cuba on a past New Year’s Eve. Tom and Torin join him on this (literally) timeless journey, rum in hand, dancing shoes on, and all clearly being out-rhumba-ed by six-year-olds. Join us on this blur and whirl of an episode, because, as always, we are the walrus: coo coo ca choo!

[As this episode was recorded remotely, please forgive any technical hiccups and/or audio oddities. Thank you!]

***Dean’s book, “Business Beyond Borders: Stories, Tales, and Lessons Learned from Working in 100 Cultures Around the World”, IS OUT NOW – order yours today! And: Subscribe to Dean’s Substack here to find all of Dean’s “Culture’s Consequences” articles, CultureQuizzes, and much more!***

Have a cultural question or episode idea? Reach out on X/Twitter & Facebook (@OopsCultureShow) or by email at oopscultureshow@gmail.com.

Hosts: Dean Foster & Tom Peterson

Audio Production: Tom Peterson & Torin Peterson

Music: “Little Idea” – Bensound.com

Please enjoy this holiday-themed episode reissue from Boxing Day 2024, “How Not To Be The Ugly (Fill In The Country Of Choice) Tourist”, and have a happy end of 2025 & start of 2026!

It’s a holiday-filled time of year and a heavy travel time across cultures, dear listeners; as such, we’ve been receiving your questions about how not to be the “ugly American (or fill in your country of choice) tourist” while traveling abroad. On this Boxing Day, Dean and Tom pause their gifting to unpack fears about this, and then to wrap up practical advice about it into a festive 40-minute episode! Plus: A holiday-themed Wordplay to shepherd us into 2025. Enjoy your holidays, thank you for listening, and we’ll be back soon with new episodes in the new year!

***Dean’s book, “Business Beyond Borders: Stories, Tales, and Lessons Learned from Working in 100 Cultures Around the World”, IS OUT NOW – order yours today! And: Subscribe to Dean’s Substack here to find all of Dean’s “Culture’s Consequences” articles, CultureQuizzes, and much more!***

Have a cultural question or episode idea? Reach out on X/Twitter & Facebook (@OopsCultureShow) or by email at oopscultureshow@gmail.com.

Hosts: Dean Foster & Tom Peterson

Audio Production: Tom Peterson & Torin Peterson

Music: “Little Idea” – Bensound.com

Thanksgiving is back in the US, and so are we with a special reissue of our November 2022 episode, “Holidays of gratitude”! (And don’t forget: Dean’s newest book, “Business Beyond Borders: Stories, Tales, and Lessons Learned from Working in 100 Cultures Around the World”, IS OUT NOW. Order your copy today!)

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 you for listening!

***Subscribe to Dean’s Substack here to find all of Dean’s “Culture’s Consequences” articles, CultureQuizzes, and much much more!***

Have a cultural question or episode idea? Reach out on X/Twitter & Facebook (@OopsCultureShow) or by email at oopscultureshow@gmail.com.

Hosts: Dean Foster & Tom Peterson

Audio Production: Tom Peterson & Torin Peterson

Music: “Little Idea” – Bensound.com

After recently exploring what certain words and phrases say about culture, we thought it time to re-explore what other certain phrases – idioms – say about – yes – culture! With that, enjoy this special reissue of our 47th episode, “Idiots Talking Idioms”, from March 2024. (And don’t forget: Dean’s newest book, “Business Beyond Borders: Stories, Tales, and Lessons Learned from Working in 100 Cultures Around the World”, will be released Nov. 4th in hardcover and Nov. 6th in Kindle and audiobook. Pre-order it today!)

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’re all “pieces of bread”, “salt of the earth”, and other figurative fundamental foodstuffs!

***Subscribe to Dean’s Substack here to find all of Dean’s “Culture’s Consequences” articles, CultureQuizzes, and much much more!***

Have a cultural question or episode idea? Reach out on X/Twitter & Facebook (@OopsCultureShow) or by email at oopscultureshow@gmail.com.

Hosts: Dean Foster & Tom Peterson

Audio Production: Tom Peterson & Torin Peterson

Music: “Little Idea” – Bensound.com