Oops, Your Culture's Showing!

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 [email protected]. 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 [email protected]. 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 [email protected]. 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 [email protected]. 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 [email protected]. 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 [email protected]. 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 [email protected]. Hosts: Dean Foster & Tom Peterson Audio Production: Tom Peterson & Torin Peterson Music: “Little Idea” – Bensound.com

We’re back for Part 2 and for our 60TH EPISODE! In this even more culture-lit-laden episode, Dean, Tom, and Torin resume poring over Christopher Moore’s book “The Untranslatables”, about terms representing universal concepts that don’t have a direct translation in U.S. English, like the French term “esprit de l’escalier”, the Mandarin word “guanxi”, and the Bantu word “ubuntu”. Dean’s stories, tales, and lessons learned abound (and astound) as the bibliophilic blokes explore why the terms’ original cultures required, and others did not require, the creation and use of these terms in their respective parts of the globe. We heartily thank you sixty times over for laughing and learning with us over sixty episodes! Speaking of Dean’s stories galore and loving books: We KNOW you’ll love Dean’s newest book, “Business Beyond Borders: Stories, Tales, and Lessons Learned from Working in 100 Cultures Around the World”. It’ll be released Nov. 4th in hardcover and Nov. 6th in Kindle and audiobook – pre-order it today! ***Special thanks to Christopher Moore and “The Untranslatables: The Most Intriguing Words from Around the World”.*** Have a cultural question or episode idea? Reach out on X/Twitter & Facebook (@OopsCultureShow) or by email at [email protected]. Hosts: Dean Foster & Tom Peterson Audio Production: Tom Peterson & Torin Peterson Music: “Little Idea” – Bensound.com

Dear listeners: As you’ve enjoyed nearly sixty episodes of Dean’s stories, tales, and lessons learned from working in a hundred cultures around the world (and if not, why are you here? this is what we do!), we know you’re absolutely going to love Dean’s newest book, “Business Beyond Borders: Stories, Tales, and Lessons Learned from Working in 100 Cultures Around the World”. It’ll be released Nov. 4th in hardcover and Nov. 6th in Kindle and audiobook – pre-order it today! In this culture-lit-laden episode, Dean and Tom crack open Dean’s motivations for writing this newest book compared to his previous books, why this book is so important now, and how the stories in this book are the “smallest nuggets” that illustrate culture’s “biggest impact”. Then, the book club continues with the start of a study into Christopher Moore’s book “The Untranslatables”, about words that don’t have a direct translation in U.S. English, like the German word schadenfreude. What does it say about German culture that it required the creation of a specific word for the concept behind schadenfreude – and what does it say about other cultures that they did not? Listen to find out, and because there was far more to discuss before this chapter is closed, stay tuned for next month’s Part 2! ***Special thanks to Christopher Moore and “The Untranslatables: The Most Intriguing Words from Around the World”.*** Have a cultural question or episode idea? Reach out on X/Twitter & Facebook (@OopsCultureShow) or by email at [email protected]. Hosts: Dean Foster & Tom Peterson Audio Production: Tom Peterson & Torin Peterson Music: “Little Idea” – Bensound.com

Listen to this juicy rumor: In this episode, would you believe that Dean and Tom ‘spill the tea’ on the value and function of gossip and secrecy across cultures? From investigating the use of tsismis in Manila, to eyeing gossip’s impact on decision-making in sub-Saharan Africa – plus secrecy’s impact on drapery in Brussels – they manage to make a splash at proverbial water coolers in both the Global North and Global South in just thirty minutes…all while serving up some fresh scuttlebutt of their own. Don’t believe it? Well, you’ll just have to listen for yourself, lest the rumor mill pass you by! ***Subscribe to Dean’s Substack here for all of Dean’s CultureQuizzes, “Culture’s Consequences” articles, and much more!*** Have a cultural question or episode idea? Reach out on X/Twitter & Facebook (@OopsCultureShow) or by email at [email protected]. Hosts: Dean Foster & Tom Peterson Audio Production: Tom Peterson & Torin Peterson Music: “Little Idea” – Bensound.com

While we’re sorry to possibly offend, we’re not at all sorry about reissuing our apologies-across-cultures episode, “Sorry?”, from June 2019. We hope that you enjoy it, and if you don’t, what else can we say but…sorry? We’re very (not) sorry to say that Dean and Tom are talking apologies across cultures, particularly in the U.K. and East Asia, in this episode. Also, Producer Torin brings in a recent New York Times article about apologetic tweets from British railway companies (sorry if you missed the article), while Dean and Tom chat about how the train system in New York doesn’t seem to want to apologize for anything. (Sorry, New York!) ***Subscribe to Dean’s Substack here for all of Dean’s CultureQuizzes, “Culture’s Consequences” articles, and much more!*** Have a cultural question or episode idea? Reach out on X/Twitter & Facebook (@OopsCultureShow) or by email at [email protected]. Hosts: Dean Foster & Tom Peterson Audio Production: Tom Peterson & Torin Peterson Music: “Little Idea” – Bensound.com

Last month, Dean entered a ryokan in Japan, so this month he – and we – are re-entering the Japanese bathroom in the FIRST-EVER episode of the “Oops, Your Culture’s Showing!” podcast. Enjoy this special reissue of our March 23rd 2018 premiere episode, titled “Shaving & Japanese Toilets”! World cultures expert Dean Foster and longtime friend Tom Peterson dive into bathroom habits around the world in this episode, with the act of shaving and, yes, using the toilet. Join them as they dissect the features and cultural origins of the Japanese toilet, and why perhaps it isn’t catching on in the U.S. (Or is it? No!) So relax, heat up your toilet seat, and turn down your 1812 Overture, because you’re going to want to hear this. ***Subscribe to Dean’s Substack here for all of Dean’s CultureQuizzes, “Culture’s Consequences” articles, and much more!*** Have a cultural question or episode idea? Reach out on X/Twitter & Facebook (@OopsCultureShow) or by email at [email protected]. Hosts: Dean Foster & Tom Peterson Audio Production: Tom Peterson & Torin Peterson Music: “Little Idea” – Bensound.com

Happy spring! With cherry blossoms blooming all around, Dean and Tom float into an exploration of ikigai, a concept for finding happiness and purpose in everyday life, in Japanese culture. Along the road of their discussion, they also stay at a ryokan and relish wabi-sabi – all while occasionally being interrupted by the Licensing department. Whether you’re subtly finding beauty in the imperfection of this episode (there’s plenty here!), or you’re taking the “full-blown, get-in-the-van” approach to finding pleasure here, we hope that your listening experience with this episode leaves you feeling quite content! ***Subscribe to Dean’s Substack here for all of Dean’s CultureQuizzes, “Culture’s Consequences” articles, and much more!*** Have a cultural question or episode idea? Reach out on X/Twitter & Facebook (@OopsCultureShow) or by email at [email protected]. Hosts: Dean Foster & Tom Peterson Audio Production: Tom Peterson & Torin Peterson Music: “Little Idea” – Bensound.com

Clink clink! Dean and Tom would just like to take a moment (actually, several moments across this episode) to toast toasting and public speaking across cultures. After toasting all night long with a tamada in Georgia, they toast Dean’s May 2024 article for Toastmasters – Speaking Across Cultures: Top 10 rules for communicating around the world – and Tom tries to guess some of the top 10 rules before Dean reveals them. If you can guess them correctly, dear listener, we’ll happily toast you all night long as well! Enjoy and cheers! ***Subscribe to Dean’s Substack here for all of Dean’s CultureQuizzes, “Culture’s Consequences” articles, and much more!*** Have a cultural question or episode idea? Reach out on X/Twitter & Facebook (@OopsCultureShow) or by email at [email protected]. Hosts: Dean Foster & Tom Peterson Audio Production: Tom Peterson & Torin Peterson Music: “Little Idea” – Bensound.com

O Canada! With all the recent talk of Canada being the 51st U.S. state – it’s not, and won’t be! – Dean and Tom venture into the vast expanse of cultural differences between Canadians and U.S. Americans in this episode. Meanwhile, Dean encounters polar bears on the Canadian Shield, Tom’s Canadian relatives enter the melting pot, and Torin searches underground for Montreal’s Nuit Blanche (White Night). To learn if they all survive their respective Canadian adventures, pull up next to a crackling fire if you can – with a bowl of salad or poutine (or both) – and enjoy! ***Subscribe to Dean’s Substack here for all of Dean’s CultureQuizzes, “Culture’s Consequences” articles, and much more!*** Have a cultural question or episode idea? Reach out on X/Twitter & Facebook (@OopsCultureShow) or by email at [email protected]. Hosts: Dean Foster & Tom Peterson Audio Production: Tom Peterson & Torin Peterson Music: “Little Idea” – Bensound.com

Hoping a magic carpet ride whisks you away to a magical “far far away” place this week? Well, you’re in *luck*, because we’re reissuing our August 2019 episode, “Do You Believe In Magic?”, for that very reason. Enjoy being transported to Dean and Tom’s realm of magic and wonder, and we’ll see you on the other side! In this episode, Dean and Tom explore magical thinking across cultures, conjuring up the origins of good luck charms while clutching their rabbit’s foot, knocking on wood, and spitting to ward off the evil eye. They also dive into how and why myth-making, from Harry Potter to Groundhog Day to Loch Ness, appeals to so many of us across cultures – but not before our friends at Licensing return to cut off Dean’s rendition of “Do You Believe In Magic?”. Listen and enjoy now before this episode goes *poof*! ***Subscribe to Dean’s Substack here for all of Dean’s CultureQuizzes, “Culture’s Consequences” articles, and much more!*** Have a cultural question or episode idea? Reach out on X/Twitter & Facebook (@OopsCultureShow) or by email at [email protected]. Hosts: Dean Foster & Tom Peterson Audio Production: Tom Peterson & Torin Peterson Music: “Little Idea” – Bensound.com

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! ***Subscribe to Dean’s Substack here for Dean’s “UGLY (Fill in Your Country of Choice) TOURISTS.” article, plus CultureQuizzes, “Culture’s Consequences” articles, and much more!*** Have a cultural question or episode idea? Reach out on X/Twitter & Facebook (@OopsCultureShow) or by email at [email protected]. Hosts: Dean Foster & Tom Peterson Audio Production: Tom Peterson & Torin Peterson Music: “Little Idea” – Bensound.com

Happy Thanksgiving to our U.S. listeners! In this episode, Dean and Tom thank local caregivers for helping Dean survive sudden maladies across three different continents. They also explore culture’s impact on the care he received, as well as lessons learned (and salt balls rolled…by butterflies?). Plus, the exciting premiere of not one but TWO spinoff segments (and soon-to-be fan favorites!): “Bad Wordplay” & “Grammar Time with Metaphors”, introduced by an “interesting” harmony. We’ve pulled out all the stops and the rehydration salts for this episode, so if you overindulge in anything today, make it this! (Maybe listen two, three, ten times – why not?) ***Subscribe to Dean’s Substack here for all of Dean’s CultureQuizzes, “Culture’s Consequences” articles, and much more!*** Have a cultural question or episode idea? Reach out on X/Twitter & Facebook (@OopsCultureShow) or by email at [email protected]. Hosts: Dean Foster & Tom Peterson Audio Production: Tom Peterson & Torin Peterson Music: “Little Idea” – Bensound.com

Are Burma and Myanmar the same place? How long does a zat pwe last? Why are only foreigners allowed into a certain garage in Mandalay? In this episode, Dean and Tom travel along Myanmar’s central river, the Irrawaddy, to answer these very questions, all the while observing Buddhist temples and pagodas, holding hands with new friends, and donning a mustachioed purple t-shirt. They also seek to build bridges across a river of differences – and despite Producer Torin having just mixed river metaphors while writing this description, he (foolishly) continues his literary journey for one more sentence. In closing: Join us for this episode’s journey to and through Myanmar; you won’t soon forget it. ***Subscribe to Dean’s Substack here for all of Dean’s CultureQuizzes, “Culture’s Consequences” articles, and much more!*** Have a cultural question or episode idea? Reach out on X/Twitter & Facebook (@OopsCultureShow) or by email at [email protected]. Hosts: Dean Foster & Tom Peterson Audio Production: Tom Peterson & Torin Peterson Music: “Little Idea” – Bensound.com