This week we’re joined once again by guest-host Dilini Algama as we discuss Simon’s short but sharp experience of a house full of small children.Having lived through the torment of being a ginger haired child in Britain, Nic marvels at the distinct lack of ginger hair hatred in Germany, Dilli recounts her experiences of being told off by Germans for inexplicable reasons and finally, we take a look at a Raccoon in Heidelberg that has given up on freedom and voluntarily moved into the local zoo.
We welcome Dr. Sandra Jansen to the show, just in time to talk about controversial cocktail opinions and the recent takeover of Nic’s favourite football club, Newcastle United. However, we didn’t ask the good doctor on to only talk booze and football. Sandra is a sociolinguist and she has more than a few interesting observations about how Nic and Simon speak. Simon introduces us to a language ban in a London school and we talk about why German dialects are often more appreciated. Finally we look at some Geordie and Southern English phrases that would catch out many Germans travelling in the UK.
Simon takes in some amatuer football and we find a possible official Decades from Home football team, while Nic celebrates a new job. A wild boar attack in Barcelona gives us a chance to ask whether German Boars are more mild mannered than their Catalonian brethren, Simon goes on a saucy adventure as he looks at a survey on the regional condiment choices in the UK and to finish off, Nic looks at two recent stories from Bavaria that suggest what kind of problems we might face at the post-pandemic Oktoberfest.
We’re joined by Marty this week, better known as The Honorable Husband on Twitter, to talk Oktoberfest withdrawal and the pitfalls of living and working in a different language, Simon celebrates the Tag der deutschen Einheit (German Unity Day), Nic asks what other countries could offer their populations to improve vaccine uptake and lads finish up with a discussion on the words and phrases connected with Angela Merkel.
We’re joined by Richard from Ingolstadt, allowing us to form the mighty Bavarian triangle! We talk Deutschrap, Simon makes Richard feel welcome by bringing us a story from the UK and introducing us to a new term “Beaning”, Nic can’t help talking about his favourite topic following a story about the increase in vegan pies and we take the Wahl-o-mat quiz to find out which political parties we’re aligned with.
We welcome Dilli Algama back to the show and just in time for Simon to reveal his mystery anniversary gift. We kick things off by discussing trips to the zoo, Simon introduces Dilli to the red panda and we marvel at the many places that sell beer in Germany. We also talk Zukunftsangst and we finish with a tour of the local Apotheke.
We’re welcoming a guest host to the show this week as we’re joined by the writer Courtney Tenz! We discuss whether picking random fruit off trees is worth the risk, Bavarian vegetarian options and Simon celebrates the arrival of a new David Hasselhoff album. Having arrived in Germany weeks before Angela Merkel became Chancellor, Courtney discusses the impact of Merkel’s time in office and what the future might hold for Germany.
Nic learns that like many things in Germany, there are some important rules to remember when ordering a takeaway. Simon talks about his love of currywurst and defends his favourite comfort food from his co-hosts food cynicism. The lads celebrate the upcoming release of Sam Fender’s new album and take some time out from discussing the peculiarities of German life to discuss how mental health is a central part of the Geordie musicians work and why men, especially in the UK find it difficult to talk about their feelings. Finally, Simon and Nic ask if Germany has a class system similar to the UK and whether social class is obsessed over in the same way as their former home.
By god it’s Johann Goethe’s birthday! Simon wants to celebrate the birth of one (if not the) greatest Germans of all time, but Nic can’t help insulting the birthday boy.The lad’s enjoy the annual list of Jugendwort des Jahres 2021 (Youth Word of the Year) and ponder whether their young or cool enough to use any of them.In an attempt to predict what words might feature on the list next year, Simon and Nic suggest some possible entries from a list of long forgotten English insults. Finally, Nic asks if swearing in German is really such a problem or is it just the English speaking community being oversensitive and over protective of their language in Germany.
We’re back for a full episode baby! Nic has finished laying floor and painting walls in his new home and he’s not entirely sure if DIY is really his thing, does Simon have the DIY DNA or is he as equally underwhelmed? Nic and Simon ask whether there is any real need to buy a house, given that renting is so popular in Germany and we find out if Nic has managed to improve his German as well as his woodworking skills while he’s been away and since neither of the lads have been on holiday for a while, they finish the show by talking Stadtstrand or city beaches.
This week Simon & Nic discuss flags and national symbols as we look at different ideas on national flags coming out of Germany, the UK and the US. We discuss new flag rules in the UK, if the US has more rules than Germany when it comes to flag flying, whether flying the German national flag is still an issue in Germany and Nic tests Simon’s knowledge of the flags of the German states.
Simon has been buying fish, but much to Nic’s surprise he doesn’t plan on eating them with some chips. We celebrate the birthday of one of the most famous spies in history as we discuss the life of Mata Hari and her exploits spying for Germany during WWI. Due to Nic’s life getting in the way, we’re bringing you some of our favourite segments from previous shows as we go back to episode 20 to hear our discussion on the increase in the wolf population of Germany, we then jump to episode 25’s discussion on Nic’s obsession with British pork pies and finally we finish on the question of whether David Hasselhoff was really the reason that the Berlin wall fell.
We’re finally taking our first steps back into the land of the normal as Simon joins a large group of foodies for a tour of Nürnberg, while Nic ventures out to visit the Augsburg Plärrer. We discuss the anniversary of the lowering of the German voting age in 1970 and take some time to celebrate the life of everyone’s favourite Chancellor, Willy Brandt. We discuss the curious case of the “Peppa Effect” a supposed shifting of accents seen in US children due to overexposure to the cartoon Peppa Pig. We question whether it’s true that “Everyone speaks English” in Germany and finally we look at how native English speakers differ between the UK and the US.
Simon kicks-off the show celebrating Jürgen Klinsmann’s birthday and we talk about how Germans see Britain. We’re focusing on our adopted home this week, the mighty Freistaat Bayern. We talk the many differences between the 16 German states and why Bavaria could be compared to the English county of Yorkshire. We finish the show with a quick look at some of the best cities to visit in Bavaria.
Simon returns from his sick bed and joins Nic to talk about some exciting changes to the podcast, There’s also the small matter of a football game to discuss. Simon and Nic commiserate over England’s loss and take some time to talk about the wider impact of a successful tournament on English culture and politics. We also go back to episode 13 to hear about some curious German superstitions and why saying ‘Prost’ with a pint of beer isn’t as easy as you might think.
After 30 episodes and some hard work over the last few months, Simon deservedly has taken the week off. Nic could easily have gone off the rails, but luckily for us he decided on a clipshow instead. This week go back in time to hear conversations on a the connection between a fish and German music from episode 14, East Germany’s favourite car the Trabant from episode 15, Simon’s love of kebabs from Episode 19 and an interview with 40percentgerman.com guest contributor Dilini Algama on her experiences of German dating from episode 23.
Simon celebrates Sebastian Vettel’s birthday and explains why the F1 driver holds British humour in such high regard. Despite their best efforts, the lads we can’t avoid talking football especially with the England v Germany fixture. A new shop in Berlin proudly selling LSD to the masses attracts Simon’s attention and finally we discuss traditional German health remedies and why going to a homoeopathic practitioners conference might be more fun than you think.
To celebrate the upcoming England v Germany game Nic & Simon discuss the upcoming fixture and what it means to them. They remember past meetings between the teams and try to predict who will win on Tuesday.
We’re talking two of our favourite topics this week football and beer, although the second of these is a little tricky for Simon as he recovers from partying with his neighbours. Nic explains why JFK is unfairly remembered in Germany for claiming to be doughnut, Simon questions a recent Greenpeace protest and asks Nic how much money the podcast could knock off the value of a major soft drinks company. Finally, we end the show by deep diving into the topic of German beer and choose their own top five German beers.
Nic comes down with a severe case of football fever and there ain’t no vaccine for that, the lads discuss the start of Euro 21 and the teams they plan on supporting. Following on from last week, Simon and Nic discuss funny German words they’ve still not fully got to grips with and explain why having a childish sense of humour is useful when speaking German. A failure in translation brings an end to a court case in the UK, Simon & Nic celebrate the return of German hero David Hasselhoff and Simon introduces us to the most rebellious musician in Switzerland, or at least the most rebellious Alpine horn player in Switzerland.
