logo
episode-header-image
Sep 22
33m 13s

Bistros to boulevards: How Paris was sha...

Oliver Gee
About this episode

Meet Charles Pappas - Mr World Fair. Charles likes nothing more in the world than a Universal Exhibition, especially if it's one of the seven that were hosted in Paris. In fact, he's written the book on the topic. 

I met him on a road-side terrace at Harvest cafe in the 11th arrondissement to talk Paris, Haussmann, coffee, and of course, World Fairs. 

His new book is: Nobody Sits Like the French: Exploring Paris Through Its World Expos, a historical guidebook on how these World Expos, held between 1855-1937, transformed the city of Paris forever.

The music in this episode is from Pres Maxson.

***********

The Earful Tower exists thanks to support from its members. From $10 a month you can unlock almost endless extras including bonus podcast episodes, live video replays, special event invites, and our annually updated PDF guide to Paris. 

Membership takes only a minute to set up on Patreon, or Substack. Thank you for keeping this channel independent. 

For more from the Earful Tower, here are some handy links:

Website 

Weekly newsletter 

Walking Tours

Up next
Sep 29
We're making a new children's book: Here's how we do it
We're making our fifth children's book, and it's the most Parisian one yet. In fact, there are some major changes to this one, so we decided to open the curtain and show you how we do them. Lina talks about her illustrating process and I talk about how I wrote this one - and why ... Show More
25m 32s
Sep 15
My love letter to the Parisian food markets
After an eventful visit to the Aligre markets in the 12th arrondissement, I came home to share my love of the French food markets with my wife Lina. Here's an energetic, honest, and in-the-moment recount of what happened when I went shopping for dinner ingredients. The music in t ... Show More
20m 1s
Sep 2
Meet the woman behind the top cooking classes in Paris
Meet Jane Bertch, a Chicagoan who has called Paris home since 2005. She started her life here as a banker, but made the unusual pivot to running a cooking class (which is now the hugely popular La Cuisine Paris). And now, she has written a memoir about it all: The French Ingredie ... Show More
30m 43s
Recommended Episodes
Sep 2024
Episode 549: A Documentary about The Bittersweet Life!
A number of years back, expat podcast Expat Sandwich produced a documentary episode all about... us! As we prepare to launch our 12th season (can you believe it?), we've decided to air the episode in its entirety here on our show. According to Expat Sandwich's show notes for the ... Show More
46m 57s
Jun 2025
EP.158 Recap The Weeknd Concert / Our Summer Plans
On this episode of the WTJ podcast, we're sharing our experience at The Weeknd concert in as much detail as we can remember. For the second half of the pod, we wanted to share all of our summer plans. Super excited to visit some new countries this year and of course.. eat ALL the ... Show More
1h 1m
Aug 27
*Patreon Bonus Unlocked* — Otto Wagner's Unbuilt Projects
This is an unlocked bonus episode from our series on Otto Wagner, released to mark the end of our Plečnik series. You can listen to the whole of our Otto Wagner series, episodes 79–83 on the main feed. If you want access to our full back catalogue of bonus episodes, please consid ... Show More
47m 3s
Jan 2025
Episode 510 || Unsung Books of 2024
Happy New Year! This week on From the Front Porch, Annie chats about the unsung books that may have flown under your radar and deserve more airtime. To purchase the books mentioned in this episode, stop by The Bookshelf in Thomasville, visit our website (search “Episode 510”) or ... Show More
33m 8s
Dec 2024
Episode 508 || Yes, Virginia
This week on From the Front Porch, Annie’s dad, Chris Butterworth, reads the New York Sun reporter Francis P. Church’s timeless response to eight-year-old Virginia O’Hanlon’s question: “Is there a Santa Claus?” Read the letter from 1897 and learn about its history here. From the ... Show More
9m 2s
Dec 2023
A Death in Malta: Paul Caruana Galizia on the Legacy of Daphne Caruana Galizia
Paul Caruana Galizia is an award-winning journalist and now author. His new book is A Death in Malta, which tells the story of the life and death of his mother, the investigative journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia, who was assassinated by a car bomb on the island of Malta in 2017. ... Show More
29m 52s
Aug 20
Ep 412: Felix and Andy from OT: The Podcast
This week on the Worn & Wound podcast, Zach is joined by Andy Green and Felix Scholz, hosts of OT: The Podcast. Over the last several years, Felix and Andy have developed OT into one of the top watch podcasts out there with a series of fantastic interviews with watch industry ins ... Show More
53m 41s
Feb 2025
JRE 424 Joe Rogan Experience Review of Gad Saad
SUPPORT OUR SHOW! Ad free episodes, exclusive episodes and more.. Head to our Patreon   This weeks sponsors   Raycon Everyday Earbuds www.buyraycon.com/JRER Get FIFTEEN percent off sitewide   Draft Kings www.draftkings.com New players can play five bucks to get a spin on the myst ... Show More
51m 27s
Feb 2025
OSPod Episode 112: The Dreaded, Stradivari, and Special Guest Ludohistory!
Videos return! And so are we! Joined by special guest Adam aka Ludohistory aka Yellow, the OSPod crew unveils their dreaded-sonas, discusses the finer points of silly titles, and much much more. We're so back!Our podcast, like our videos, sometimes touches on the violence, assaul ... Show More
1h 2m
Aug 2024
Absolute Beginners - Rerun
Slang lexicographer extraordinaire Jonathon Green joins John and Andy in this episode originally recorded in 2016 to discuss Absolute Beginners, the classic novel of London teenage life set around Soho and Notting Hill. *Tickets are now on sale for our LIVE show in London on Wedn ... Show More
1h 6m