The first two seasons worth of episodes are lovely, but wow the tone of season 3 is almost impossible to listen to. I imagine it’s to do with videoconferencing technology problems, but the flow of conversation is awful. I don’t want to blame the host, as I imagine she’s just working with a hard format, but the contrast of sound quality between her voice and the guest, as well as the timing and interruptions, it’s just not fun. And it’s a pity because I’m so interested in the guests and loved the first two seasons. Maybe more research is needed on how to optimize distance co-recording (external mics for all?), and tactics for interviewing when live face to face contact is not possible.

Barely made it through one episode. The host was a terrible interviewer, constantly bragging about who she knows, what she’s read, blah blah blah. We’re not here to hear about you, we’re here to listen to the guests. I guess I’ll need to go back and try season 1 and 2 according to other reviews. Very disappointing. I hope the earlier seasons are better.

Interviewer interrupts her guests too much. It would be much more interested if she allowed her guest to finish their thoughts.

Season 1 and 2 were very interesting and informative. Season 3 is terrible. The host makes the show about her and she interrupts the guests. Interviewing is a skill and one that she lacks.

This ONE STAR is only for SEASON 3 ONLY. This new host is THE WORST. I LOVED LOVED seasons 1 & 2. It was funny and informative and charming. But this new host is SO RUDE. She constantly interrupts the guests and makes the entire podcast about herself. PLEASE GET A NEW HOST OR RETURN TO THE ORIGINAL ONE. PLEASE! I want to love this podcast again!

Truly disappointing. Guest as well as host (tennis camp episode.)

This podcast ... je suis morte de rire! I relate to many things said here being a French teacher in the U.S. and having traveled abroad with students many times. I’m passing this on to my fellow colleagues. I love hearing about other Franco-american experiences. ❤️

The host who has taken over for season three unfortunately dominates the conversations with frequent interruptions and immediately interpreting an answer. I love the podcast otherwise, but I really want to hear more from the guests! The constant interruptions made it very difficult to enjoy the content.

Interesting topics, great guests, but the host made it difficult to listen to much less enjoy the podcast. Please stop interrupting the guests, and making yourself the focus of the discussion.

I really want to like this podcast. The guests are generally very interesting, but the current host seems more interested in talking about herself than in finding out what the guests think. I have never heard an interviewer interrupt more often than she does. It’s almost comical at times

Was so excited to see the interview with Graydon Carter and so disappointed while listening to it. Here are some (hopefully) easy improvements for the host to make for next episode: - don’t talk about yourself - don’t name drop - ask follow up questions after guest’s responses Loved the first two seasons of this podcast and hope that season three can improve!

I just listened to this season’s host, Liesl Schllinger’s podcast with Graydon Carter, hoping I was wrong about her skills as an interviewer. I’ve been a devoted listener to the podcasts until Liesl took over. She prattles on, as if she were chatting at a cocktail party with the people she’s interviewed this season. She interrupts those she is supposed to listen to, sharing her own experiences. Her personal comments annoying. Please tell her — now that she is NOT broadcasting from her apartment on the Lower East Side (as noted on the intro to each podcast), having had her father drive from Virginia to pick her, her cat and books up to flee NYC for the attic of his house in Virginia — two people cannot talk at the same time on Zoom.

For the first several seasons this was my favorite podcast. Your former host was witty, charming, intelligent, sophisticated and engaging. I find a host for this season largely unlistenable, more interested in her self than in drawing out your guests.

I am beyond happy when I listen to this podcast. I often look East to imagine myself back on the French soil so maybe I’m a captive audience! But right from the start the music transports me and I am immersed in a joyful interview steeped in French culture. If you have any interest in France, or want to learn about the latest goings on in the Francophile world, this podcast is your first stop on the way to « le nirvana » 🇫🇷😍🇺🇸

This is everything you want out of a podcast: engaging, digestible, educational on a variety of topics, and humorous. I am an American moving to Paris for a graduate program next year, so I am also using each episode as a delightful amuse-bouche to prepare me for the cross-Atlantic experience. I look forward to discovering many more Proustian madeleines of my own. Thanks to Bénédicte de Montlaur and the French Embassy in the United States for producing the show.

I enjoy the tone of the podcast. The content is interesting. It helps me to learn more about France by hearing the cultural differences.

This is an amazing podcast for those who live in two languages, French and English, and who spend their quiet moments constantly dissecting, comparing, contrasting and living in the contradiction. It’s great to hear like minded people and be enlightened by those who have made some analytical and/or emotional discoveries. Please listen :)

You have really blown me away with the quality and caliber of guests! I’m so impressed, enjoy every minute, and eagerly await the next episode.

I am a French expat and have lived in the U.S. for the past 20 years. I love to hear how my country and its people are perceived from the outside having become an outsider myself, and I have enjoyed the variety and quality of guests on this podcast. Merci beaucoup!

I really love that I get to know people who have a strong connection with France like I do even though we are not French (I am a little bit French at heart).

Great podcast! Its helpful to learn about France culture through the eyes of expats and then get context from a French national via Benedicte!

What a treat! Can't wait for more episodes! Merci!

As a French teacher I was pleasantly surprised to find this podcast. It gives in-depth as well as anecdotal insights into French culture through conversation that are difficult to find elsewhere. Merci beaucoup pour ce podcast !

This podcast is as much about France and French culture as it is about expats and international travelers everywhere.

This is a must listen if you are a francophile comme moi! I especially love hearing the journeys of other Americans and how they came to know and love France. Each one is different but thoroughly interesting on its own.

Really enjoying the conversations and seeing France from the eyes of global citizens and France lovers. As a French-American, it helps me bridge my two worlds with new perspectives.

I’m an American and lived in France a few years ago. This podcast is definitely relatable and fun 👍

Really interesting points about the dialogue between our two cultures, and about the possible stereotypes which deserve to be nuanced !

Best of both worlds... Merci beaucoup!!! 🇫🇷

Listening to Dee Dee Bridgewater's journey to France, which began as merely a dream really resonated with me. Thank you for having such a spectacular guest!

Très wonderful- for French and Francophiles alike.

Highly recommend, it’s relatable and culturally accurate!

Awesome podcast that helps me to recall so many good memories in France! Looking forward to many more episodes to come! 💜

I lived in France for six years and now that I am currently in NYC, I have been looking for a podcast that “takes me back”, while also teaching me a few things. You can never know everything about a culture and this podcast is so great since there is vocabulary, discussions about different cities, perceptions offered from various angles, jokes made about Americans AND the French... I’m so thrilled!

Such a great podcast - a very refreshing and honest take on art, American and French culture

Brilliant! So proud to be French and American, the best of the 2 world!

So fresh! So spontaneous ! So French in a way :)