Soundtrack
Rockets: Chrome-Clad Prophets of a Retro Future
From Paris to deep space - a silver-painted band of synth freaks found cult status, cosmic grooves, and gave me something to talk about at lunch.
Newsletter
Soundtrack
Flap, Clap, Repeat: How France Made the Chicken Dance Inevitable
How a Swiss Accordion Tune, a French Duck Dance, and American Weddings Created an Inescapable Ritual
Soundtrack
Where Have All the One-Hit Wonders Gone? A Franco-American Time Warp of 1980s Pop
Nostalgia grenades, prom anthems, and the songs everyone knows - at least in France
Table & Foraging
Where the Weeds Know Your Name
Chickweed in France - a humble spring herb, a new country, and the old practice of eating what's underfoot
Leaving the US
Echoes and Entry Points: Learning to Listen in France
Notes on Language, Culture, and Finding Meaning in the Small, Strange Things
Soundtrack
Chauffe, Marcel!: How the Accordion Became France’s Soundtrack—and Then Vanished
From Parisian cafés to polkamania and helmeted TikTok buskers, a breathless journey through accordion history, French identity, and why the instrument still won’t go away
Table & Foraging
Salade de Pissenlits aux Lardons: A Wild French Spring Salad
Dandelions - an easy bit of Lawn to Table Cooking
Soundtrack
File Under French Funk, early 80s Boogie
French Boogie, Cultural Fringes, and a 1980s Compilation
Culture
Poisson d’Avril: A Fishy April Fools’ Day in France
pimps and mackerels to calendar chaos and devilish poems, poisson d’avril old and weird roots .
Soundtrack
Sortilège - Forged in Flame: The Fantasy, Fury, and French Soul of Heavy Metal
Why France might just be the most metal country on Earth.
Table & Foraging
The Giant Omelette of Bessières: When Folklore, Fire, and 15,000 Eggs Feed a Town
A French village doubles in size each Easter Monday to cook one massive, not-quite-an-omelette—born in the 1970s, dressed in legend, and stirred with paddles.
Leaving the US
Not in Our Timeline
On grief, leaving, and the slow unlearning of some of the myths that bind us*.