Draft:The Earful Tower Podcast

The Earful Tower: Paris is a podcast about Paris and France hosted by an Australian expatriate Oliver Gee and featuring stories of everyday life and history of Paris, tips on travel to Paris, French language lessons, and interviews with locals, who share their perspectives on Paris and France.

Premise
The podcast is a weekly audio show, typically with a special guest who shares their story over half an hour. These guests include authors, tour guides, restaurateurs, musicians, comedians, politicians and all those whose views and experiences present interest to the listeners who may be planning a trip to Paris, are studying French or are interested in Parisian life, history, food, architecture or style.

Episodes
As of May 2024, 15 seasons and over 400 episodes have been released. Some seasons focus on a specific theme, such as the Countdown Season when the hosts spent twenty-four hours in each of the twenty Paris arrondissements.

The podcast guests include authors John Baxter, Cara Black, David Downie and Stephen Clarke, model Caroline de Maigret, ambassadors Denise Bauer and Brendan Berne, chef and author David Lebovitz, cookbook writer Patricia Wells, journalist Simon Kuper and many other Parisians and expats of note.

Reception
The Earful Tower: Paris was voted the Best Podcast in Paris in 2018 by the readers of Expatriates Magazine. As of May 2024, it is ranked in top ten in several countries in the category of Places & Travel, including #4 in Australia. It is consistently ranked in top 50 in the United States, Great Britain and France. The podcast is frequently listed among the most recommended about Paris and France.

Host
Oliver Gee moved to Paris from Australia as a journalist in 2015, but switched to podcasting in 2017. . He built on his experiences as an expatriate and a podcast creator to launch his writing career with a memoir Paris On Air in 2020. . In collaboration with his wife and co-host Lina Nordin Gee he followed up with a series of children's books inspired by the unusual and whimsical stories he has uncovered while working on his show. Having gained recognition through his podcast, Oliver occasionally plays the role of an English-speaking Paris expert for various media outlets. In April 2024, he was interviewed by an NBC affiliate TV station for their segment on the Eiffel Tower and the preparations for the 2024 Paris Olympics, as well as his career as a podcaster and a children's book author.