Garage Monologues with Jay Swanson

I may have given a TEDx Talk last weekend, and it might never see the light of day...

Although we CAN fix that.

Thanks for all your support in making this show! To support my creative projects of all stripes (but mostly YouTube videos) be sure to jump in with us over at https://patreon.com/jayswanson

In this long-overdue episode, my dad has to try mystery cheese from the grocery store because no one has the missing cheeses from my list (and the rest are closed). It's been one of those weeks 😂

Thanks for all your support in making this show! To support my creative projects of all stripes (but mostly YouTube videos) be sure to jump in with us over at https://patreon.com/jayswanson

Sunshine on Cooper is definitely high on this list, but in this episode I talk about a handful of practical things I've been doing to affect my mood, improve my days, and help me get out of the rut that I fell into for a few weeks there. I hope they're helpful =)

Thanks for all your support in making this show! To support my creative projects of all stripes (but mostly YouTube videos) be sure to jump in with us over at https://patreon.com/jayswanson

They can't all be highs, but what do you do when your best weeks somehow feel like the worst? I hit some real walls this last month, especially in the last couple of weeks, and I haven't had a good chance to share about why. At the same time, there are so many great things happening and so much to be grateful for. Life is downright confusing sometimes.

For me it serves as a good reminder that life is hard, no matter who you are. If nothing else, I hope that it sharpens my empathy for those...

I've known Mark Shrime for almost 13 years. He's a surgeon, author, and American Ninja Warrior. Grab a copy of his book here: https://amzn.to/3n5Ijn3 And enjoy our conversation as we dive into the struggles of impostor syndrome, living abroad, and doing our best to share what we love with the people we love.

The cheese list, for those who'd like to try and follow along:

Puxan sits down to try some delicious cheese with me, wax lyrical on what it means to be French, and discuss our place in the world. Enjoy!
https://instagram.com/puxanphoto for all his photographic skills
And thank you so much for listening! You can support the show and get future episodes in real time at https://patreon.com/jayswanson

I've got good news! Fresh off the presses (or out of the post, rather). The Road to Citizenship continues, as do updates around the 2023 guide and coming of the app. Thanks for listening! You can support the show and all my work by becoming a Patron at https://patreon.com/jayswanson

Matt Jordan is a great friend I've had the pleasure of knowing for the last few years, with whom I just returned from a five day trip to Lapland (Finland) with a group of ten friends to celebrate his birthday. We had a blast, and our conversation about Matt's road to French citizenship led us to the importance of friendship, the challenges of making them (particularly in France), and the ways in which we might suggest anyone struggling to make friends abroad go about it.

Check out Matt's latest project and get your trivia on with Learn...

This is the week I get my citizenship application in, if all goes well, and there's a lot of momentum building behind the Paris app too! Keep your eyes and ears peeled for early access to the app, hopefully in the next few months (Spring 2023) and cross your fingers that my application is accepted by the French government without too much hassle =D

Support the show and all my work at https://patreon.com/jayswanson

It's time to start my road to French citizenship! Today's guest is Emily Guernesy, the newest addition to my team, who shares her very recent experience taking the French citizenship interview. We also try 13 French cheeses as we chat, in my quest to try every protected French cheese.

If you're enjoying these episodes and would like the podcast to continue, be sure to support it over on https://patreon.com/jayswanson and let me know that you're listening!

Check out Emily's theater company at www.compagnieclapotis.com
And give them a follow over at...

As promised, the longer more linear story of how I was raised in the church and why I eventually left it.

If you want to hear these podcasts as they drop in real time, become a Patron and jump into the member's only feed at https://patreon.com/jayswanson - you'll find the instructions in your welcome message.

Nathaniel Drew talks about the ever-evolving nature of creating, YouTube, podcasts, and where he hopes to go from here.

If you want to hear these podcasts as they drop in real time, become a Patron and jump into the member's only feed at https://patreon.com/jayswanson - you'll find the instructions in your welcome message.

It's a Thanksgiving Extravaganza! Which means it's time to look back on the year and be thankful. What are you thankful for? Spoiler: I'm thankful for YOU. Thanks for listening

Ever wondered what it's like to date French men, or work for an American man in France? Kate has you covered. We covered a lot of ground in this episode and there's plenty more we could have gotten into, but time is short when old friends are afoot.
I hope you enjoy this chat with Kate: Sender of Stickers!

Want to listen to these podcasts fresh out of the oven and without ads or interruptions? Become a Patron today at https://patreon.com/jayswanson and get access to all of my most recent podcast episodes as...

The behind-the-scenes of Secret Project Number Two - about a decade in the making. I've been working on an app to make your next trip to Paris even easier and filled with more fun. Now to see if we can make it work for real.

This episode dives into the origins of "The Game" from a few years ago, the process I've been going through so far to get an app into the world, and the dangerous turns it's taken along the way. Thankfully we've made it through and are all good at the moment. This one...

I got a severe dressing down for my lack of depth and the total lack of story in my last few vlogs from a close friend and trusted advisor, and I think it helped things click. Dorian and Ashley both called me out for being boring recently, and they both had excellent cases. Part of that is a lack of story structure in my videos - something that's an issue related directly to my fears in sharing my full self in my videos, something I've been struggling with for some time now.

I'm committed to figuring this...

Jess shares her experience in gaining French citizenship, and we both talk at length about the pros and cons of living in France and settling in for the long haul in Paris. Jess has been a friend basically since I moved to Paris, has worked with me a little, and knows me very well, so her insights were a lot of fun to glean in this episode. I hope you enjoy it!

Head to https://patreon.com/jayswanson to become a member and get these podcasts right when they go live (with an entire season's worth of...

How taking breaks, saying no, and focusing on healthy priorities is having real, tangible results.

Among the many, many lessons I've learned and managed to start applying, saying no more often has been one of the hardest but one that brings about the most benefit - because it means when I say yes, it's yes to what I want. Or at least to what's best.

https://garagemonologues.com

A little more TMI for you as we dive into the behind the scenes of Kill the Swimmers, the mini documentary I made about my pandemic project: searching for a way to render myself temporarily infertile. If the idea of male contraception is a bit much for you, this episode might not be one to listen to. Otherwise, enjoy!

Kill the Swimmers video: https://youtu.be/Dx3N5uzJDrI

Theme by  @SonnyGreenwichJr ​

Lindsey Tramuta comes on as the Garage Monologues Season 2 opener, to talk about everything from home ownership in France to the reasons we need more discussions (and videos) surrounding things like reproductive health and how to bring men into the broader conversation (as spurred by Jay's recent mini-documentary Kill the Swimmers).

You can find her at https://lindseytramuta.com and on Instagram and Twitter by her name.

Thanks to today's Patron Producer Curtis Bamford and all of my Patrons for making this possible.

You can subscribe to the Patron-only feed to get these...

Happy New Year! I am so excited for everything coming in 2023! https://patreon.com/jayswanson In this episode I look back at 2022 and some of the highlights in what was a crazy year. Then look forward to 2023 and everything that's got me excited about Paris, app development, and saying no to all kinds of things - even the projects I was most excited to launch this year that just won't make the cut.

I hope you had a wonderful holiday season and a very happy New Year. If you'd like to follow along with my road to...

The Season One Finale - reflecting and looking forward. It's interesting to hear my thoughts here, five months later, as they reflect both how I'm looking to 2023 and how I've half-handled the last half of 2022. I definitely have some patterns to break.

Be sure to snag a two year plan with four months free from the sponsor, NordVPN using my link https://nordvpn.com/jayswansonvpn

The experiments with my vlog, for one, have been really revealing as I jumped back in with renewed energy in the last few months. Both in how vlogging regularly remains...

The sister episode - where Kaarin, my little sister, joins for a chat in her back yard in San Diego, California to spin her insights into gold for my benefit, as well as a little pain, and your complete listening pleasure. Thanks to today's sponsor NordVPN who are offering my listeners 4 months free when buying a 2 year plan!
 
If you've ever wanted another take on the behind-the-scenes look at my long-running creative life, the struggles that have come with it, and the ways in which I've grown through it all, look no further. My sister is a m...

Originally posted in May 2022, Garage Gratitude is a dive into exactly that: what I'm grateful for. And largely, it's you! But also many other things. I hope you enjoy! Be sure to grab NordVPN using this link https://nordvpn.com/jayswansonvpn and get those loans REDUCED!

And if you want to jump into Patreon today, you'll have the rest of season one AND most of season two made available to you instantly. So much to catch up on, all the way to November 2022! https://patreon.com/jayswanson

Enjoy!

Paul Taylor stops by to discuss buying an apartment in Paris, and the challenges of building and maintaining community in an urban setting with the additional challenges of having a family.

Whether it's the challenges of having kids, finding a place to live, or managing to cross paths with friends, we cover it all in this episode of Garage Monologues. You can find Paul at https://paultaylorcomedy.com/ or on socials like Instagram @ptcomedy

I spent a lot of the last year doing a lot of hard things. I burned out on vlogging, got my French drivers' license, lost 50lbs, and adopted a puppy in the midst of carrying out a ridiculous self-experiment (as yet undisclosed when recording). I could use a break.

https://garagemonologues.com

Want to get fully caught up on these podcast episodes? You can get access to the members only feed at https://patreon.com/jayswanson

And thanks to this episode's sponsor, NordVPN, who you can sign up with here to support the...

The very first Garage Monologue as a podcast is more of a dialogue between Jay and @puxanphoto, who dropped by to pop a bottle of champagne and celebrate the end of season 8 of Jay's vlog, talk about the behind the scenes, and draw out a brutal story from Jay's recent brush with the French tax man. 

It's episode 5 of the first season in real terms (the first four were video only) but it's a great place to start.

Follow Puxan at https://instagram.com/puxanphoto

And thanks to this episode's sponsor, NordVPN, who y...

Good morning! Jay Swanson here, and welcome to Garage Monologues. This podcast was originally a video series for my Patrons, inspired by my old garage monologues back when I was daily vlogging. A Garage Monologue, in case you’re new around here, was something I did back in a more difficult era of my life. I was living with my parents, spending all of my time, energy, and money on doomed projects, and could feel myself slipping into a darker place.

https://garagemonologues.com

Setting my camera on top of my dad’s Ho...