Shows / onefjef
onefjef
Expat life in Mexico City: interviews and solo dispatches about language, culture, and what it really feels like to leave your life behind and move to CDMX.
Episodes
onefjefA Barber, a Spider & Pepe the Squirrel
After months of putting off getting a haircut because of my limited Spanish, I finally found a supposedly English-speaking barber in Mexico City. What could go…
onefjefSix Months in Sayulita as the World Shut Down
Mike Moll spent most of his adult life in Toronto, building a business he could run from anywhere. In 2019, he and his partner came to Mexico to try working…
onefjefFrom Hollywood to Mexico City
Growing up in California, Frank Dutro never imagined living outside the States. Then, in the early 1990s, Televisa brought him to Mexico City to teach digital…
onefjefBorn American, Raised Mexican
Keo grew up in Mexico City without an easy answer to the question of where he belonged. Born in the United States and raised in Mexico, he spent his life…
onefjefThe Hacker Who Moved to Mexico City
I met Ted in Spanish class. He grew up across the bridge from Boston in a neighborhood where, as he puts it, everybody was a car thief, and that's where he…
onefjefYou Can Call Me Gringo
I explain why the mezcal glasses in Mexico City cantinas have a cross on the bottom, why my apartment 601 is on the seventh floor, and why I'm not buying the…
onefjefGringa Tacos, Cineteca & Leaving for Bogotá with Fernando Marquez
I met Fernando Marquez at a Wednesday night language exchange in Condesa, talked to him for about half an hour, and decided that was enough to have him on the…
onefjefSix Months in Mexico City and Ohio Is Still Calling
Today is my six-month Mexico City-iversary, which I celebrated by locking myself out of my apartment twice in as many days. I also finally rode the Metro…
onefjefHitchhiking Across the USA with Jonathan Wiest
I met Jonathan Wiest in a dysfunctional Spanish class in Mexico city, soon after he hitchhiked from the Texas border to Vancouver with $500 and a sign reading…
onefjefHoly Mole, Oaxaca and a Tooth Being Yanked From My Face
The joys of Oaxaca and the horrors of dental anxiety, with some foot fingers, excessive girth and a Rumi poem about teeth along the way. Please show some…
onefjefWhy Are There Strings on Mexico City's Garbage Bags?
I hire a Mexican lawyer to get my deposit back, visit a dentist I found on an expat forum, and spend an entire day trapped at home waiting for Amazon. Plus: I…
onefjefBiking the Entire Western Hemisphere with Gary Clarke (Re-Release)
I met Gary in a Spanish class in Mexico City. I didn’t learn much Spanish, but I did make a friend who was riding a bicycle from Alaska to Patagonia. We talk…
onefjefThe Strange Freedom of Living Elsewhere with Chris Ryan (Re-Release)
Chris Ryan is the author of Sex at Dawn and host of Tangentially Speaking. We talk about living and traveling abroad, what happens when you get outside the…
onefjefMoving to Columbus Twice, Underground Yoga in Soviet Lithuania and Finding Somatic Therapy with Anastasija Katcyna (Re-Release)
Anastasija grew up in post-Soviet Lithuania, got a green card at 18, and spent years bouncing between Columbus, London, Edinburgh, and Norway before eventually…
onefjefAddiction, Guatemala & Whole Animal Butchery with Jason Wachtelhausen (Re-Release)
Jason Wachtelhausen has lived one of the most unconventional lives of anyone I've interviewed. As I've been living in Mexico this year, I found myself thinking…
onefjefUncomfortably Comfortable
I settle into my new apartment (and terrace) in Mexico City while Jonathan's voice memos chronicle the final stretch of his hitchhiking journey across the…
onefjefHomesick for Two Places
The odd reality of building a life somewhere new is that eventually you end up homesick no matter where you are. I'll be back to normal episodes next week…
onefjefThe Friendly Empire
I return to the United States for the first time since moving away and quickly remember what America does—and doesn’t—feel like. Jonathan continues hitchhiking…
onefjefLost in Mexico City With a Dead Phone on World Cup Night
I end up in a World Cup celebration unlike anything I've ever experienced, get spectacularly lost wandering Mexico City after my phone dies, and share audio…
onefjefHuerto Roma Verde and a Mouthful of Shirt
I'm in my last week of six-hour Spanish days, packing up the apartment I can't wait to leave, and negotiating my deposit back over WhatsApp with a landlord…
onefjefAntibiotics, a Tip-Jar Doctor & Free Tequila in CDMX
I got sick, got antibiotics from a tip-jar doctor, and came back to life right as the World Cup kicked off here in Mexico City. The city went dead quiet, then…
onefjefA Sick Anniversary
Celebrating one year of the podcast from Mexico City, where strangers wish you a good meal and toilets overflow without warning. Illness, isolation, ten M&M's…
onefjefThe Simpsons in Spanish & a Bungee Fitness Class
The inevitable loneliness of starting a new life. Also I got strapped into a bungee harness with four women and zero Spanish comprehension, learned that The…
onefjefColonists, Duolingo's Dirty Secret and a Million Pesos with Chris Casey
SEASON TWO PREMIERE! Chris Casey is back. I find out he actually was an expat — Abu Dhabi, year and a half, government-financed apartment, walked around like…
onefjefConversations, Confessions & Cow Testicles
This is the final episode of season one of onefjef: a compilation of clips, conversations, connection, confessions, and moments that somehow led me from…
onefjefEarthquake Alarms & Sinking Sidewalks in Mexico City
An earthquake alarm went off, Mexico City is slowly disappearing into the earth, and I'm still impressed I haven't fallen on the sidewalk yet. Episode 48 — the…
onefjefUn Kilogramo de Tortillas
It’s a new era. The podcast has a focus now — expat life in Mexico City — and there’s a new contest to go with it. I talk about CDMX’s no-driving-test license…
onefjefIndie Films, Hollywood & Steering the Ship with Jon Sherman
Filmmaker Jon Sherman has been my friend for years and I finally got him in front of a microphone before I left Ohio. We talk about growing up in Manhattan…
onefjefMexican Milk Cartons & Other Small Confusions
I probably shouldn't release this episode but I'm clearly doing it anyway. I talk about Mexican milk cartons, eating raw white bread, and the NEW CONTEST!…
onefjefBlack Sheep, Candelaria & Divide and Conquer with Bernardo Pacheco
Bernardo Pacheco grew up in a low neighborhood on the south side of Mexico City, the youngest of three, black sheep by temperament. We talked about the stories…
onefjefFaith, The Warped Tour & Real Life with Tim Waters
My friend Tim Waters came over two weeks before I moved to Mexico City, we sat in my living room with the lav mics I got for Christmas, and this is what…
onefjefCracked Wide Open
About a month in, I'm starting to admit that this is actually my life. Also: my sister and nephew visited, we went to a cooking class, watched a mariachi band…
onefjefDocumentaries, Dyslexia & We Just Die with Nathan Fitch
My friend Nathan Fitch went from making skate videos to documenting Micronesian soldiers fighting in U.S. wars—and somehow that’s just part of the story. We…
onefjefLight Fixtures
Two weeks into Mexico City and I'm getting by — mostly. A woman at the market walked me across the entire building to find a spatula I didn't need, I took my…
onefjefButter But No Spatula
I’ve lived in Mexico City for a couple weeks now, and I’m in that weird in-between place where some things feel easy and others still make no sense at all. But…
onefjefEgo Death, Young Life & Trying Not to Get Laid with Jack Hopkins
Jack Hopkins (aka Jack Hoppy) is a bartender, filmmaker, and musician from Columbus, Ohio. We talk about growing up small and non-athletic in the suburbs…
onefjefThe Band-Aid Is in the Garbage
Two months from buying a plane ticket to moving into an apartment in Roma Sur. This episode is the arrival — the last frantic packing at my mom's house, the…
onefjefThe Last One Before Mexico City
My time in Columbus finally comes to an end, and this is what it sounds like. I threw away a living thing. I hid poker chips around my old house. I sold a…
onefjefMy Life Was the Size of My Life
This is what it sounds like to dismantle a life. Packing tape. Gravel alleys. A crazy landlord stomping next-door. A going-away party with live music and rocks…
onefjefHi, is this still available?
Selling garbage cans, packing chaos, Yannick Bertrand, and reflections on leaving a place that suddenly starts telling you how much you matter. Please show…
onefjefThe Old Backup Plan
I welcome back the "Old Backup Plan," Chris Casey, for a wide-ranging, unedited February 2026 update. We cover everything from malfunctioning electric…
onefjefFeffrey, Redux
While I’m busy preparing to move, Feffrey kindly stepped in to host. His therapist did not approve. Please show some support for the podcast and get access to…
onefjefHarmony, Healing & Finding Home with David Brown
David Brown grew up moving between thirteen houses in Louisiana, taught to believe heaven was exclusive and his queerness was wrong. He survived Katrina, broke…
onefjefLeaving Ohio and Moving to Mexico City
I’m selling everything, leaving Ohio, and moving to Mexico City in six weeks. This episode is a raw montage about fear, nostalgia, politics, anger, and why…
onefjefAbuse, Memory & Telling the Truth with Essie Baird
I talk with Essie Baird about anxiety, creativity, filmmaking, and the experience of realizing—years later—that a relationship with a teacher was abuse, what…
onefjefMusic, Meditation & Meaning with Jesse Cale
Jesse Cale is a musician, poet, and the founder of hOm Sound Baths, whose work explores sound as a doorway into presence, healing, and altered states of…
onefjefBonus Episode: Year of the Horse
A short bonus episode to ease my guilt about not releasing something every week, share my plans for 2026, and reflect on the universal admiration people have…
onefjefLooking for a Good Christmas
A random Christmas episode about flawed Santa myths, childhood memories, unhinged holiday parties, and the pressure to find joy in a season that carries so…
onefjefWho Invented Candy Canes?
This episode is a cult-classic Christmas radio show I recorded while in film school in 2006. It’s performed in character and marks the first appearance of…
onefjefSex, Death, Politics & Connection with Chris Ryan
This week’s episode is a conversation I recorded with Chris Ryan for his podcast, Tangentially Speaking. He let me share the full audio here. We sat outside…
onefjefTurning 52 in Mexico City, Tongue Tacos & the Camote Man
I turned 52 in Mexico City and recorded the whole strange week: biking through Condesa, wandering the Tianguis de Comonfort, drinking giant micheladas, eating…
onefjefThanksgiving, Gratitude & the Political Implications of Musical Chairs
A short Thanksgiving episode about gratitude, perspective, and pausing to pay attention. Thank you to everyone who participated in this episode – I'm sorry I…
onefjefJef Before onefjef – A 25th Episode Special, Hosted by Chris Casey
In this milestone episode, Chris Casey guest-hosts and interviews me about my life — my childhood in Ohio, discovering theatre, living in London & Korea, going…
onefjefTeen Life in 2025: Wrestling, Phantom of the Opera & 6-7 with Mia
I sit down with with my 14-year-old cousin Mia — a high-school freshman, wrestler, and alto sax player — to talk about what it’s like to grow up in 2025. We…
onefjefBonus Episode: Peeping
In which I ramble about Icelandic grocery stores, job search fatigue, generational swearing, Hurricane Sandy, social media burnout, and the origin of my crayon…
onefjefBiking the Entire Western Hemisphere
I talk to Gary Clarke, who is currently in Huaraz, Peru—cold mountains, thin air, and 7,500 kilometers left before he reaches Tierra del Fuego. We talk about…
onefjefBabies, Boredom & Folgers in Your Cup with Nicholas Webber
I sit down (virtually) with my old friend — actor, musician, writer, and unapologetic decaf drinker — Nicholas Webber. Nicholas and I have made a lot of things…
onefjefBonus Episode: Searching for Juju
In which I ramble about overwhelming media, disappointing plants, mind-bending mushrooms, Trader Joe's, and which hand Vishnu would hold a microphone with…
onefjefColorado Trip: Altitude, Gratitude & the Guy at the Bar
A solo episode from a quick trip to Colorado: Garden of the Gods, a hot tub under the stars, a guy at a bar who says he was kidnapped by the cartel, and an…
onefjefNature Walks, Molasses Floods & Parallel Jefs with Jef Taylor
In this semi-milestone episode, I enter the onefjef multiverse and sit down with… Jef Taylor. We talk about the odd intimacy of sharing an identity, the…