Season 2 is almost here, and we're making some big changes.

In this bonus episode, we explain why we're moving to weekly episodes, introducing new formats, becoming more responsive to food news, inviting more guests, and building a closer relationship with our listeners.

We also look back at our first year, share some behind-the-scenes stories—including filming the entire season while Caroline was pregnant—and explain the mission behind everything we do at Fishwives of Paris.

Podcast Show Notes

In this episode:

• Why Fishwives is moving to weekly episodes
• Why we're introducing webcam episodes alongside studio episodes
• Our philosophy on admitting mistakes and publishing corrections
• How listener feedback will shape future episodes
• Why we're expanding our guest lineup
• Behind the scenes of filming Season 1
• Caroline's IVF, pregnancy and maternity leave during production
• Emily's journalism career and constant travel
• Why living in France changed our approach to work
• The Fishwives mission
• How you can help shape Season 2

Key Takeaways

• Fishwives is becoming a weekly podcast.
• The show will combine studio and webcam episodes.
• Listener corrections will become part of future episodes.
• Audience participation will play a much bigger role.
• More international guests are coming.
• The show's editorial mission remains the same while the format evolves.

Foreign.

Bonjour, Caroline.

This looks a little different.

Yeah, it does.

I think this whole year is going to look a little bit different.

Not that we haven't had an absolutely amazing first year as the Fishwives of Paris.

You know, it's been a wild ride.

And so this is a bonus episode that we wanted to bring to our viewers and our listeners to share a little bit about the journey so far and what you can expect to come.

And if you're watching us on YouTube, you probably have noticed that we are not in the same place right now.

So we are on webcams.

This is not our eternal new reality, but it's part of our new reality.

We're going to be seeing quite a few changes this season, notably the inclusion of videos that we film when we're not in the same place via webcam, which will join and not replace the beautiful episodes that we have been filming so far in the canoe in the studio.

And we will be referring to those episodes as the fancy episodes.

So we will still have some fancies.

We will still have a lot of fancies, but we are also going to make life easier for Emily and I and guests actually is a big part of it by shooting some of our episodes, recording some of our episodes on webcam.

So can I just dive in about some of the things that we've achieved this year?

Please do.

Because I think that what longtime listeners are probably already aware of, maybe aware of, but I think everybody needs to remain aware of, is that the genesis of this project really started in your pretty blonde head.

Thanks, Emily.

That.

That is true.

This was my idea, but, you know, I'm an ideas beach.

But yeah, it's been so crazy.

So, you know, from last September's launch party in Paris, which was such a blast, to the crazy social media growth we've had, we have over 22,000 followers on Instagram as of recording right now on July 16th.

And we have just built this incredible, incredible podcast.

We created these beautiful episodes.

We filmed them in Leon in the canoe.

There was so much research behind them, so much back and forth behind the scenes.

We told some really cool stories that I was really excited to get out into the world.

We tried some amazing things.

You brought me loads of delicious surprises, including a cheese that absolutely infested the studio.

Yeah, that was a ripe one.

You gotta listen to Camembert if you wanna see.

It was a Camembert spoiler alert.

But it was soaked in Calvados, Right?

It was wild.

Yeah.

And it smelled like booze and it smelled like feet.

And I mean, we had.

So I have.

I had fun eating it.

And, you know, we got a chance to also engage with so many of you listeners about all of the bits of nerdy history that we shared.

I mean, I've actually met people in person here in Paris who, you know, say, oh, I never knew that about beef bourguignon.

I never knew that about baguette.

So, you know, we were so, so excited and continue to be excited to tell all of these amazing stories.

I think that one of the reasons that we have to make some changes for season two is because we need to tell more stories.

And so we are going to be moving to a weekly cadence starting in September.

This is really exciting.

Starting with season two, we're gonna be going once a week.

This is a big shift.

We are doubling the amount of work.

But you know what, we're excited about it and you guys have been asking for it, so we wanna do it.

I think the thing is, you know, when we started talking about this, it felt really scary.

But I'm also.

I was terrified.

You were terrified.

I'm coming from the perspective also of, like, the algorithm.

Like, I'm, you know, the one who's kind of the digital marketer here.

And the.

The Instagram has been really working well for us.

Like the podcast algorithms and YouTube, like, they.

Those gods require a weekly sacrifice.

Reactivity also was really important to us, and that's how I hooked you, Emily.

So, yeah, if you want to convince me of anything, talk to me about editorial.

And one of the things that I found.

I'm loath to use the word frustrating, but I'm going to use it.

One of the things that I found most frustrating about the past season was that obviously I don't know if anybody has noticed this about me, whether in real life or on the podcast, but I don't like being wrong.

Yeah, you did not like it when we were corrected about a few things.

So we were corrected about, like, mish people.

You said boobs, but people were like, mish is our butts.

These are bread.

If you haven't listened to our baguette episode, which you should, I mean, I.

Think the worst thing is almost the worst thing is being wrong.

But the second worst thing is not being able to admit that you're wrong.

And I am definitely somebody who in real life loves to admit when I'm wrong.

And when I've learned something in French, we have an expression for it.

It's je me couchrez moi bette, which means, I will go to Bed less stupid.

And I love to go to bed less stupid.

But it was hard with the format that we had because we were filming all of our episodes in batches.

I mean, that's not a surprise to anybody.

It was hard to be reactive when, you know, people would reach out.

I had a listener reach out about a very specific element of our breakfast episode regarding when tea arrived in England.

And I was like, this is so fascinating.

I want to be able to talk about this.

And, you know, we could put it in the comments.

We can throw it on Instagram.

But how exciting is it for us to be able to actually be reactive and integrate those pieces into our episodes?

So this is going to be called Secoushez Moi Bette, and it is going to be at the beginning of new weekly episodes if we do have corrections to make.

And I'm very excited about that.

And I know that you're going to make sure we always are.

Right.

In the end.

In the end.

Yeah.

And so we actually do encourage you if you're listening and you hear something where you're like, wait a second, second.

I'm an Expert on the 19th century consumption of mollusks.

And that was wrong.

Please tell us.

Please call us.

Please tell us.

We want to hear from you fish wife nerds.

You are.

You're our people.

We love it.

Tell us.

And the other part of this editorial reactivity wasn't just about being corrected.

It was also about being able to be reactive to things that are happening in the news.

You know, sometimes things are happening in the food world that we get excited about, and we can't talk about them because we're not filming again until February.

Yeah, I think this is going to be really fun because there's.

There is crazy stuff happening all the time.

And in France, food is newsworthy.

If something comes up, we are going to be agile.

And that is very different.

We were not able to be agile before.

And then the last piece of the puzzle with regards to editorial is something that you kind of alluded to that we're super excited about, which is guests.

We've had some fantastic guests so far.

Yeah, you know, our guests have been awesome, but it was always really complicated to do that.

And I think we'll be able to do it a lot more easily.

We'll be able to have more guests.

And also people from all over the world.

Right now, we were kind of constrained to having people who were either already in Paris, already in Leon, or willing to travel.

Now we can have people who are living anywhere come onto the Podcast, which is so exciting.

Yeah, that is cool.

And if you think you would be a good guest, please drop us an email at bonjourishwives of Paris.com and we're gonna, we're gonna be throwing that email around a bunch in this episode because we want to hear from you.

But if you think you would be a good guest and you have an idea for an episode, hit us up.

We are very open to that.

Or if you know somebody who would be a good guest, if you think I would love to hear what XYZ has to say about something, please let us know.

I think that's going to be super fun.

And you know, on that note, it's all about community, right?

And it's been hard to build podcast community because of the lack of agility, because we can't respond, because we are not recording.

I mean, we really recorded.

I'm going to go into this a little bit later if you want to hear more about the bts, but we, we did everything well in advance.

And so by being able to be close closer to the date of publication, I think that's going to go a long way to allowing us to develop the kind of community that we really want.

And that is really, really exciting.

I'm going to talk a lot more about community at the end.

So you definitely want to listen or watch this whole thing because it's so much exciting news, I think especially also when we started the project, I was very concerned about the aesthetic.

I wanted it to look beautiful.

I have all these, you know, Sony cameras.

Like I, I'm an Instagrammer, I've got this vibe and I wanted that to be a big part of what we did.

And I think our aesthetic out the gate was so cool.

But, you know, times have changed.

Like, there's a proliferation of gorgeous looking AI fake ass podcasts.

So how it looks, I don't know if it really makes a huge difference actually, and I don't know if it makes a difference to you.

So we do want to know that.

So the other thing that maybe some longtime listeners know, but I don't think they do, is that there were some lifestyle challenges to filming all those fancies.

Chief among them, something that you were going through from day one.

There was a bit of a force majeure here for me.

So pre production for the whole thing, I was doing ivf, which is intense, as anyone who's done it would know.

And then we had this, you know, we shot hard for two days.

I was, I had done the, you know, embryo transfer Two weeks before.

I kept getting negative tests, so I was in a mood a little bit.

I just was like.

I was like, whatever, this has not worked.

And then I found out that.

That I was pregnant the day of our brand shoot, where I ate oysters, raw cheese, and drank champagne.

You remember that?

Like, because we had all that stuff that we were eating in.

And you have a beautiful.

Oh, alert, giant eyed, absolutely adorable baby.

So the oyster.

We.

We.

I'm not saying.

I'm not.

I'm not a doctor.

But it worked out okay.

It worked out okay, Emily.

Guys, don't be like me.

No, you know what?

Do what you want.

Do your own research.

Figure it out.

But yeah, I was pregnant for every single episode that we filmed.

I think that is a hu.

It's something.

Honestly, it's what I'm pregnant proudest of for this.

Because pregnancy really did steal a lot of my brain and a lot of my creativity.

And so even watching it back, like, I obviously still have, you know, my.

My spark, my wine dying Caroline spark.

But, like, be ready.

She's back and she's crazy.

But I was pregnant all of season one.

And so that also, I would like to apologize formally for burping a lot.

And some of those did slip in to the podcast, to my utter mortification.

I had an absolutely hormonal meltdown about a burp being published at one point.

But, yeah, so if you heard me burping, that was.

I was a burping machine.

This kid did something to my body.

So, yeah, I was pregnant the entire time.

I.

We launched in September, and I went on maternity leave at the beginning of November, and we.

I had my baby at the beginning of December, and I came back, what, in like, April?

March.

March.

April.

Yeah.

I started do small coming back in March.

It was.

It felt too early for me.

But I mean, everyone.

Every working mom knows, it's just.

It's.

It's rough.

But I feel like we are in a good rhythm now with me and baby, who is now almost eight months old.

And you finally met him.

Yes, I know that's.

And I think that's something that's really surprising or might be really surprising to a lot of listeners.

Is that because we met during the pandemic online, we don't actually know each other.

That.

I mean, we do and we don't.

Yeah, we, We.

We have not been in person very frequently, and basically the, you know, 90% of the times we've been in person were to film the podcast.

So we actually just hung out last weekend.

We Did a little season two retreat to try to figure out all of this.

We wrote this outline that we're speaking from right now at that.

But we, you know, we don't actually know each other that well.

Like, we are not talking for hours on the phone about life, although we.

Maybe we should.

We don't have time for that.

I know we're both.

We're.

We're both really busy, and I think that's.

That the other piece of this is, like, obviously, your maternity leave was huge.

Your pregnancy was huge.

Becoming a mom is huge and continues to be huge.

And, you know, I. I over here on the side saying.

And I also have slight lifestyle kind of influences on this new format and cadence, which is that I.

When I'm not podcasting, I'm a journalist and I travel a lot for work.

Like, I am.

Clearly, you're.

You're always on the move.

You are.

Oh, yeah, it's.

We're all over the place, and so getting you for a couple days is extremely difficult.

And.

And we just need to be.

You need to be able to record on the road, like, it.

We don't need to invent reasons to not make this happen.

Like, we need to create easier ways to make it happen.

Yeah.

And I think for.

From both of our perspectives, especially from an editorial perspective, like, we.

It's really important to us to continue to deliver the same, you know, expertly researched content, but with a couple of slightly new formats and twists.

So I think we're both really, really excited about that.

So the other piece of this puzzle is, of course, the fact that we live in France, and France is a place.

I mean, we've been.

I've been here almost 20 years.

It'll be 20 years in February for me.

We should do Emily's anniversary.

It'll be on Chandler, which we talked about on our CREP episode.

You should tune into that.

And how long have you been here, Caroline?

Remind me, because time is weird.

10 Years next year.

Well, there we go.

So almost 30 years together in France.

And this is a country with a very different culture, as you've been learning and will continue to learn on the podcast.

And one really important element, I think, especially for people like us who are hustlers, who love what we do, who are ambitious, who have a tendency to live, to work a little bit.

This is very much a work to live culture.

Don't pretend you're not a hustler.

I mean, I'm totally a hustler, but I'm trying to not have a stroke before I turn 40.

Well, me too, because it's hard.

Like, we both work all the time.

And now I have these real boundaries around it.

Like, my childcare runs out at 5pm I'm done.

Yeah.

And we are now coming into.

We're filming this at the end of July.

We're coming into the month of August.

And the month of August in France, People, peace out.

Like, nobody is working.

I still remember calling an in for a photo of something in August.

And they were like, we are on vacation.

We will be back in September.

I'm like, but this is for fotors.

Like, don't you want to be featured?

We are on holiday.

We will be back in September.

Boundaries.

Boundaries are so important.

So important.

Well, so basically, that was.

The August thing is, I'm like, emily, we need to film this episode, a buffer episode, a bonus episode to explain what's going on.

You're like, oh, it's not our content.

It's not.

It's not.

I want to tell a food story.

I don't want to talk about us.

I'm like, girl, we're talking about this project.

And we do need to feed the algorithm beast.

But also we need to tell our audience what the fuck is going on.

You know, And I think that actually is what got you.

You're like, yeah, okay, fair enough.

We need to show listeners what's happening, but we are going to both take a significant amount of time off in August.

Everything is going to be scheduled, and then we will come in to this News reactivity, listener reactivity, new way of doing things with a combination of fancy and webcam episodes.

Oh, the webcam episodes are called what, Emily?

Which is what you call in a French house.

If you want everybody to come and eat, you say,.

So, this is our atab.

Come and eat with us.

So, yeah, we're going to be coming to you in two weeks with a new episode in this format, a newsy episode that we're excited to share, so you won't want to miss it.

And it.

And pretty much everything we have planned for you this next season is in service of our mission, which we also built on our retreat this weekend.

I think it reflects what we were already doing, but in a really sort of cool.

I don't.

It's ridiculous.

It is ridiculous.

So basically, it could be half the size, but we are edited, which I'm.

Just going to read to you.

So we have a mission on Fish Fries of Paris of offering a joyful, intellectually honest alternative to the horrors.

We need not go into that to you, our curious, intellectual, progressive audience.

People who are willing to have their minds changed, who are excited to learn new things and share new facts so that they can be edutained.

Edutained Edutainment in community through engaging, rigorously researched and lightheartedly and beautifully presented material on French food, culture and more.

I love that basically we're calling you nerds.

No, I mean, yes, we have.

Welcome to the table, nerds.

Welcome to the table, nerds.

I love this also.

You know, one of the things that I always said before we even started this is I wanted it to be something that was, I guess, like escapist without being irresponsible.

Like, I want it to be something that, you know, you're gonna learn something fun, feel better, go to bed less stupid.

And I love that.

Go to bed less stupid and have an enjoyable break from the horrors.

Right, so this brings us to our finale of this episode, which is you.

We are also going to be opening up the floor to you.

We want your listener stories.

We are going to probably have a different calls to action on that.

But for the moment, do you have a funny or horrific story about dining in Paris, something to do with French food and wine?

Send it to us, email it to us at [email protected] and we will read it at the end of our next episode.

Once we get some stories, we'll start adding them.

I am also going to be doing a survey.

So if you are listening to this anytime near its publication, I'm going to be sending out a survey to our email subscribers and also through all of our social channels.

I'll leave the link in our show notes.

But I really want to understand from you what's important to you, what kind of community you want.

You know, we are everything is on the table right now.

We really want to do like in person events in Paris.

Like, that's something in our roadmap.

We want to meet you, we want to talk to you.

We want to start a patreon.

We have a lot of ideas and we would love to have your help to actually refine those to create the right offer when the time comes to launch that.

And that's something I'm really excited about.

That's my big project and I'm going to be working on that survey and it will be ready by the time this goes live.

And similarly, if you have a topic that you want us to dig into and you're excited about, email us that too.

You know, I'm excited if you are Like, I need to know the history of Padbania or I need to know the history of, you know, why the French have weirdly shaped sugar cubes.

Tell me.

I would love to go get nerdy and find out why.

You probably already know.

That's the thing.

We, you, you guys, my call to action.

I want you to find something that Emily doesn't already know.

I would love that.

I would love.

I want to go to bed less stupid every single day.

Exactly.

I love that.

It's so good.

And I think that this is going to be a really, really satisfying and fun change.

So thank you guys so much.

Also thank you so much.

Everyone who is listening, everyone who has subscribed, please subscribe, rate and review us.

We don't have a ton of reviews yet to ton of ratings that does tell the algorithm, especially Apple podcasts, that you love us.

Subscribe on YouTube, subscribe everywhere.

It makes a huge difference this year.

It is all about growth because, and we were talking about this like we've grown a lot and done an amazing job while my attention was elsewhere, which is interesting.

So what's going to happen now?

I'm like full focus on growing this podcast, you guys.

Watch out.

If you're listening to this in real time, you're at the beginning of something.

You are an OG fish wife.

You were here at the beginning and it's only gonna get better from here and bigger.

We are pumped.

We are ready to go and we're gonna be giving you double, double the content.

I hope you guys appreciate how fucking crazy that is.

Oh, God, what have we gotten ourselves into?

It's so terrifying, but it's gonna be awesome.

It's gonna be awesome.

I'm not terrified.

I'm not terrified.

I'm pumped.

I think it's gonna be game changing.

Yeah, no, I'm super thrilled.

I mean, this is literally my dream job.

I get to just learn more stuff.

It's great.

And I love, I just love talking shit, you know?

So for me, it's just a state of being.

I mean, we're, we're, we're basically living the dream right here.

So thank you, all of you who have been tuning in, who are tuning in now for making our dreams possible.

We hope to continue to make your dreams possible.

Au revoir, Emily.