Shapiro on Dutch History Podcast
Greg Shapiro on Dutch History Podcast “Republic of Amsterdam Radio”
9 August 2024
To celebrate my 30th anniversary in Amsterdam, I Greg Shapiro did an interview with Dutch history podcast ‘Republic of Amsterdam.’ And they specifically asked me about my Dutch history – in the 30 years I’ve been here.
You have to give a listen just to check out the gravely Australian accent of Joe Wegecsanyi, and the excellent Julian Smith. Here’s the link:
For my 30 years in Amsterdam, we focused on the pop culture. I came to Amsterdam in 1994, when I looked like this:
It was the year Pulp Fiction came out. And there were John Travolta and Samuel L. Jackson talking about Amsterdam! The ‘hash bars,’ the cops in Amsterdam, and frites with mayonnaise. (“Eww!”)
An excerpt from The American Netherlander:
I still remember the thrill of watching Pulp Fiction in 1994, at the Kriterion cinema – and the Sneak Preview. For the Boom Chicago crew, Tuesday night was Sneak Preview night. In the Netherlands, films would premiere on a Wednesday – meaning the actual film reels in canisters would have to be delivered to the cinemas to be premiered. If the film reels arrived a day early, that’s what they’d show for the Tuesday Sneak Preview. Sometimes it would be a Danish film with Dutch subtitles, and we’d be out of luck. But sometimes it would be The Fugitive – with Dutch actor Jeroen Krabbé. Not too shabbé.
So imagine our surprise when the sneak preview was not only the much-hyped Pulp Fiction, as we’d been hoping – but there was an entire scene about life in Amsterdam. We were there watching John Travolta on the big screen, saying, “You can walk into a movie theater in Amsterdam and buy a beer. And I don’t mean just like no paper cup. I’m talking about a glass of beer.” And there I was in a movie theater in Amsterdam – with a glass of beer! It was like being on drugs: “The man on the screen is talking to me!”
In Closing
Here’s a Dutch history fact: it was a Dutchman who coined the term “podcast.” Did you know? Adam Curry (yes, the 1980s MTV host) was one of the first people to create content specifically for the iPod. Which is why he’s known as “The Podfather.”
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adam_Curry
For more Greg Shapiro interviews:
https://gregshapiro.nl/media/tv-appearances/