In This Life Podcast

This podcast occasionally features voiceovers of my written posts for In This Life. This episode is one of them. Link here to read the post.

It’s been a while since I recorded a podcast episode. I really enjoy working with audio recordings and intend to do more. Please let me know your thoughts.

BTW. Substack subscribers: did you know that you can also click to “like” a post at the bottom of the message in your Inbox? It will register with Substack. 👍🏻 💚

ABOUT THIS EPISODE

My family moved to Madrid when I was three months old. My father was American and my mother Canadian (actually, she’d just become an American citizen), but they placed me and my siblings in Spanish schools and we only spoke Spanish at home. Spanish was my first, and only, language. I did not speak English. (My brother would translate for me when my American aunt came to visit.) One day, when I was seven, my parents decided to bring me to meet our new American neighbors.

This is the story of how that went.

✳️ I write about a variety of topics and personal experiences for In This Life. So far, I’ve posted seven podcast episodes, which include voiceovers of popular posts and two conversations. Is there a topic you’d like to suggest for a future podcast episode? Chime in! Share in a comment.

🎧 You can find the In This Life Podcast on Substack, Apple Podcasts, and Spotify.

In This Life is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support this work, consider becoming a subscriber.

* Image of girl by wahhomestudio on Magnific (thought bubble by me)

🎶 ☮️🎄🩷🙏

- Johanna

Two days since Daddy and I got back to Tokyo and he told me he’s a spy. I'm walking around in a daze, when here comes the Obon Festival parade.

▶️ I had fun putting this episode together. I incorporated some background audio pieces to enhance the feel and sound of my experience. Hope you enjoy it.

This is a voiceover of a written post for "In This Life" on Substack. You can read the post here:  https://johannamccloy.substack.com/p/new-beginnings-in-tokyo

Thanks for listening! 🥰

CREDITS:

Taiko drums from “Japanese Taiko Performance at the Shitamachi Tanabata Matsuri in Tokyo” by Nama Japan

Crickets from “Imperial Palace Garden (part 2) - August 2016” by sergeeo -- Freesound-- License: Attribution 3.0

My family moved from Spain to India when I was eight years old. I share my experience of that move and about my unique friendship with our driver's daughter, Madhu.

Note: all our family albums burned in a fire years later, so we have not photos from this time. The photo above is not of Madhu, but represents her beautifully.

In This Life Podcast occasionally features voiceovers of my written posts on Substack. This episode is one of them. You can read the post here: https://johannamccloy.substack.com/p/madhu-was-my-best-friend-in-india

Subscribe to receive new posts in your Inbox. 💌

An ode and a personal story. About a relationship. About addiction and recovery. And about generosity, and the ultimate loving act. 💟

*This is a voiceover of a written post for In This Life on Substack. You can read the post here: https://johannamccloy.substack.com/p/life-and-support-and-life-support

In This Life Podcast features voiceovers of popular posts, along with interviews, and more. Subscribe to receive new post and episode notifications in your Inbox. 💌

I’ll be recording audio voiceovers of some of my written posts for the In This Life Podcast. This is my first voiceover episode. Link to read the post.

🎧 In This Life Podcast is available on Substack, Apple Podcasts, and Spotify.

Thanks for listening. 🥰

This was originally posted on Vimeo in 2021. Now it’s here! Enjoy.

In this recorded phone conversation, Johanna McCloy and Peter Warmka talk about their shared and unusual CIA experiences, their respective books, and more.

Johanna McCloy is the editor of Six Car Lengths Behind an Elephant: Undercover & Overwhelmed as a CIA Wife and Mother by Lillian McCloy. (Lillian is her mother).

Peter Warmka is the author of Confessions of a CIA Spy: The Art of Human Hacking.

My mother Lillian McCloy is the author of the highly-rated memoir Six Car Lengths Behind an Elephant: Undercover and Overwhelmed as a CIA Wife and Mother. I edited the book, which John le Carré describes as “a charming and unusual portrait of the secret life.”

In our interview, I asked my then 95-year-old mother some readers’ questions about her life as the wife of an undercover CIA officer. I also read a story from her memoir titled “The Vigil," about an experience we shared when I was a senior in high school and we were living in Caracas, Venezuela.