Troublesome Terps

The podcast about things that keep interpreters up at night.

About the show

Troublesome Terps is a roundtable-style podcast covering topics from the interpreting space and the wider world of languages. The hosts - Jonathan Downie, Alexander Drechsel, Alexander Gansmeier, and Sarah Hickey - discuss them amongst themselves or with high-profile guests from the industry.

Troublesome Terps on social media

Episodes

  • 70: Leaving Interpreting? [Recorded Twitter Space]

    29 April 2022  |  1 hr 5 mins

    This is a recorded live audio conversation on Twitter Spaces. On 26 April, 2022, Alex D, Aleksander Szojda-Pallado and Urszula Rapacka explored if life after interpreting is possible. This job is often very personal. So what can we do after or in addition to interpreting? We believe we actually have a lot of skills beyond “just interpreting” that we can apply in various contexts.

  • 69: The Final One

    12 April 2022  |  39 mins 37 secs
    hosts-only

    In this last episode of the Troublesome Terps, we look back at six years of podcasting, great guests and topics, and generally lots of trouble. We also have a very open chat about mental health and depression.

    In the future, we want to make the podcast available to our community. If you have a topic you would like to discuss with anyone, just let us know and we'll be happy to provide our platform to share it with the community!

    Thank you for having been part of our journey and all your support and we are beyond excited for what's in store for the Troublesome Terps podcast!

    Sarah, Alex D, Alex G and Jonathan

  • 68: 2021 in Review

    22 December 2021  |  52 mins
    hosts-only, year-in-review

    Even in the second year of the pandemic, the Troublesome Terps didn't show any signs of slowing down and started the year with an ELF on the shelf, took you to the UK and then on an actual trip around the world, talked about AI and interpreting, why interpreter networks are a thing, joined a book club (and wrote a little something ;-) ) and closed the year with the first ever language podcastival. Phew!

  • 67: The Translation & Interpreting Podcastival

    25 November 2021  |  1 hr 51 mins
    live

    Podcasts are everywhere, so what to listen to? To help you along here, the Troublesome Terps reached out to some of our favorite language related podcast-superstars and invited them to join our first ever live #podcastival. The goal was to celebrate the language industry at large in all its beautiful diversity with all its shades and wrinkles and shine a spotlight on these fabulous contributions - if we missed your favorite language podcast, do let us know and enjoy our #podcastival!

  • 66: Book Club with Elisabet Tiselius & Michaela Albl-Mikasa

    21 October 2021  |  1 hr 7 mins
    research

    With Sarah and Alex G away on assignment, Jonathan and Alex D sit down with renowned interpreting scholars Elisabet Tiselius and Michaela Albl-Mikasa to discuss the Routledge Handbook of Conference Interpreting. The two guests take us behind the scenes of putting together a scientific publication, from A to Z.

  • 65: Ebru Diriker, Are Interpreters Who They Say They Are?

    23 September 2021  |  1 hr 2 mins

    Who we say we are and who we actually are, are not always necessarily the same thing. Even interpreters who think of themselves as completely invisible and impartial will sometimes be forced to make some tough calls. Joining the Troublesome Terps to talk about this, her research and much, much more is Ebru Diriker. Don't miss this episode to have some of your assumptions challenged!

  • 64: A quick summer update

    12 August 2021  |  5 mins 58 secs

    All four (!) troublemakers check in briefly to wish you all a wonderful summer and provide a sneak peek at what the autumn/fall will bring.

  • 63: Interpreters Assemble!

    21 July 2021  |  1 hr 6 mins

    Interpreters seldom come alone - especially, if they are part of an interpreting network all their own! Join Alex and Alex as they interview three members of three very different networks to discover, what the pros and cons of being part of a network are, how you can start one yourself and what the different "models" are. A truly inspiring episode about solidarity, common interests and mutual support!

  • 62: AI versus Interpreting - with Graham Turner and Henry Líu

    17 June 2021  |  1 hr 15 mins

    With machine translation having become almost an everyday staple in the language industry, the discussion continues to shift towards artificial intelligence and how it may impact the future of interpreting and interpreter training. To discuss this topic from two perspectives, Henry Liu and Graham Turner join the Troublesome Terps to tackle this crucial and controversial topic head on. Listen in and let us know what YOU think about our future and our possible co-existence with the C3POs of this world in the comments of on social media!

  • 61: Multilingual is Normal w/ Cate Hamilton

    20 May 2021  |  1 hr 23 mins

    Joined by the lovely Cate Hamilton, Sarah and Alex G. go on to explore a fascinating world of language learning, Norwegian children's songs, baby scientists and why #MultilingualIsNormal. A brilliant episode for every language lover and interpreter or translator out there, who each surely have some linguistic anecdotes themselves!

  • 60: I Can Show You the World (of Interpreting)

    29 April 2021  |  34 mins 47 secs

    Two Troublesome Terps embark on a trip around the world in (more or less) 60 minutes for our 60th episode!

    From Australia to Germany, Egypt to Japan, from the USA to Vietnam and many more, we are taking you on a whirlwind tour across different interpreting markets with the help of some friends. A very special clip show style episode you won't want to miss!

  • 59: How do Interpreters Think?

    19 March 2021  |  58 mins 50 secs
    research

    The age old question, that has eluded our partners for centuries. Jonathan and Alex G. sit down with Kilian Seeber to find answers. Maybe.