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

  • 58: The UK Special

    18 February 2021  |  1 hr 4 mins

    In this episode, the Troublesome Terps welcome Kirsty Heimerl-Moggan and Paul Appleyard to discuss the challenges faced in the UK language market - current, previous and upcoming. From Brexit and linguist supply and demand, to Covid and RSI, to how the PSI sector and professional bodies such as the ITI have responded to the changing environment, this episode is full of information, surprises and a bit of cheek!

  • 57: The ELF on the Shelf

    20 January 2021  |  49 mins 51 secs
    hosts-only

    Jonathan and the Alexes kick off 2021 by talking about a topic we have covered before: English as a lingua franca. In light of the global political shifts, Brexit and changing global travel (or lack thereof), is English still the undisputed "Global Language"? And what even IS English?

  • 56: 2020 in Review and our first Annual Awards

    18 December 2020  |  1 hr 1 min
    hosts-only, year-in-review

    After a most definitely troublesome 2020 for the entire world, we thought we put a different spin on our annual Year In Review show and turn it into a celebration of the most favorite episodes and guest hosts, all as voted by you, the fans! And the award goes to...???

  • 55: New Ways of Working w/ Elena Davitti

    3 December 2020  |  56 mins 56 secs
    business, respeaking

    This episode's topic seems to be of a particular relevance right now at a time, when interpreters around the world are diversifying more than ever. Elena Davitti joins the Troublesome Terps and details her research on interlingual respeaking, how there is now the option to shape a whole new language serivice and why and how interpreters and language professionals at large can get started in this new field.

  • 54: Interpreting in Conflict Zones w/ Antonio Posada

    6 November 2020  |  1 hr 7 mins

    You think you've had a nerve-wracking assignment? Think again and listen in as our guest Antonio Posada talks us through some select experience from his time working in proper conflict zones in and around Colombia. From meetings with guerilla fighters, to going on relief missions in warn torn villages and literally being under fire on the job, you won't believe your ears.

  • 53: Starting Out as an Interpreter

    30 September 2020  |  1 hr 5 mins
    hosts-only, live

    The Troublesome Terps are going live again, 2020-style: on YouTube! Together with a dedicated live audience and a lot of previously collected input from our listeners, we discuss the trials and tribulations of starting out as an interpreter, what's different in 2020 compared to when we kicked things off and what some challenges, but also some opportunities for new #terps are.

  • 52: Don't be a Bully

    7 September 2020  |  1 hr 1 min
    bullying, hosts-only, mental-health

    Inspired by Jonathan's very own survey on bullying, both Alexes and Jonathan discuss the issue of bullying within in the interpreting space, with the help of our very own short survey on bullying filled out byaudience members, sharing very personal experiences. From sexism, to classism in interpreting, spreading lies and outright hostile behavior we talk about how to spot bullying, what to do about it and what we hope for the interpreting industry as a whole.

  • 51: Getting Wordly with Lakshman Rathnam

    22 July 2020  |  1 hr 13 mins
    machine-interpreting, technology

    In our 51st episode, which harkens back to our very first episode ever, "Dictionaries on Legs", the Troublesome Terps are meeting Lakshman Rathnam, CEO of wordly to talk to him about all things "machine interpreting". From speech-to-text and back again, to robots taking over the interpreting space (or not?), come and join us on this interesting discussion - and witness the man who wrote the book on Machine Interpreting go "toe to toe" with Silicon Valley.

  • 50: Know Your Worth with Julia Poger

    24 June 2020  |  1 hr 38 mins
    business

    Sometimes some good ol' shop talk is in order, and who better to talk shop with than Julia Poger, business and negotiation maven and trainer for the Cambridge Conference Interpretation Course (CCIC) and the Know Your Worth Workshop. From pricing models, to negotiation tactics and other valuable strategy take aways. Join the conversation and let us know your best business tips!

  • 49: Voice, Body & Mind with Rebecca Gausnell

    10 June 2020  |  55 mins 37 secs
    live, voice

    This is the recording of a live session that aired on 21 May 2020. Alex D invited voice and dialect coach Rebecca Gausnell to chat about voice, body and mind during an all-encompassing pandemic. Tune in!

  • 48: Getting Lingthusiastic With Lauren Gawne

    20 May 2020  |  1 hr 8 mins
    linguistics

    Are interpreters enthusiastic about linguistics? If not, they should be! With Alex G away on assignment, Sarah, Jonathan & Alex D are joined by linguist and podcaster extraordinaire Lauren Gawne. Lauren teaches linguistics in Australia and co-hosts the Lingthusiasm podcast with Gretchen McCulloch.

  • 47: ATA meets Troublesome Terps - Live online meetup

    17 April 2020  |  1 hr 42 mins
    live

    Special times call for special episodes. So, together with ATA board members and US-based interpreters extraordinaire Elena Langdon and Melinda Gonzalez-Hibner, the Troublesome Foursome embarked on a live online episode recording. Almost three dozen people joined the episode recording on Zoom and contributed their know-how and their experiences in a digital smorgasboard of #terplove, covering a host of topics ranging from the differences between the US and the EU market, to the controversial AB5 law in California and of course the devastating impact COVID-19 has had on the interpreting community.