From Down Under to Down South

Aussie Mike

From Down Under to Down South is a twice-weekly reflection from an Australian making a life in the American South. After moving from Australia to Tennessee in 2018, I began noticing the subtle cultural differences most people miss — the way politeness sounds different, the way goodbyes stretch longer, the way everyday moments quietly reveal what’s different. Some episodes explore those contrasts directly. Others are quiet stories from the week — conversations and small moments that say something bigger. It’s not outrage or culture wars. And it’s not a travel diary. It’s simply one Australian perspective on life between two countries. If you’ve ever lived overseas, loved two places at once, or found yourself caught between familiar and foreign — you’ll feel at home here. New episodes are released twice weekly as part of the broader From Down Under to Down South series across podcast and YouTube.

  1. 8h ago

    This Week in America - 2,500 Job Applications, 4 Interviews

    Send us Fan Mail 2,500 Job Applications, 4 Interviews | This Week in America Is experience becoming a disadvantage in the American job market? After submitting more than 2,500 job applications and landing just four interviews, I'm wondering whether being 52 is working against me. A recent 60 Minutes report on age discrimination and AI in recruitment has raised even more questions about what happens to our résumés before a human being ever sees them. But that's only the beginning of another week in America. My daughter's orthodontic appliance has broken three times in one day, our dental insurance turned out to be a rather expensive loyalty program, and my wife apparently believes six o'clock in the evening is a perfectly reasonable time to start grocery shopping. There's also a disappointing Halloween trunk-or-treat that unexpectedly reminded me how quickly my two daughters are growing up. And to finish, we're looking at some fascinating American research into occupations and divorce. Apparently, bus drivers and actuaries have rather different marital histories. Who knew spreadsheets could be so romantic? It's another mix of American life, Australian observations, family adventures and the occasional absurdity. Enjoying the podcast? Buy this Aussie a coffee! From Down Under to Down South is an independent project, sharing an Australian's perspective on American life, culture and all the little things that make this country fascinating. If you've enjoyed an episode, had a laugh or found yourself looking at America a little differently, you can help keep the podcast going by shouting me a coffee. Every contribution helps me continue creating new episodes, videos and stories. It's completely optional, but genuinely appreciated. Buy Me a Coffee – Support the Show Thanks for being part of the journey! Find me elsewhere YouTube | Website | Facebook | X Business enquiries: michael@fromdownundertodownsouth.com Thanks for listening. Hoo roo, maties! Support the show Check out additional content on our YouTube page! https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCjipgN51kc8swHyKeSx2tzw

  2. 3d ago

    Why Americans Say “I Appreciate You” (And Why It Confuses Australians)

    Send us Fan Mail Why do Americans say “I appreciate you”? To an Australian, it can sound surprisingly personal. We've only just met. Where exactly is this going? In this episode of From Down Under to Down South, I explore one of those small differences between Australian and American culture that reveals something much bigger. From Southern hospitality and the casual “‘Preciate ya” to the difference between appreciating what someone does and appreciating who they are, I try to work out what Americans really mean when they say it. There's a little Ted Lasso, a few awkward cultural misunderstandings, and a story from my years in banking that made me reconsider the whole thing. Perhaps Americans aren't being overly personal after all. Perhaps there's something rather lovely about telling someone they're appreciated. I'd love to hear from you: Do you say “I appreciate you”? Does it mean something different from a simple thank you? If you enjoyed this episode, follow or subscribe to the podcast so you don't miss the next one. ☕ Enjoying the podcast? Support From Down Under to Down South: Buy Me a Coffee   🎥 YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@FromDownUndertoDownSouth   🌏 Website https://fromdownundertodownsouth.com    📘 Facebook https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100068568677919    🐦 X https://x.com/aussiemika74    📩 Business enquiries: michael@fromdownundertodownsouth.com    Thanks for listening. Hoo roo maties. Support the show Check out additional content on our YouTube page! https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCjipgN51kc8swHyKeSx2tzw

  3. Oct 15

    Why Does America Still Have the Death Penalty?

    Send us Fan Mail Why does America still have the death penalty when countries like Australia abolished it decades ago? Living in Tennessee, I've found myself asking that question more than once. But a recent failed execution brought the issue much closer to home. In this episode of From Down Under to Down South, I explore the history of capital punishment in America, the troubling questions surrounding execution methods, the enormous costs involved, and the arguments on both sides of a debate that continues to divide Americans. We also look at the human stories behind the headlines, including the victims, their families, and the people sentenced to death. As an Australian living in the American South, I'm not here to tell Americans what they should think. I'm trying to understand why two countries with so much in common have taken such different paths on one of the most difficult questions any society can face. It's a complicated subject, and one that left me with more questions than answers. Watch the documentary on YouTube: https://youtu.be/0M9m3coXkf0 Enjoying the podcast? Buy this Aussie a coffee! From Down Under to Down South is an independent project, sharing an Australian's perspective on American life, culture and all the little things that make this country fascinating. If you've enjoyed an episode, had a laugh or found yourself looking at America a little differently, you can help keep the podcast going by shouting me a coffee. Every contribution helps me continue creating new episodes, videos and stories. It's completely optional, but genuinely appreciated. Buy Me a Coffee – Support the Show Thanks for being part of the journey! Find me elsewhere YouTube | Website | Facebook | X Business enquiries: michael@fromdownundertodownsouth.com Thanks for listening. Hoo roo, maties! Support the show Check out additional content on our YouTube page! https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCjipgN51kc8swHyKeSx2tzw

  4. Oct 12

    Why Americans Can't Agree on America

    Send us Fan Mail Ask ten Americans what America is like, and you might get ten completely different answers. The funny thing is, they could all be telling the truth. After sharing my observations about American friendliness and why Americans talk to strangers, I started reading the comments. People from different parts of the United States were describing completely different experiences of American life. What one person considered perfectly normal, another insisted simply didn't happen where they lived. As an Australian living in Tennessee, it made me wonder whether I've been trying to understand America as one country when, culturally speaking, it can sometimes feel like several. In this episode of This Week in America, we explore regional differences, small-town life versus big-city life, American friendliness, community, and why our experiences can shape completely different understandings of the same country. There are some wonderfully contradictory stories, a few laughs, and an unexpected reminder that America is far more complicated than any one person's experience. Perhaps Americans aren't disagreeing as much as it seems. Perhaps they're simply describing the America they know. What's America like where you live? I'd love to hear your perspective. If you enjoy the podcast, please follow or subscribe so you don't miss future episodes. You can support my work through Buy Me a Coffee: https://buymeacoffee.com/fromdownundertodownsouth 🎥 YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@FromDownUndertoDownSouth   🌏 Website https://fromdownundertodownsouth.com    📘 Facebook https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100068568677919    🐦 X https://x.com/aussiemika74    📩 Business enquiries: michael@fromdownundertodownsouth.com    Thanks for listening. Hoo roo maties. Support the show Check out additional content on our YouTube page! https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCjipgN51kc8swHyKeSx2tzw

  5. Oct 8

    This Week in America - When America Stops Being Something You Watch

    Send us Fan Mail This week in America, I finally reached one of the stranger stages of immigrant life: realising I am no longer just watching the country from the outside. There was long awaited rain in Tennessee, a storage facility tenant who still seems confused about the difference between storage and housing, Georgia’s new dance competition schedule, a fall break theatre camp, baby names in America and Australia, reaction videos about my YouTube channel, and a surprisingly heated argument over whether I’m allowed to say I live in America. I also saw a child nearly get hit by a truck passing a stopped school bus, looked at the reported Sean “Diddy” Combs prison perks story, and reflected on what it feels like to be a new American citizen writing to state senators about execution policy. At some point, the foreign country stops being something you watch. It becomes somewhere you live. And then, somehow, it becomes we. Enjoying the podcast? Buy this Aussie a coffee! From Down Under to Down South is an independent project, sharing an Australian's perspective on American life, culture and all the little things that make this country fascinating. If you've enjoyed an episode, had a laugh or found yourself looking at America a little differently, you can help keep the podcast going by shouting me a coffee. Every contribution helps me continue creating new episodes, videos and stories. It's completely optional, but genuinely appreciated. Buy Me a Coffee – Support the Show Thanks for being part of the journey! Find me elsewhere YouTube | Website | Facebook | X Business enquiries: michael@fromdownundertodownsouth.com Thanks for listening. Hoo roo, maties! Support the show Check out additional content on our YouTube page! https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCjipgN51kc8swHyKeSx2tzw

  6. Oct 6

    Tennessee Tried to Execute Christa Pike. She Survived.

    Send us Fan Mail Tennessee tried to execute Christa Pike. The lethal injection began. The drugs were administered. Then something went wrong. Instead of leaving Riverbend Maximum Security Institution in a hearse, Pike left in an ambulance, alive. But this episode isn’t only about what happened inside Tennessee’s execution chamber. It’s about a state that had already failed to carry out another execution just five months earlier. It’s about what happens when the government claims the power to deliberately take a human life but cannot carry out that sentence as intended. And it’s about Colleen Slemmer, the 19 year old woman Pike was convicted of murdering, whose family had waited more than 30 years for the sentence to be carried out. The Death Penalty I’ve been fascinated by capital punishment for most of my life, and I’m not opposed to the death penalty. But what happened at Riverbend raises questions that go well beyond whether you support it or oppose it. What actually happened that night? How could someone survive after the execution drugs were administered? And what does Tennessee do now? This is the extraordinary story of an execution that was supposed to be final. And wasn’t. Enjoying the podcast? Buy this Aussie a coffee! From Down Under to Down South is an independent project, sharing an Australian's perspective on American life, culture and all the little things that make this country fascinating. If you've enjoyed an episode, had a laugh or found yourself looking at America a little differently, you can help keep the podcast going by shouting me a coffee. Every contribution helps me continue creating new episodes, videos and stories. It's completely optional, but genuinely appreciated. Buy Me a Coffee – Support the Show Thanks for being part of the journey! Find me elsewhere YouTube | Website | Facebook | X Business enquiries: michael@fromdownundertodownsouth.com Thanks for listening. Hoo roo, maties!  Support the show Check out additional content on our YouTube page! https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCjipgN51kc8swHyKeSx2tzw

  7. Oct 5

    Apparently, I’m Old Now. Nobody Bothered to Tell Me

    Send us Fan Mail Nobody actually tells you when you’re getting old. One day you’re driving along, find a radio station playing Supertramp and think, “Finally, some decent music.” Then you discover you’re listening to the golden oldies station. Apparently, this is how they tell you. In this episode, I’m coming to terms with the increasingly suspicious evidence that I may no longer be young. My daughters think Home and Away is ancient, Honey Boo Boo is somehow 21, children are collecting foam sticks of butter, and the music I grew up with is quietly being relocated to old people’s radio. ☕ Enjoying the podcast? Support From Down Under to Down South: Buy Me a Coffee But somewhere between the grey hairs, a spectacular haircut tantrum and the cardigan that is presumably already in the mail, I realized something else. Getting older might actually be pretty good. Because maybe the goal isn’t to stay young. Maybe it’s just to keep paying attention to the world as it changes around you. Although I maintain that Supertramp is not an oldie. From Down Under to Down South is an Australian look at life, culture and the wonderfully strange little things you notice living in America.   🎥 YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@FromDownUndertoDownSouth   🌏 Website https://fromdownundertodownsouth.com    📘 Facebook https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100068568677919    🐦 X https://x.com/aussiemika74    📩 Business enquiries: michael@fromdownundertodownsouth.com    Thanks for listening. Hoo roo maties.  Support the show Check out additional content on our YouTube page! https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCjipgN51kc8swHyKeSx2tzw

  8. Oct 1

    This Week in America - Politics, Petrol & Parents Pretending They’re Not Tired

    Send us Fan Mail This week in America, politics meets petrol prices, dance floors, hockey arenas and the never-ending logistics of family life. Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has been in the United States, picking up a Global Citizen Award and talking about everything from artificial intelligence to online safety and free speech. It got me thinking about the differences between Australia and America, and about my own encounters with Albanese back in Canberra. Then we come back down to earth. Very quickly. Dance has taken over our family calendar. Georgia is dancing five days a week, Brianna is back doing jazz, hip hop and ballet, I’m ballroom dancing three days a week, Nikki is working events at Bridgestone Arena to help pay for it all, and I seem to have become the unpaid transport department. There’s also the extraordinary floor craft of a room full of seven year olds doing jazz, the Nashville Predators returning to Bridgestone, and the Tennessee Titans already trying to sell me next season while this season has barely started. Politics, petrol and parents pretending they’re not tired. Just another week in America, seen through Australian eyes. Enjoying the podcast? Buy this Aussie a coffee! From Down Under to Down South is an independent project, sharing an Australian's perspective on American life, culture and all the little things that make this country fascinating. If you've enjoyed an episode, had a laugh or found yourself looking at America a little differently, you can help keep the podcast going by shouting me a coffee. Every contribution helps me continue creating new episodes, videos and stories. It's completely optional, but genuinely appreciated. Buy Me a Coffee – Support the Show Thanks for being part of the journey! Find me elsewhere YouTube | Website | Facebook | X Business enquiries: michael@fromdownundertodownsouth.com Thanks for listening. Hoo roo, maties! Support the show Check out additional content on our YouTube page! https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCjipgN51kc8swHyKeSx2tzw

Ratings & Reviews

5
out of 5
3 Ratings

About

From Down Under to Down South is a twice-weekly reflection from an Australian making a life in the American South. After moving from Australia to Tennessee in 2018, I began noticing the subtle cultural differences most people miss — the way politeness sounds different, the way goodbyes stretch longer, the way everyday moments quietly reveal what’s different. Some episodes explore those contrasts directly. Others are quiet stories from the week — conversations and small moments that say something bigger. It’s not outrage or culture wars. And it’s not a travel diary. It’s simply one Australian perspective on life between two countries. If you’ve ever lived overseas, loved two places at once, or found yourself caught between familiar and foreign — you’ll feel at home here. New episodes are released twice weekly as part of the broader From Down Under to Down South series across podcast and YouTube.