Dating, Relationships

Swipe East, Swipe West: The Podcast Exposing Dating Custom Differences

This is an interview done with Ashley Davis, the creator of the Swipe East, Swipe West podcast, read her story below! If you, or anyone you know, would like to be highlighted in The Zillennial Zine, shoot us an email at thezillennialzine@gmail.com or DM us on Instagram!

Swipe East, Swipe West

Q: How did this podcast come about? What makes it unique?

A: As I started making friends and discussed my struggles adjusting to the new city and meeting love interests, I found I had similar experiences to many others. When I also shared my stories involving city life and dating in Los Angeles with my friends back east, I learned they were just as shocked as I first was at how different California life and dating was. Based on these conversations, I thought others may be interested to hear how living and dating in varying cities, even just within the US, can be drastically different and affect your day-to-day life. From there, the podcast was born! Season 1 focuses mostly on differences between LA and Philly, the 2 cities I know best, with each episode focusing on a different theme. The newly launched Season 2, however, is expanding to other cities internationally, including Vegas, London, Scottsdale, highlighting people’s experiences dating and living there across a range of topics. I look to interview people with different perspectives and experiences to show varying views when I can, focusing on Millennials and Gen-Z experiences. I try to differentiate my podcast from others by focusing it on the location and cultural aspect that affects dating across a variety of topics to help others understand why people from certain cities may act the way they do or have certain habits in relationships.

Q: What do you want our readers to know about you? 

A: I am a very social anime nerd that loves to travel, roller skate, and learn — a couple of those things which I get to do through this podcast. I am always looking for guests and feedback! If you are interested in sharing an experience and coming on the show or have comments to share, send me a DM @swipeeastswipewest on Instagram.

Q: Tell us your story! Who is behind the Swipe East Swipe West podcast? 

A: My name’s Ashley! I grew up on the east coast (Connecticut most of my life, then Philadelphia after graduating college) before moving to the Los Angeles area 2 years ago – right before the pandemic hit. I had always wanted to move to California but experienced huge culture shock as I adjusted to the lifestyle once I finally landed here. While I enjoyed the awesome weather and having access to more activities here, like beautiful hikes and learning to roller skate, navigating the different personalities and scenes here was more difficult than I was expecting. Though I had visited LA a couple of times before I moved, I quickly learned living here was much different than a quick weekend getaway – especially when it came to meeting people and dating.

Q: Do you have any advice for someone who is starting their own podcast? 

I have 3 main tips: do your research, ask questions, and make sure to plan in advance. Before starting my podcast, I met with my friend Raye Zaragoza of the Create Well podcast and asked her a lot of questions about how she created hers, both on the technical and creative fronts. I also read books about creating podcasts and watched YouTube channels — that is how I taught myself how to edit audio for each episode! I also recommend checking out other podcasts in a similar space to see what they may be doing and how they structure theirs for tips. Also — planning in advance is key, especially if you have a podcast on top of a day job like I do. I always make sure to have my interview schedule and topics as ready to go as I can before a season to make sure I have both enough engaging content and a good interview flow with my guests.

Q: Anything else you would like to add?

A: Podcasting can be a lot of work, but it’s something anyone can do if you put your mind to it and have the right plan in place. I create this podcast in addition to having a 9-5 job, so anything is possible in this space!

Go Check Out Swipe East, Swipe West!

Apple Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/swipe

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0HlZsF4ZUuJSp1Jc8FveZ3

Google Podcast: https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkLnBvZGJlYW4

Instagram: @swipeeastswipewest 

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