Listen & Subscribe to our new Podcast Series—Athens Unpacked

Courtesy: Thomas Gravanis

Scratch beneath the surface of our complex and captivating capital in our new 8-episode series, by acclaimed author Sofka Zinovieff.

Subscribe and listen to the podcast here.
Athens is both spectacularly ancient and excitingly modern. And just about everything in-between. The more you understand about the dramatic forces that shaped this legendary city; the more you’ll enjoy your next visit. Join us as bestselling writer and former anthropologist Sofka Zinovieff embarks on a quest to uncover the true essence of her adopted home, in all its layers and mysteries. Discover why taking to the streets is part of Athenian life; how Athenians feel about their own architecture; how tragedy and trauma have flavoured the city’s cuisine; and why Athens has always been a “15 minute city”—and much, much more. Produced by Pod.gr, for This is Athens, tune-in each fortnight as we capture the seductive soul of Athens today and take you to places that the guidebooks rarely cover.

Ep 1: Up Above & Down Below

Walk along any of the major roads of Athens and you’ll find little anchors of antiquity or Byzantine culture—or a really good bakery. “Nearly every step you take in Athens is on top of something remarkable,” says Sofka Zinovieff in this debut episode that explores how Athens sits in its layered landscape; “like an urban octopus creeping and grasping its way up the surrounding hills”. We’ll meet the city’s most public skeleton; climb a lesser-known mountain; celebrate the modern-day goddess of Athena; and go undercover in an ancient aqueduct that’s still active after almost 2,000 years.

Photo by Thomas Gravanis

Listen to the episode below or choose your favourite podcast platform.

Ep 2: From Dreams to Demolition

Time to explore the surprisingly diverse fabric of Athens—and why the Greek capital looks the way it does. “We’ll see how Athens went from being a two horse provincial town with some old ruins; to the dream capital of a newly independent Greece. And then how a very Greek system was used to tear that down and replace it with a concrete landscape of apartment blocks,” says Sofka Zinovieff in this second episode devoted to the Athens aesthetic. Hear how a Bavarian Monarch's grand designs on Athens from the 1830s created a neoclassical European city. And why Athenian housewives of the 1950s welcomed the demolition of their former dwellings.

Photo by Thomas Gravanis

Listen to the episode below or choose your favourite podcast platform.

Ep 3: A City of Villages

‘Athens is the most foreign capital in the world,’ wrote the Greek poet Michalis Ganas. Indeed, “True Athenians”—those who have lived in the Greek capital for generations—are rare. Most call another place home; whether it’s an ancestral mountain village or island. Or another land entirely. From the Cycladic islanders who built their picture-perfect settlement on the northern slopes of the Acropolis; to the displaced Greeks of Asia Minor who fled the great 1922 Catastrophe; and the 21st century refugees who risk everything to escape. Follow us as we explore the vibrant collection of outsiders who have made this city their own—and in their wake, created an ever-evolving tapestry of Athenian villages; each with its own distinct personality.

Photo by Thomas Gravanis

Listen to the episode below or choose your favourite podcast platform.

Ep 4: Feasting and Fasting

Bring your heartiest appetite. In this episode, we’re going food shopping the Athenian way, with two local food writers. We’ll scour buzzy neighbourhood markets and exotic spice-scented streets—and along the way, we’ll myth bust the Greek love affair with meat; tuck into Athens’ booming “world cuisine” scene; and meet the Greek superfood served at every taverna in town. Finally, we’ll take a nose dive into the heady aromas of Athens and explore the uniquely Greek approach to fasting. “You can always trust a Greek to turn a fast into a feast,” says your host Sofka Zinovieff in this fourth episode, devoted to the Greek capital’s most enticing perfumes and flavours.

Photo by Manos Chatzikonstantis

Listen to the episode below or choose your favourite podcast platform.

Ep 6: Songs & Poems

Where else but in Greece can you hear the average person singing along to modern tunes on the radio, set to Nobel Prize-winning poetry? Whether you’re into rap or jazz, opera or bouzouki, you can count on Athens to dish up every kind of music. In this fast-tempo episode, we’ll visit a celebrated singer who has worked with some of the greatest Greek composers of the last century, and we’ll unpack some of the city’s most beloved sounds: from the haunting rebetika, born of poverty and catastrophe; to today’s glossy bouzouki nightclubs and the joyous panigiria summer festivals “where all hell breaks loose” in the village and everyone from youngest to oldest joins in the fun.

Photo by Thalia Galanopoulou

Listen to the episode below or choose your favourite podcast platform.