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Seeing me through the turbulence of college years, almost religiously throughout freshers week and now following me into my twenties, ‘the matcha diaries’ has become my favourite and most listened-to podcast over the past four years. I recently had the honour of interviewing its hosts, Cara Aghabi and Leonie Brunnert, and I have to say, sixteen-year-old me is definitely kicking her feet right now.
Interviewer: Your podcast is one of my biggest comforts during the autumnal seasons, and it started in October four years ago now. What was your initial vision for the matcha diaries back in 2020, and has it changed at all?
the matcha diaries: We still can't believe it has been four years since we started the podcast! Although a lot of things have changed (moving cities/countries, getting new jobs, new relationships etc.), our vision for the podcast hasn’t really changed since we started. The goal was to create a safe space where we could have honest conversations about what navigating life in our twenties is really like. Friendships, mental health, relationships, career, books - truly anything that is on our minds at any given moment. We wanted each episode to feel like you’re on FaceTime with a friend having a steaming cup of matcha and you’re figuring this life-thingy out together. The beauty of the podcast is also that it’s constantly growing and evolving with us. We started this in our early twenties and are now in our mid twenties, so we get to face new challenges, experiences and reflect on the transitions we go through as young “adults” together.
Interviewer: What advice would you give to students with an interest in creative media? Did you face many difficulties in starting out and how did you overcome these?
the matcha diaries: Funnily enough, we were recently reflecting on the process of starting the podcast and found ourselves going through old screenshots/designs/episode descriptions (spoiler alert: it’s all truly laughable). Looking back, we were literally shocked at the fact that we ever put any of it online for the world to see… HOWEVER we both agreed that if we had waited for it to be “perfect”, we probably never would have uploaded our first episode, aka never been where we are today. Long story short: Our advice is to just START and put yourself out there even if it isn't perfect. Accept that your ideas will change and that you will learn a lot along the way. That is the beauty of it. Yes, people might judge you, things might not go as planned - and so what? You trying might just lead to the best thing you’ve ever created, and that’s worth it 100 times over (trust us xoxoxo).
Interviewer: As you know, this is the Autumn & Winter season here at HARD Magazine. I find it can be quite hard not to spend the majority of these seasons hibernating. What do you tend to prioritise at this time? How do you balance being cosy and productive?
the matcha diaries: The colder seasons naturally invite a slower pace, which is one of the (MANY) reasons we love it so much. It allows us to slow down, get back into our daily routines, and enjoy the little moments more intentionally. After the craziness of summer, autumn feels like a chance to collectively take a deep breath and start afresh. It’s the time for reprioritising, reflecting and recharging (WHILST BEING COSY: That’s always the main priority!).
Cosy things include but are not limited to:
your morning coffee
reading whilst cosied up in a blanket (take a shot every time we say the word cosy)
spending time with friends eating, playing games
movie nights (“You've got mail” & “When Harry Met Sally” are a must watch)
solo dates literally ANYWHERE
enjoy observing your shoes on crunchy leaves
listening to indie songs and imagining you’re the lead in a romcom xxx
journalling
eating lots of baked goods (baked beans don’t count lol)
Cute cliché activities aside, the lack of FOMO (which summer almost inherently creates within us) allows us to be more “productive” and focus on our goals in these colder months. What do we want to have achieved by the end of the year? How do we want to feel come New Year's Eve? We say productive in quotation marks, because sometimes NOT pulling that all-nighter in the uni library is better for you than just taking an evening off to properly recharge. Finding balance is literally so hard at any stage in life and we’re definitely still no experts, but finding out what our energy givers and takers are, and incorporating both to some extent in our day-to-day has been super helpful.
Interviewer: Your podcast helped me a lot during the transition into a new university, city and lifestyle. I recently turned twenty and I once again found I turned to your podcast for comfort... how do you best cope with these kind of transitions that come with growing older?
the matcha diaries: Thank you for saying that! It genuinely means so much to know that our podcast has been a comfort to you. Maybe the biggest lesson we’ve learned from doing the podcast is that we’re not alone!! No matter what you’re going through at any given point in time, you’d be surprised at how many people are going through something similar right now - that person could even be one of your friends and you don’t even know it. As human beings, connection is the one thing that holds us together - whether you find it in podcasts, books, your favourite show or of course the people in your life you meet along the way. The stranger that sits next to you in your very first marketing lecture might become your best friend and podcast co-host 8 years down the line. Your chosen family is the one that goes through life’s ups and downs with you. They’re right there in the trenches that being in your twenties can be, as well as celebrating the amazing wins that come with growing up. Lean on those people, talk about how you're feeling, share your thoughts without fear of judgement. You'd be surprised to find out how “normal” your struggles are and how many people will relate to you along the way. Feeling less alone through it all definitely helps. Remind yourself that you're not supposed to have it all figured out, and you're still allowed to make mistakes.
Interviewer: The section of the magazine that I'm deputy for is actually the creative writing and poetry one! You guys talk a lot about books on your podcast and appear to be quite avid readers. Is there a book you would recommend at the moment?
the matcha diaries: OOH we love this question!! We both are utterly obsessed with reading and actually host a book club with our podcast (dare we say a perfect productive activity to be taking up this season…), so this is right up our street.
Our favourite books to read this season (and maybe even our all-time favourite books) are 'The Secret History' by Donna Tartt and 'Babel' by R.F. Kuang. Both are absolutely beautifully written, dark academia novels that will make you question your morals, your sanity whilst ruining you for any other book you’ll read afterwards.
Cara and Leo’s podcast is the audio equivalent of scrolling through pinterest: comforting, wholesome, the epitome of girlhood and everything I felt I needed in my latter teenage years. If you are anything like me, grab yourself a tea or maybe even a matcha, and go give it a listen!
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