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PODCAST

English Plus Podcast

Welcome to English Plus with Danny — your one-stop podcast for lifelong learning. Whether you’re here to improve your English or explore a wide range of fascinating topics — from language and life skills to original stories by Danny — this podcast is your gateway to learning and creativity. Never stop learning… or creating. 🎧 Unlock full access on Apple Podcasts or Patreon. 🌐 Visit englishpluspodcast.com for articles, deep dives, and exclusive content.

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All Episodes

39:59

When the Bells Stop Ringing 9 | The Longest Ring

English Plus Podcast ·

2025/12/08

In Stockholm, the winter darkness arrives just after lunch, settling over the city like a heavy blanket. Astrid sits by her window, watching a candle burn down—a silent, stubborn signal to a son she hasn't spoken to in two years. She calls it 'waiting,' but deep down, she knows it is pride. The candle is fading, and the silence of the phone is deafening. Tonight, Astrid faces the hardest journey of all: the distance between her hand and the receiver. A story for anyone who is waiting for the other

en-US

18:40

TOL | The Empty Chair and the Orange Crate: Why We...

English Plus Podcast ·

2025/12/05

We spend so much of our lives protecting things. We protect our privacy, our inventory, our traditions, and even our sadness. But what if safety is actually the most dangerous thing of all? In this episode of Thinking Out Loud, we travel to a pub in rainy Dublin, a dark stairwell in Beirut, a snowbound station in Japan, and a fragrant kitchen in Berlin. We look at the "Empty Chair" at the head of the table, the cargo of oranges sealed in a truck, and the cheese that is about to spoil. We ask the

en-US

18:41

TOL | The Empty Chair and the Orange Crate: Why We...

English Plus Podcast ·

2025/12/05

We spend so much of our lives protecting things. We protect our privacy, our inventory, our traditions, and even our sadness. But what if safety is actually the most dangerous thing of all? In this episode of Thinking Out Loud, we travel to a pub in rainy Dublin, a dark stairwell in Beirut, a snowbound station in Japan, and a fragrant kitchen in Berlin. We look at the "Empty Chair" at the head of the table, the cargo of oranges sealed in a truck, and the cheese that is about to spoil. We ask the

en-US

34:39

When the Bells Stop Ringing 8 | The Spice of Memory

English Plus Podcast ·

2025/12/04

Berlin in December is gray, damp, and smells of wet wool. For Fatima, a refugee from Aleppo, the city feels impossibly cold and distant. Desperate for a sense of home on Christmas Eve, she opens a jar of seven-spice and begins to cook Maqluba, filling her apartment building with the rich, loud scents of the Levant. But when a sharp knock comes at the door, Fatima fears the worst. On the other side stands her stern German neighbor, Frau Weber. What follows is a story about the flavors that divide us,

en-US

42:39

When the Bells Stop Ringing 7 | The Snowbound Station

English Plus Podcast ·

2025/12/03

A blizzard has erased the highways of Hokkaido, trapping a diverse group of travelers in a roadside station on Christmas Eve. There is a businessman with a deadline, a crying toddler, and a truck driver named Kenji hauling a perishable cargo of sunshine—mandarin oranges. As the power flickers and the vending machines die, the tension in the room rises. With the road closed and hunger setting in, Kenji looks at his sealed cargo and faces a choice: follow the rules of the logbook, or break the seal to

en-US

30:15

When the Bells Stop Ringing 6 | The Candle Carrier

English Plus Podcast ·

2025/12/02

In Beirut, the darkness doesn't fall gently; it seizes the city. On Christmas Eve, the power grid fails, leaving twelve-year-old Nour and her neighbors in a suffocating blackout. In a building where iron doors are usually triple-locked and neighbors rarely speak, the silence is heavy. But Nour remembers her grandmother’s beeswax candles and makes a choice. Instead of huddling in her own apartment, she heads for the dark stairwell. This is a tale about what happens when the lights go out, and we are

en-US

37:20

When the Bells Stop Ringing 5 | The Pub on the Corner

English Plus Podcast ·

2025/12/01

In Dublin, the rain drifts rather than falls, turning the streetlights of Temple Bar into blurred halos. Cillian sits alone in a pub, avoiding the deafening silence of his own home—a house that has been too quiet since his wife, Siobhan, passed away. He has set a place at the table out of habit, a monument to his loss. But when a soaking wet traveler stumbles into the pub with a backpack and a ruined plan, Cillian is forced to decide whether to guard his grief or open the door. Join us for a story

en-US

21:19

TOL | The Invisible Walls We Build: Finding Dignity...

English Plus Podcast ·

2025/11/28

It is easier to be charitable than it is to be kind. Charity requires a coin; kindness requires a piece of ourselves. In this episode of Thinking Out Loud, we take a deep, philosophical dive into four stories of winter connection. We look at a bakery window in Paris, a metro station in Prague, a frozen mountain border, and a riverside bench in Seoul. We ask the difficult questions: Why do we prefer to give leftovers rather than offer a seat at the table? Why is grief forbidden during the holidays

en-US

21:20

TOL | The Invisible Walls We Build: Finding Dignity...

English Plus Podcast ·

2025/11/28

You know, there is a specific kind of walk we all adopt in December. Have you noticed it? It’s not just a walk; it’s a posture of defense. Shoulders up to the ears, chin tucked into the scarf, hands jammed deep into pockets. We walk faster. We have a destination. We have a warm room waiting for us, a meeting to get to, a list of things to buy that is longer than our patience.And because we are moving so fast, and because we are so focused on preserving our own heat, the world around us starts to

en-US

37:19

When the Bells Stop Ringing 4 | The Indigo Scarf

English Plus Podcast ·

2025/11/27

Seoul is a city of neon miracles and heated benches, but for Min-ji, a seventy-year-old cardboard collector, it is a place of relentless cold. She moves through the Christmas Eve crowds like a ghost, her spine curved by the weight of her cart, invisible to the young couples passing by. When a student stops not to offer pity, but to listen, he uncovers a history buried under layers of dust—a memory of silk, indigo, and a woman who was once a queen in her own life. This is a story about the dignity we

en-US

33:20

When the Bells Stop Ringing 3 | The Mountain Pass

English Plus Podcast ·

2025/11/26

High in the Caucasus Mountains, the wind screams across a frozen ridge known as No Man’s Land. Levan, a soldier on guard duty, stares through his scope at the enemy line, waiting for movement. It is Christmas Eve, but war does not respect the calendar. When a figure finally breaks the white silence of the neutral zone, Levan’s finger hovers over the trigger. But he isn't looking at a soldier; he is looking at a desperate woman and a trapped animal. Today, we witness a moment on the border where duty

en-US

13:20

When the Bells Stop Ringing 2 | Strings in the Metro

English Plus Podcast ·

2025/11/25

In the depths of the Prague metro station, amidst the screech of brakes and the rush of commuters desperate to get home, an old man named Karel plays his violin. To the thousands passing by, he is nothing more than background noise—architecture with a bow. But tonight, the crowd is gone, leaving only one man standing in the shadows, paralyzed by a grief that the holidays cannot fix. In this episode, we explore the power of music when the words fail us, and how a sad song might just be the only

en-US

5:00

[PREVIEW] When the Bells Stop Ringing 1 | The...

English Plus Podcast ·

2025/11/24

This is a story from my new Short Story & Prayer collection called When the Bells Stop Ringing. Enjoy it here on Patreon, or if you feel like giving the perfect gift for your loved ones this Christmas, you can buy the paperback book from Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0G34NWXDVEither way, thank you very much for reading my stories and taking this journey with me!The Pâtisserie Window | A Short Story from When The Rings Stop Ringing by Danny BallanThe winter in Paris was not the romantic

en-US

19:36

When the Bells Stop Ringing 1 | The Pâtisserie Window

English Plus Podcast ·

2025/11/24

Today is the first of our final series for this year, When the Bells Stop Ringing to celebrate the season of light together. Our first story is The Pâtisserie Window.Paris in winter is often painted as a romantic wonderland, but for ten-year-old Chloé, the City of Lights offers no warmth—only the biting wind and the rules of the street: don’t loiter, don’t touch, don’t look like a problem. Tonight, on Christmas Eve, she stands outside the golden glow of Maison Lefèvre, separated from the warmth by

en-US

9:27

The Story I Never Told: A New Future for English Plus

English Plus Podcast ·

2025/11/13

This episode is different. For the first time, I'm sharing my personal story—the journey that explains everything about who I am and why I'm making a big change.I've always been a private person on the podcast, but to explain this new chapter, I want to share the full context. I talk about being forced to leave school at 14, finding English as my lifeline, and building a career in Educational Technology. I also get transparent about the realities of operating a global brand from Lebanon, and how

en-US

64:42

MagTalk | Beyond the Scramble: Overcoming Artificial...

English Plus Podcast ·

2025/11/11

We're all familiar with the "Scramble for Africa" and the Sykes-Picot agreement—arbitrary lines drawn by colonial powers that have caused a century of conflict and division. But focusing only on that problem is getting stuck in the past. This article, "Beyond the Scramble," acknowledges that pernicious legacy but pivots to the future. It's a deep dive into the ingenious solutions being built right now to make those borders irrelevant. We're exploring massive economic "corridors," powerful political

en-US

84:12

The Long Shadow 1 | The Philosophy of Empires: The...

English Plus Podcast ·

2025/11/10

How do you pull off the biggest, most violent smash-and-grab in human history? You can't just say that's what you're doing. You need a story. You need a justification. This episode is a three-part journey into the long, dark, and ridiculously complicated shadow of empires, framed as "The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly". Part 1: The "Good" We dissect the official PR campaign for global domination. This is the "civilizing mission", the "divine mandate", and the "enlightened" philosophy of men like John

en-US

73:04

MagTalk | The Missing Pieces: How Cultural...

English Plus Podcast ·

2025/11/03

We've all seen the headlines about museums "returning" artifacts, often after acrimonious debates. But this conversation is usually stuck in a loop of "who stole what" and "who saved what." What if we're missing the entire point?This article, "The Missing Pieces," reframes the entire discussion. It’s not just about the objects; it's about the "empty spaces" left behind and the cultural trauma they represent. We explore why repatriation is not an end, but a beginning—a necessary step to build a new

en-US

15:12

Am I a "Westernized" Version of Myself? (Or Just a...

English Plus Podcast ·

2025/11/03

Do you ever feel caught between cultures? Like your playlist, your bookshelf, and your beliefs are a global mashup? I get it. In this personal monologue, I'm digging into that "in-between" feeling. Is it "Westernization"? Is it something to feel guilty about? Or is this just what it means to build a modern identity in a connected world? This isn't about blame; it's about understanding the beautiful, messy, and nuanced experience of being you, right now. To unlock full access to all our episodes,

en-US

26:40

The Shadow of Colonialism 1 | Beyond the Flags: How...

English Plus Podcast ·

2025/10/27

This is Episode 1 of our new series, "Are We Still Living in the Shadow of Colonialism?" This episode calmly decodes the complex economic systems—like international debt, trade imbalances, and structural adjustment programs—that replaced formal colonies. The goal is not blame, but understanding. We then explore powerful solutions, from the rise of fair-trade movements and local-first economies to major debt-forgiveness campaigns, all aimed at building true economic independence.To unlock full

en-US

1,181 results

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