Auto Ethnographer with John Stech

The Auto Ethnographer is a deep dive into the human experience of crossing cultures—what it feels like to live, work, lead, and belong in places far from home. Hosted by global executive and cultural storyteller John Jörn Stech, the podcast explores the realities of expatriate life, intercultural communication, and the messy, meaningful process of adapting to new norms, new languages, and new ways of seeing the world.John brings more than three decades of international experience across the United States, Germany, Egypt, Russia, Vietnam, and Thailand. His career in global leadership has placed him inside boardrooms, factories, classrooms, and communities on five continents—each move reshaping his understanding of identity, trust, collaboration, and what it truly means to work across cultures. While the show began with roots in the global automotive industry, its focus has evolved. Today, The Auto Ethnographer is a culture‑first exploration of international life, featuring voices from

Auto Ethnographer with John Stech is a business podcast hosted by John Stech, with 55 episodes on record and a Required Pod Score of 80. PitchCentric scores this show on Booking Probability, Listen Score, and live audience signals refreshed every 24 hours.

John Stech hosts Auto Ethnographer with John Stech, a business show with 55 episodes published.

Our AI reads these to draft pitches. Use them as grounding for a pitch that cites a real guest and a specific topic.

• 

  Episode #53

  EP 53: Ending My Show to Take On Ageism

  Jul 6, 202637 min

  This is the final episode of The Auto Ethnographer podcast. After 53 episodes exploring the human stories of expats, cross-cultural professionals, and the quiet logic behind unfamiliar behavior, I am closing this chapter. Not because the stories stopped mattering. Because the urgency has shifted. In this final episode, we take a global tour of ageism. The numbers are stark: USA: 64% of workers over 50 have experienced age discrimination (AARP). 22% report being actively pushed out of their jobs. Germany: 90% of older job seekers encounter age discrimination during interviews. The working-age population will shrink by 4.3 million by 2036. China: The "Curse of 35" means age discrimination begins at 35, not 50 or 60. The civil service hiring age limit was raised from 35 to 38 in 2025 for the first time in three decades. Japan: 30% of the population is 65 and older. In 2024, adult diapers outsold baby diapers. We hear from Dan Pontefract, author of "The Future of Work Is Grey," who was told by a Bank of Japan economist: "When you go back to Canada, make sure you tell your people not to do what Japan is doing." He calls this the Age Debt Crisis — spanning demographic disruption, ageism, longevity, and the loss of institutional wisdom when older workers are pushed out. And we return to a past conversation with HR recruiter Kelvin Nguyen, who describes how Vietnam — a culture that once venerated age and experience — has seen the threshold for being "too old" drop from 45 to 35 in just a few years. Technology and AI have reshuffled the value equation. Efficiency now overrides tradition. I started Ageism Survival Guide because I watched scores of friends and peers pushed out of work in 2025. Professionals over 50, with decades of experience, finding themselves on the outside of a system they spent their lives building. They need practical help adapting to a new life over 50 and navigating what a next career might look like. The Auto Ethnographer taught me how to listen across cultures. Ageism Survival Guide is where I apply that listening to people who need answers now. Thank you to every listener who has been part of this journey. The curiosity, the cultural humility, and the belief that human stories transcend borders — those values are not going anywhere. They are moving with me. I hope you will come along. Ageism Survival Guide: Homepage: https://www.ageismsurvivalguide.com/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@AgeismSurvivalGuide LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/ageism-survival-guide Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ageismsurvivalguide Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ageismsurvivalguide/ To learn more about Dan Pontefract: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/danpontefract/ Homepage including book listing: https://www.danpontefract.com/the-future-of-work-is-grey/ To learn more about Nguyen Ngo The Cong (Kelvin): LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/congngoheadhunt/

  ListenShow Notes
• 

  Episode #52

  EP 52: Stranger in My Own Land: Reporting Back from the USA

  May 28, 202622 minS0

  <p>Four years ago, I moved abroad. Three weeks ago, I went back for a visit.</p><p>In Episode 51, I told you I was returning to the United States with a certain degree of hesitation. I had some honest apprehensions about what I would find. And I promised to bring you back a full report.</p><p>This is that report.</p><p>After four years of living overseas, returning to your home country is not the simple homecoming you might expect. The country changes while you are away. You change too. And those two movements do not always...

  ListenShow Notes
• 

  Episode #51

  Reverse Culture Shock: Why Coming Home Is Harder Than Leaving

  Apr 29, 202620 minS0

  <p>What does it feel like to return home for a visit after years of living abroad? In this episode of The Auto Ethnographer, John Jörn Stech prepares to board a plane back to the United States — his home country — and discovers something unexpected: he is approaching the trip the way he would approach a country he has never visited before. With research, anticipation, and a degree of hesitation he did not expect to feel.</p><p>"Returning home is not that simple, comfortable event that everyone around you expects it to be. It's one of the more quietly deman...

  ListenShow Notes
• 

  Episode #50

  People Are Not Their Governments - the danger of stereotypes and dehumanization

  Apr 17, 202616 minS0

  <p>Fifty episodes in, and the conversation that matters most is still the simplest one: people are not their governments. Nations are not monoliths.</p><p>Thank you to every guest who shared their story, every listener who kept showing up, and to my wife, Bernie, whose support made this channel possible from the very beginning.</p><p>Episode 50 of The Auto Ethnographer returns to the idea that drives everything here. In a media environment that routinely collapses entire cultures into headlines and soundbites, it is worth slowing down to ask what we lose when we do that. We lose...

  ListenShow Notes
• 

  Episode #49

  Your Nationality Is Only One Layer of Who You Are. Pt 2 of 2 ft. Dr. Jerome Dumetz

  Apr 8, 202639 minS0

  <p>What if the cultural frameworks your organization relies on are actually reinforcing the very stereotypes they were designed to eliminate? In Part 2 of our conversation with Dr. Jerome Dumetz, cross-cultural management expert and author of 199 Cross Cultural Case Studies, we explore why real-life case studies offer something no theoretical model can: the full, messy, human context of intercultural work.</p><p>Dr. Dumetz makes a bold argument. Widely used models such as Hofstede, Trompenaars, and the Lewis Triangle, while historically significant, risk generating stereotypes when applied without context. His answer is a carefully curated collection of 199 one-page, real-world case...

  ListenShow Notes

Recent guests on Auto Ethnographer with John Stech. Study who booked and why before you pitch.

Based on semantic analysis of episode topics and host coverage, this show is a strong guest fit for executives in:

Industry fit is computed by PitchCentric using vector embeddings of the show's episode catalog.