''mürmur.'' is a

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

-based

podcast A podcast is a Radio program, program made available in digital format for download over the Internet. Typically, a podcast is an Episode, episodic series of digital audio Computer file, files that users can download to a personal device or str ...

hosted by Uluç Ülgen. The show revolves around impromptu conversations that take place between Ülgen and the various

strangers A stranger is a person who is unknown or unfamiliar to another person or group. Because of this unknown status or unfamiliarity, a stranger may be perceived as a threat until their identity (social science), identity and Character structure, chara ...

who spontaneously show up to his apartment. In late 2016, the project began receiving international press, including articles in ''

The New York Post The ''New York Post'' (''NY Post'') is an American Conservatism in the United States, conservative daily Tabloid (newspaper format), tabloid newspaper published in New York City. The ''Post'' also operates three online sites: NYPost. ...

'', and ''

The Paris Review ''The Paris Review'' is a quarterly English-language literary magazine established in Paris in 1953 by Harold L. Humes, Peter Matthiessen, and George Plimpton. In its first five years, ''The Paris Review'' published new works by Jack Kerouac, ...

''.

Background

''mürmur.'' was launched in 2014 following a hitchhiking trip to the

Middle East The Middle East (term originally coined in English language) is a geopolitical region encompassing the Arabian Peninsula, the Levant, Turkey, Egypt, Iran, and Iraq. The term came into widespread usage by the United Kingdom and western Eur ...

that Ülgen describes as rekindling his faith in humanity. After returning to New York City, he sold off his entire music gear in order to finance the space required for the project to help

through the medium of

conversation Conversation is interactive communication between two or more people. The development of conversational skills and etiquette is an important part of socialization. The development of conversational skills in a new language is a frequent focus ...

. Guests began discovering the podcast through the street flyers that Ülgen frequently posts in the

Greenwich Village Greenwich Village, or simply the Village, is a neighborhood on the west side of Lower Manhattan in New York City, bounded by 14th Street (Manhattan), 14th Street to the north, Broadway (Manhattan), Broadway to the east, Houston Street to the s ...

and East Village neighborhoods of

Manhattan Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...

. Ülgen expresses that the abundance of strangers coming on the show, while overwhelming, has enabled him to dramatically improve his social skills. He now uses the experience harnessed on the podcast by giving advice to others who suffer from

social anxiety Social anxiety is the anxiety and fear specifically linked to being in social settings (i.e., interacting with others). Some categories of disorders associated with social anxiety include anxiety disorders, mood disorders, autism spectrum dis ...

and

shyness Shyness (also called diffidence) is the feeling of apprehension, lack of comfort, or awkwardness especially when a person is around other people. This commonly occurs in new situations or with unfamiliar people; a shy person may simply opt ...

. In August 2017, the show's studio was forced to relocate after a liability dispute with the landlord of the building. As of October 2017, ''mürmur.'' operates from an undisclosed, private location in the East Village. In November 2017, ''mürmur.'' was picked up for the Fall edition of Radio Free Brooklyn. Ülgen often makes pleas in interviews to nab his idol

Kid Rock Robert James Ritchie (born January 17, 1971), known professionally as Kid Rock, is an American musician, singer, rapper, and songwriter. After establishing himself in the Music of Detroit#Hip-hop, Detroit hip-hop scene, he broke through into m ...

for a mürmur at his apartment. As of 2019, over 900 strangers have appeared on the podcast.

References

External links

* {{Official website, http://www.murmurtalk.com/ 2014 podcast debuts Interview podcasts Audio podcasts Advice podcasts American podcasts