Interview with podcast host Clare Devlin from dreißig.  “There Shouldn’t Be Any Taboo Subjects”

Marriage, career, children, house – the thirties are often associated with high expectations. In the podcast "dreißig.",  Clare, Christina and Katrin discuss their lives in their early thirties and explain why they still don't feel grown up. We met Clare Devlin for a video interview.

Christina, Clare and Katrin are friends who host the podcast "dreißig." (= thirty.) — a podcast they also refer to as "Podcast About Growing Up". In weekly episodes, they discuss topics currently on their minds, such as careers, relationships, marriage, children, and above all, the pressure women face in their thirties. They want to show that everyone's life journey is different, and that's okay. We met Clare for a video interview.

You've been doing your podcast for three years now. How did the idea for it come about?

Katrin, Christina and I worked together at WDR on a format for young women in their twenties. When we were in our late twenties and the format had been discontinued, we realised that there was nothing on the media market aimed at women in their thirties. So we came up with the idea of producing the format ourselves. Since we were all already familiar with podcasts, this seemed like a straightforward solution. That's how our podcast came about, and by the way — the podcast is also for men.

You also call your podcast "Podcast About Growing Up". People in their late 20s are expected to be adults by now. Why did you pick up on that?

When we were teenagers, we thought we were adults at 30. But suddenly, there we were 30 years old, and we asked ourselves: Is this what adulthood feels like? Did that make us adults if we still called mum or dad when we had questions about the dishwasher, taxes, or car repairs? We realised that we didn't really feel grown up yet.

Do you feel more grown up now, at 32, than when you started the podcast?

I feel more grown up because I've dealt with the issue. Nevertheless, I don't feel the way I thought I would at this age.
  Your podcast thrives on the fact that you reveal a lot about yourselves personally. How exactly do you decide which topics to discuss?

On the one hand, we discuss topics that concern us or those around us. On the other hand, we ask our community on Instagramwhich topics they would be interested in. After all, there are always perspectives that we haven't considered yet because they don't correspond to our reality. In this case, we look for external dialogue partners to provide this perspective.

How easy or difficult is it to find a topic to talk about each week?

As we are constantly evolving, finding topics to discuss is easier than you might think. When we were 29, the things we discussed were completely different to what we talk about today. In the meantime, Christina has had a child, been pregnant a second time, had a miscarriage and is now pregnant a third time. Katrin has also had a child. I split up with my partner, moved out and started dating, and I am now in a long-distance relationship. These are all topics that life brings to us.

Are there any topics that you wouldn't talk about under any circumstances?

We would talk about anything. There shouldn't be any taboo subjects. Rather, the question is how personal we become about a topic, as some things cannot be viewed in isolation from our surroundings. We all have our own boundaries. That's why we invite guests to discuss certain topics. You are currently in the process of publishing a book and have already been on tour twice with your podcast. How have you managed to make your podcast so well known in just three years?

Initially, we thought the podcast would just be a hobby project. However, we quickly realised that we could build a media brand around it. Since Christina, Katrin and I had experience of developing a company, we thought bigger. That's how the tour, the book, merchandise, community campaigns and our paid newsletter came about. We also prioritised Instagram right from the start.

Given how much you interact with your community, it's only natural that many people identify with you. Do you ever feel as though you have to fulfil certain expectations?

Yes, I think that's a common phenomenon among podcasters who share a lot of personal information. People sometimes listen to us for hours while doing the most private things: While showering, sitting on the toilet or going for a jog, for example. This is why some people are disappointed with us when we express an opinion on a topic they disagree with. But we can deal with that now.

We also realise that our community has a huge knowledge advantage. When we encounter someone face-to-face, we are confronted with a stranger. However, their initial reaction is to hug us and ask us, how our recent vacation was. We have also become accustomed to this difference. Above all, though, interaction with the community is great — without them, the podcast would be nothing.

If you look into the future of “dreißig.“ now, what will the podcast look like in five to ten years?

I hope that we can grow older with our community, for whom we have created this safe space. It would also be great if we could continue to expand our podcast company. At this point, we can't say exactly what the future holds. But we are definitely very creative when it comes to that.

Will “dreißig.“ then be renamed “vierzig.“ (forty)?

It could be. Maybe one day our podcast will be called “fifty.“ and then “sixty.“. Who knows.

August 2025