All Things Iceland

When people think of Iceland, they have images of beautiful landscapes, sheep, the northern lights, and glaciers. Many are unaware of the scandals, corruption, and overall fascinating events show up in Iceland news stories throughout the year. If you have listened to previous episodes of this show, such as the interviews with Dóra , the former President of the City Council, Alda Sigmundsdóttir , K...

The Icelandic sheep farm is pretty much as old as the country because the first settlers from Norway in the 9th and 10 centuries brought sheep with them. As a native New Yorker that was completely disconnected from raw nature, such as the kind found in Iceland, I find it fascinating and difficult to imagine what it would be like to grow up and work on a farm. When I came across Pálína’s Instagram...

I had the pleasure of chatting with Eunsan Huh, the awesome creator of the popular Instagram account, @EverySingleWordinIcelandic . On her account, you will find Icelandic words that she has illustrated as icons, which is helping her and others to learn the language. She has also created a book called “ Iceland in Icons: a Pictographic Travel Guide “, which I will have a link to in the...

For episode fifty of the All Things Iceland podcast, I interviewed Kári Stefánsson, an Icelandic neurologist who is also the founder and CEO of deCode genetics . deCode is a biopharmaceutical company based in Reykjavík. Kári pioneered the use of, “population scale genetics to understand variation in the sequence of the human genome.” WIkipedia The discoveries from using this approach have helped w...

Today is a very special episode because in June of 2018, I launched the All Things Iceland podcast. A full year later, there are 47 episodes (48 if you include this one) and more than 60,000 downloads. I am incredibly grateful for all of the people that have listened to this podcast and for those who do so in the future. I thought it would be fun to do something a little different for this special...

The history of the Icelandic government, also known as Alþingi (pronounced “Althingi”), dates back to the 900s. This episode breaks down the evolution of the government in this country from the very beginning to present day. The World’s Oldest Surviving Parliament In previous episodes, I have mentioned the Alþingi , which is the the Icelandic parliament. It was founded in 930 at...

During this part of the interview, Andri provides some great insight into the current literature landscape in Iceland and the impact of literature from this country on the world. We start off this interview talking about Reykjavík being a UNESCO City of Literature. Andri is a great person to talk about this because he is the chairman of the board for the Reykjavík UNESCO City of Literature. Andri...

I had the pleasure of sitting down with Andri Snær Magnason , an award winning writer of novels, poetry, plays and films. He is also a very active environmental activist. We chatted about his fascinating literary career, how he chooses topics to write about, and so much more. Because we talked for about one hour and forty five minutes, I decided to break up the episode into two parts. You’ll hear...

To kick off my comeback to podcasting, I am sharing an awesome interview I did with Andie Fontaine , the News Editor of The Reykjavík Grapevine . Andie is originally from Baltimore. They have been living in Iceland since 1999 and has Icelandic citizenship. We dive into what it has been like for Andie to learn Icelandic, their views on immigration, coming out as transgender and many other fascinati...

During this week’s episode, I give an overview of the rich history of Icelandic literature and  culture. Before I jump in, I have two announcements. Two Important Announcements The first is that today, February 20th, 2019, is the last day for you to enter the All Things Iceland podcast giveaway.  If you haven’t entered already, you can do so by clicking on the image that says the A...

Akureyri, also known as the capital of the north in Iceland, is the fourth largest municipality in Iceland. Reykjavík, Hafnarfjörður and Kopavogur are larger. This town of about 18,500 people is small in comparison to Reykjavík, but it is bustling with life. Akureyri’s History This area that Akureyri is located was originally settled in the 9th century by a Norse Viking named Helgi magri (the slim...

Christmas in Iceland is a lovely time. Everyone is merry and there are lots of fun events happening. I purposefully decided not to include Christmas activities that not holiday related on this list. You won’t hear me say, hunt for Northern Lights, go on a Glacier Walk, ride an Icelandic horse and so on  during this episode. While those activities are awesome, they can be experienced when it i...

This episode might be short but it gives you a good overview of Icelandic foods to try while in Iceland. Before I jump into this list, I have to inform you that I have been a plant based eater, usually referred to as vegan, for the last five years. However, I did taste all of these foods before I made the transition. The foods on this list are very much a part of the Icelandic food culture and it...

In the last episode, I went over Iceland’s noteworthy traditions, holidays and celebrations . I recommend checking it out, if you haven’t already. This week, I am expanding on the Christmas holiday celebrations that I spoke about in that episode. While most countries that celebrate Christmas only have one Santa that comes to town, Iceland somehow ended up with 13! During this episode, I will talk...

Aldís Amah Hamilton, who is half African American and half Icelandic, shares what it is like living in Iceland as a person of color. Aldís and her friend were the first people of color in the country to be admitted to and graduate from the country’s National Academy of Theater. She is a working actor and flight attendant in Iceland.  It was fascinating to chat with her about her experience growing...

During part 2 of my interview with Alda Sigmundsdóttir, an Icelandic author and journalist that has her thumb on the pulse of Icelandic society, Alda shares some eye opening information. Alda talks extensively about Iceland’s economic meltdown, scandals that people outside of the country might not be aware of, a place in Iceland that is close to her heart and her favorite Icelandic word or phrase....

I was fortunate to have the opportunity to chat with Alda Sigmundsdóttir, an Icelandic author and journalist that has her thumb on the pulse of Icelandic society. Even though Alda was born in Iceland, she grew up in Canada and lived in a few different countries. The insight that she shared with me about Iceland and its people was enlightening and sometimes surprising. We had such a great time chat...

I had the opportunity to chat with Dr. Guðmundur A. Guðmundsson, who has a MSc and PhD degree in Ecology, and is a researcher at the Icelandic Institute of Natural History . During the interview you will hear me say Mummi when I speak to Dr. Guðmundsson. It is a nickname commonly used in Iceland for men with the name Guðmundur. Some of the topics I discussed with Mummi during our interview for the...

As I mentioned in part one of the “6 Reasons Why Iceland is so Popular” episode, this amazing country has many reasons for why people are flocking to it. In this episode, I share my final three out of six reasons. Make sure you check out the first three reasons I shared in the last episode of the All Things Iceland podcast . 4. Iceland is a Convenient Place To Catch a Connecting Flight...

Iceland is popular now but before 2010, hardly anyone came to see this spectacular place. It is fascinating now that you can’t  find a “must-see” destination list without this amazing country being featured. While there are many reasons why this small, island nation located in the Atlantic ocean is so popular, I am sharing my top six. I split this list into two parts to keep the...