Nordic on Tap

It is difficult to talk about the indigenous people of northern Norway, Sweden, Finland, and the Russian Kola Peninsula without talking about the Sami musician and activist, Mari Boine. Born into a strict religious family, where speaking Sami and expressing oneself by traditional singing or joiking was considered "wrong", Boine struggled with being assimilated as a Norwegian and being ashamed of h...

Join me for a tale of adventure with a very unlikely hero - a little tailor who dreams big but has trouble with the reality of dangerous situations. This Grimm Brothers folktale was collected in Denmark in the late 1800s and features hungry giants, a not so friendly unicorn, and a ferocious wild boar.  Why do the people he meets think he’s heroic material? How does our hero even survive, let alone...

The hardanger fiddle (hardingfele) is the national folk instrument of Norway.  What makes this unique instrument different from a standard violin, in construction and sound?  Join me as Lynn Berg, one of the best hardanger fiddle luthiers (violin makers) in the USA, walks us through what it takes to make a fiddle and how he came to be a luthier. Then Rachel Nesvig, the talented and accomplished mu...

Who is that unseen elf that takes care of the animals on the farm?  Join me as I interview Dr. Lotta Gavel Adams to understand the origins of the Swedish tomte, learn about Viktor Rydberg's classic poem, and identify the major artists who have contributed to our picture of the tomte. We owe the concept of the jolly American Santa Claus to a Swedish illustrator too.  We conclude the show with a 202...

I met Tove Dahl at a language camp in Norway in 1981. She was the staff troubadour who taught us to sing Norwegian songs and thereby learn Norwegian language and culture.  She was a such a people magnet back then, a natural leader, and I wondered what ever happened to this quintessential summer camp "counselor" who we all loved.  Forty years later, both she and I grew up, as people do, and I track...

Come along with us to the world's first open air museum - the Norsk Folkmuseum in Oslo!  We interview Inger Jensen and Siv Ringdal, both first curators at the museum about the oldest buildings, such as the Gol Stave Church from the 1200s, as well as more contemporary history in farm buildings of the 1950s, a Trekking Association (DNT) hytte, and an apartment building from downtown Oslo.  Living hi...

Have you struggled at home with recipes for Nordic dishes or in creating Scandinavian Christmas cookies like krumkake? I sure have. In this program I interview Kristi Bissell of the True North Kitchen Blog, whose recipes are found in the Taste of Norway section of the Norwegian American News, and who teaches cooking in the Folk Art School at the Vesterheim Museum.  We explore how preparing "ethnic...

The Sami, formerly called Lapps, live in the far north of Norway, Sweden, and Finland in a land where the sun never sets.  Storytelling has a strong tradition among the Sami, with tales that are a little different from other Nordic folktales.  Join us as we read story translations from the first collectors, J. A. Friis and J. K. Qvigstad, and from ethnographer Emilie Demant Hatt.  We read from the...

Sven Lindauer is an accomplished historical artist who worked for National Geographic and museums.  Now Lindauer has set his artistic eye on the Norse of the Viking Age -- the non-Viking Vikings" who weren't the warriors, but the farmers, blacksmiths, Skaldic poets, musicians, sail-makers, among others.  He published The Art and Crafts of Ancient Scandinavia in 2020 with scenes of everyday life an...

In this Winter Solstice/Christmas podcast we hear two stories and an interview about "trees" - the krumkake, the noble fir, and the lingonberry.  That is, the challenge of making a functional krumkake, the odyssey of cutting our own ragged Christmas tree, and a special on-site interview with Pacific Northwest lingonberry farmer, Leslie Lindskog.  We also investigate the origins of the beautiful Av...

The centerpiece of every farm in Norway was always the storehouse, or stabbur. The food stored during summer and fall in this humble log and stave building was what got people through the long, cold winters every year.  They were built so well, many are still standing 300 years later. Join us as we l hear the story from a man who built his own version in the mountains of Montana, and learned to ca...

Our first folktale podcast was so popular, we thought we’d bring you another!  This time we hear a tale from Finland called The Mighty Mikko, and my son Carl Stavney is the featured guest reading the classic Norwegian folktale, The Lad Who Went to the Northwind.  We also bring you a lovely accordion, mandolin, and guitar piece by the Folk Voice Band out of the Seattle Area.  So take a load off and...

In the early 1900s, there were hundreds of Scandinavian immigrant newspapers. Meet Lori Ann Reinhall, the Editor of the last remaining Norwegian newspaper in the USA, the Norwegian American. You'll hear how this amazing and talented woman keeps this excellent paper alive in a time of quarantine, unemployment, decreased popularity of print media, the "noise" of the internet, and biased opinions and...

By day he works in the computer learning industry, but by night he puts on his sunglasses, pulls out his instruments, and creates amazing CD-quality music in his studio. He is lead and bass guitarists, lead vocalist and harmonizer, drummer, and keyboardist.  Who would suspect this mild-mannered man to have arisen out of a musical family, to have started his own recording studio, "played Vegas" wit...

Join us for an exploration of Nordic folktales, why we value them, and how they define the cultures from which they come. We hear two of  the most beloved tales of Norway and Sweden, and finish with a haunting duet of a traditional folksong from the Nordahl Grieg Spelmanslag, and one arranged by yours truly.  This podcast is for all story lovers, from 4 to 104. So grab your sippy cup, latte, or hi...

With the full or partial closure of many businesses, institutions, and organizations in Seattle in late March 2020 due to COVID-19, we wonder how are our cherished Nordic haunts, restaurants, museums, and fraternal organizations making it through in Seattle.  We talk with Erik Pihl of the National Nordic Museum, Bjørn Ruud of Scandinavian Specialties, Rachel Antalek of Byen Bakeri, and report on t...

Beyond keeping us warm and preventing public embarrassment, why do we wear clothes?  What does our dress say about us, who and what we are, and where we come from? Join Nordic on Tap for this dive into the world of fashion design with Seattle-based designer, Madison Leiren of Leiren Designs ( https://leirendesigns.com/ ).  We sit down with Madison to discuss her path into fashion design and the in...

Join us as we travel to Oslo, Norway to talk to a barnehage (literally: kindergarden) teacher named Torhild to learn how Norwegian kids have it differently and the same as us in the USA.  We also examine Norwegian folk costumes, or bunads...and what it takes to get one. We meet Hanne at Heimen Husfliden in Oslo as she tells us about her job selling bunads. We finish the show with some foot-stompin...