A Road Trip Podcast
- an American Journey and Everything In Between
Peter Borsos | From a world of phones to an invisible infrastructure - 150 years of Ericsson
Telling these stories from a road trip wouldn't be possible without the complex infrastructure of a mobile network, so I met with Peter Borsos, Head of Communications at Ericsson, in Washington, D.C., to talk about the company's 150-year history - 120 of those making a Swedish footprint in the United States (…)
Scott Segerstrom | From famine to fortune, a Swedish immigrant story with a golden twist
As this road trip passed through Boone, North Carolina, I was fortunate enough to sit down with Scott Segerstrom, who shared his family's story, starting with his great-great-grandfather, Anders Frederick Andersson, and his thirteen determined daughters, who all left a life in a cave outside Tybble, Sweden, to seek fortune in Mead, Nebraska.
Troy Campbell | The creator of House of Songs unravels the Swedish music miracle
The list of Swedish artists on the Billboard 100 is long. Ever since Blue Swede reached number 1 in 1974 with their version of "Hooked on a Feeling", Swedes have frequently appeared on this iconic chart in the American music industry - a Swedish footprint in popular culture that has become an industry standard.
Ron Michael | The story of Birger Sandzén, the Swedish Renaissance Man who changed the color palette of American Art
I drove the Volvo and Airstream to Lindsborg in Kansas - a town still proud of its Swedish heritage - to talk with Ron Michael, Director of the Birger Sandzén Memorial Gallery, about the Swedish artist who put Kansas high on the American art scene.
Sir Donald Glenn Peterson - from Värmland in Sweden and War in France, to a Swedish Knight in Colorado
Sir Donald Glenn Peterson's family history starts with his grandfather, Enoch, leaving Sweden at age 19 for a life in the United States, immediately signing up to fight with the US Army in France during WW1, only to return after the war to start a newspaper in Denver, Colorado, building a communication hub for Swedes and Americans alike that stood for three generations.
Lars Ronér | And the Ten Thousand Swedes of Utah (and how language defines home)
Between the 1850s and the early 1900s, approximately 10,000 Swedes left their homeland and emigrated to the United States to join the fast-growing movement of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormons) around Salt Lake City, Utah - Lars Ronér's family was one of those who came.
Hanna Jolinder | From Stockholm to Reno, ready to make a footprint in American Basketball
The search for Swedish footprints within the United States diverted my road trip to the University of Nevada in Reno, to speak to basketball player Hanna Jolinder, who recently arrived to take the position as Guard in the Nevada Wolf Pack after years in the highest basketball league in Sweden, including a position in the Swedish National Team.
Katarina Bonde | The Swedish winemaker who brought American wine to the Nobel Prize banquet
The all-American road trip led me to the many wineries of Sonoma Valley, where I met up with Swedish-born Katarina Bonde at West Wines, the vineyard she founded with her husband almost twenty years ago.
Richard 'Sven' Shelgren | The creative spirit, the death of Hollywood & the myth of the Swedish Blondes
Mr. Shelgren is a movie producer, writer, and director for the world-renowned Ojai Film Festival, north of Los Angeles, California. He is also 'Sven' to most people who've met him, a nickname he took in honor of his Swedish heritage.
Giddings vs. Wærn | The unexpected story of how Letters from America started
Gudrun Giddings had another plan and wasn't all up for questions about an industry that, in her mind, tends to be overexposed. Instead, she turned the tables - literally - and sat me in the guest seat to answer all her questions about the road trip tour.
Ingrid Hagelberg | A journey guided by a lifelong passion for singing
Ingrid Hagelberg is an International Jazz Singer and award-winning actress, born in Trelleborg, Sweden, with a career that stretches from Tokyo to Los Angeles, South Africa to Poland, and Sweden to Germany, alongside international recording sessions, TV shows, and award-winning stage performances.
Pia Nilsson | The legendary golf coach with the perfect vision
I met with Pia Nilsson, the former Senior Head Coach for the Swedish National Teams in Golf, co-founder of Vision 54, and the coach behind multiple victories on the LPGA Tour, PGA Tour, European Tour, and Japan Tour, including several major winners and top-ranked world players, outside her home in Scottsdale, Arizona - to speak about everything I don't know about golf.
Fredrik Thomsson | From dream to dedication, the journey of a Swedish horseman
I met with Swedish-born Fredrik Thomsson to talk about what motivated him to leave his teenage room on the Swedish island of Gotland thirty-five years ago, throwing himself headlong into a ranch in Oklahoma to work for reining-horse legend Bob Loomis, and further through hundreds of horses and countless competitions (…)
Don Raines Jr. - About two remarkable Swedes in Dallas and one letter to Sweden
I met with Don Raines, Senior Planner in the city of Dallas, Texas, to talk about two remarkable swedes that helped not only shape the city itself - but left iconic marks on the entire country.
Pernilla Wittung-Stafshede | A professor's long and winding road to find her spot
I met with Pernilla Wittung-Stafshede, Professor of Chemistry and BioSciences and former member of the Nobel Committee in Chemistry, outside her new lab at Rice University in Houston and we talked about the winding road that guided her to where she is now, about changing your mind, and about the essence of protien folding.
Anna Hammarlund Blixt | From Trosa to Texas - the Consul General of Sweden in Houston
I met with Anna Hammarlund Blixt, the newly appointed Consul General of Sweden, outside her residence in Houston, Texas, to discuss Sweden's relationship with America's second-largest state.
Caroline Brunious | From Västerås, Sweden, to the Queen of Clarinet in New Orleans
I met with Swedish-born Caroline Brunious - the Swedish clarinet player and child protege who's now one of the top jazz clarinet players - outside her home in New Orleans, Louisiana, to talk about the journey that led her to this center stage of the Jazz Universe.
Robert Fritz | "Old Swedes" Church in Swedesboro
The Old Swedes Church in Swedesboro (New Jersey) was founded by Swedish Lutheran settlers who originally worshiped in a log cabin on the site at the beginning of the 18th century.
Pierre Schelander | The Flying Priest
Pierre Schelander - the flying priest who left small-town Sweden for a life in Miami, Florida, to preach for congregations in Brazil and Argentina
Viveca Averstedt | From Bodybuilding Championships & Top Fuel Tracks to a Swedish Food Truck in Orlando
I met with legendary Viveca Averstedt - the fastest person outside the USA for 5 years - at her home in Orlando, Florida, and we talked about the rollercoaster world of bodybuilding, drag racing, and top fuel cars, and the sweet life of running your own Swedish food truck.