LIN 11: The Norwegian Americans

Life in Norway Show

Life in Norway Show Episode 11: The Norwegian Americans

Full show notes from the episode can be found at https://www.lifeinnorway.net/episode11

The history of Norwegian emigration to America is a fascinating one. Newspaper editor Emily Skaftun tells us all about the modern Norwegian American community.

It’s time to wrap up season one of the Life in Norway Show, and for the first time, I’m speaking to someone who doesn’t actually live in Norway. The reason? More than a hundred years ago, Norwegians moved to the USA en masse in search of a better life. Because of that, today there are huge numbers of Americans with Norwegian heritage, and there is quite the community built around them.

Emily Skaftun is the editor of the Norwegian American newspaper, and I speak to her about the Norwegian American community in the USA, the history of the newspaper, and her thoughts on Norway from her recent visits.

During the episode, we talk about:

• The history of Norwegian emigration to the USA
• The history of Norwegian media in the USA
• Where in the USA the community is concentrated
• Some of the community events
• Emily’s recent travels to Norway including the Peer Gynt festival
• The challenges of running the Norwegian American

PS: Don’t forget you can support the show for just a handful of change per month over on Patreon. I’ll be asking my supporters on Patreon who we should be interviewing for season two, so if you want to have your say, you know what to do!