Podcasts about Icelandic

What happens when an ancient wellness tradition meets a new wave of global enthusiasm? Recorded at the International Sauna Congress in Oslo, Norway, Lisa Starr explores the rapidly evolving world of sauna and sweat culture with leaders, practitioners, and architects shaping its future. From preserving centuries-old traditions to the rise of Aufguss, sauna masters, thermal experiences, and more inclusive bathing environments, these conversations reveal why sauna is becoming an increasingly important part of the global wellness landscape. The Congress itself brought together 600 attendees from 30 countries, reflecting the extraordinary international interest in sauna culture.  What You'll Learn Why the global growth of sauna creates both opportunity and responsibility to respect traditional sweat cultures How Aufguss combines heat, scent, movement, storytelling, and performance into an immersive sauna experience Why the role of the sauna master goes far beyond entertainment to include guest safety, heat management, facilitation, and holding space How emerging concepts such as thermal architecture, thermal dosing, human response, and human capacity could help create more thoughtful thermal experiences How architects are designing spa and bathing environments around the entire guest journey, including transitions, accessibility, privacy, social connection, and a sense of place International Sauna Congress Episode Highlights 00:48 – Why the International Sauna Congress is like the "Olympics of Sauna" 03:04 – Bringing the global sauna community together 05:32 – The extraordinary growth of sauna and sweat culture 10:26 – Meet Chris Shenkle, an American who became a Norwegian sauna champion 20:46 – What is Show Aufguss and what makes the experience unique? 32:00 – The evolving and increasingly complex role of the sauna master 38:05 – Creating standards and a new framework for thermal architecture 41:07 – How Basalt Architects designs sauna, spa, and bathing experiences 48:29 – Designing the guest journey through a thermal facility 59:16 – Inclusivity, accessibility, mental well-being, and the future of bathing culture International Sauna Congress Meet the Guests Lasse Eriksen is Development Manager at Farris Bad and serves in leadership roles across the Norwegian and international sauna community. He discusses the importance of learning from different sweat cultures and approaching sauna's rapid growth with curiosity, humility, and respect.  Chris Shenkle is an American performer turned sauna master whose unexpected career path took him from New York City to Norway and eventually to national and international Aufguss competition. His story demonstrates the skill involved in combining performance with the responsibilities of managing a thermal environment.  Anders Hage brings experience in performance, wellness, and sauna facilitation to his work with Denmark's sauna community. He shares his perspective on facilitated sauna, sauna master education, professional standards, and his emerging framework of thermal architecture.  Perla Dís Kristinsdóttir and Hrólfur Karl Cela of Basalt Architects discuss Icelandic bathing culture and designing spa environments that are deeply connected to place, nature, culture, accessibility, and the guest journey. Their firm's experience includes work connected with Iceland's renowned Blue Lagoon.  Closing Insight As sauna culture expands around the world, the opportunity is bigger than adding heat to a wellness facility. Thoughtful thermal experiences require an understanding of tradition, culture, human connection, guest safety, design, and the people who facilitate the experience. As Lasse reminds us, there is still much to learn, making humility and listening especially important as the global sauna community evolves. Ready to explore what's next for sauna and thermal wellness? Listen to the full StarrCast episode, recorded at the International Sauna Congress in Oslo. Looking for expert advice in Spa Consulting, with live training and online learning? Spa Consulting: https://wynnebusiness.com/spa-management-consulting  Live Training: https://wynnebusiness.com/spa-management-courses/  Online Learning: https://wynnebusiness.com/spa-management-courses  Other Links: Connect with Lasse Eriksen: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lasse-eriksen-04a27481/ Connect with Anders Hage: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andershage/ Connect with Perla Dís Kristinsdóttir: https://www.linkedin.com/in/perla-d%C3%ADs-kristinsdottir-9678812/ Connect with Hrólfur Karl Cela: https://www.linkedin.com/in/hrolfur-cela/  Connect with Basalt Architects: https://www.basalt.is/ Follow Lisa on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lisastarrwynnebusiness  Listen or Watch StarrCast Podcast on Your Preferred Platform or YouTube: https://wynnebusiness.com/starrcast-podcast/  Join us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/wynnebusiness/?ref=bookmarks  Join us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/wynnebusiness/   

This week, we decide to touch some grass and recharge our souls with a taste of the great outdoors. Your Octo-hosts take you on a wander down various winding paths--over hill and stream, greeting all the creatures in between. Coopster Gold leads the way and recites a selection of poems, pared perfectly with each of our tales. Watch out for snakes and minks and an unforgettable voicemail from our favorite Icelandic pal. RETRO RIDOCTOPUS is ----------------------------------- "Parasite Steve"...... AKA Steve Van Samson (read) "8-Bit Alchemy "...... AKA Tim Krikorian (listen) "Coopster Gold"...... AKA Justin Cooper (subscribe) ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Show your RETROID PRIDE! Get your official GEAR right here!

Are you enjoying this? Are you not? Tell us what to do more of, and what you'd like to hear less of. The Reykjavík Grapevine's Iceland Roundup brings you the top news with a healthy dash of local views. In this episode, Grapevine publisher Jón Trausti Sigurðarson is joined by Heimildin journalist Aðalsteinn Kjartansson and Grapevine friend and contributor Sindri Eldon to round up the stories making headlines in recent weeks. On the docket this week is:[00:09:12] A Twitch Star Disrupts Idyllic ReykjavíkSome dude from New York, a 25-year-old called Kai Cenat, who apparently has millions of followers on something called Twitch, disrupted life in downtown Reykjavík this weekend when he was livestreaming his visit there. Hundreds of teenagers, who we suppose follow Cenat on Twitch, showed up to mob him, and someone stole Cenat's hat. Furthermore, over the weekend, a new series of The Four Seasons was being shot in Iceland, and according to local production company True North, they employed over 100 people to facilitate the production.[00:16:15] Foreign Minister Þorgerður Katrín Gunnarsdóttir's Speech At The UN On SaturdayIceland's Foreign Minister Þorgerður Katrín Gunnarsdóttir spoke at the UN General Assembly on Saturday in a speech that has gone, as they say, viral. On the previous day, Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke, and while he did so, the majority of UN delegates left the hall. To which Netanyahu responded by saying, “If there are any other moral cowards who haven't left the hall, please do so now.” Iceland's delegation did not leave the hall and received some criticism for not having done so in solidarity with those nations whose representatives did. However, Þorgerður Katrín did respond in her speech, and without naming names said, “We have heard the words ‘moral cowards' from this podium. To me, moral cowards are those leaders of the world who refuse to sit down and negotiate a just and lasting peace. Those leaders who deny access to humanitarian aid for people in desperate need. And moral cowards are those leaders of the world who repeatedly go against and disrespect international law.”[00:24:12] Six Days Of Inga Sæland As PMWhile Foreign Minister Þorgerður Katrín Gunnarsdóttir and Prime Minister Kristrún Frostadóttir have been attending the UN General Assembly, Inga Sæland, the Chair of the People's Party, has been acting Prime Minister. Her governance of her party was making headlines as her conduct in sidelining then People's Party minister for education Guðmundur Ingi Kristinsson was detailed. Inga then also passed a law to suppress a strike by aircraft mechanics, which had at that point already disrupted Icelandair's flight schedule. This does beg the question to what extent the People's Party is actually just a single person's party, namely that of Inga Sæland.[00:31:48] Unlikely That Iceland Will Be “Carbon-Neutral” As Planned, By 2040On Tuesday last week, Minister of the Environment, Energy and Climate of Iceland Jóhann Páll Jóhannesson issued new numbers on Iceland's greenhouse gas emissions. Iceland's emissions have gone down by 3.9% in the past year, but the minister is pessimistic about Iceland meeting its 2030 emission target of 41% lower emissions than in 2005, and thinks it is impossible that this government's goal of carbon neutrality by 2040 will be met. He also pointed out that what carbon neutrality means by law has never been defined.[00:37:58] New Tourism TaxFrom June 1 next year, tourists visiting the Golden Circle will be taxed about 4,500 ISK (around 37 USD) each. Through this, the state hopes to collect more than 5 billion ISK next year. Unsurprisingly, tourism companies object to the new tax. The idea is that the tax will be used to pay for infrastructure maintenance.------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------SHOW SUPPORTSupport The Reykjavík Grapevine's reporting by becoming a subscriber at https://www.grapevine.is/subscribe - We are also a printed magazine. You can subscribe to that too.You can also support The Reykjavík Grapevine by shopping in our online store: https://shop.grapevine.is------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------WHO ARE WE?The Reykjavík Grapevine is an alternative monthly magazine published in Iceland since 2003. We bringing you the news and views on Icelandic culture and society, sprinkled with music coverage, travel content, restaurant reviews and more. More on https://www.grapevine.is------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Are you enjoying this? Are you not? Tell us what to do more of, and what you'd like to hear less of. The Reykjavík Grapevine's Iceland Roundup brings you the top news with a healthy dash of local views. In this episode, Grapevine publisher Jón Trausti Sigurðarson is joined by Heimildin journalist Aðalsteinn Kjartansson, and Grapevine friend and contributor Sindri Eldon to roundup the stories making headlines in recent weeks. On the docket this week is:[00:06:17] Icelandair Flights Cancelled, Then Resumed, Due To A StrikeAt 00:01 on Wednesday, 23 September, the Icelandic Aircraft Mechanics Association (FVFÍ) began a strike, which disrupted Icelandair's flight schedule significantly, affecting 26 flights and 5,500 passengers.During the morning of the same day Eyjólfur Ármannsson, Minister of Infastructure announced that “The government passed a bill at its meeting this morning to postpone the strike. I will submit a bill later today,”As noted in the Icelandic Stock Exchange, at 11:08 the Icelandic Aircraft Mechanics Association (FVFÍ) ended their strike. Icelandair flights are expected to resume. [00:16:18] Unemployment At 6,8%According To Statistics Iceland unemployment in Iceland was measured at 6,8% in August with an estimate of 15.900 people unemployed, an increase of 0,2% from the previous month of July. Unemployment was measured at 7% last November, and at 7,3% last January.  Covid unemployment aside, which peaked at 9,1% in April 2021, the recent unemployment rates are the highest in Iceland for more than a decade. [00:32:00] Social Democratic Party Remains Most PopularThe Social Democratic Party, whose chair Kristrún Frostadóttir leads the current coalition majority in Iceland's Parlieman, gained 1,3% in popularity since last surveyed in a recent poll by Maskína, with 27,5%.. The poll was conducted before and after the defeat of the government in a referendum on restarting negotiations with the EU, held in late August. [00:39:48] Up To 20 People Arrested By Police YesterdayThe Icelandic Police announced today that it had arrested up to 20 persons as a part of an investigation they were conducting. One of the arrested Atli Freyr Fjölnisson, currently in custody in relation to drug trafficking charges. Also arrested was an employee of local car dealership BL and an employee of a fast food restaurant. Reasons for the investigation and the arrests have not been given by the police.[00:27:31] Newly Built Apartments Not SellingAccording to a recent report from the Icelandic housing, construction and planning authority, almost 1,900 ready apartments have not been sold in Iceland. Three years ago, such apartments numbered at just over 200. The unsold apartments within the Capital Area number at least 375, 213 of which are located in Hafnarfjörður. The numbers do tell a story of a housing market in crisis, as prices have soared, interest rates are at 8,0% and number of sales and purchases of apartments are at an all time low.------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------SHOW SUPPORTSupport The Reykjavík Grapevine's reporting by becoming a subscriber at https://www.grapevine.is/subscribe - We are also a printed magazine. You can subscribe to that too.You can also support The Reykjavík Grapevine by shopping in our online store: https://shop.grapevine.is------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------WHO ARE WE?The Reykjavík Grapevine is an alternative monthly magazine published in Iceland since 2003. We bringing you the news and views on Icelandic culture and society, sprinkled with music coverage, travel content, restaurant reviews and more. More on https://www.grapevine.is------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

South Korea's Gimcheon Sangmu are one of the most curious clubs in world football, with players only allowed to stay for 18 months while they complete their military service. They also cannot play in AFC competitions and are 100% certain to be relegated from the K-League this season, even if they were to finish top of the table. So are the players footballers, soldiers or both? Is it actually compulsory to perform the military salute when they score a goal? Why are they doomed to relegation in 2026 whatever happens? And what major change is set to come to the K-League soon? Plus, Andros Townsend is run over by a Thai pitch roller, Uruguay chases its first-ever Copa Sudamericana title, an Icelandic referee goes on a literal wild goose chase and Romania introduces a black card for abusive parents. Join us on Patreon for Monday's bumper bonus podcast featuring tales from Central and Eastern Europe, plus a special blog interview with FC Vaduz's director of football Franz Burgmeier all about Liechtenstein's integration into Swiss football. Links John Duerden's 'How Football Explains Asia' Substack is here. Chapters: 00:00 – Intro 01:00 – Gimcheon Sangmu's last hurrah 07:55 – Andros Townsend's Thai accident 10:30 – Uruguay's first Copa Sudamericana? 14:50 – Romania's black card initiative 19:45 – Iceland's literal wild goose chase Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

If you are planning a trip to Iceland in summer 2027, this is your sign to start now. Yesterday would have been better, but today is the option we have. That does not mean you should panic and book the first hotel, rental car or tour you find. In fact, booking without first understanding your route can create a completely different problem. The goal is to start planning early enough to keep your choices while making each decision in the right order. I talk with Iceland travelers almost every day through private consultations, emails, social media and the monthly Q and A for my Savvy Traveler’s Guide to Iceland. Over the years, I have watched the summer planning window move earlier. I used to remind people in January to start planning for the upcoming summer. Now, for many travelers, especially those with fixed dates or specific accommodation needs, planning six to twelve months ahead makes much more sense. https://youtu.be/ntJLY4Q7cs0 Featured in this blog Why You Should Plan a Summer Trip to Iceland Early Summer is popular for good reason. The landscape is vibrant and green, the Highlands become accessible, puffins return, hiking opportunities expand and the midnight sun gives you extraordinarily long sightseeing days. You should not avoid summer simply because demand is high. You should plan strategically so you can experience it without paying more than necessary or settling for a trip that does not fit you. As June, July and August get closer, prices generally rise, availability shrinks and many of the best-value options disappear. Occasionally, someone cancels and a room becomes available at the last minute, but that does not mean it will return at its original price. A hotel or vacation rental may reopen the dates at a much higher rate because demand is already strong. Planning early is not only about saving money. Even if you have a generous budget, it gives you more control over the trip. Outside Reykjavík, towns such as Vík, Höfn, Mývatn and Akureyri have fewer accommodations than many travelers expect. Iceland continues to add hotels, but the countryside still has limited inventory, including a surprisingly small number of luxury properties. The best-located and best-reviewed options can fill up regardless of price. This matters even more if you need a family room, several rooms for a group, an accessible space, a kitchen, separate beds, a private bathroom or a particular price range. The more specific your needs are, the earlier you should begin. The Domino Effect of Booking Too Late in Iceland One of the most common mistakes I see is booking flights and thinking the difficult part is finished. A few months before the trip, the traveler begins searching for accommodations and discovers that the affordable, highly rated places are gone. What remains may be far from the planned route, poorly reviewed, too small for the group or simply nothing like the experience they imagined. If you are driving the Ring Road, South Coast, Golden Circle or Snæfellsnes Peninsula, your overnight location affects the entire next day. You do not just need a room somewhere in Iceland. You need the right room in the right area on the right night. Imagine that you intended to continue east but the only available accommodation requires you to backtrack. That detour adds driving time, fuel costs and fatigue. It changes when you reach the next attraction, how much time you have to explore and where you can stop to eat. A room that looked cheaper may not be a better value once the whole route is considered. Booking early gives you a better chance of choosing an overnight stay that supports your itinerary instead of forcing the itinerary to bend around whatever was left. Do Not Book Accommodation Before You Understand Your Route Early planning is important, but randomly reserving attractive hotels around the country is not a strategy. You can lock yourself into places that do not make sense for the number of days you have or the experiences you care about most. Before booking, answer these questions: How many full days will you actually have in Iceland after accounting for arrival and departure times? Which regions and experiences matter most to you? Are the places you saved located close enough to combine realistically? Will you stay primarily in Reykjavík and take day trips, or sleep in the countryside? How much driving feels comfortable for you and the other people in your group? Do you prefer slow mornings and long stops, or a faster-paced trip with more locations? If you have more than three days and plan to drive yourself, spending at least one or two nights in the countryside can help you experience more without repeatedly returning to Reykjavík. Staying in the city is not wrong, but it may be inefficient if your priorities are farther along the South Coast or in another region. Your pace matters just as much as the map. Someone who loves slow mornings, long hikes and hundreds of photos should not copy the itinerary of a traveler who enjoys leaving before sunrise and moving quickly. Online itineraries are useful for inspiration, but they were built around someone else’s energy, interests and priorities. A good Iceland itinerary should feel like your trip. The Iceland Itinerary Blueprint This workshop walks you step-by-step through how to turn all those places you've saved into an itinerary that actually makes sense. Follow along as I build a real 5-day Iceland itinerary and learn how to plan your route, choose where to stay overnight, avoid unnecessary backtracking, and decide how much to fit into each day. Click Here Google Maps Does Not Show Your Whole Travel Day Google Maps is an excellent planning tool, but its driving time is not the length of your sightseeing day. For example, the classic Golden Circle includes Þingvellir National Park, Gullfoss waterfall and the Geysir geothermal area. The basic drive from Reykjavík and back may appear to take roughly four hours, but you are not coming to Iceland simply to remain in the car. You need time to explore each location, eat, use the bathroom, walk from parking areas and wait for other members of your group. Icelandic weather can slow you down, and spontaneous stops are part of the experience. You may see horses, a waterfall, a viewpoint or a landscape that makes you want to pull over safely and take it in. When every day is calculated using only the minimum driving time, you either rush through the places you traveled so far to see or fall behind and spend the rest of the trip trying to catch up. The goal is not to squeeze the maximum number of pins into each day. It is to create a trip that feels good while you are living it. Build Your Iceland Itinerary Without the Overwhelm This is often the point where trip planning begins to feel like a second job. You have saved waterfalls, restaurants, hot springs and beautiful hotels, but you are unsure how to connect them without backtracking or spending most of the vacation in the car. That is exactly why I created the Iceland Itinerary Blueprint. In this 69-minute on-demand workshop, I walk you through the same planning framework I have used while helping hundreds of travelers in private consultations. You will learn how to choose the right regions, create sensible driving days, decide where to stay overnight and avoid trying to fit too much into each day. I also build a realistic five-day summer itinerary during the workshop and explain the thinking behind every decision. The point is not to copy that exact route. It is to understand the process so you can apply it to a three-day trip, ten-day trip, two-week trip or any other length. You also receive a guided planning worksheet, a printable five-day itinerary planner and lifetime access, so you can return whenever your plans change. If you want to turn all your saved Iceland ideas into a realistic route, get instant access to the Iceland Itinerary Blueprint. It is designed to help you plan independently while giving you a clear framework to follow. Which Rental Car Do You Need for Summer in Iceland If you will stay on the Ring Road and other regular roads during summer, a two-wheel-drive car is sufficient for most travelers. You do not automatically need a four-wheel-drive vehicle simply because Iceland has dramatic landscapes. Many of the rough-road images people see online were filmed in the Highlands or on mountain roads. If you plan to drive on F-roads or enter the Highlands, you need an approved four-wheel-drive vehicle and the right insurance for your route. This is another reason to understand your itinerary before reserving a car. If you have not decided whether the Highlands are part of the trip, first settle the route so you do not have to cancel and rebook. Rental cars generally do not require the same twelve-month lead time as the most sought-after countryside accommodations, but booking earlier gives you more vehicle choices. Smaller affordable cars, automatics, camper vans and popular four-wheel-drive models can become limited during summer. Before reserving, read my Ultimate Guide to Renting a Car in Iceland for vehicle, insurance and road guidance. When you are ready to book, you can save 7 percent with Go Car Rental Iceland or Go Campers. Go Car rentals also include free 4G Wi-Fi through my link, while Go Campers includes a free sleeping bag. Be Realistic About Your Arrival Day Many flights from the United States leave in the evening and arrive in Iceland early the following morning. Although it is described as an overnight flight, a five- or six-hour journey is not enough time for most people to get meaningful sleep. Even if you land at six, seven or eight in the morning, you may feel reasonably alert at first and become exhausted by midday. I do not recommend collecting a rental car and beginning a long road trip while sleep-deprived. Drowsy driving is dangerous. Consider making your arrival day deliberately lighter: explore Reykjavík, visit a local swimming pool or lagoon, take a walking tour, eat a good meal and stay awake until a sensible bedtime. After a full night in a bed, you can begin the road trip rested and energized. Your arrival day counts as a travel day, not necessarily a full sightseeing day. Being honest about that from the beginning will make the rest of your itinerary more realistic. The Best Order for Planning Your Iceland Trip You do not need to decide every restaurant or roadside stop immediately. Focus first on the decisions that shape the rest of the trip. This is the order I recommend. Decide the length and style of your trip. Count your true full days and decide whether you want a relaxed vacation, an active hiking trip, a family road trip, a photography trip or a fast-paced highlights tour. Build a realistic route. Choose the regions that fit your time, interests and preferred pace. A well-paced South Coast trip is usually more enjoyable than racing around the entire Ring Road in six days. Confirm your dates and flights. If your dates are flexible, knowing the kind of route you want can help you choose a travel window that supports it. Reserve strategically located accommodations. Pay close attention to countryside locations because each overnight stay affects the following day. Look for flexible cancellation or modification policies and protect the trip with appropriate travel insurance. Reserve the right vehicle. Choose a two-wheel drive or four-wheel drive based on your actual route, group size, luggage and comfort needs rather than assumptions about Iceland. Book limited-capacity experiences. Reserve the experiences that matter most and could shape the day, including a specific Blue Lagoon or Sky Lagoon time, a glacier hike, a popular restaurant or another activity with fixed availability. After these foundations are secure, you can gradually add flexible sightseeing stops, restaurants and smaller activities. For example, if your glacier hike begins at 11:00 on the South Coast, you can plan a waterfall that morning and continue toward Reynisfjara or Vík afterward. The important reservation becomes the anchor around which the rest of the day is built. What If You Are Visiting Iceland Outside Summer Fall, winter and spring usually do not carry the same broad high-season pressure, although Christmas, New Year’s and other popular dates can still require early booking. The same planning principles apply in every season. Outside summer, your route may require even more care because daylight is limited and weather can affect your plans. December and January have very few daylight hours. Late fall, winter and early spring also require more flexibility, realistic driving times and enough space to adjust when conditions change. The framework inside the Iceland Itinerary Blueprint works throughout the year. The sample itinerary is for summer, but you can apply the decision-making process to your season, priorities, pace and available daylight. Start Planning Summer 2027 Without Panicking If you want to visit Iceland in June, July or August 2027, start planning now. Do not panic-book random hotels. Decide what kind of trip you want, identify the regions that fit your available time, create a realistic route and then secure the reservations that matter most. Starting early gives you something more valuable than a lower price: it gives you choices. You have a better chance of finding accommodations that suit your group, a vehicle that fits your route and experiences at times that work with the rest of your itinerary. Ready to build the trip? Start the Iceland Itinerary Blueprint and follow my step-by-step process for turning your screenshots, saved posts and ideas into an Iceland itinerary that works in real life. You can also explore all of my Iceland trip-planning resources, including my map, packing checklist, consultations and discount bundle. Share this with a Friend Pinterest Facebook Email Let’s Be Social Youtube Instagram Tiktok Facebook

Pianist Alice Sara Ott recently returned to Iceland to record the music of Icelandic composer Jóhann Jóhannsson. The resulting record features some of Jóhannsson's orchestral works reimagined for solo piano, including some of his film scores. Listen now with host Julie Amacher.

Ross Stevenson and Hamish McLachlan recount the worst weekend of Ross' life, as Ross tries to cheer himself up with a story about Peter Daicos, Icelandic Handball and some colleagues fake laughing at his jokes. GET INVOLVED FOR OUR FIRST EPISODE BACK - EMAIL: twoeachway@taptmedia.com.au FOLLOW us on Instagram! TWO EACH WAY INSTAGRAMSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Explore fall color at Icelandic and Pembina Gorge, visit Fargo's Growing Together gardens, and hear how a super El Niño could shape North Dakota's winter.

Ross Stevenson and Hamish McLachlan recount the worst weekend of Ross' life, as Ross tries to cheer himself up with a story about Peter Daicos, Icelandic Handball and some colleagues fake laughing at his jokes. GET INVOLVED FOR OUR FIRST EPISODE BACK - EMAIL: twoeachway@taptmedia.com.au FOLLOW us on Instagram! TWO EACH WAY INSTAGRAMSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Ross Stevenson and Hamish McLachlan recount the worst weekend of Ross' life, as Ross tries to cheer himself up with a story about Peter Daicos, Icelandic Handball and some colleagues fake laughing at his jokes. GET INVOLVED FOR OUR FIRST EPISODE BACK - EMAIL: twoeachway@taptmedia.com.au FOLLOW us on Instagram! TWO EACH WAY INSTAGRAMSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Support Humanism Now & Join Our Community! Part two of our dispatches from the World Humanist Congress 2026 in Ottawa. On the second and final day, James Hodgson caught up with more attendees, from the humanist chaplains bringing secular pastoral care into the Canadian Armed Forces, to the local Ottawa organisers who hosted the event, an Icelandic politician on humanist values in turbulent times, and two returning Humanism Now guests reflecting on the movement's past and future. Across every conversation the theme of the Congress, humanism as resistance, keeps surfacing: resisting the erosion of truth, the normalisation of dehumanising rhetoric, and the complacency that assumes rights won can never be lost. "It just takes one person in a room to change a whole conversation and change the course of history." — Roslyn Mould Featured in this episode Silvana Morales-Boiardi, humanist chaplain with Humanist Canada, training as a military humanist chaplain in the Canadian Armed Forces Buela Nokutubo, member of Humanist Ottawa Dr Richard Thain, Humanist Ottawa, long-time humanist and recipient of a service award at the Congress Arndís Anna Kristínardóttir Gunnarsdóttir, President of Siðmennt (the Icelandic Humanist Association) and former member of Iceland's parliament Chris Cameron, historian and author, representing the Association of Black Humanists Roslyn Mould, of Accra Atheists and outgoing Vice President of Humanists International Highlights Building humanist chaplaincy in the Canadian Armed Forces, and how the first humanist military chaplain opened the door for the next generation Why local groups matter: Humanist Ottawa on community, and Dr Richard Thain on four decades in the movement Arndís Anna on resisting the normalisation of dehumanisation, and Roslyn Mould reflecting on stepping down after years of leadership at Humanists International CHAPTERS 00:00 Intro 01:06 Silvana Morales-Boiardi, Humanist Canada, humanist chaplaincy in the Armed Forces 08:12 Buela Nokutubo, Humanist Ottawa, finding community 13:50 Dr Richard Thain, Humanist Ottawa, four decades in the movement 20:17 Arndís Anna Kristínardóttir Gunnarsdóttir, Siðmennt, humanist politics as resistance 29:02 Chris Cameron, Association of Black Humanists, humanism and history 35:15 Roslyn Mould, reflections on leaving the Humanists International board Support Humanism Now & Join Our Community! www.humanism.now Follow @HumanismNowPod | YouTube | TikTok | Instagram | Facebook | Threads | X.com | BlueSky Humanism Now is produced by Humanise Live, a podcast production agency based in London, serving charities, companies, and individuals across the globe. Contact us to get started in podcasting today at humanise.live or hello@humanise.live. Music: Blossom by Light Prism Podcast transcripts are AI-generated and may contain errors or omissions. They are provided to make our content more accessible, but should not be considered a fully accurate record of the conversation. World Humanist Congress, Humanists International, humanism, resistance, Ottawa, humanist chaplaincy, military chaplaincy, Humanist Canada, Humanist Ottawa, Siðmennt, Arndís Anna Kristínardóttir Gunnarsdóttir, Chris Cameron, Association of Black Humanists, Roslyn Mould, Accra Atheists, secularism, Humanism Now Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

(0:00) Intro(1:23) About the podcast sponsor: The American College of Governance Counsel(2:07) Start of interview(2:58) Stavros Gadinis' Origin Story(4:27) The origin of his new book Corporate Ordering: How Corporations Navigate Social Conflict(5:30) Shareholders vs. Stakeholders: why the century-old debate over corporate purpose remains unresolved(7:37) Corporations as Rulemakers: how companies increasingly create rules that affect millions or even billions of people(11:07) Who Really Has Decision-Making Power? Boards, founders, dual-class shares, institutional investors, and corporate hierarchies(13:31) AI Governance Models: Microsoft, OpenAI, Anthropic, and different approaches to governing AI(14:43) Microsoft's approach to Responsible AI and building internal systems for accountability, transparency, and oversight(18:00) Creating internal checks on product decisions and giving employees a process to challenge governance decisions(18:48) The OpenAI Governance Crisis: Altman's 2023 firing, the power of employees and investors, and the limits of formal board authority(20:25) Why governance structures designed for startups may not survive when companies grow into massive global businesses(22:25) OpenAI vs. Anthropic: detailed rulebooks versus Constitutional AI and the tradeoffs between specific rules and broad principles(25:09) Meta's Oversight Board: what worked, what did not, and why independent monitoring requires real authority(28:10) Stavros's Three-Part Corporate Ordering Framework: 1) rule making, 2) implementation, and 3) monitoring.(32:20) Is corporate ordering just Compliance 2.0? Why Stavros sees an important difference between compliance and product design(34:55) Uber's Safety Reckoning: how outside consultation changed the company's approach to reporting sexual assault (38:06) AI Regulation: the emerging patchwork across the United States, Europe, China, and other jurisdictions(40:04) How corporate AI governance practices can eventually become the foundation for government regulation(42:17) The increasingly important role of the General Counsel in governance, regulation, and helping shape emerging rules(43:21) A book that influenced Stavros: a biography of Louis XIV, and lessons about concentrated power and decision-making(44:19) His mentor, Howell Jackson of Harvard Law School, and the importance of embracing complexity(45:27) A lesson from his painting instructor: don't be afraid to start with the wrong line(46:20) An unusual passion: French patisserie (46:56) The living person he most admires: Icelandic pianist Víkingur Ólafsson(48:20) Where to find Corporate Ordering: How Corporations Navigate Social ConflictStavros Gadinis is the George R. Johnson Professor of Law and Faculty Director of the Berkeley Center for Law and Business at UC Berkeley School of Law ---Stay connected with Boardroom Governance:Website: boardroom-governance.comNewsletter: Boardroom Governance on SubstackYouTube: Boardroom GovernanceLinkedIn: Evan EpsteinX: @evanepsteinSubscribe to the Boardroom Governance newsletter for governance insights and exclusive subscriber content: evanepstein.substack.com---Music: “Seeing The Future” by Dexter Britain, via Free Music Archive, licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 United States License.

What happens when three siblings, three distinctive voices and a lifetime of shared musical experience come together?In this episode of MyMusic, Graham Coath talks to Miccoli, the British-Italian alternative folk-pop band formed by twin brothers Alessio and Adriano Miccoli and their sister Francesca.They discuss the close harmonies at the heart of Miccoli's sound, growing up surrounded by music and the creative disagreements that inevitably arise when three siblings make records together.The conversation follows their journey from the UK and southern Italy to California, Japan and Malaysia, including appearances at legendary Los Angeles venues, recording their debut album Arrhythmia in Penang and performing on stages at London's Olympia and Wembley.Miccoli also talk about making authentic music in an attention economy, why audiences are beginning to gravitate back towards real voices and organic musicianship, and the importance of creating music they genuinely believe in rather than chasing the next algorithm-friendly hit.There are stories of videos filmed in a deserted St Mark's Square, guitar played on an Icelandic iceberg, and the near-disasters that happened behind the finished footage. The band also reveal what is coming next, including their new song “Words”, which brings Miccoli's signature sound into more uptempo territory.It is a warm, funny, wide-ranging conversation about family, creativity, authenticity, and three voices that have spent a lifetime learning how to become one.MyMusic is hosted by Graham Coath and proudly sponsored by 13th Floor Sound, the independent Las Vegas record label dedicated to keeping real music alive

Critical information to understanding; Peter's information; Seeking God's kingdom and righteousness; Going into bondage; Learning to be Israel; People as livestock?; Counting sheep; Christ's only command; Gathering in Tens; Meanings of words; Sophistry; Living Network; Untrue truths; Gnosticism; Translation confusion; Being Doers of "The Word" (logos); Revelation by Holy Spirit; Mt 23:9 - calling no man "father"; "Abimelech" = father king; Melchizedek = righteous king; Social welfare; "Religion"; Jn 14:26; Is your "church" doing what Jesus said?; "DEI"; divide and conquer; victimhood; "victim"; sacrificing; faith/trust/allegiance; Becoming merchandise; Hammurabi codes; Slavery; Family units; "Minister" functions; Structure of The Church; Guidance from Tree of Life; Sacrificing for others; Strengthening the poor; No "exercising authority"; Punishment without injury; Prov 15:8 Prayer of the upright; God's will; Missing connection; Icelandic example; Networking in free assembly; Prov 21:27 wicked minds; 1 Sam 15:22; Repetition; Relating to YOUR journey; US (non-biblical) Constitution; "Mystery Babylon"; Repentance; The Way of Jesus Christ; Carney/Trump discussions; "Oxymoron"; Sovereignty of Canada; Governments of power; Carney's betrayal; Cartels; Removing bias; Mt 22:39; Tens, Hundreds and Thousands; Supporting neighboring communities; Lk 10:27; Loving/trusting God totally; Contradicting the Law of God; Preparing You; Zech 8:17; Covetous practices; Forcing neighbors; Seeking the government of God; Prov 13:20; Axis powers?; Europe's suicide; Brilliant fools; Maintaining conflict; Individual freedom?; Defeating with greed and avarice; War in Ukraine; Green new deal?; Benefit addiction; Defeating globalists; Curse of knowledge; Trusting Holy Spirit; Knowing by fruit; Terah the idolator; Missing critical items; THE solution; Assembling the puzzle; Finding the ways of righteousness; Seeing order; Which "world"?; Welfare snares and traps; Self-sacrifice; Christ came to serve; You must come together; "Democracy"; Know the LORD.

Episode 422 looks beautifully remote and feels like an Icelandic fairytale. “Lamb” is a 2021 film that evokes a lot of different emotions and doesn't rely on industry norms. Join your dear hosts for something completely different. CTS can be found on Soundcloud, Apple Music and anywhere fine podcasts can be found. Please rate, review, subscribe- it really does help new listeners find us! #horror #horrormovies #horrornerd #horroraddict #horrorjunkie #monsterkid #bmovie #scary movies #monstermovie #podcast #chewingthescenery #zombies #zombie #VHS #lamb #iceland #folkhorror

What a fantastic chat with Chris Crofts, Troy Kostelecky, and Alex Burlison for Episode 29! These gentlemen (henceforth known as the Husafellowship), who are outstanding liftersand prominent members of the Utah Stonelifting scene, recently returned from an incredible Icelandic stone tour where they put on fantastic performances and, in between their impressive lifts, also verified the weight and dimension of each stones they lifted. An effort intended to help inform the training of others and support the replication of some of these world class strength tests with stones back in Utah... that resulted in some shocking revelations.. but ultimately led to the re-establishment of historical accuracy to the most famous lifting stone in the world! BUT, that is not the important takeaway from this conversation. What left a Húsafell Stone sized impression on us was the dedication they have for their craft, the steadfast comradery that has grown from their common passion for Stonelifting, and their palpable excitement for sharing that passion with others through their continued efforts to support and expand the Utah Stones of Strength, a lifting circuit and community which has been used as the blueprint for many burgeoning Stonelifting groups throughout North America!!!

Are you enjoying this? Are you not? Tell us what to do more of, and what you'd like to hear less of. The Reykjavík Grapevine's Iceland Roundup brings you the top news with a healthy dash of local views. In this episode, Grapevine publisher Jón Trausti Sigurðarson is joined by Heimildin editor Aðalsteinn Kjartansson, and Grapevine friend and contributor Sindri Eldon to roundup the stories making headlines in recent weeks. On the docket this week is;[00:36:13] Trump Floated Making Iceland 51st State In Call With Then-PM Of Iceland In 2024On November 26, four days before Iceland's 2024 parliamentary elections, then-Prime Minister Bjarni Benediktsson was greeted by a phone call when he entered his home. It was President-elect Donald Trump. This unusual phone call came with an unusual suggestion: how did Bjarni feel about making Iceland the 51st state?[00:31:06] Iceland Not Interested In Abandoning the International Criminal CourtThe Ministry for Foreign Affairs says it is out of the question that Iceland withdraw from the Rome Statute, and that the Icelandic government wholeheartedly supports the International Criminal Court. The US government is now pressuring NATO countries and others to withdraw from the court.The European newspaper Politico reported on the 10th of September that Matthew Whitaker, the US government's envoy, had asked the ambassadors of NATO member states for assistance in undermining the international war crimes court at a closed meeting with them at the alliance's headquarters in Brussels in July.Whitaker wanted the countries to withdraw from the Rome Statute, the court's founding treaty. He warned the ambassadors that the US government would be watching closely to see who supported it in this effort.[00:21:35] The USA And EU Countries Threaten Sanctions On Iceland Over WhalingAuthorities in the United States have threatened to impose tariffs on Icelandic imports over whaling, according to visir.is sources. Threats have also come from European Union countries. The Minister of Industries intends to propose that the hunts be banned in a bill to be introduced after the new year, and says both the nation's trade interests and animal welfare are at stake in the matter.[00:12:10] A Boat Sinks For the Third TimeA boat named Glacier (Jökull) sank on Saturday night in Hafnarfjörður harbour, for the third time since 2020. Now, is there a metaphor in there somewhere?[00:04:13] The Icelandic Police Issues AI Slop Stickers To KidsEvery year the police conduct community outreach, this year's effort has met with mixed opinions, as this year the police issued AI-generated stickers to schoolchildren, featuring two police officers and a bear in a police uniform. Local musical legend (and advertising agency owner) Bragi Valdimar Skúlason criticised the police for the sticker, pointing out an obvious AI blunder (Police or Lögreglan misspelled on the sticker), and questioned the police's decision to opt for AI instead of hiring human graphic designers and proofreaders. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------SHOW SUPPORTSupport The Reykjavík Grapevine's reporting by becoming a subscriber at https://www.grapevine.is/subscribe - We are also a printed magazine. You can subscribe to that too.You can also support The Reykjavík Grapevine by shopping in our online store: https://shop.grapevine.is------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------WHO ARE WE?The Reykjavík Grapevine is an alternative monthly magazine published in Iceland since 2003. We bringing you the news and views on Icelandic culture and society, sprinkled with music coverage, travel content, restaurant reviews and more. More on https://www.grapevine.is------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The time has come for another Open Mic Q&A episode of The Light Gate! That's right! The Light Gate welcomes guest: You, the Audience. It's Open Mic Night! Date: September 14, 2026. Time: 5-7pm pacific / 8-10pm eastern Episode: 176 Discussion: UFOs & The Paranormal! It's Open Mic night! Tonight, The Light Gate features a Q&A episode with your hosts, Preston Dennett and Dolly Safran, and YOU, the audience! Ask us anything! UFOs, ghosts, OBEs, the paranormal, psychic abilities, disclosure, disinformation, the coverup! Time to have some fun. We will also be doing a book give-away contest! Preston Dennett began investigating UFOs and the paranormal in 1986 when he discovered that his family, friends and co-workers were having dramatic unexplained encounters. Since then, he has interviewed hundreds of witnesses and investigated a wide variety of paranormal phenomena. He is a field investigator for the Mutual UFO Network (MUFON), a ghost hunter, a paranormal researcher, and the author of 30 books and more than 100 articles on UFOs and the paranormal. Several of his books have been Amazon UFO bestsellers. His articles have appeared in numerous magazines including Fate, Atlantis Rising, MUFON UFO Journal, Nexus, Paranormal Magazine, UFO Magazine, Phenomena Magazine, Mysteries Magazine, Ufologist and others. His writing has been translated into several different languages including German, French, Portuguese, Russian, and Icelandic. He has appeared on numerous radio and television programs, including Midnight in the Desert with Art Bell, Coast-to-Coast and also the History Channel's Deep Sea UFOs and UFO Hunters and Ancient Aliens. His research has been presented in the LA Times, the LA Daily News, the Dallas Morning News and other newspapers. He has taught classes on various paranormal subjects and lectures across the United States. Dolly Safran has worked as a limo driver, assistant manager at Wendy's, a zookeeper, a bus driver, a security guard, a nurse, and more, including as a civilian worker for the U.S. Department of the Treasury, and also in the Army as an employee for the U.S. Department of Defense. Her UFO contacts began around age one, and are still ongoing today. She is a fully conscious UFO contactee and the subject of the full-length book, “Symmetry: A True UFO Adventure.” Sequel coming soon ! LINKS WEBSITE: www.prestondennett.weebly.com YOUTUBE: https://www.youtube.com/@prestondennett577/featured FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/preston.dennett/ United Public Radio & UFO Paranormal Radio www.uprntalkradio.com

The time has come for another Open Mic Q&A episode of The Light Gate! That's right! The Light Gate welcomes guest: You, the Audience. It's Open Mic Night! Date: September 14, 2026. Time: 5-7pm pacific / 8-10pm eastern Episode: 176 Discussion: UFOs & The Paranormal! It's Open Mic night! Tonight, The Light Gate features a Q&A episode with your hosts, Preston Dennett and Dolly Safran, and YOU, the audience! Ask us anything! UFOs, ghosts, OBEs, the paranormal, psychic abilities, disclosure, disinformation, the coverup! Time to have some fun. We will also be doing a book give-away contest! Preston Dennett began investigating UFOs and the paranormal in 1986 when he discovered that his family, friends and co-workers were having dramatic unexplained encounters. Since then, he has interviewed hundreds of witnesses and investigated a wide variety of paranormal phenomena. He is a field investigator for the Mutual UFO Network (MUFON), a ghost hunter, a paranormal researcher, and the author of 30 books and more than 100 articles on UFOs and the paranormal. Several of his books have been Amazon UFO bestsellers. His articles have appeared in numerous magazines including Fate, Atlantis Rising, MUFON UFO Journal, Nexus, Paranormal Magazine, UFO Magazine, Phenomena Magazine, Mysteries Magazine, Ufologist and others. His writing has been translated into several different languages including German, French, Portuguese, Russian, and Icelandic. He has appeared on numerous radio and television programs, including Midnight in the Desert with Art Bell, Coast-to-Coast and also the History Channel's Deep Sea UFOs and UFO Hunters and Ancient Aliens. His research has been presented in the LA Times, the LA Daily News, the Dallas Morning News and other newspapers. He has taught classes on various paranormal subjects and lectures across the United States. Dolly Safran has worked as a limo driver, assistant manager at Wendy's, a zookeeper, a bus driver, a security guard, a nurse, and more, including as a civilian worker for the U.S. Department of the Treasury, and also in the Army as an employee for the U.S. Department of Defense. Her UFO contacts began around age one, and are still ongoing today. She is a fully conscious UFO contactee and the subject of the full-length book, “Symmetry: A True UFO Adventure.” Sequel coming soon ! LINKS WEBSITE: www.prestondennett.weebly.com YOUTUBE: https://www.youtube.com/@prestondennett577/featured FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/preston.dennett/ United Public Radio & UFO Paranormal Radio www.uprntalkradio.com

In this episode of the Crazy Wisdom Podcast, host Stewart Alsop sits down with Neil Bortolus, founder of Esteem Biomechanics and Stewart's personal trainer for the past year and a half, to explore the intersection of functional movement, human biology, and emerging technology. Their conversation ranges from the principles of biomechanics and the evolutionary blueprint of human movement—standing, walking, running, and throwing—to the dangers of modern movement practices that prioritize aesthetics over function, the role of fascia and connective tissue in chronic pain, and why most gym exercises fail to respect our biological needs. They tackle bigger questions about where technology is taking us, from AI and LLMs replacing human cognitive work to transhumanism and whether we're headed toward a cyberpunk dystopia or a solarpunk regenerative future, all while emphasizing the importance of first principles thinking, the need for humans to remain in the loop, and creating environments that promote biological and mental regeneration rather than degeneration. Visit Neil's website atesteembiomechanics.comTimestamps00:00 Stewart introduces Neil Bortolus, founder of Esteem Biomechanics and his trainer for a year and a half, discussing their interesting conversations about movement and health05:00 Discussion shifts to negative and positive pressure in the body, how athletes naturally create proper core tension, and the differences between training high-performance athletes versus clients with cerebral palsy or stroke recovery10:00 Stewart shares his journey through yoga and discovering modern postural yoga's surprising origins in late 1800s British calisthenics mixed with Indian anticolonial movements, questioning why modern movement practices are fundamentally flawed15:00 Neil explains functional patterns' first principles approach, emphasizing standing walking running and throwing as evolutionary movement patterns that should guide all exercise design20:00 Conversation explores Brian Johnson's technology-focused longevity experiments versus optimizing natural biological function, questioning whether peak biology or technology interventions lead to better health outcomes25:00 Neil describes environmental factors like Southern California and Hawaii providing optimal conditions for human health through fresh food, sunlight, and natural grounding environments year-round30:00 Discussion of solarpunk versus cyberpunk futures, examining how technology could either support biological health or create dependency, with Stewart sharing his Invisalign experience as cautionary tale35:00 Neil and Stewart analyze education systems, influencer marketing, and Jacques Ellul's concept of technique autonomously taking over human goals and replacing both muscle and mental labor40:00 Neil questions Stewart's first principles for approaching technology, leading to discussion about using AI to accomplish tasks faster while maintaining human oversight and decision-making authority45:00 Stewart explains the black box problem with LLMs and neural networks, admitting he's built applications he can't fully understand, questioning whether understanding mechanisms matters if outputs work50:00 Debate about benevolent AI governance using El Salvador's transformation as analogy, questioning whether society should surrender control to AI systems for farming or other critical infrastructure55:00 Final discussion on determinism versus free will, alignment problems in AI development, and Neil's concept of regenerative versus degenerative environments for optimal human biological and mental healthKey Insights1. Movement training must be adapted to individual needs and capabilities rather than following a one-size-fits-all approach. Neil explains that working with clients ranging from those with cerebral palsy and stroke recovery to high-performance athletes requires fundamentally different techniques. While stroke and cerebral palsy clients experience every improvement as monumental, such as being able to walk a mile, elite athletes already possess optimal biomechanics and need only tiny refinements. The challenge lies in keeping athletes motivated through detailed adjustments while helping severely impaired clients build basic functions from the ground up.2. Modern fitness and yoga practices are built on flawed first principles that prioritize aesthetics over functional movement. The conversation reveals how modern postural yoga was actually invented in the late 1800s through a combination of British calisthenics and Indian anticolonial movements, not ancient wisdom as commonly believed. Similarly, conventional gym exercises and bodybuilding focus on how bodies look rather than how they function evolutionarily. The key insight from Functional Patterns methodology is that if a technique cannot help someone who is broken, it should not be applied to someone who is healthy. This principle exposes how much of modern fitness is based on working with people who are already genetically gifted rather than developing universally applicable methods.3. Human movement should be designed around four fundamental patterns that reflect our evolutionary blueprint: standing, walking, running, and throwing. These movements represent the biomechanical demands that shaped human evolution and remain essential for optimal health. Hunter-gatherer tribes that still exist today demonstrate this principle, as their members typically exhibit athletic builds, low body fat, minimal injury rates, and few mental health disorders despite having no access to modern gyms. The critical insight is that 80 percent of human movement occurs horizontally through space rather than vertically, yet most conventional exercises focus on vertical force vectors like squatting and deadlifting, which do not align with how humans actually move in nature.4. Technology should be used to optimize our environment for biological health rather than replace biological function entirely. The discussion contrasts two approaches to human enhancement: using technology to create better living conditions versus using it to bypass the need for healthy habits. Examples include using renewable energy to reduce electromagnetic frequency exposure, ensuring clean water access, and designing indoor lighting that mimics natural sunlight patterns. The key is maintaining environments that support regenerative rather than degenerative processes. This regenerative approach considers whether food, exercise, and environmental factors promote cellular regeneration and joint health, rather than simply preventing obvious harm.5. The rapidly changing technological environment is outpacing human biological adaptation in unprecedented ways. While human populations historically had thousands of years to develop epigenetic adaptations to their environments, such as Icelandic peoples developing larger bodies for heat retention or Sub-Saharan Africans developing efficient heat expulsion, modern society changes too quickly for such adaptation. The past two hundred years have seen dramatic shifts, and the pace is accelerating rather than slowing. Most dramatically, the media environment is changing fastest of all, particularly with AI development creating a cognitive flywheel where staying current requires constant attention to collective knowledge networks like Twitter and Reddit, leaving those outside these loops increasingly disconnected from technological reality.6. AI and large language models represent both opportunity and risk depending on whether humans maintain agency in their use. The conversation distinguishes between using AI as a tool to accomplish tasks more efficiently while keeping humans in control versus allowing AI to make decisions autonomously. The example given involves using AI to complete projects that previously required hiring people, eliminating interpersonal problems while still maintaining human oversight and learning. However, there is concern that many people are beginning to ask AI how to make every decision, effectively abdicating their agency. The critical variable in any AI interaction is actually the human prompter and their instructions, yet this is often overlooked by AI developers who believe in determinism and lack of free will.7. Modern society operates within a deterministic framework where free will is exercised primarily in choosing which constrained environment to inhabit. Using the example of an accountant earning two hundred thousand dollars annually with a four hundred thousand dollar mortgage and three children in private school, Neil illustrates how most daily decisions are predetermined by earlier choices about environment and commitments. True free will exists at major life forks, such as choosing a career path or living situation, but day to day existence operates within deterministic constraints created by those choices. This insight applies to both human development and AI alignment, suggesting that the solution is not giving AI ultimate freedom but rather constraining its environment so that available options consistently benefit humanity, similar to how Functional Patterns constrains exercise choices to only those respecting biological blueprints.

Nick looks back at Chloe Fineman’s 7 seasons on Saturday Night Live as she prepares to say goodbye to the show before Season 52. From her incredible impressions of Jennifer Coolidge, Timothée Chalamet, Meryl Streep, and more, to original characters like Ooli the Icelandic talk show host, the Burning Man Girl, and Madison the embarrassed teen, Chloe created some truly unforgettable moments during her time at SNL. You’ll hear some of her best impressions and funniest sketches, along with behind-the-scenes stories and a short edition of “The Rundown,” featuring Chloe going through the rundown of an SNL show. There’s also one of her hilarious appearances on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon. It’s a celebration of one of SNL’s most talented cast members as the wonderful Chloe Fineman says goodbye. [Ep 191]

Poet Stephen de Búrca joins me on Words That Burn to talk through his debut collection Atlantic Fret, published by The Gallery Press; a book where sea mist and anxiety share a single word, and where the Atlantic carries both personal grief and the weight of the climate crisis.Stephen explains how a few lines from Derek Mahon's The Sea in Winter gave him the title, and how a book he never intended to write about his father; a marine biologist who died when Stephen was a teenager, became unavoidable once he started writing about the sea.We talk about erosion as a double image: coastlines and memory both wearing away, and memory used not as autobiography but as a search for emotional truth.The conversation covers the pleasure of withholding, why the speaker in "Seaspray" never has to finish the gesture, and how much a line can bear before it breaks.Stephen walks us through Gerard Manley Hopkins' curtal sonnet, the shrunken eleven-line form Hopkins devised because he thought English couldn't carry a full fourteen, and why a form he theorised passionately about only produced three poems of his own.We also discuss "Scope and Dredge," built from radio programmes Stephen's father made for Connemara Community Radio about oyster fishing in Galway Bay, and the pressure of shaping a poem out of a parent's own recorded work. And we finish with the fourth section of the book, where Stephen translates the Icelandic modernist Jón úr Vör's Þorpið (The Village) word by word, without speaking Icelandic - a slow process that turned into the negative image of everything else in the collection.In this episode we cover:Writing elegy without setting out to write itMemory, erosion and the climate crisis in Irish eco-poetryAmbiguity, inference and the value of the unknownWriting at night, badgers and nocturnal animalsReading: "At the River Mouth"; and playing loose with terza rimaHopkins, Jenny Johnson and the curtal sonnetReading: "Reading About Rod Stewart's Atlantic Crossing"Inheritance, prayer and poems that speak to each other across a bookTranslating Jón úr Vör from Icelandic without the language Stephen de Búrca is a writer from Galway. He completed his PhD at the Seamus Heaney Centre, Queen's University Belfast, and an MFA from the University of Florida. He received the Ireland Chair of Poetry Travel Award and the inaugural Poetry Ireland Gerald Dawe Poetry Bursary in 2026. Stephen's work has featured in Poetry Ireland Review, PN Review, The Stinging Fly, Banshee, Propel Magazine, and elsewhere. His debut poetry collection, Atlantic Fret, was published by The Gallery Press and is out now.Purchase the CollectionFollow the Podcast:Read the Script on SubstackFollow the Podcast On InstagramFollow the Podcast on X/TwitterFollow the Podcast on TiktokFollow the podcast on BlueskyKeywords: Stephen de Búrca, Atlantic Fret, The Gallery Press, Irish poetry podcast, Galway poet, Derek Mahon, Gerard Manley Hopkins, curtal sonnet, Jón úr Vör, Icelandic poetry translation, eco-poetry, elegy, poetry interview, Words That Burn Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Are you enjoying this? Are you not? Tell us what to do more of, and what you'd like to hear less of. The Reykjavík Grapevine's Iceland Roundup brings you the top news with a healthy dash of local views. In this episode, Grapevine publisher Jón Trausti Sigurðarson is joined by Grapevine journalist Elías Þórsson, and Grapevine friend and contributor Sindri Eldon to roundup the stories making headlines in recent weeks. On the docket this week is;[00:02:10] Increased Sales Of The Icelandic FlagThis summer saw a major increase in sales of flagpoles and the Icelandic flag according to Brynjar Húnfjörð, the CEO of Íslandshús, a company that sells flagpoles. Brynjar cites a recent change in Icelandic law: until this summer, it was illegal to hoist the flag after darkness or specific hours of the day. The change allowed the flag to be hoisted around the clock between May 1 and August 15.[00:15:55] High Speed Ride-Sharing Car-ChaseThis Saturday, the police in Reykjavík engaged in a high-speed chase after a reportedly intoxicated man who had rented a ride-share car from local ride-sharing company Hopp, driven at speeds up to 140 km/h, and hit several vehicles along the way. At least five police cars and two police motorcycles went in pursuit, eventually catching the driver in Víðidalur, Reykjavík. He was arrested and taken into custody “until he was fit to be interrogated,” according to the police.[00:19:54] Free Media TV News In Iceland Comes To An EndThe Icelandic media market was one of the main topics of discussion this weekend, following media company SÝN's announcement that it was discontinuing its TV news, which had run since 1986. This means that Iceland only has a single TV news program left, run by the State Broadcasting Service, RÚV. Iceland also only has a single daily paper left, Morgunblaðið. Logi Einarsson, the minister responsible for the media in Iceland, was interviewed both by RÚV and Vísir on the topic, and former minister of the media Lilja Alfreðsdóttir was also interviewed, making the point that RÚV had expanded over the past few years at the expense of free media in Iceland, going on to say that parliament wasn't taking the dire situation of media in Iceland seriously enough.[00:34:16] Icelandic Car Rental Companies Face Billions In BacktaxesIcelandic car rental companies face billions of krónur in back taxes. Last week, it came to light that the Icelandic tax authorities might charge many of the biggest car rental companies VAT on their sales of insurance to customers. Between 15 and 30% of a car rental company's income stems from selling insurance on their vehicles, and if the taxation is backdated as far back as six years, companies such as Bílaleiga Akureyrar might have to pay up to 2 billion ISK. If this happens, many of the biggest car rental companies in Iceland might simply become insolvent, disrupting the car rental market in Iceland significantly.[00:43:56] More Details On Biggest Cocaine Bust In Iceland's HistoryIn late June, the police reported the largest cocaine bust in Iceland's history–106 kg, which has a street value of around 3 billion ISK. The drugs were hidden in a small compartment underneath the Bulgarian aluminum freighter Koznitza, which was arriving from Brazil. Earlier that month, a specialized van with diving equipment arrived in the country on the Norræna ferry from Denmark. Two Brazilian divers also arrived to fetch the drugs and, according to the police, were “specialized in drug diving.” However, they ran into problems immediately, as their suits were too small, so they had to start by buying more gear, and it took them two tries to fetch the cocaine, which they had to swim 1.5 km to reach. To help them cover that distance, they used what's called a ‘scooter'—a James Bond-esque propeller device. But to add insult to injury, the police had been tracking the drugs all the way from Brazil, and before the divers even reached the ship, the cocaine had been replaced with fake material. The investigation is expected to conclude this week.------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------SHOW SUPPORTSupport The Reykjavík Grapevine's reporting by becoming a subscriber at https://www.grapevine.is/subscribe - We are also a printed magazine. You can subscribe to that too.You can also support The Reykjavík Grapevine by shopping in our online store: https://shop.grapevine.is------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------WHO ARE WE?The Reykjavík Grapevine is an alternative monthly magazine published in Iceland since 2003. We bringing you the news and views on Icelandic culture and society, sprinkled with music coverage, travel content, restaurant reviews and more. More on https://www.grapevine.is------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Í fyrra sendi hlaðvarparinn frægi Jad Abumrad, sem þekktur er fyrir Radiolab og Dolly Partons America, frá sér nýja hlaðvarpsseríu um tónlistarmanninn Fela Kuti og arleifð hans. En við munum kynna okkur tónlistarmanninn að gefnu tilefni í þættinum. Nýverið kom út bókin The Sacred and the Profane in premodern Icelandic literature, ca. 1500–1800 (í. Hið heilaga og hið vanhelga í íslenskum bókmenntum síðari alda um 1.500 - 1800) hjá forlaginu De Gruyter. Í bókinni er sjónum beint að samspili milli trúarlegra og veraldlegra þátta í handritum og prentuðum bókmenntum. Við ræðum við ritstjóra bókarinnar þær Margréti Eggertsdóttur, Katelin Marit Parsons og Aðalheiði Guðmundsdóttur.

If you've ever strolled down the dairy aisle of your local grocery store, chances are you've come across these little tubs of Icelandic goodness. Skyr yoghurt has really grown in popularity in the last five to ten years. But is it really as healthy as it's touted to be, or is its reputation down to marketing hype?  It's a traditional Icelandic yogurt, which is said to have been brought to Iceland by the Vikings when they settled there over a thousand years ago. It's marketed as a yoghurt, but is in fact technically a soft cheese. Skyr's uniqueness lies in its manufacturing process, which gives it that thick and creamy texture, similar to fresh cheese. How did it become so popular? What are the nutritional qualities of skyr? In under 3 minutes, we answer your questions! To listen to the last episodes, you can click here: ⁠⁠How can I stop being a people pleaser?⁠⁠ ⁠⁠Does our personality change when we speak in another language?⁠⁠ ⁠⁠How can I best preserve food in my freezer ?⁠⁠ A podcast written and realised by Joseph Chance. First broadcast: 15/10/2023 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome back dear listener and sorry to keep you waiting! Fernando and Shams are fresh (+ one week give or take) off the Gamescom floor and ready to share a little bit of what happened when over 360 000 gamers and industry people flooded Cologne last week. While Shams spent the week hiding out in hotel lobbies, Fernando was out working the floor. Today, we break down a couple of Opening Night Live favorites, including Neon Giant's gorgeous immersive sim No Law and Paradox's IP-building play with Afterworld among other things. But the real meat is in the changing publisher landscape. Today's publishers expect you to stroll in with 50,000 wishlists already, so make sure that you are locked in on doing very early community building. Add in the fact that AI tools are making prototyping dangerously easy, and the market is about to be flooded with cheap indie hobby projects.  But hey! Despite it all, Fernando and Shams actually have a shocking revelation: the industry vibes are actually good again. Deals are being signed, optimism is back, and Fernando is officially famous enough to be recognized purely by his voice at an Icelandic industry mixer. So what could possibly go wrong? Thanks for listening and have a nice weekend! Oh and btw! Read Shams interview in Gamesindustry here and also his other interview in Gamesbeat here.

In this episode, you'll learn from Fredrik Härén, "The Creativity Explorer," a Swedish creativity expert who has spent 25 years traveling to 75 countries interviewing people to learn as much as he can about human creativity. Fredrik is the author of ten books, including "The Idea Book," which was included in "The 100 Best Business Books of All Time," and he has been invited to speak more than 2000 times in 75 countries on six continents. As The Creativity Explorer, he aims to discover more about creativity, be it from innovators in Silicon Valley or nomads in the desert of Mongolia. His latest book is called "The World of Creativity" – a journey across 37 countries to discover the secret of creative minds. You'll also discover how a mispronunciation from his young son led to his signature nickname, and why he believes "explorer" captures the creative mindset better than "expert" ever could. Along the way, you'll pick up the etymological roots of curiosity across English, Icelandic, and Bulgarian, and understand why questioning, rather than answering, may be the real engine behind creative thinking. Finally, you'll come away with an unconventional philosophy on timing and opportunity, including the surprising nautical origin of the word "opportunity" itself. The conversation closes with a preview of his new book, The World of Creativity, and his core piece of advice for women navigating midlife.

Our website - www.perksofbeingabooklover.com. Instagram - @perksofbeingabookloverpod Facebook - Perks of Being a Book Lover. To send us a message go to our website and click the Contact button.   You can find Marian Yee at marianyee.com or on IG at @mariangyee   Remember the 1996 film Jerry Maguire and its famous line, “You had me at hello?” Well, our guest this week, Marian Yee, had me at hello with her novel 4 Janes, which is a genre- and time-bending re-imagining of Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre. It is a novel that you'll want to read a second time (or even a third) and discuss with others because there are so many layers.    And our book rec segment features female authors in translation. August was Women in Translation month and yes we missed it by a few days, but we still have some great suggestions to last you all year long. We've got historical fiction set in a brothel in early 20th century Japan, a fantasy filled with Norse mythology, a psychological thriller set in Iceland, a family saga set in early 20th century Mexico filled with magical realism, the story of an old woman and her neighbors living outside Chernobyl, and the plight of young women in a mental asylum in Paris.   Books Mentioned in This Episode:   1- 4 Janes: A Novel by Marian Yee  2- Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë  3- The Lioness of Boston by Emily Franklin  4- Love and Other Monsters by Emily Franklin  5- Thirteen Perfect Fugitives: The True Story of the Mob, Murder, and the World's Largest Art Heist by Geoffrey Kelly  6- One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel García Márquez  7- The Whisper Man by Alex North  8- War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy  9- War and Peace: The Graphic Novel by Leo Tolstoy, Alexandr Poltorak, and Dmitry Chukhrai 10- The Ministry of Time by Kaliane Bradley  11- Say Hello to My Little Friend by Jennie Capo Crucet  12- Sister Novelists: The Trailblazing Porter Sisters Who Paved the Way for Austen and the Brontës by Devoney Looser  13- Snap by Susin Nielsen 14- 5 Star Read by Fellow Book Lover Brenna Julian - Echo by Pam Muñoz Ryan  15- The Murmur of Bees by Sofía Segovia, translated from Spanish by Simon Bruni 16- The Mad Women's Ball by Victoria Mad, translated from French by Frank Wynne  17- Baba Dunja's Last Love by Alina Bronsky, translated from German by Tim Mohr  18- A Woman of Pleasure by Kiyoko Murata, translated from Japanese by Juliet Winters Carpenter  19- The Night Guest by Hilda Knutsdottir, translated from Icelandic by Mary Robinette Kowal  20- Odin's Child by Siri Pettersen, translated from Norwegian by Siân Mackie and Paul Russell   Media Mentioned: 1- The Last Seen Podcast - https://www.wbur.org/podcasts/lastseen/last-seen-season-one 2- One Hundred Years of Solitude (Netflix, 2024 - present) 3- The Whisper Man (Netflix, 2026) 4- The Mad Women's Ball (Amazon Prime, 2021)      

The A24 Rocks crew delves into the Icelandic folk horror film (with a little bit of handball) Lamb. Starring Noomi Rapace and Hilmir Snær Guðnason, Lamb is about a couple named Maria and Ingvar living in rural Iceland with a flock of sheep. Come summer, one of the sheep births a creature of curiosity: a half-human, half-lamb. The situation becomes more tense when Maria and Ingvar's brother Petur arrives at their cabin, to discover that his brother and sister-in-law are raising the half-human, half-lamb themselves. Caution: movie spoilers.Buy us a coffee- https://buymeacoffee.com/a24otr. Intro- 0:00 to 2:10.Film Discussion- 2:10 to 1:01:45.Film Ratings- 1:01:45 to End.

Are you enjoying this? Are you not? Tell us what to do more of, and what you'd like to hear less of. [Note, part of the video is corrupt for unknown reasons, and we're sorry about that] The Reykjavík Grapevine's Iceland Roundup brings you the top news with a healthy dash of local views. In this episode, Grapevine publisher Jón Trausti Sigurðarson is joined by Heimildin journalist Aðalsteinn Kjartansson, and Grapevine friend and contributor Sindri Eldon to roundup the stories making headlines in recent weeks. On the docket this week is, basically nothing but the recent EU referendum, which ended with a NO on August 29. We talk about the stunning 80% voter turnout, the Yes and No campaign's polarizing tactics, pitting “wool sweater nationalism” against incomprehensible, artsy slogans. We also talk about the “European Army”, TikTok and the youth vote. When this is finally over and done with, we talk about a recent policy change in blood donations in Iceland, and the forthcoming problems that the government and the unions are facing, as the past months of inflation have voided the collective bargaining agreements that dictate the number on the paychecks of a significant number of the population of Iceland.Highlights[00:05:00] – The Referendum Breakdown[00:18:00] – Campaign Aesthetics & "Wool Sweater Nationalism"[00:35:53] – TikTok & The Youth Vote Shift[00:52:38] – A Historic Victory for Blood Donation[00:54:35] – Autumn Economic Storm------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------SHOW SUPPORTSupport The Reykjavík Grapevine's reporting by becoming a subscriber at https://www.grapevine.is/subscribe - We are also a printed magazine. You can subscribe to that too.You can also support The Reykjavík Grapevine by shopping in our online store: https://shop.grapevine.is------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------WHO ARE WE?The Reykjavík Grapevine is an alternative monthly magazine published in Iceland since 2003. We bringing you the news and views on Icelandic culture and society, sprinkled with music coverage, travel content, restaurant reviews and more. More on https://www.grapevine.is------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Talk of an election is cranked up on the eve of the Westminster Parliament returning to session. From Dame Priti Patel's shadow cabinet exit to Andy Burnham's constitutional landmines over border polls, Lesley Riddoch and Fraser Thompson dig into a week defined by grand promises, administrative centralisation, and missing strategies. Meanwhile, BBC Scotland faces plummeting ratings, local councils battle depopulation without visa powers, and the Nordic model offers a stark, practical contrast to Britain's spiralling prison crisis. In this episode, we discuss:Tory Reshuffle & Snap Election Rumours: Dame Priti Patel and Sir Mel Stride exit as Labour eyes a potential 2027 snap election to lock in their lead over Reform.SNP Draft Agenda Stagnation: Party HQ releases a muted draft conference agenda lacking core independence strategy, but where is the will to do anything about it from SNP members?Prisons Crisis & Nordic Solutions: Lessons from Norway's 1990s prison reform, which traded punitive overcrowding for a focus on rehabilitation and leading to massive drop in the reoffending rate.Holyrood's Food Price Cap: John Swinney's proposed basic price caps face heavy retail pushback and potential clashes with Westminster's Internal Market Act.Burnham's Border Poll Blunder: The Prime Minister dismisses a Northern Ireland border poll, triggering pushback from Sinn Féin over Good Friday Agreement legislation.Iceland Rejects EU Talks: Why 53% of Icelandic voters blocked restarting EU accession talks to protect fishing rights despite existing EFTA and Schengen ties.Pacific Quay's Audience Slump: Radio Scotland's morning slot suffers a 40% listener drop as critics compare the empty BBC headquarters to a redundant call centre.Scottish Visas & Realpolitik: Business leaders push for tailored migration schemes, while SNP Westminster leader Dave Doogan courts controversy over negotiating with any party.District Heating Progress: How Aberdeen is utilizing existing gas riser routes to connect homes directly to clean district heating networks.LinksWill Burnham rewrite UK constitution and try to handcuff in the Celts?https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2026/aug/02/devolution-programme-written-uk-constitution-andy-burnhamThe authorless Burnham Programme Websitehttps://theburnhamprogramme.co.ukBurnarism Consitutional Reformhttps://theburnhamprogramme.co.uk/burnham-written-constitution-devolution ★ Support this podcast ★

Michael, Evan, Pax and Rob gather again in the lounge to discuss novelty ties, Icelandic pop music, Rooster (some more), Punisher movies, and our favorite comfort meals and TV episodes.

In this episode of The Sound of Economics, host Rebecca Christie speaks with Bruegel's Heather Grabbe and Stefanie Walter about Iceland's referendum on restarting European Union accession talks, Switzerland's upcoming votes on EU relations and what Europe has to offer for countries inside and outside the club. Why did Icelandic voters reject the proposal to reopen talks? Why does Switzerland have such a complicated relationship with its neighbouring countries, even as it remains part of the Schengen passport-free travel zone? Economic and security concerns are more intertwined than ever with Europe's relationships with the United Kingdom, Ukraine and North Africa, especially given changes at NATO. Democracy is the cornerstone of Europe's alliances and also comes with a host of complications – how can the European institutions position Brussels best?Relevant research: Grabbe, H. (2026) ‘Jilted by Iceland – but Wider Europe is forming through new cooperation structures around the EU', First Glance, Bruegel Grabbe, H. and S. Lehne (2016) 'Can the EU survive populism?', Carnegie Endowment Malet, G. and S. Walter (2024) 'The reverberations of British Brexit politics abroad', European Union Politics, 25(1), 63-85. Malet, G. and S. Walter (2023) 'Have your cake and eat it, too? Switzerland and the feasibility of differentiated integration after Brexit', West European Politics Marini, M. and S. Walter (2024) 'Learning from precedent: how the British Brexit experience shapes nationalist rhetoric outside the UK', Journal of European Public Policy De Vries C., S. Hobolt and S. Walter (2021) 'Politicizing International Cooperation: The Mass Public, Political Entrepreneurs, and Political Opportunity Structures', International Organization Walter, S. (2021) 'Quo vadis, Swiss-European Union relations?', Blog Post, Bruegel

Seven years ago, 41-year-old Icelandic man Jon Jonsson arrived in Dublin ahead of a 10-day trip. A poker enthusiast, Mr Jonsson was set to take part in a tournament, one that offered illicit sides games, if one were looking to partake. That first night in Dublin, he bought into one of those illicit games and walked away €4,000 out of pocket. The next morning, he walked out of the Bonnington Hotel in Dublin, lit a cigarette and rounded the corner, walking towards Whitehall and was never seen again. Despite years of investigations, extensive searches and appeals, no trace of Mr Jonsson has ever been found. Now, seven years on, gardaí have identified a person of interest in the case. However, this individual is refusing to talk. On today's Indo Daily, Tessa Fleming is joined by Sunday Independent senior news journalist Ali Bracken to discuss the disappearance of Jon Jonsson and the latest developments in this long-running case.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this episode, I sit down with Gardar Stefansson, Founder and CEO of GOOD GOOD, to talk about how he grew an Icelandic startup into a global no-sugar brand now sold at retailers like Whole Foods, Sprouts, Kroger, and H-E-B.We talk about finding product-market fit, competing with legacy brands through taste and better ingredients, the realities of scaling in U.S. retail, and how GOOD GOOD is using AI to make smarter decisions.Gardar also shares practical advice for CPG founders on testing small, learning fast, and building a product people genuinely love.Startup to Scale is a podcast by Foodbevy, an online community to connect emerging food, beverage, and CPG founders to great resources and partners to grow their business. Visit us at Foodbevy.com to learn about becoming a member or an industry partner today.

On this episode of Into The Necrosphere, I'm joined by Rhevok Vermithrax, frontman for US black metal upstarts, Mordant Rhed.  We get into the band's origins, their killer new split with Lord Humongous, playing Dead by Dawg 2, building a band entirely on their own terms, the importance of actually having a personality in 2026, and plenty of bullshit about professional wrestling, Broken Hope, W.A.S.P., music documentaries and Christmas movies.  Then it's on to the weekly news rant where I'm rounding up the latest singles by Down, Enslaved, Master, Fluisteraars, Wolves In The Throne Room and Skuggor.  I also run down my favourite album covers of all time, my top 5 Icelandic bands and ten releases by newcomers that prove black metal hasn't run out of steam.     Featured Bands Mordant Rhed: https://mordantrhed.bandcamp.com/    Lord Humongous: https://lordhumongous.bandcamp.com/     Midnight: https://midnight-ohio.bandcamp.com/    Visit intothenecrosphere.com for playlists and more. Subscribe for weekly black and death metal interviews, news rants and reviews. Follow on X, Instagram and Facebook, and check out the Horsemen of the Podcasting Apocalypse: Horrorwolf 666, Iblis Manifestations, Everything Went Black, Necromaniacs and The Sol Nox Podcast.  

For this episode, we are joined by Baroness Eaton DBE DL, whose career in public service spans more than four decades. Beginning her professional life as a schoolteacher, she was elected to Bradford Metropolitan District Council in 1986 and became the council's first female leader in 2000. She later made history again as the first female Chair of the Local Government Association, representing councils across England during a period marked by the Icelandic banking collapse and heightened scrutiny of children's services.Awarded an OBE in 2003, a DBE in 2010, and created a life peer as Baroness Eaton of Cottingley later that year, she has served as a Deputy Lieutenant for West Yorkshire since 2008 and has spent sixteen years in the House of Lords. From the classroom to local government leadership and national public service, Baroness Eaton's journey offers a unique perspective on leadership, resilience, and public life Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hour 3 - Neil is joined by Siggi Kjartan, co-founder of Noctría. Noctría is a new premium mezcal-based ready-to-drink cocktail brand from co-founders Stella Bieltvedt and Siggi Kjartan, launched this August in Los Angeles. It's made with artisanal espadín mezcal from Oaxaca and Icelandic glacial water, and comes in two flavors: Smoky Ranch Water and Spicy Mezcalíta. Where most of the canned cocktail category leans wellness and daytime branding, Noctría is built around nightlife: hospitality, music, late dinners, a more cinematic point of view. Learn more at DrinkNoctria.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

2026 marks 10 years since I moved to Iceland, which is honestly a little hard for me to believe. I can still remember stepping off the plane, starting work, and feeling like my brain was being bombarded with things that seemed foreign or strange. Even hearing Icelandic names like Ása, Björn, and Arnbjörn took some getting used to. https://youtu.be/AKL2qYEzEkU Fast-forward a decade and so many of those things don’t even register as unusual anymore. They’re just…life. Living in another country for this long has also made me realize how much our definition of “normal” is shaped by where we grow up. Things that initially made me think, People actually do this?! are now things I barely notice, and in some cases, things I do myself. Here are 10 things that have become normal to me after living in Iceland for 10 years. 1. Letting Babies Nap Outside This might be the biggest transformation of them all because I went from thinking this was absolutely bizarre to doing it with my own baby. I learned about babies napping outside when I first visited Iceland in the winter of 2013. At the time, I couldn’t understand how people could possibly be comfortable leaving a baby outside to sleep. Then I had a baby. Halli’s mom showed us how to bundle her up properly so she could be warm while getting fresh air outside, and it completely changed the game for us. At one point, she could sleep for around three hours outside when an indoor nap might only last about 20 minutes. It’s also something you regularly see in Iceland. You can walk through residential neighborhoods or even pass cafés in downtown Reykjavík and see a stroller outside with a sleeping baby while a parent or caregiver is nearby and checking on them. Years ago, that sight would have immediately caught my attention. Now? Completely normal. 2. Thinking 60°F (15°C) Is Warm New York Jewells would like a word with current Jewells. I moved to Iceland in June 2016, and I remember seeing Icelanders walking around in shorts, T-shirts, and sandals when it was about 60°F/15°C. Meanwhile, I had on long pants, sneakers, a sweater AND a jacket. I genuinely thought, What is wrong with these people? This isn’t warm! Then something happened. I acclimated! After experiencing Icelandic winters and then feeling the temperature climb again, 60°F started feeling legitimately warm. If it’s around 60°F, sunny and, this is important, there’s no wind? That’s practically tropical now.  3. Accepting That Icelandic Summer Is Not Guaranteed Growing up in New York, summer meant something. You knew it was going to get warm. Probably hot. Possibly way too hot! Iceland technically has four seasons, but I’ve joked that we really have two: winter and summer. Halli says it’s more like winter and fall.  The bigger adjustment was realizing that just because the calendar says “summer” doesn’t mean Iceland’s weather has agreed to participate. You can have rainy, windy and chilly stretches where there’s plenty of daylight but hardly any actual sunshine. There have been summers when I felt cold for what seemed like the entire season. It’s also no surprise that plenty of Icelanders escape somewhere warmer when Iceland isn’t delivering the summer weather they want. Tenerife, anyone? Icelandic summer exists. Whether it decides to show up is another question. 4. Living With 24-Hour Daylight The nearly endless daylight of Icelandic summer is something I absolutely love now. When I first moved here? Not so much. My brain could not understand why I was supposed to be sleeping when it looked like the middle of the day outside. I tried sleeping with eye masks, but I didn’t find them particularly comfortable, and I constantly felt energized to stay awake and do things. Eventually, though, my body adjusted. After a few years, I could sleep through Icelandic summers without thinking much about the daylight outside. Now I LOVE this part of living here. Being able to go outside incredibly late at night and still have a bright sky is one of those Icelandic experiences that still feels special, even though it has become normal. 5. Living With the Very Short Days in Winter Of course, Iceland likes extremes. If summer gives us almost endless daylight, winter gives us the opposite. Around the shortest day of the year, we get only about four hours of daylight. And while the days technically start getting longer again after the winter solstice, those changes happen slowly enough that the darkness can feel like it lasts forever. My first Icelandic winter was rough! I remember feeling like I was basically holding on until winter ended so I could finally experience that release of summer again. And then came May 2017. Winter seemed to be over. I had made it! And then…it snowed. In May! I was MAD.  I felt personally betrayed by Icelandic weather. After surviving winter, snow in May felt like the weather was playing games with me. Now, I understand that unexpected weather is simply part of living here. Snow showers can happen incredibly late in the season, and Icelandic weather has a mind of its own. Over the years, I’ve also figured out what helps me through the dark months: getting outside, exercising, keeping myself occupied and usually having a big project to work on. The first couple of winters required some serious adjustment. After that, I found a rhythm that works for me 6. Having Limited Produce Options This is one thing I still REALLY notice when I leave Iceland. The variety of fruits and vegetables available here can be limited compared with what I was accustomed to in the United States. Sometimes you have a couple varieties of apples. Around Christmas, clementines and mandarins are everywhere. Other things appear periodically, but Iceland is an island that imports a significant amount of its produce, so we’re simply not going to have the same selection you’d find in a massive American supermarket. And yes, you sometimes need to inspect that produce pretty carefully. Then I go back to the U.S. and walk into a Whole Foods or Sprouts and practically lose my mind. Peaches, plums, nectarines, different varieties of apples! KALE! The kale situation in Iceland particularly gets me because I’ve seen it grown here as decoration and I’m thinking, Can you please just put it in the grocery store so I can eat it?! Still, I’ve stopped viewing the limited selection as inherently negative. It’s simply part of living on an island. And when I travel, I appreciate the variety elsewhere that much more 7. The Icelandic Stare Ohhhh, the Icelandic stare! Coming from New York, staring at strangers is generally not something you do. Then I moved to Iceland and suddenly people were LOOKING at me. Not glancing, staring! I’ve been told part of this comes from the small-town nature of Icelandic society. People might look at someone because they’re trying to figure out whether they recognize them or know their family. That took some serious getting used to. There was one experience when I lived in Árbær where a woman drove past me while practically turning her head to continue staring at me. I remember wondering whether something was happening around me before realizing, Nope. She’s looking at me. As a Black woman walking through a suburban Icelandic neighborhood, I couldn’t know whether she was simply curious, trying to recognize me, surprised to see someone who looked like me, or something else entirely. Eventually, I developed a coping mechanism: Staring contests. If you’re going to stare at me, I’m staring back.

Phil and Emily are joined by Brooke Solomon and Jordan Gustafson, hosts of The Queer Quadrant, for Lee Tamahori's Die Another Day (2002). Pierce Brosnan's last outing as James Bond runs from a North Korean prison to an Icelandic ice palace, with Halle Berry surfacing as NSA agent Giacinta "Jinx" Johnson in the follow-up to her Monster's Ball Best Actress win. Rosamund Pike (in her screen debut), Toby Stephens, a Madonna theme song, and a famously invisible Aston Martin fill out the most gadget-drunk Bond of the early CGI era.The four dig into Jinx as the almost-spinoff that never happened, how a 40th-anniversary Bond tips all the way into digital excess, and why this particular entry burned itself so vividly into their childhood memories. There's a real case here for reading Die Another Day as the exact moment the Brosnan era buckles under its own kitesurfing, para-sailing weight. Gaudy, campy, and gloriously overblown same as the movie.Follow the show & guests:Podcast Like It's... - https://www.instagram.com/podcastlikeitsPhil Iscove - https://www.instagram.com/pmiscoveEmily St. James - https://www.instagram.com/emilystjamsBrooke Solomon - https://www.instagram.com/brookebsolomonJordan Gustafson - https://www.instagram.com/jordan_gustafsonThe Queer Quadrant - https://www.instagram.com/queerquadrant

Mike opens with three influencers who feel completely real: a fitness creator, a wellness monk, and a grieving pet owner. None of them exist. From there, this episode digs into the AI avatar economy, the trust data behind why audiences are turning on synthetic content, and the counterexample of 66°North, an Icelandic outdoor brand that built its biggest campaign entirely on real people. Key Takeaways The AI avatar market hit close to $12 billion in 2026, and brand adoption of virtual personas climbed from 60% to nearly 75% in a single year, because the economics make sense on a spreadsheet even when the content doesn't connect. Almost 50% of consumers now view AI-generated content as a trust liability, and 64% of Gen Z say they view it negatively, meaning the most digitally native generation is also the most skeptical of it. 66°North built its Century campaign on 100 real Icelanders, one born in every year of the last century, photographed in gear they already owned, with stories they told themselves rather than a script written for them. Word of mouth drives an estimated $6 trillion in annual consumer spending, and 92% of people trust recommendations from friends and family above any other form of advertising. The opportunity for brands isn't choosing AI or humans across the board. It's knowing exactly where AI helps and where only a real person can earn the trust a moment requires. Links and Resources Brand Retro Podcast: brandretro.com Cyberdogz Agency: cyberdogzmarketing.com Mike Brevik: mike@cyberdogzmarketing.com Keywords AI advertising, AI influencers, synthetic media marketing, brand trust, authenticity in marketing, human-first advertising, AI-generated content, deepfake influencers, influencer marketing fraud, consumer trust, word of mouth marketing, 66°North Iceland campaign, Brand Retro Mindset, Gen Z consumer behavior, marketing psychology, social brain network, UGC advertising, branding strategy, Cyberdogz, AI avatar market Episode Highlights [00:00:00 - 00:02:00] Mike introduces three AI-generated personas, a fitness influencer, a monk, and a grieving pet owner, and reveals none of them are real. [00:02:00 - 00:05:00] The economics behind the AI avatar industry: nearly $12 billion in value, 38% lower production costs, and why brands keep choosing cheaper over authentic. [00:05:00 - 00:07:00] The trust data: almost 50% of consumers see AI content as a liability, and 64% of Gen Z view it negatively. [00:07:00 - 00:10:00] 66°North's Century campaign: a year spent finding 100 real Icelanders, one born in every year of the last hundred. [00:10:00 - 00:11:00] The neuroscience of trust and the negative halo effect that hits a brand when the audience senses AI. [00:11:00 - 00:13:00] Mike reframes the debate: not AI versus humans, but where AI helps and where it destroys trust. [00:13:00 - 00:16:00] Three action steps: audit your content, find your most loyal 97%, and make one human piece of content this week. [00:16:00 - 00:17:41] Closing thoughts on proof over performance and why real is the rarest thing in advertising right now.  

Mary Roach, author of Replaceable You, explores the past, present, and future of reconstructing or replacing human anatomy. Roach details the treatment of severe third-degree burns using allografts from cadavers or unconventional biological dressings like Icelandic cod skin. Advancements in 3D-printing allow researchers to use "ink" made of cells and collagen to create complex structures like heart ventricles and valves. Furthermore, the book examines xenotransplantation, which involves using genetically edited pigs to provide "stop-gap" organs for patients on waiting lists, and the potential for chimeras to grow human-compatible kidneys. Beyond high-tech solutions, Roach highlights the impact of tissue donation, where a single deceased donor can benefit 70 people through gifts of bone, skin, and corneas. Finally, Roach investigates the history of nasal repair and modern plastic surgeons' application of the Fibonacci sequence to achieve mathematical perfection in aesthetic procedures. (1)

For thousands of years, people have dreamed of walking off the map — lighting out for the remote unknown, into landscapes untouched and untamed. The classic wilderness quest is as old as literature itself: you go into the wild, and you come out changed. It's woven into ancient spiritual texts, medieval myths, and European accounts of the so-called "New World."But wilderness is an idea as slippery as it is powerful — and wilderness preservation is a complicated and often costly ideal. That's the territory Cal Flyn explores in her new book, The Savage Landscape: How We Made the Wilderness. An award-winning writer, Flyn has traveled — often alone — into some of the most remote and forbidding places on Earth: a desert monastery on Mount Sinai, deep into the Amazon rainforest, up a Tibetan mountain pass, and inside an erupting Icelandic volcano. She gets there by river skiff, deep-sea submersible, helicopter, and horseback, and along the way she finds moments of sheer wonder — and real danger.We talk with Flyn about the history of this ancient idea and why humans keep chasing it. With nearly 8 billion people on the planet, almost no place is truly untouched. So what IS wilderness? Why do we keep seeking it? And who pays the price? Plus: Steve talks with legendary poet and environmental writer Gary Snyder — now 96, once a friend of the Beats and a Zen apprentice in 1950s Japan — about his classic book The Practice of the Wild. Snyder also reads two poems. This is an excerpt from an archival conversation.  The original aired on Wisconsin Public Radio's To The Best Of Our Knowledge. This Wonder Cabinet episode was not funded, endorsed or affiliated with Wisconsin Public Media or the University of Wisconsin-Madison.—00:00:00 In Search of Wilderness00:03:00 Cal Flyn on The Savage Landscape00:32:40 The Sublime, Taboos and Sacred Groves00:49:55 From the TTBOOK Archive: Gary Snyder01:00:15 Credits and Farewell— Cal Flyn's website  Cal Flyn on Insta Book: “The Savage Landscape: How We Made the Wilderness” Book: “Islands of Abandonment”  Read more about Gary Snyder at The Poetry Foundation Read “Piute Creek” by Gary Snyder Read “Ripples on the Surface” by Gary Snyder Uncut Gary Snyder interview from TTBOOK Wonder Cabinet is hosted by Anne Strainchamps and Steve Paulson. Find out more about the show at https://wondercabinetproductions.com, where you can subscribe to the podcast and our newsletter.

Planning to rent a car in Iceland? Learn how Iceland’s new road tax works, why it was introduced, how it affects tourists, and how you can save money on your rental. I’ll also explain why not all rental car companies charge the fee the same way and share my recommendations after living in Iceland for the past 10 years. One of the biggest reasons I recommend renting a car in Iceland is the freedom it gives you. Some of my favorite memories have come from pulling over at an unexpected waterfall, taking a detour because someone mentioned a hidden canyon, or completely changing my plans after seeing that the weather was better in another part of the country. Those spontaneous moments are often the highlights of an Iceland trip. That’s why, when Iceland introduced a new road fee at the beginning of 2026, I immediately started getting questions from members of the All Things Iceland community. People wanted to know: What exactly is Iceland’s new road tax? Why did Iceland introduce the road tax fee? Does it apply to tourists? How much will it cost? Should I still rent a car? How to budget for Iceland’s new road tax fee How can you save on a rental car in Iceland? If you’ve been wondering the same thing, you’re definitely not alone. In this guide, I’ll explain everything you need to know about Iceland’s new road fee, including why it was introduced, how it works, how it affects tourists renting cars and camper vans, how different rental companies handle the fee, and some practical ways to save money while planning your Iceland road trip. https://youtu.be/oqXebmLiA38 What Is Iceland’s New Road Tax? Although you’ll often hear people, including me, refer to it as Iceland’s new road tax, the official name is the kilometer fee, or kílómetragjald in Icelandic. The fee officially came into effect on January 1, 2026, and it’s designed to help fund Iceland’s road infrastructure in a different way than before. Under the standard government system, most passenger vehicles are charged 6.95 ISK per kilometer driven, although rates vary depending on the vehicle’s weight and classification. Unlike a toll road where you stop to pay at a booth, this fee is based on the total number of kilometers a vehicle travels. For Icelandic residents who own a vehicle, the fee is reported and paid according to government regulations. For visitors, however, the process is much simpler because your rental company handles it for you. That means you don’t have to register with the Icelandic government or report your mileage yourself. Instead, the rental company collects the fee as part of your rental agreement before paying it to the government. This is where many travelers become confused because not every rental company chooses to pass that fee on in the same way. I’ll cover that in detail a little later because understanding this difference can make budgeting your trip much easier. Experience Tip: One thing I’ve noticed after helping thousands of travelers plan trips to Iceland is that most people assume every rental company calculates this fee exactly the same way. That’s actually not the case, and knowing the difference before you book can save you both money and uncertainty when you’re planning your budget. Why Did Iceland Introduce the Kilometer Fee? Moving Away from Fuel Taxes At first glance, it’s easy to assume that Iceland simply added another fee for travelers. But the reality is a bit more nuanced. For many years, Iceland paid for a significant portion of its road maintenance through taxes on gasoline and diesel fuel. The idea was simple: the more you drove, the more fuel you purchased, and the more you contributed toward maintaining the country’s roads. That system worked well when nearly every vehicle relied on fossil fuels. However, Iceland has seen a rapid increase in hybrid and fully electric vehicles over the past several years. Those vehicles still use the roads every day, but they purchase much less, or no, gasoline or diesel. As a result, the government was collecting less revenue from fuel taxes while road maintenance costs continued to grow. The kilometer fee was introduced to create a funding system that applies more consistently across different types of vehicles, regardless of how they’re powered. As with any major policy change, it has generated plenty of discussion within Iceland. Some residents feel the reduction in fuel taxes doesn’t fully offset the new kilometer fee, while others see it as a fairer way to fund the country’s road network. For travelers, though, the most important takeaway is understanding how the fee works and how your rental company chooses to collect it, because that’s what will ultimately affect your budget. Does the Kilometer Fee Apply to Tourists? Yes. Whether you’re visiting Iceland for a long Ring Road adventure, spending a week exploring the South Coast, or taking a short getaway around Reykjavík and the Golden Circle, this new fee applies to rental vehicles. If you’re someone who loves taking scenic detours (and trust me, Iceland will tempt you to do exactly that), knowing how your rental company charges this fee can give you much more peace of mind. How Rental Car Companies Charge Iceland’s New Road Fee Some Companies Charge by the Kilometer This is probably the pricing model most travelers expect. Some rental companies simply pass the government’s kilometer fee directly on to you. When you pick up your vehicle, the current odometer reading is recorded. When you return it, the rental company calculates how many kilometers you’ve driven and charges the corresponding road fee. The benefit of this approach is that you’re paying for exactly the distance you traveled. If you only plan to drive around Reykjavík for a couple of days, this could result in a relatively small road-fee charge. The downside is that your final cost isn’t always easy to predict. If your plans change, which they often do in Iceland, you may end up driving much farther than you originally expected. Suddenly, that carefully planned travel budget starts to look a little different. Other Companies Charge a Flat Daily Road Fee Some rental companies have chosen a different approach.vRather than charging based on every kilometer driven, they charge a fixed road fee for each rental day. For example, Go Car Rental Iceland and Go Campers currently charge a mandatory road fee of €10.50 per rental day, regardless of your insurance coverage or how many kilometers you drive during your rental. Personally, I really appreciate this pricing model. One of the first things I tell people planning an Iceland trip is to leave room for spontaneity. Maybe you hear about a hidden hot spring from another traveler. Maybe someone recommends an incredible canyon that wasn’t on your itinerary. Maybe the weather forecast changes overnight, and you decide to spend the day exploring a completely different region. Those things happen all the time here. With a flat daily fee, you’re free to make those decisions without wondering whether every extra kilometer is increasing your final bill. Instead, you already know what the road-fee portion of your rental will cost before your trip even begins. For me, that kind of predictability is worth a lot. Experience Tip: I’ve changed my itinerary countless times because of Iceland’s weather. It’s one of the best travel decisions you can make here. Having a predictable daily road fee means I can focus on enjoying the adventure instead of mentally calculating extra costs every time I decide to drive somewhere new. The Ultimate Guide to Renting a Car in Iceland If you’re still deciding which rental car is right for your trip, I’ve created a free Ultimate Guide to Renting a Car in Iceland that goes far beyond the new kilometer fee. Inside, I cover how to choose between a 2WD and a 4×4, Iceland-specific insurance recommendations, gravel roads versus F-roads, parking rules, winter driving tips, common mistakes to avoid, and much more. I recently updated it to include Iceland’s new kilometer fee, so you’ll have the latest information all in one place. Click Here Is Renting a Car Is Still One of the Best Ways to Explore Iceland? Absolutely. Even with this additional cost, I still believe renting a car is the best way to experience Iceland for most visitors. One of the things I love most about living here is that Iceland constantly rewards curiosity. Some of the country’s most memorable places aren’t found on a typical itinerary. They’re discovered because you decided to stop at an overlook, follow a sign pointing toward a waterfall, or take a scenic detour after chatting with another traveler. Having your own vehicle gives you that freedom. You’re not rushing to catch a tour bus, worrying about train schedules, or feeling like you have to leave somewhere just because everyone else is. Instead, you can experience Iceland at your own pace. That’s something I think is incredibly valuable. Of course, the new kilometer fee does add another expense to your trip. But in the grand scheme of an Iceland vacation, I don’t think it’s a reason to avoid renting a car altogether. Instead, it’s simply another cost to understand and plan for before you arrive. Experience Tip: Some of my favorite days in Iceland have been the ones where I threw my original itinerary out the window because the weather was better somewhere else. That kind of flexibility is difficult to put a price on, and it’s one of the biggest reasons I continue recommending rental cars over guided tours for many travelers. Budgeting for the Iceland’s New Road Tax No matter which pricing model your rental company uses, my advice is simple: Plan for the road fee before you arrive. Just like budgeting for fuel, parking, or accommodation, this is now another normal part of planning an Iceland road trip. The good news is that once you’ve factored it into your budget, there really aren’t any surprises. In fact, I think the bigger financial mistakes people make when renting a car in Iceland have nothing to do with the road fee at all. Choosing the wrong type of vehicle. Skipping important insurance coverage. Driving roads that aren’t suitable for their rental. Or underestimating Iceland’s weather. Those are the kinds of mistakes that can cost hundreds, or even thousands, of dollars. Compared to those, understanding the road fee is actually one of the easier parts of planning your trip. Below is a way that you can save money on your rental car in Iceland. How to Save Money on a Rental Car in Iceland (Even With the New Road Fee) If you’re already planning to rent a car or camper van, there’s no reason not to take advantage of available discounts. I’ve partnered with Go Car Rental Iceland and Go Campers because I’ve personally used both companies for years, and they’ve consistently provided excellent customer service and reliable vehicles for my adventures around Iceland. When you book through my discount links, you’ll receive: Go Car Rental Iceland 7% off your rental Free 4G WiFi (simply select it under the Extras section when booking) Go Campers 7% off your camper van rental Free sleeping bag (select it in the Extras section) The discounts are automatically applied when you book through my links and enter your rental dates, making them an easy way to offset part of Iceland’s new road fee while supporting All Things Iceland at no additional cost to you. Continue Planning Your Iceland Road Trip Understanding the new road fee is just one piece of the puzzle. If you’re still deciding whether you need a 2WD or a 4×4, wondering which insurance is actually worth purchasing, or trying to understand Iceland’s gravel roads, F-roads, parking rules, and seasonal driving conditions, I’ve put everything together in my Ultimate Guide to Renting a Car in Iceland. It’s completely free, regularly updated, and designed to help you avoid the most common mistakes travelers make before they even arrive in Iceland. Frequently Asked Questions About Iceland’s New Road Tax Fee Can tourists avoid Iceland’s road fee? No. If you’re renting a car or camper van in Iceland, the road fee is part of the cost of driving. The way it’s charged depends on your rental company, but it isn’t something visitors can opt out of. Is it still worth renting a car in Iceland? Absolutely. Even with the introduction of the road fee, I still believe renting a car offers the greatest flexibility and allows you to experience parts of Iceland that many tour groups never visit. Why do some rental companies charge a flat daily fee? Some companies have chosen to simplify the government’s kilometer fee by charging a predictable daily amount instead. For example, Go Car Rental and Go Campers currently charge a mandatory road fee of €10.50 per rental day, regardless of how many kilometers you drive. Is a flat daily fee better than paying per kilometer? It depends on your travel style. If you’re planning very little driving, paying per kilometer could potentially cost less. However, if you’re planning a Ring Road trip or simply want the freedom to take spontaneous detours without thinking about every kilometer, many travelers, including me, appreciate the predictability of a fixed daily fee. Random Fact About Iceland Did you know that Iceland’s famous Ring Road (Route 1) stretches approximately 1,322 kilometers (821 miles) around the entire island? While many visitors dream of driving the complete Ring Road, some of the country’s most unforgettable experiences come from venturing beyond it. Scenic detours to places like the Snæfellsnes Peninsula, the Westfjords, the Westman Islands, or even into the remote Highlands often become the highlights of a trip. Snæfellsnes Peninsula Westfjords Westman Islands Highlands of Iceland That’s one of the reasons I think it’s so important to understand how your rental company charges Iceland’s new road fee. If your itinerary changes—and trust me, it often does because of weather or unexpected discoveries—you’ll already know what to expect when it comes to your driving costs. Icelandic Word of the Day One of my favorite parts of the All Things Iceland podcast is sharing an Icelandic word or phrase at the end of each episode. Today’s word is: Kílómetragjald Pronunciation: KEE-loh-meh-trah-gyald The word is made up of two smaller Icelandic words: Kílómetri = kilometer Gjald = fee or charge Put them together, and kílómetragjald literally means “kilometer fee.” This is the official Icelandic term used to describe the country’s new distance-based road charge that came into effect in 2026. So, if you happen to see news articles, government information, or conversations in Icelandic about the new road fee, you’ll likely come across the word kílómetragjald. It’s a fun word to know—not just because it relates to this topic, but because it also gives you a little insight into how Icelandic words are often built by combining smaller words to create a very literal meaning. Planning to rent a car in Iceland?  Before you book, grab my free Ultimate Guide to Renting a Car in Iceland. It includes everything you need to know about Iceland’s new kilometer fee, choosing the right rental car, insurance, F-roads, parking, winter driving, and more. And if you’re ready to book your rental, don’t forget to use my 7% discount links for Go Car Rental Iceland (plus free 4G WiFi) or Go Campers (plus a free sleeping bag) to save money on your trip.

In this very special Saga Brief, we sit down with Ármann Jakobsson (one of our favorite saga scholars) to discuss his latest book, Minor Characters in Icelandic Sagas (Palgrave Macmillan). Following the theme of the book, we dive into the many overlooked and often nameless characters who so often breathe life and meaning into the sagas. Since we have mentioned Ármann so many times on the podcast, we also take advantage of the opportunity to revisit his extensive bibliography, including The Troll Inside You, A Sense of Belonging: Morkinskinna and Icelandic Identity c. 1220, and his reimagining of the life of Þórólfr bægifótr in Glæsir.  Of course, it wouldn't be a Saga Brief interview without a little discussion of the sagas and their place in Icelandic culture. And all of this leads to a brief philosophical exploration on the power (and potential peril) of doubt as a driving force in human society.  All of this and more awaits you (like which great saga character Ármann finds most boring)! Once you've listened, reach out via our social media and let us know about your favorite minor characters in the sagas we've covered. Sagathingpodcast on Facebook Sagathingpodcast on Instagram Sagathingpodcast on Bluesky Saga Thing's unofficial official Discord Music Credits: Introduction –from Icelandic Folk Music: Tröllaslagur Outro – Ólafur Liljurós  

Subscribe to Throwing Fits on Patreon. Dare to dream a little smaller, darling. This week, Jimmy and Larry are breaking down all the details of their latest collab with Sun Buddies which is available right now, iconic cafe reposts, driving the deal sleds like they're stolen because they are, microchecks, unpacking James' latest nightmare which involves menswear content creation, we'll be in Copenhagen next week, Danish vs. Icelandic glizzies, financial empathy, luxury facials at the Dior Beauty spa, extraction satisfaction, quarterly skincare routine check-ins, Bushwick rooftop pools, Lawrence is officially Upstate New York pilled, from the sauna to the creek, forgetting you gave a bunch of sick gifts, LVMH's Bernard Arnault joins Twitter to clap back against a 6-part exposé that basically accuses him and his family of being Succession, being evil and funny are not mutually exclusive, LeBron James is joining the Sixers but reverse commuting from New York City via helicopter which officially makes him the city's latest transplant, and much more.

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How was folklore woven into the everyday life of medieval Icelanders? How did they make sense of the darkness of their world?During Iceland's endless nights, tales of trolls, ghosts, elves, hidden people and restless spirits were far more than entertainment: they explained an unpredictable existence, preserved history, and warned against unseen dangers.Dr Eleanor Janega is joined by Dr. Dagrún Ósk Jónsdóttir, to explore the extraordinary legends and oral traditions that continue to shape Icelandic culture today.MORENorse Mythology: Creation MythsListen on AppleListen on SpotifyWelsh Folk TalesListen on AppleListen on SpotifyGone Medieval is presented by Dr. Eleanor Janega. Audio editor is Amy Haddow, the producer is Rob Weinberg. The senior producer is Anne-Marie Luff.All music used is courtesy of Epidemic Sounds.Gone Medieval is a History Hit podcast.Sign up to History Hit for hundreds of hours of original documentaries, with a new release every week. Sign up at https://www.historyhit.com/subscribe Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Bob and Monét welcome Honey LaBronx to finally settle a long standing argument with Bob. Honey shares what it was like living with Bob as roommates, how they became roommates, and remembers some of their biggest arguments, including one over a broom. They also discuss Bob's philosophy on sharing common spaces, splitting household expenses, and how he triumphed over bedbugs. Plus, Honey confronts Monét about having a vegan talk show, shares the inspiration behind learning Icelandic, explains the proper pronunciation of Björk's name, and talks about how Bob changed the way she sees the world.