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28 episodes with Scandinavia
43 episodes with Scandinavia
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43 episodes with Scandinavia
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10 episodes with Scandinavia
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5 episodes with Scandinavia
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7 episodes with Scandinavia
11 episodes with Scandinavia
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5 episodes with Scandinavia
5 episodes with Scandinavia
4 episodes with Scandinavia
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5 episodes with Scandinavia
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12 episodes with Scandinavia
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2 episodes with Scandinavia
3 episodes with Scandinavia
2 episodes with Scandinavia
3 episodes with Scandinavia
4 episodes with Scandinavia
2 episodes with Scandinavia
5 episodes with Scandinavia
6 episodes with Scandinavia
2 episodes with Scandinavia
4 episodes with Scandinavia
2 episodes with Scandinavia
4 episodes with Scandinavia
2 episodes with Scandinavia
3 episodes with Scandinavia
3 episodes with Scandinavia
John Murray, Ian Dennis & Ali Bruce-Ball talk football, travel & language. There's breaking news on how to pronounce Taty Castellanos, hear from the voice of the 'corpsing classifieds' and TCV goes musical. Plus ‘Unintended Pub Names' maybe reaches its peak; Clash of the Commentators goes to Scandinavia and how you can use the pod to impress your mates. Messages and voicenotes on WhatsApp to 08000 289 369 & emails to TCV@bbc.co.uk00:30 Chocolate is good for you? 02:00 John recovered from Newcastle- Qarabağ, 03:40 5 Live commentaries this weekend, 08:50 Castellanos pronunciation news, 11:50 The voice of the corpsing classifieds! 17:10 Lawn mowers & palm trees, 21:40 TCV goes musical, 25:20 Unintended pub names, 35:30 Clash of the Commentators, 44:45 Great Glossary of Football Commentary, 49:40 A final message from Luke in Norway.5 Live / BBC Sounds commentaries: Sat 1500 Liverpool v West Ham with Ian Dennis & Stephen Warnock, Sat 1500 Newcastle v Everton on Sports Extra with Eilidh Barbour & James McFadden, Sat 1730 Leeds v Man City with John Murray & Paul Robinson, Sun 1200 Rangers v Celtic with Alasdair Lamond & Pat Nevin, Sun 1400 Man Utd v Crystal Palace with John Murray & Dion Dublin, Sun 1400 Fulham v Tottenham on Sports Extra with John Acres & Mark Schwarzer, Sun 1400 Brighton v Forest on Sports Extra 2 with Chris Wise & Luke Chambers, Sun 1630 Arsenal v Chelsea with Ali Bruce-Ball & Matt Upson.Great Glossary of Football Commentary: DIVISION ONE Agricultural challenge, Back of the net, Back to square one, Booked, Bosman, Bullet header, Coupon buster, Cruyff Turn, Cultured/educated left foot, Dead-ball specialist, Draught excluder, Elastico/flip-flap, False nine, Fox in the box, Giving the goalkeeper the eyes, Grub hunter, Head tennis, Hibs it, In a good moment, In behind, Magic of the FA Cup, The Maradona, Off their line, Olimpico, Onion bag, Panenka, Park the bus, Perfect hat-trick, Rabona, Roy of the Rovers stuff, Schmeichel-style, Scorpion kick, Spursy, Stick it in the mixer, Sweeper keeper, Target man, Tiki-taka, Towering header, Trivela, Where the kookaburra sleeps, Where the owl sleeps, Where the spiders sleep. DIVISION TWO 2-0 can be a dangerous score, Back on the grass, Ball stays hit, Beaten all ends up, Blaze over the bar, Business end, Came down with snow on it, Catching practice, Camped in the opposition half, Cauldron atmosphere Coat is on a shoogly peg, Come back to haunt them, Corridor of uncertainty, Couldn't sort their feet out, Easy tap-in, Daisy-cutter, First cab off the rank, Giant-killing, Good leave, Good touch for a big man, Half-turn, Has that in his locker, High wide and not very handsome, Hospital pass, Howler, In the dugout, In the hat, In their pocket, Johnny on the spot, Leading the line, Leather a shot, Middle of the park, Needed no second invitation, Nice headache to have, Nutmeg, On their bike, One for the cameras, One for the purists, Played us off the park, Points to the spot, Prawn sandwich brigade, Purple patch, Put their laces through it, Reaches for their pocket, Rolls Royce, Root and branch review, Row Z, Screamer, Seats on the plane, Show across the bows, Slide-rule pass, Steal a march, Straight in the bread basket, Stramash, Taking one for the team, Telegraphed that pass, Tired legs, That's great… (football), Thunderous strike, Turns on a sixpence, Walk it in, We've got a cup tie on our hands. UNSORTED After you Claude, All-Premier League affair, Aplomb, Bag/box of tricks, Brace, Brandished, Bread and butter, Breaking the deadlock, Bundled over the line, Champions elect / champions apparent, Clinical finish, Commentator's curse, Denied by the woodwork, Draught excluder, Elimination line, Fellow countryman, Foot race, Formerly of this parish, Free hit, Goalkeepers' Union, Goalmouth scramble, Honeymoon Period, In and around, In the shop window, Keeping ball under their spell, Keystone Cops defending, Languishing, Loitering with intent, Marching orders, Nestle in the bottom corner, Numbered derbies, Opposite number, PK for penalty-kick, Postage stamp, Rasping shot, Red wine not white wine, Relegation six-pointer, Rooted at the bottom, Route One, Sending the goalkeeper the wrong way, Shooting boots, Sleeping giants, Slide rule pass, Small matter of, Spiders web, Stayed hit, Steepling, Stinging the palms, Stonewall penalty, Straight off the training ground, Taking one for the team, Team that likes to play football, Throw their cap on it, Thruppenny bit head / 50p head, Two good feet, Turning into a basketball match, Turning into a cricket score, Usher/Shepherd the ball out of play, Walking a disciplinary tightrope, Wand of a left foot, Wrap foot around it, Your De Bruynes, your Gundogans etc.
Louise Byg Kongsholm explains in this episode that companies must navigate "trend stuffification" by distinguishing between short-term noise and long-term strategic patterns that address fundamental human needs. She advocates for life stage segmentation over traditional demographics and warns that AI should be treated as a tool rather than a business strategy to protect the essential human "creative spark". Louise Byg Kongsholm is CEO of pej gruppen – scandinavian trend institute, a company with more than 50 years of experience in decoding trends and making them actionable for Scandinavian companies.She works as a trend researcher, author, speaker and advisor across Scandinavia. She is also editor-in-chief of three professional magazines and has written several books on topics such as trend sociology, the future of retail, life stage segmentation and creativity. She is known for translating complex societal and cultural shifts into clear strategic insight.Her work centres on zeitgeist analysis, megatrends and consumer behaviour, with a strong focus on how uncertainty, values and cultural change shape markets and everyday decision-making. Rather than treating trends as isolated phenomena, she analyses patterns, signals and underlying drivers. From this perspective, colour is not a discipline in itself, but a visible expression of deeper cultural moods and collective states of mind.Support the showThank you for listening! Follow us through our website or social media!https://www.thecolorauthority.com/podcasthttps://www.instagram.com/the_color_authority_/https://www.linkedin.com/company/78120219/admin/
“Practicing yoga is not really something separate from me. It is happening all the time.” In this episode of a Curious Yogi Podcast, yoga teacher Myra Khanna shares her journey from Kathak dancer and scuba diving instructor to dedicated yoga practitioner and teacher. Drawing from studies with Bharath Shetty, Vinay Kumar, Vijay Kumar, Deepika Mehta, Mark Robberds, Eddie Stern, and ongoing training with Yoga Education College, Myra reflects on her evolution from a physically driven Ashtanga practice to a more holistic exploration of pranayama, meditation, and nervous system regulation.The conversation explores the commercialization of yoga, misconceptions about yoga in India, female health awareness in asana practice, and the parallels between diving and meditative practice. Myra also shares how traditional strength disciplines like mudgar swinging, dandas, and baithaks inform her approach to resilience and sustainability in practice.Here are some key takeaways; ➖ Transition from purely physical to a more holistic practice.➖ Emphasize the importance of listening to one's body and nervous system.➖ Commercialization of yoga impacts its true essence.➖ Teaching should accommodate students' individual needs and journeys.➖ Diving parallels the meditative aspects of yoga.➖ Myra's passion for education on female health in yoga after becoming unwell. Connect with Myra: IG @myrakhann02 I really enjoyed this conversation as an invitation to reconsider yoga as a living, evolving process — one rooted in curiosity, community, and embodied awareness. I know you will also dear listeners. In oneness, Bobbi Thanks for listening!
▬ Om Klippan - Falun ▬▬▬▬Klippan Falun är en plats där du kan möta och uppleva Jesus, ta del av vår välkomnande gemenskap, höra och delta i upplyftande lovsång och ta del av en predikan som både inspirerar och utmanar dig att bli den Gud avsett att du ska vara.Vi ser Klippan Falun som en autentisk, andefylld, gospelcentrerad församling som påverkar vår stad och vårt land genom att förkunna och leva det fulla evangeliet om Jesus Kristus.Klippan Falun är aktiv i Sverige och en del av UPCS (United Pentecostal Church of Scandinavia).▬ Sociala Medier ▬▬▬▬► Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/klippanfalun/► Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/forsamlingenklippan/► Youtube: youtube.com/@forsamlingenklippanfalun► Hemsida: https://www.forsamlingenklippan.se/
In this episode of the Tech M&A Podcast, we sit down with Robin Fisk, co‑founder and CEO of Donorfy, a SaaS CRM platform built specifically for nonprofits and charities. Robin shares the 10‑year journey of building a bootstrapped, cloud‑based CRM serving over 1,000 organizations across the UK and Scandinavia, culminating in Donorfy's acquisition by The Access Group in November 2024. Robin walks through why he and his co‑founder decided to sell, how they prepared for the M&A process, why choosing the right advisor mattered, and what surprised him most along the way. He also offers candid insights into due diligence, managing confidentiality with a close‑knit remote team, defining non‑negotiables, and life after exit. This episode is packed with practical advice for founders considering a strategic sale. Takeaways Build with the exit in mind from day one. Preparation matters more than speed. Choose advisors with founder experience. Know your non‑negotiables early. Selling your company is emotional — even when it's successful.
Rassegna stampa economico-finanziaria del 17 febbraio 2026, strutturata per macro-temi e basata sulle principali testate giornalistiche nazionali. Fisco e NormativaTestate: Il Sole 24 Ore / la Repubblica / Libero / La Verità * Milleproroghe e Mini-Pacchi: Il PD ha organizzato un flash mob contro la "tassa sui pacchi" (contributo di 2€ sui mini pacchi extra-UE), sollecitandone il rinvio al 1° luglio per armonizzarla con il dazio doganale UE da 3€. I flussi a Malpensa per pacchi sotto i 150€ sono scesi da 5,7 milioni di kg (dicembre) a 2,5 milioni (gennaio). * Referendum Giustizia e Trasparenza: Scontro tra il Ministero della Giustizia e l'ANM. Il capo di gabinetto Giusi Bartolozzi ha richiesto la lista dei finanziatori del comitato per il "No" per potenziali conflitti di interesse. L'ANM rifiuta citando la privacy e precisando che le donazioni medie sono di circa 100€. * Riforma del CSM: La riforma prevede lo sdoppiamento del CSM (giudici e PM), con membri togati estratti a sorte anziché eletti, e la perdita della giurisdizione disciplinare a favore di un'Alta Corte. * Debito Pubblico: A fine 2025 il debito ha raggiunto i 3.095,5 miliardi di euro, con un incremento annuo di 128,6 miliardi. Investimenti e MercatiTestate: Il Messaggero / la Repubblica / MF * BTP e Investitori Esteri: La quota di debito italiano in mano a stranieri è salita al 34,3%. Il nuovo BTP a 15 anni ha ricevuto richieste per 157 miliardi, sottoscritto per l'80% da investitori esteri (UK, Scandinavia e Medio Oriente). * Spread: Il differenziale con i Bund tedeschi è stabile a quota 61 punti. * Borsa Italiana ed Euronext: Tensione tra CDP (socia all'8,08%) e i soci francesi sulla riconferma di Fabrizio Testa come AD di Borsa Italiana. CDP chiede discontinuità puntando su Marcello Sala, ma Euronext intende procedere con la conferma. * Eurobond e "Safe Asset": La Commissione UE ha presentato un report sostenendo che per rafforzare l'Euro servano più "safe asset" comuni (Eurobond) per competere con il dollaro.EnergiaTestate: Corriere della Sera / la Repubblica / La Stampa * Decreto Bollette: Provvedimento da 2,5-3 miliardi di euro atteso in CdM. Prevede un contributo straordinario di 90€ (forse fino a 100€) per 4,5 milioni di utenti con bonus sociale (ISEE fino a 15.000€). * Meccanismo ETS: Il governo mira a "sterilizzare" i costi ETS (circa 30€/MWh su un prezzo di 120€) per abbassare i prezzi alle imprese, ma serve il via libera di Bruxelles. * Conflitto con le Regioni: La Lombardia protesta perché il decreto rischierebbe di far saltare l'accordo regionale per energia idroelettrica a prezzi scontati per le imprese energivore.Industria e TrasportiTestate: Il Sole 24 Ore / La Stampa / la Repubblica * Ferrovie dello Stato: Investimenti record per 18,5 miliardi di euro nel 2025 (di cui 11,5 sulla rete). L'AD Donnarumma punta a portare il Frecciarossa nel tunnel della Manica entro il 2028-2029. * Sicurezza e Sabotaggi: Dopo i sabotaggi alle linee AV durante le Olimpiadi, il Viminale vara un piano con droni e Intelligenza Artificiale per sorvegliare 17.000 km di binari. * Export: Matteo Zoppas (ICE) stima che l'export italiano si stia dirigendo verso la soglia dei 700 miliardi di euro.Lavoro e FormazioneTestate: la Repubblica / Sole 24 Ore Salute / Il Messaggero * Medici in Servizio: Approvato emendamento al Milleproroghe che permette ai medici ospedalieri di restare in servizio su base volontaria fino a 72 anni. Prevista anche la possibilità di richiamare in servizio medici già pensionati tra i 70 e i 72 anni per tutto il 2026. * Infermieri: Prorogata di due anni la possibilità per gli infermieri dipendenti pubblici di esercitare la libera professione. * Formazione Cinecittà: Investimento di 4,3 milioni di euro per 67 corsi professionali che termineranno a giugno 2026.Executive Takeaway (Insight per C-Suite) • Solida Attrattività Finanziaria: Nonostante l'entità del debito pubblico (3.095 mld €), il forte interesse degli investitori esteri (80% di sottoscrizione del nuovo BTP a 15 anni) e uno spread stabile a 61 punti confermano l'elevata fiducia dei mercati internazionali nella tenuta e nella solvibilità dell'Italia.Dinamismo dell'Export: Il superamento della soglia dei 700 miliardi di euro di export rappresenta un segnale di straordinaria competitività del "Made in Italy", che continua a trainare la crescita economica nazionale nonostante le incertezze geopolitiche globali.Potenziamento Infrastrutturale: Il piano di investimenti record di Ferrovie dello Stato (18,5 miliardi € nel 2025) e la visione ambiziosa verso mercati internazionali (connessione con il Regno Unito via tunnel della Manica) posizionano l'Italia come un hub logistico all'avanguardia in Europa.Resilienza Sociale e Welfare: Il rapido stanziamento del "Decreto Bollette" (circa 3 miliardi €) dimostra una capacità di reazione tempestiva del Governo nel proteggere il potere d'acquisto delle fasce più deboli e la competitività delle imprese energivore, mitigando l'impatto dei costi ETS.Flessibilità nel Settore Sanitario: Le nuove norme del Milleproroghe (medici in servizio fino a 72 anni e libera professione per gli infermieri) offrono soluzioni pragmatiche e immediate per garantire la continuità dei servizi sanitari, valorizzando l'esperienza delle figure senior e migliorando l'attrattività della professione.
Återigen dubbelseger för Frida och Ebba men också Roberto har fått kommentera medalj av den ädlaste valören. Martin Ponsiluoma frälste oss med ett imponerande lopp i jaktstarten. Skidskyttarna har fyra chanser kvar, längdåkarna likaså. Robin har också fått andas OS genom att vara med på Olympiadagarna som SOK arrangerat i Mall of Scandinavia i Solna. Han hängde med både Bella Wranå som tog guld i singelmixed i curlingen med sin brorsa men Robin fick framförallt hänga med Jan Rippe som han snodde en intervju av.
Partiamo da presupposto importante: noi non abbiamo capito niente. È il partito di Maria ed è da lì che osserviamo il mondo. E quello che stiamo osservando è strano, bellissimo, e non ce lo aspettavamo. C’è un cantante che piace a nostro figlio. Ha una busta di carta in testa. Nessuno conosce il suo volto. Scrive canzoni sull’avidità, sulla solitudine, sul fatto che la città in cui vivi ti fa schifo. Chiede ai suoi ascoltatori: su cosa scriviamo il prossimo pezzo? Non ha una casa discografica. Non fa concerti. È la radiografia perfetta della Generazione Z. Questa generazione ha smesso di correre verso fuori — il macchinone, la posizione sociale, l’appartamento al centro che costa duemila euro al mese ed è grande quanto un armadio. Ha cominciato a fare domande profonde. Chi sono? Cosa voglio davvero? Come mi proteggo da quello che mi ferisce? E da queste domande, succede qualcosa di inaspettato. In Francia — che è la nazione che ha più asfaltato il cristianesimo, conventi distrutti, cultura cristiana azzerata — ci sono migliaia di richieste di battesimo per la notte di Pasqua. In Croazia le adorazioni per i giovani hanno le chiese così piene che non si entra. In Scandinavia i ragazzi entrano nelle rare chiese rimaste aperte e chiedono: voglio fare un percorso per ricevere il battesimo. La fede è tornata di moda? È che nel cuore dell’uomo c’è una fiamma che non si spegne. Puoi farla vacillare con le ideologie, con il consumismo, con le pratiche esoteriche, con qualsiasi altra cosa. Ma quella fiamma non muore. E quando le proposte non rispondono davvero, le abbandoni e cerchi ancora. Sant’Agostino diceva: La verità è un leone. Non ha bisogno di essere difesa. Si difende da sola. Anni di new age, di spiritualità senza radici — non è che erano sbagliate nel desiderio. Il desiderio era giusto: cercare qualcosa di profondo, di vero, di non comprabile. Il problema è che alla fine la libertà proclamata non nutriva. Non portava al dono di sé. Non dava frutto fino in fondo. E allora le persone sono arrivate al Vangelo non cercando esplicitamente Gesù Cristo. Ma cercando la Verità. Anche per me è stato così. Essere cristiani vuol dire essere strani. Difficilmente manipolabili. Né dal potere, né dai soldi, né dalla posizione sociale. La stranezza non è nelle cose che fai. È nelle domande profonde che ti poni. E nelle risposte che ti dai. Obbedienza, castità — parole che sembrano brutte, frustranti. Ma quando vai a scoprire cosa significano davvero, scopri che l’obbedienza è qualcuno che si prende cura di te. Che ti custodisce nella libertà. E che la castità è imparare il valore del tuo corpo, il dono di te stesso — non è una prigione, è esattamente il contrario. La ricetta per la felicità non esiste. La ricetta è camminare. Quindi se sei in giro per il mondo e qualcuno ti parla male della fede, del Papa, della Chiesa, del Vangelo — ascolta. Ma il fondamento ce l’hai dentro. E quella relazione concreta, viva, reale con il Signore è quello che fa la differenza. Tutto il resto è rumore. La verità vi farà liberi. È il Vangelo. Ed è storia di vita. Buon ascolto!
Featuring an impressive, ancient, oppressive, dimly lit three story plaster and brick edifice, that apparently was a former jail, it is now the military home of a company commander and his wife located on an offshore island. Set in Scandinavia sometime in the late 19th or early 20th Century, Alice (Kathryn Erbe) and Edgar (Jeff Perry) will soon be marking the 25TH anniversary of their mostly unhappy marriage. The structure serves as a physical representation of the couple's own feelings of entrapment and isolation.Playwright August StrindbergAdaptor Conor McPhersonDirector Yasen PeyankovScenic Design - Collette PollardCostume Design - Ana KuzmanicLighting Design - Lee FisknessTheater Review by Reno Lovison
In this episode, Alan speaks with Dr Joakim Goldhahn about his journey through archaeology and rock art, from Scandinavia to Australia. Together, they explore the cosmology of Scandinavian burials linked to rock art, as well as the living traditions of rock art in Kakadu National Park and the lifeways of Indigenous Australians. Central to the discussion is a reflection on archaeological responsibility: how working outside these cultural traditions requires humility, accountability, and a commitment to building genuine, impactful relationships with Indigenous peoples and communities.TranscriptsFor a rough transcript head over to: https://www.archaeologypodcastnetwork.com/rockart/159LinksDr Joakim Goldhahn's BiographyIntroduction to Scandinavian Rock ArtKakadu National Park Rock Art‘This is my father's painting': a first hand account of the creation of the most iconic rock art in Kakadu National ParkContactDr. Alan Garfinkelavram1952@yahoo.comDr. Alan Garfinkel's WebsiteSupport Dr. Garfinkel on PatreonArchPodNetAPN Website: https://www.archpodnet.comAPN on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/archpodnetAPN on Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/archpodnetAPN on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/archpodnetAPN ShopAffiliates and SponsorsMotion Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
In this episode of Speak the Truth, Michael & Emily are joined by Joe and Ursula Morell from Stockholm, Sweden. They discuss the critical role of biblical counseling in missions, the challenges and growth in their local church, and their journey toward seeking to be a training center for biblical counseling in Scandinavia. Highlighting the interplay between personal struggles, theological training, and the missionary task, the conversation underscores the importance of practical theology and mutual care in building resilient Christian communities.00:00 Introduction to Speak the Truth Podcast00:35 Meet Our Guests from Stockholm, Sweden01:47 The Journey to Biblical Counseling03:54 Personal Struggles and Growth in Ministry06:21 Building a Church with Biblical Counseling07:26 Challenges and Realities of Missionary Work14:08 Connecting with A, B, C and Training Initiatives18:56 Current Church Context and Demographics22:23 Implementing Biblical Counseling in Church Life26:42 Future Goals and Prayer RequestsEpisode MentionsContact ABC
In this episode, Alan speaks with Dr Joakim Goldhahn about his journey through archaeology and rock art, from Scandinavia to Australia. Together, they explore the cosmology of Scandinavian burials linked to rock art, as well as the living traditions of rock art in Kakadu National Park and the lifeways of Indigenous Australians. Central to the discussion is a reflection on archaeological responsibility: how working outside these cultural traditions requires humility, accountability, and a commitment to building genuine, impactful relationships with Indigenous peoples and communities.TranscriptsFor a rough transcript head over to: https://www.archaeologypodcastnetwork.com/rockart/159LinksDr Joakim Goldhahn's BiographyIntroduction to Scandinavian Rock ArtKakadu National Park Rock Art‘This is my father's painting': a first hand account of the creation of the most iconic rock art in Kakadu National ParkContactDr. Alan Garfinkelavram1952@yahoo.comDr. Alan Garfinkel's WebsiteSupport Dr. Garfinkel on PatreonArchPodNetAPN Website: https://www.archpodnet.comAPN on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/archpodnetAPN on Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/archpodnetAPN on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/archpodnetAPN ShopAffiliates and SponsorsMotion Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
Poetry and baring the soul.Based on a post by Jorunn, in 4 parts. Listen to the ►Podcast at Connected.Arriving at her house, Leah and I carried my clothes up to the spare bedroom. I thanked Leah once again, then kissed her.Leah softly whispered, “Jorunn is downstairs!”I replied in the same whisper, “Then kiss me quietly.” And she did.I spent the remainder of the day doing my laundry, once Leah showed me how to use her Norwegian washing machine. Leah opened the clothes drying rack, and when done, I laid my clothes out to dry.For dinner, Leah prepared salmon fillets with boiled potatoes. As Jorunn and Leah washed the dishes, I sat on the center seat of the sofa, reflecting on the day. When they finished, both Jorunn and Leah rushed into the living room, extremely excited, and sat down on either side of me. Jorunn turned on the television and switched to Norwegian National Television. I wondered what the fuss was about.“Five more minutes,” yelped Jorunn.After a brief introduction, an old black-and-white movie started. Both Jorunn and Leah snuggled up tight against me and I put my arms around them. It felt great. The show, called “Dinner for One”, featured a 90-year-old countess celebrating her birthday. She invited four friends but outlived them all. Her butler decides to impersonate each of the four missing guests. As he slips into each of the roles, he drinks a toast, and quickly becomes intoxicated, leading to numerous sight gags. It felt good to laugh along with people again. It was rather short, and when it ended, Leah told me it was the most repeated television show of all time and is quite popular in Scandinavian countries and northern Europe.Leah and Jorunn went around rearranging and straightening Christmas decorations, then announced it was time to make Julekurver. I heard of them, but never actually made one. Made of paper, they are heart-shaped and filled with sweets.We quickly cleared the dining room table, then covered it with red and white paper, a plastic rule, a plastic circle, and scissor. Leah and Jorunn both moved quickly, folding a sheet of paper of each color, and I followed their action. Then it was time to measure and cut, and fortunately, they slowed down to allow me to keep up. Using a circle, we marked a half circle and cut the excess away. Then cut strips into the paper, not going all the way across. We wove the red and white papers together in a checkerboard pattern and unfolded them into a perfect heart shape. I thought the process rather inefficient and decided to show off my engineering skills from 3M by making a fancier one. As I unfolded it, Jorunn and Leah laughed, and a moment later, I discovered one way not to make a Julekurver.After a long and active day, I was tired, so I went to bed. Both Jorunn and Leah were talking softly in the living room as I drifted off to sleep.A nocturnal visitorDecember 23rd - Just Before MidnightI was startled awake when I heard my bedroom door close, followed by a soft, “Shush!”I listened closely in the total darkness for footsteps and heard someone approach my bed. Leah must be ready to resume what we started back at the hotel! A hand pulled back the covers, and instinctively I slid toward the middle of the bed to make space. Leah slid in next to me and drew the covers back over us.Leah moved and shifted, and a hand found the back of my head. I expected her lips to follow, and they did. Soft and gentle, a wonderful way for my nocturnal visitor to say hello. Leah told me at the hotel she did not want to feel rushed, so there was no urgency. Her lips retreated, and her hand slid down to caress my cheek, as delicate fingers gently stroked me.I reached out and found her left shoulder as Leah faced me, then marveled at the smoothness as my hand traced her arm downward. Approaching her hand, I extended further to touch her hip. I began softly rubbing, but her ass beckoned, and my hand moved to cup and squeeze her firm cheek. My fingers began shooting sensations of warmth, softness, and inner firmness directly to my brain. I pulled Leah tight against me and discovered she was already completely naked.Leah swung her left leg over me and moved to an upright position, straddling my crotch. Beneath my boxer shorts, my erect cock fought for release. Her hand found my cock within its shelter but did not liberate it. Instead, her hand pushed my cock flat against my lower stomach, and she slid forward, trapping it with the swollen outer lips of her pussy. Leah began slowly gyrating, and even through the fabric of my boxers, I felt her pussy lips spreading as they slid along either side of my hidden cock.The hushed sounds of Leah cooing and moaning barely reached my ears, as dampness built between us. I reached up with both hands, found her small breasts, and used my thumbs to tease her nipples to an erection. A heavy breath followed by a long ‘uh. Oh; Ah!’ brought me close to premature orgasm, but this was not what Leah wanted, so I held back.Leah must have sensed I was close. She stopped gyrating, lifted herself, and then began inching herself up my torso. She paused for a moment and sat on my chest, then her hands reached out to touch my face. Two fingertips began touring my facial features as if Leah wanted to memorize every feature of my face. In the darkness, my senses heightened, her fingers swirled, and circled, and glided over me. I never would have imagined how erotic it felt.Leah resumed moving higher, her knees passing over my shoulders until they rested on either side of my head. I reached up to confirm what lay just inches above my face and grazed the same hairy splendor I sampled back at the hotel. Inhaling deeply, I picked up traces of the same body wash on her thighs. I was ready to dive back in, so I reached up and grabbed Leah’s hips, then pulled her pussy down toward my awaiting tongue. I paused as her short curly hair began painting her scent onto my face. The scent of arousal overpowered my senses. But? Something strange? I froze. The contradiction awoke my twilight dream state.“Why did you stop, Gunnar?” From the darkness came Jorunn’s voice! The dream of Leah's nocturnal visit was replaced by the reality of a beautiful young woman revealing her devotion and desire to this 56 year old guy.I was stunned. I couldn’t reveal the real reason I stopped; was uncertainty. Jorunn’s pussy smelled different than Leah’s! I hadn’t noticed any difference between Leah’s and Jorunn’s tall, fit bodies. If there were any, they were undetectable in the darkness, especially with only my brief exposure to Leah. “I can’t do this with you, Jorunn.” I softly and sincerely spoke.“I want to make love to you tonight, Gunnar. More than anything in the world. Am I not pretty enough? Has not enough time passed since your wife’s funeral? You are the only man in the world I can love to, without fear of being hurt.”“Jorunn, you are an incredibly beautiful woman. For months, I fantasized about holding you in my arms, kissing you, and wishing to be exactly where I am now. But yesterday, I met your mother.”Jorunn asked, “Did she order you not to have sex with me?”I replied, “It’s not that. I think I’m falling in love with Leah. We spent a wonderful day together, and she swept me off my feet. If that love turns out to be mutual, I am prepared to pledge my heart totally to her and her alone. A lifetime commitment, one I will never dishonor. The only reason you and I got this far tonight is that in the darkness and my dream state, I thought you were Leah. I never would have done it otherwise.” But you are a lovely and desirable woman. I respect you and Leah. So much that I cannot be false to either of you. And I cannot dishonor myself, by doing what I know is dishonorable.”Jorunn shifted positions and lay next to me in the bed. In the darkness, Jorunn whispered, “You are so unlike my father. He always put himself first. I was ready to give myself to you tonight. You could have kept quiet and let it happen. Then lied about it to my mother in the morning. But you didn’t. You are a better man than my father ever was, and I know you will make my mother happy. Please don’t be afraid to give her, and yourself, a chance. She really needs someone like you in her life.”I heard a soft sob and reached out to touch Jorunn’s face. She was crying. Jorunn came into my bedroom tonight, looking for someone to love. She didn’t know about Leah and me, or what happened between us at the hotel. I very much doubt her mother would have told her. I admired what Jorunn just did. She was sacrificing her chance at love so that her mother might have one. Jorunn knew that she bore the duty to initiate affection, after so harshly rejecting my romantic advances, last week.Silence followed, before Jorunn finally said, “What you have shown me, Gunnar, is that there are still good men in this world. But I am still afraid to look for them.”I thought back to the day Jorunn and I went sledging. “Remember what you told me at Korketrekkeren? You don’t need to be afraid of looking for a man, Jorunn. What you need to be afraid of is being too afraid to try looking for a man. Promise me that you will push off, just like riding a sledge, and start looking. When you reach the bottom of that scary hill, you will no longer be afraid, and someone you love will be waiting there for you.”“I will, Gunnar. I promise. And thank you.” Jorunn climbed out of my bed and closed the door as she left.Christmas EveDecember 24 - MorningI woke up in the guest room bed. Hearing noises and holiday folk music in the kitchen, I dressed and went downstairs. Leah smiled and said, “God Jul!”, Norwegian's way of saying merry Christmas. Then she made me scrambled eggs with smoked salmon. Afterward, I enjoyed a slice of fruited Christmas Cake with coffee.“Leah, there is something I need to tell you. Jorunn came into my room last night looking for a man to love. In the darkness and my dream state, I thought it was you. It took a moment for me to realize it was Jorunn, and I stopped myself before going too far. Jorunn and I talked, and I confessed my love for you, to her. She understood, and asked that I give that love a chance. I want to do that. I asked Jorunn to no longer be afraid to look for love, and she agreed.”“Thank you for telling me, Gunnar. I have struggled to get Jorunn to go on dates after her father hurt her so badly. You must be a special man to find a place in her heart.”Leah sat down at the table with me, and continued; “I trust Jorunn, and now I trust you. So you will know, I will come to you tonight, bearing a lighted candle.”I said, “That sounds romantic.” My cock jolted to attention, under my trousers. I smiled and winked.Leah replied, “Wait until you see what I will be wearing.” She stood and returned to her baking, as the soft holiday music filled the busy kitchen. Leah's hips softly gyrated to the soft beat as she hummed with the lyrics.Jorunn came down later for breakfast, and after eating, she announced she would be working on edits and voiceovers for her recent videos. Since they were related to Christmas, she wanted to finish them to post them later tonight.Just before lunch, Leah led me back to the television and as we snuggled on the couch, she turned on “Tre Notter til Askepott”, a 1973 Czech reenactment of Cinderella, dubbed into Norwegian. The story was familiar, with Cinderella granted three wishes. It was enjoyable, but the dubbed dialog did not quite match the lips of the actors, so I needed to concentrate on what they were saying. Leah mentioned that this show is so popular in Norway, that storms of protest arose one year when they decided not to broadcast it. They ended up sending it out later in the holiday.Jorunn joined Leah and me for lunch. We ate Risengrynsgrot, which is rice porridge cooked with milk, sugar, and vanilla. We each had a bowl, and hiding in one of the three bowls was an almond. I suspected possible cheating such that I would be the one getting the almond, but as it turned out, Jorunn got the lucky bowl. As her prize, Leah gave Jorunn a chocolate-covered marzipan pig, an oddity for certain, but part of the tradition. There was porridge left over, and Leah said she would use it to make Riskrem, the delicious rice dessert eaten after tonight’s dinner. Solveig’s Riskrem was one of my favorite parts of the holiday season, and I was looking forward to tasting Leah’s.Leah turned to me and said, “If you want to eat, you must help in the kitchen.”Cooking was not something I knew very well, and after Leah led me into the kitchen, I let her know that. But since we were alone, I moved behind her, pulled her blonde hair aside, and nuzzled her neck.Leah said, “If you don’t stop, Gunnar, it will take longer before we eat.” But she wiggled her hips into my crotch before spinning out of my embrace.I helped Leah remove a large roasting pan from the refrigerator and put it in the oven. “That’s a strange-looking piece of meat,” I said.Leah replied, “It is called Ribbe, or roasted pork belly. It is one of the most popular Christmas meals in Norway. I scored the fat layer on top two days ago into a checkerboard pattern. Once cooked, the bottom meat stays tender while the cracklings on top get crispy.”Leah handed me a vegetable peeler and pointed to a bag of potatoes. I needed no further instructions on this. While I worked, Leah flittered around the kitchen, preparing the side dishes. She looked genuinely happy, and we talked and laughed and told tales of Christmases long ago.Just as we pulled the Ribbe from the oven, church bells began ringing from multiple sources. It was 17:00.“It seems like an odd time for church bells,” I said.Leah replied, “In Scandinavia, a new day traditionally starts at sundown, not midnight. Following the old ways, Christmas Day has arrived. It is time to eat.”Jorunn joined us in the mad flurry of activity as places were set, and food moved from the kitchen to the dining room. On the table was Ribbe, boiled potatoes, meatballs, gravy, sausages, sauerkraut, prunes, and lingonberries. Leah poured each of us a tall glass of juleøl, a dark spiced ale, brewed during Christmas all over Norway. She said at one time, a Norwegian king made it illegal to Not brew Christmas Ale. Everything was delicious, and I ate until I could stuff in no more.After dinner, we cleaned up and went into the living room to enjoy coffee, cookies, and a small bowl of Riskrem. I wondered why Leah brought out four bowls of Riskrem. Three topped with whipped cream and a berry sauce, one with only a blob of butter in the middle.Leah said, “We set out a bowl of porridge every Christmas for the fjøsnissen. The tradition evolved from the days when farming families would offer porridge to their barn elf, or nisse. The nisse takes care of the animals in the barn during winter so they don’t get sick. If you don’t do this, the fjøsnissen will play tricks on you.”As we nibbled, Jorunn set the bowl of porridge outside the front door for the fjøsnissen. Then we sat and watched an American Christmas movie on television. After it ended, Leah announced it was time to open the presents. I suspected this would happen and was glad I bought a gift for both Leah and Jorunn. We each dispersed, returned with our packages, and placed them under the Christmas tree.As expected, Leah and Jorunn shared the most gifts for each other, opening the usual mix of chocolates, clothing, and kitchen items. Then Jorunn handed me a gift from her. I opened it and found a DVD labeled, 'Christmas in Norway Tour’, along with a link and instructions to download the video if I preferred. Jorunn told me she made an hour-long video of all the things we did together over the past week, adding music and voiceovers so I would remember the now-completed tour. In exceedingly small letters, at the bottom of the instructions, I saw a link for a story with a similar name and suspected it might be one full of adjectives.Jorunn then opened my gift to her. I remembered the small camera she used this past week and bought her a new top-of-the-line digital camera. From her reaction, I did well.Leah then opened my gift to her. I purchased a genuinely nice Advent star to hang in her window, since she did not have one. It was large and electrically lit and after opening it, she wanted to hang it up right away, which we did. Then we went outside to see how it looked. Leah kissed me and whispered that the Advent Star possessed a special meaning for her this year, a sign of brighter days ahead.Seeing us standing outside, a Julenissen crossed the street and came up to us. The man, dressed in a red jacket with a matching pointed red hat, carried a cloth sack. He was older, and his white beard looked genuine.Jorunn yelled, “God Jul, Julenissen!”As the Julenissen joined us, Leah said, “Nice to see you again, Mr. Bjornstad.”The Julenissen opened a small cloth sack, pulled out a straw goat wrapped with red ribbons, and handed it to Jorunn. Leah explained that the Julenissen come around to houses on Christmas Eve to hand out presents and chocolate to the children. Often, more than one Julenissen would knock on your door during the evening. Unlike America, children get to meet the Julenissen in Norway.“It wouldn’t be the same this year without one of your julebukk!” said an excited Jorunn. Mr. Bjornstad had been coming to Jorunn’s house for a long time, and told us he likes to keep alive the old Norse traditions, such as the julebukk. In addition to handing out hand-made gifts, he tells folklore stories and tales from the days of the Vikings. What a wonderful thing to do to preserve the ancient Norse legacy of sagas and storytelling.Leah excused herself as Mr. Bjornstad started telling such a tale to Jorunn and me. He described Valhalla, where Odin and the brave warriors would train by day, and feast on roast boar and ale at night. Leah returned a moment later with four glasses of Aquavit. We toasted the season and sipped our Aquavit with the Julenissen after the story ended. We then sang a Christmas song together.Then we went back inside and watched the DVD that Jorunn made. The tour sounded exciting and full of fun, which indeed, it was. It also gave Leah another chance to see me in action. It was a full evening, and close to 23:00 when the DVD ended. We were all tired, and it was time for bed. Jorunn told us she was going upstairs to take a shower. Leah and I followed her up to our two bedrooms.A Single CandleDecember 24th - Late EveningFive minutes later, there was a knock on my bedroom door. Opening it, Leah stood there, holding a single candle, and wearing a lavender-colored silk nightgown and robe set. The half-sleeve wrap robe only partially covered her nightgown, leaving the lace-trimmed bustline and hem of her nightgown exposed. She put a finger to her mouth and whispered, “Shhh!” Then she led me by hand to her bedroom. The only light inside came from her single candle.My eyes quickly adjusted, or perhaps it was just my intent stare, “You look incredible.”Leah
Poetry and baring the soul.Based on a post by Jorunn, in 4 parts. Listen to the ►Podcast at Connected.Arriving at her house, Leah and I carried my clothes up to the spare bedroom. I thanked Leah once again, then kissed her.Leah softly whispered, “Jorunn is downstairs!”I replied in the same whisper, “Then kiss me quietly.” And she did.I spent the remainder of the day doing my laundry, once Leah showed me how to use her Norwegian washing machine. Leah opened the clothes drying rack, and when done, I laid my clothes out to dry.For dinner, Leah prepared salmon fillets with boiled potatoes. As Jorunn and Leah washed the dishes, I sat on the center seat of the sofa, reflecting on the day. When they finished, both Jorunn and Leah rushed into the living room, extremely excited, and sat down on either side of me. Jorunn turned on the television and switched to Norwegian National Television. I wondered what the fuss was about.“Five more minutes,” yelped Jorunn.After a brief introduction, an old black-and-white movie started. Both Jorunn and Leah snuggled up tight against me and I put my arms around them. It felt great. The show, called “Dinner for One”, featured a 90-year-old countess celebrating her birthday. She invited four friends but outlived them all. Her butler decides to impersonate each of the four missing guests. As he slips into each of the roles, he drinks a toast, and quickly becomes intoxicated, leading to numerous sight gags. It felt good to laugh along with people again. It was rather short, and when it ended, Leah told me it was the most repeated television show of all time and is quite popular in Scandinavian countries and northern Europe.Leah and Jorunn went around rearranging and straightening Christmas decorations, then announced it was time to make Julekurver. I heard of them, but never actually made one. Made of paper, they are heart-shaped and filled with sweets.We quickly cleared the dining room table, then covered it with red and white paper, a plastic rule, a plastic circle, and scissor. Leah and Jorunn both moved quickly, folding a sheet of paper of each color, and I followed their action. Then it was time to measure and cut, and fortunately, they slowed down to allow me to keep up. Using a circle, we marked a half circle and cut the excess away. Then cut strips into the paper, not going all the way across. We wove the red and white papers together in a checkerboard pattern and unfolded them into a perfect heart shape. I thought the process rather inefficient and decided to show off my engineering skills from 3M by making a fancier one. As I unfolded it, Jorunn and Leah laughed, and a moment later, I discovered one way not to make a Julekurver.After a long and active day, I was tired, so I went to bed. Both Jorunn and Leah were talking softly in the living room as I drifted off to sleep.A nocturnal visitorDecember 23rd - Just Before MidnightI was startled awake when I heard my bedroom door close, followed by a soft, “Shush!”I listened closely in the total darkness for footsteps and heard someone approach my bed. Leah must be ready to resume what we started back at the hotel! A hand pulled back the covers, and instinctively I slid toward the middle of the bed to make space. Leah slid in next to me and drew the covers back over us.Leah moved and shifted, and a hand found the back of my head. I expected her lips to follow, and they did. Soft and gentle, a wonderful way for my nocturnal visitor to say hello. Leah told me at the hotel she did not want to feel rushed, so there was no urgency. Her lips retreated, and her hand slid down to caress my cheek, as delicate fingers gently stroked me.I reached out and found her left shoulder as Leah faced me, then marveled at the smoothness as my hand traced her arm downward. Approaching her hand, I extended further to touch her hip. I began softly rubbing, but her ass beckoned, and my hand moved to cup and squeeze her firm cheek. My fingers began shooting sensations of warmth, softness, and inner firmness directly to my brain. I pulled Leah tight against me and discovered she was already completely naked.Leah swung her left leg over me and moved to an upright position, straddling my crotch. Beneath my boxer shorts, my erect cock fought for release. Her hand found my cock within its shelter but did not liberate it. Instead, her hand pushed my cock flat against my lower stomach, and she slid forward, trapping it with the swollen outer lips of her pussy. Leah began slowly gyrating, and even through the fabric of my boxers, I felt her pussy lips spreading as they slid along either side of my hidden cock.The hushed sounds of Leah cooing and moaning barely reached my ears, as dampness built between us. I reached up with both hands, found her small breasts, and used my thumbs to tease her nipples to an erection. A heavy breath followed by a long ‘uh. Oh; Ah!’ brought me close to premature orgasm, but this was not what Leah wanted, so I held back.Leah must have sensed I was close. She stopped gyrating, lifted herself, and then began inching herself up my torso. She paused for a moment and sat on my chest, then her hands reached out to touch my face. Two fingertips began touring my facial features as if Leah wanted to memorize every feature of my face. In the darkness, my senses heightened, her fingers swirled, and circled, and glided over me. I never would have imagined how erotic it felt.Leah resumed moving higher, her knees passing over my shoulders until they rested on either side of my head. I reached up to confirm what lay just inches above my face and grazed the same hairy splendor I sampled back at the hotel. Inhaling deeply, I picked up traces of the same body wash on her thighs. I was ready to dive back in, so I reached up and grabbed Leah’s hips, then pulled her pussy down toward my awaiting tongue. I paused as her short curly hair began painting her scent onto my face. The scent of arousal overpowered my senses. But? Something strange? I froze. The contradiction awoke my twilight dream state.“Why did you stop, Gunnar?” From the darkness came Jorunn’s voice! The dream of Leah's nocturnal visit was replaced by the reality of a beautiful young woman revealing her devotion and desire to this 56 year old guy.I was stunned. I couldn’t reveal the real reason I stopped; was uncertainty. Jorunn’s pussy smelled different than Leah’s! I hadn’t noticed any difference between Leah’s and Jorunn’s tall, fit bodies. If there were any, they were undetectable in the darkness, especially with only my brief exposure to Leah. “I can’t do this with you, Jorunn.” I softly and sincerely spoke.“I want to make love to you tonight, Gunnar. More than anything in the world. Am I not pretty enough? Has not enough time passed since your wife’s funeral? You are the only man in the world I can love to, without fear of being hurt.”“Jorunn, you are an incredibly beautiful woman. For months, I fantasized about holding you in my arms, kissing you, and wishing to be exactly where I am now. But yesterday, I met your mother.”Jorunn asked, “Did she order you not to have sex with me?”I replied, “It’s not that. I think I’m falling in love with Leah. We spent a wonderful day together, and she swept me off my feet. If that love turns out to be mutual, I am prepared to pledge my heart totally to her and her alone. A lifetime commitment, one I will never dishonor. The only reason you and I got this far tonight is that in the darkness and my dream state, I thought you were Leah. I never would have done it otherwise.” But you are a lovely and desirable woman. I respect you and Leah. So much that I cannot be false to either of you. And I cannot dishonor myself, by doing what I know is dishonorable.”Jorunn shifted positions and lay next to me in the bed. In the darkness, Jorunn whispered, “You are so unlike my father. He always put himself first. I was ready to give myself to you tonight. You could have kept quiet and let it happen. Then lied about it to my mother in the morning. But you didn’t. You are a better man than my father ever was, and I know you will make my mother happy. Please don’t be afraid to give her, and yourself, a chance. She really needs someone like you in her life.”I heard a soft sob and reached out to touch Jorunn’s face. She was crying. Jorunn came into my bedroom tonight, looking for someone to love. She didn’t know about Leah and me, or what happened between us at the hotel. I very much doubt her mother would have told her. I admired what Jorunn just did. She was sacrificing her chance at love so that her mother might have one. Jorunn knew that she bore the duty to initiate affection, after so harshly rejecting my romantic advances, last week.Silence followed, before Jorunn finally said, “What you have shown me, Gunnar, is that there are still good men in this world. But I am still afraid to look for them.”I thought back to the day Jorunn and I went sledging. “Remember what you told me at Korketrekkeren? You don’t need to be afraid of looking for a man, Jorunn. What you need to be afraid of is being too afraid to try looking for a man. Promise me that you will push off, just like riding a sledge, and start looking. When you reach the bottom of that scary hill, you will no longer be afraid, and someone you love will be waiting there for you.”“I will, Gunnar. I promise. And thank you.” Jorunn climbed out of my bed and closed the door as she left.Christmas EveDecember 24 - MorningI woke up in the guest room bed. Hearing noises and holiday folk music in the kitchen, I dressed and went downstairs. Leah smiled and said, “God Jul!”, Norwegian's way of saying merry Christmas. Then she made me scrambled eggs with smoked salmon. Afterward, I enjoyed a slice of fruited Christmas Cake with coffee.“Leah, there is something I need to tell you. Jorunn came into my room last night looking for a man to love. In the darkness and my dream state, I thought it was you. It took a moment for me to realize it was Jorunn, and I stopped myself before going too far. Jorunn and I talked, and I confessed my love for you, to her. She understood, and asked that I give that love a chance. I want to do that. I asked Jorunn to no longer be afraid to look for love, and she agreed.”“Thank you for telling me, Gunnar. I have struggled to get Jorunn to go on dates after her father hurt her so badly. You must be a special man to find a place in her heart.”Leah sat down at the table with me, and continued; “I trust Jorunn, and now I trust you. So you will know, I will come to you tonight, bearing a lighted candle.”I said, “That sounds romantic.” My cock jolted to attention, under my trousers. I smiled and winked.Leah replied, “Wait until you see what I will be wearing.” She stood and returned to her baking, as the soft holiday music filled the busy kitchen. Leah's hips softly gyrated to the soft beat as she hummed with the lyrics.Jorunn came down later for breakfast, and after eating, she announced she would be working on edits and voiceovers for her recent videos. Since they were related to Christmas, she wanted to finish them to post them later tonight.Just before lunch, Leah led me back to the television and as we snuggled on the couch, she turned on “Tre Notter til Askepott”, a 1973 Czech reenactment of Cinderella, dubbed into Norwegian. The story was familiar, with Cinderella granted three wishes. It was enjoyable, but the dubbed dialog did not quite match the lips of the actors, so I needed to concentrate on what they were saying. Leah mentioned that this show is so popular in Norway, that storms of protest arose one year when they decided not to broadcast it. They ended up sending it out later in the holiday.Jorunn joined Leah and me for lunch. We ate Risengrynsgrot, which is rice porridge cooked with milk, sugar, and vanilla. We each had a bowl, and hiding in one of the three bowls was an almond. I suspected possible cheating such that I would be the one getting the almond, but as it turned out, Jorunn got the lucky bowl. As her prize, Leah gave Jorunn a chocolate-covered marzipan pig, an oddity for certain, but part of the tradition. There was porridge left over, and Leah said she would use it to make Riskrem, the delicious rice dessert eaten after tonight’s dinner. Solveig’s Riskrem was one of my favorite parts of the holiday season, and I was looking forward to tasting Leah’s.Leah turned to me and said, “If you want to eat, you must help in the kitchen.”Cooking was not something I knew very well, and after Leah led me into the kitchen, I let her know that. But since we were alone, I moved behind her, pulled her blonde hair aside, and nuzzled her neck.Leah said, “If you don’t stop, Gunnar, it will take longer before we eat.” But she wiggled her hips into my crotch before spinning out of my embrace.I helped Leah remove a large roasting pan from the refrigerator and put it in the oven. “That’s a strange-looking piece of meat,” I said.Leah replied, “It is called Ribbe, or roasted pork belly. It is one of the most popular Christmas meals in Norway. I scored the fat layer on top two days ago into a checkerboard pattern. Once cooked, the bottom meat stays tender while the cracklings on top get crispy.”Leah handed me a vegetable peeler and pointed to a bag of potatoes. I needed no further instructions on this. While I worked, Leah flittered around the kitchen, preparing the side dishes. She looked genuinely happy, and we talked and laughed and told tales of Christmases long ago.Just as we pulled the Ribbe from the oven, church bells began ringing from multiple sources. It was 17:00.“It seems like an odd time for church bells,” I said.Leah replied, “In Scandinavia, a new day traditionally starts at sundown, not midnight. Following the old ways, Christmas Day has arrived. It is time to eat.”Jorunn joined us in the mad flurry of activity as places were set, and food moved from the kitchen to the dining room. On the table was Ribbe, boiled potatoes, meatballs, gravy, sausages, sauerkraut, prunes, and lingonberries. Leah poured each of us a tall glass of juleøl, a dark spiced ale, brewed during Christmas all over Norway. She said at one time, a Norwegian king made it illegal to Not brew Christmas Ale. Everything was delicious, and I ate until I could stuff in no more.After dinner, we cleaned up and went into the living room to enjoy coffee, cookies, and a small bowl of Riskrem. I wondered why Leah brought out four bowls of Riskrem. Three topped with whipped cream and a berry sauce, one with only a blob of butter in the middle.Leah said, “We set out a bowl of porridge every Christmas for the fjøsnissen. The tradition evolved from the days when farming families would offer porridge to their barn elf, or nisse. The nisse takes care of the animals in the barn during winter so they don’t get sick. If you don’t do this, the fjøsnissen will play tricks on you.”As we nibbled, Jorunn set the bowl of porridge outside the front door for the fjøsnissen. Then we sat and watched an American Christmas movie on television. After it ended, Leah announced it was time to open the presents. I suspected this would happen and was glad I bought a gift for both Leah and Jorunn. We each dispersed, returned with our packages, and placed them under the Christmas tree.As expected, Leah and Jorunn shared the most gifts for each other, opening the usual mix of chocolates, clothing, and kitchen items. Then Jorunn handed me a gift from her. I opened it and found a DVD labeled, 'Christmas in Norway Tour’, along with a link and instructions to download the video if I preferred. Jorunn told me she made an hour-long video of all the things we did together over the past week, adding music and voiceovers so I would remember the now-completed tour. In exceedingly small letters, at the bottom of the instructions, I saw a link for a story with a similar name and suspected it might be one full of adjectives.Jorunn then opened my gift to her. I remembered the small camera she used this past week and bought her a new top-of-the-line digital camera. From her reaction, I did well.Leah then opened my gift to her. I purchased a genuinely nice Advent star to hang in her window, since she did not have one. It was large and electrically lit and after opening it, she wanted to hang it up right away, which we did. Then we went outside to see how it looked. Leah kissed me and whispered that the Advent Star possessed a special meaning for her this year, a sign of brighter days ahead.Seeing us standing outside, a Julenissen crossed the street and came up to us. The man, dressed in a red jacket with a matching pointed red hat, carried a cloth sack. He was older, and his white beard looked genuine.Jorunn yelled, “God Jul, Julenissen!”As the Julenissen joined us, Leah said, “Nice to see you again, Mr. Bjornstad.”The Julenissen opened a small cloth sack, pulled out a straw goat wrapped with red ribbons, and handed it to Jorunn. Leah explained that the Julenissen come around to houses on Christmas Eve to hand out presents and chocolate to the children. Often, more than one Julenissen would knock on your door during the evening. Unlike America, children get to meet the Julenissen in Norway.“It wouldn’t be the same this year without one of your julebukk!” said an excited Jorunn. Mr. Bjornstad had been coming to Jorunn’s house for a long time, and told us he likes to keep alive the old Norse traditions, such as the julebukk. In addition to handing out hand-made gifts, he tells folklore stories and tales from the days of the Vikings. What a wonderful thing to do to preserve the ancient Norse legacy of sagas and storytelling.Leah excused herself as Mr. Bjornstad started telling such a tale to Jorunn and me. He described Valhalla, where Odin and the brave warriors would train by day, and feast on roast boar and ale at night. Leah returned a moment later with four glasses of Aquavit. We toasted the season and sipped our Aquavit with the Julenissen after the story ended. We then sang a Christmas song together.Then we went back inside and watched the DVD that Jorunn made. The tour sounded exciting and full of fun, which indeed, it was. It also gave Leah another chance to see me in action. It was a full evening, and close to 23:00 when the DVD ended. We were all tired, and it was time for bed. Jorunn told us she was going upstairs to take a shower. Leah and I followed her up to our two bedrooms.A Single CandleDecember 24th - Late EveningFive minutes later, there was a knock on my bedroom door. Opening it, Leah stood there, holding a single candle, and wearing a lavender-colored silk nightgown and robe set. The half-sleeve wrap robe only partially covered her nightgown, leaving the lace-trimmed bustline and hem of her nightgown exposed. She put a finger to her mouth and whispered, “Shhh!” Then she led me by hand to her bedroom. The only light inside came from her single candle.My eyes quickly adjusted, or perhaps it was just my intent stare, “You look incredible.”Leah
Poetry and baring the soul.Based on a post by Jorunn, in 4 parts. Listen to the ►Podcast at Connected.Arriving at her house, Leah and I carried my clothes up to the spare bedroom. I thanked Leah once again, then kissed her.Leah softly whispered, “Jorunn is downstairs!”I replied in the same whisper, “Then kiss me quietly.” And she did.I spent the remainder of the day doing my laundry, once Leah showed me how to use her Norwegian washing machine. Leah opened the clothes drying rack, and when done, I laid my clothes out to dry.For dinner, Leah prepared salmon fillets with boiled potatoes. As Jorunn and Leah washed the dishes, I sat on the center seat of the sofa, reflecting on the day. When they finished, both Jorunn and Leah rushed into the living room, extremely excited, and sat down on either side of me. Jorunn turned on the television and switched to Norwegian National Television. I wondered what the fuss was about.“Five more minutes,” yelped Jorunn.After a brief introduction, an old black-and-white movie started. Both Jorunn and Leah snuggled up tight against me and I put my arms around them. It felt great. The show, called “Dinner for One”, featured a 90-year-old countess celebrating her birthday. She invited four friends but outlived them all. Her butler decides to impersonate each of the four missing guests. As he slips into each of the roles, he drinks a toast, and quickly becomes intoxicated, leading to numerous sight gags. It felt good to laugh along with people again. It was rather short, and when it ended, Leah told me it was the most repeated television show of all time and is quite popular in Scandinavian countries and northern Europe.Leah and Jorunn went around rearranging and straightening Christmas decorations, then announced it was time to make Julekurver. I heard of them, but never actually made one. Made of paper, they are heart-shaped and filled with sweets.We quickly cleared the dining room table, then covered it with red and white paper, a plastic rule, a plastic circle, and scissor. Leah and Jorunn both moved quickly, folding a sheet of paper of each color, and I followed their action. Then it was time to measure and cut, and fortunately, they slowed down to allow me to keep up. Using a circle, we marked a half circle and cut the excess away. Then cut strips into the paper, not going all the way across. We wove the red and white papers together in a checkerboard pattern and unfolded them into a perfect heart shape. I thought the process rather inefficient and decided to show off my engineering skills from 3M by making a fancier one. As I unfolded it, Jorunn and Leah laughed, and a moment later, I discovered one way not to make a Julekurver.After a long and active day, I was tired, so I went to bed. Both Jorunn and Leah were talking softly in the living room as I drifted off to sleep.A nocturnal visitorDecember 23rd - Just Before MidnightI was startled awake when I heard my bedroom door close, followed by a soft, “Shush!”I listened closely in the total darkness for footsteps and heard someone approach my bed. Leah must be ready to resume what we started back at the hotel! A hand pulled back the covers, and instinctively I slid toward the middle of the bed to make space. Leah slid in next to me and drew the covers back over us.Leah moved and shifted, and a hand found the back of my head. I expected her lips to follow, and they did. Soft and gentle, a wonderful way for my nocturnal visitor to say hello. Leah told me at the hotel she did not want to feel rushed, so there was no urgency. Her lips retreated, and her hand slid down to caress my cheek, as delicate fingers gently stroked me.I reached out and found her left shoulder as Leah faced me, then marveled at the smoothness as my hand traced her arm downward. Approaching her hand, I extended further to touch her hip. I began softly rubbing, but her ass beckoned, and my hand moved to cup and squeeze her firm cheek. My fingers began shooting sensations of warmth, softness, and inner firmness directly to my brain. I pulled Leah tight against me and discovered she was already completely naked.Leah swung her left leg over me and moved to an upright position, straddling my crotch. Beneath my boxer shorts, my erect cock fought for release. Her hand found my cock within its shelter but did not liberate it. Instead, her hand pushed my cock flat against my lower stomach, and she slid forward, trapping it with the swollen outer lips of her pussy. Leah began slowly gyrating, and even through the fabric of my boxers, I felt her pussy lips spreading as they slid along either side of my hidden cock.The hushed sounds of Leah cooing and moaning barely reached my ears, as dampness built between us. I reached up with both hands, found her small breasts, and used my thumbs to tease her nipples to an erection. A heavy breath followed by a long ‘uh. Oh; Ah!’ brought me close to premature orgasm, but this was not what Leah wanted, so I held back.Leah must have sensed I was close. She stopped gyrating, lifted herself, and then began inching herself up my torso. She paused for a moment and sat on my chest, then her hands reached out to touch my face. Two fingertips began touring my facial features as if Leah wanted to memorize every feature of my face. In the darkness, my senses heightened, her fingers swirled, and circled, and glided over me. I never would have imagined how erotic it felt.Leah resumed moving higher, her knees passing over my shoulders until they rested on either side of my head. I reached up to confirm what lay just inches above my face and grazed the same hairy splendor I sampled back at the hotel. Inhaling deeply, I picked up traces of the same body wash on her thighs. I was ready to dive back in, so I reached up and grabbed Leah’s hips, then pulled her pussy down toward my awaiting tongue. I paused as her short curly hair began painting her scent onto my face. The scent of arousal overpowered my senses. But? Something strange? I froze. The contradiction awoke my twilight dream state.“Why did you stop, Gunnar?” From the darkness came Jorunn’s voice! The dream of Leah's nocturnal visit was replaced by the reality of a beautiful young woman revealing her devotion and desire to this 56 year old guy.I was stunned. I couldn’t reveal the real reason I stopped; was uncertainty. Jorunn’s pussy smelled different than Leah’s! I hadn’t noticed any difference between Leah’s and Jorunn’s tall, fit bodies. If there were any, they were undetectable in the darkness, especially with only my brief exposure to Leah. “I can’t do this with you, Jorunn.” I softly and sincerely spoke.“I want to make love to you tonight, Gunnar. More than anything in the world. Am I not pretty enough? Has not enough time passed since your wife’s funeral? You are the only man in the world I can love to, without fear of being hurt.”“Jorunn, you are an incredibly beautiful woman. For months, I fantasized about holding you in my arms, kissing you, and wishing to be exactly where I am now. But yesterday, I met your mother.”Jorunn asked, “Did she order you not to have sex with me?”I replied, “It’s not that. I think I’m falling in love with Leah. We spent a wonderful day together, and she swept me off my feet. If that love turns out to be mutual, I am prepared to pledge my heart totally to her and her alone. A lifetime commitment, one I will never dishonor. The only reason you and I got this far tonight is that in the darkness and my dream state, I thought you were Leah. I never would have done it otherwise.” But you are a lovely and desirable woman. I respect you and Leah. So much that I cannot be false to either of you. And I cannot dishonor myself, by doing what I know is dishonorable.”Jorunn shifted positions and lay next to me in the bed. In the darkness, Jorunn whispered, “You are so unlike my father. He always put himself first. I was ready to give myself to you tonight. You could have kept quiet and let it happen. Then lied about it to my mother in the morning. But you didn’t. You are a better man than my father ever was, and I know you will make my mother happy. Please don’t be afraid to give her, and yourself, a chance. She really needs someone like you in her life.”I heard a soft sob and reached out to touch Jorunn’s face. She was crying. Jorunn came into my bedroom tonight, looking for someone to love. She didn’t know about Leah and me, or what happened between us at the hotel. I very much doubt her mother would have told her. I admired what Jorunn just did. She was sacrificing her chance at love so that her mother might have one. Jorunn knew that she bore the duty to initiate affection, after so harshly rejecting my romantic advances, last week.Silence followed, before Jorunn finally said, “What you have shown me, Gunnar, is that there are still good men in this world. But I am still afraid to look for them.”I thought back to the day Jorunn and I went sledging. “Remember what you told me at Korketrekkeren? You don’t need to be afraid of looking for a man, Jorunn. What you need to be afraid of is being too afraid to try looking for a man. Promise me that you will push off, just like riding a sledge, and start looking. When you reach the bottom of that scary hill, you will no longer be afraid, and someone you love will be waiting there for you.”“I will, Gunnar. I promise. And thank you.” Jorunn climbed out of my bed and closed the door as she left.Christmas EveDecember 24 - MorningI woke up in the guest room bed. Hearing noises and holiday folk music in the kitchen, I dressed and went downstairs. Leah smiled and said, “God Jul!”, Norwegian's way of saying merry Christmas. Then she made me scrambled eggs with smoked salmon. Afterward, I enjoyed a slice of fruited Christmas Cake with coffee.“Leah, there is something I need to tell you. Jorunn came into my room last night looking for a man to love. In the darkness and my dream state, I thought it was you. It took a moment for me to realize it was Jorunn, and I stopped myself before going too far. Jorunn and I talked, and I confessed my love for you, to her. She understood, and asked that I give that love a chance. I want to do that. I asked Jorunn to no longer be afraid to look for love, and she agreed.”“Thank you for telling me, Gunnar. I have struggled to get Jorunn to go on dates after her father hurt her so badly. You must be a special man to find a place in her heart.”Leah sat down at the table with me, and continued; “I trust Jorunn, and now I trust you. So you will know, I will come to you tonight, bearing a lighted candle.”I said, “That sounds romantic.” My cock jolted to attention, under my trousers. I smiled and winked.Leah replied, “Wait until you see what I will be wearing.” She stood and returned to her baking, as the soft holiday music filled the busy kitchen. Leah's hips softly gyrated to the soft beat as she hummed with the lyrics.Jorunn came down later for breakfast, and after eating, she announced she would be working on edits and voiceovers for her recent videos. Since they were related to Christmas, she wanted to finish them to post them later tonight.Just before lunch, Leah led me back to the television and as we snuggled on the couch, she turned on “Tre Notter til Askepott”, a 1973 Czech reenactment of Cinderella, dubbed into Norwegian. The story was familiar, with Cinderella granted three wishes. It was enjoyable, but the dubbed dialog did not quite match the lips of the actors, so I needed to concentrate on what they were saying. Leah mentioned that this show is so popular in Norway, that storms of protest arose one year when they decided not to broadcast it. They ended up sending it out later in the holiday.Jorunn joined Leah and me for lunch. We ate Risengrynsgrot, which is rice porridge cooked with milk, sugar, and vanilla. We each had a bowl, and hiding in one of the three bowls was an almond. I suspected possible cheating such that I would be the one getting the almond, but as it turned out, Jorunn got the lucky bowl. As her prize, Leah gave Jorunn a chocolate-covered marzipan pig, an oddity for certain, but part of the tradition. There was porridge left over, and Leah said she would use it to make Riskrem, the delicious rice dessert eaten after tonight’s dinner. Solveig’s Riskrem was one of my favorite parts of the holiday season, and I was looking forward to tasting Leah’s.Leah turned to me and said, “If you want to eat, you must help in the kitchen.”Cooking was not something I knew very well, and after Leah led me into the kitchen, I let her know that. But since we were alone, I moved behind her, pulled her blonde hair aside, and nuzzled her neck.Leah said, “If you don’t stop, Gunnar, it will take longer before we eat.” But she wiggled her hips into my crotch before spinning out of my embrace.I helped Leah remove a large roasting pan from the refrigerator and put it in the oven. “That’s a strange-looking piece of meat,” I said.Leah replied, “It is called Ribbe, or roasted pork belly. It is one of the most popular Christmas meals in Norway. I scored the fat layer on top two days ago into a checkerboard pattern. Once cooked, the bottom meat stays tender while the cracklings on top get crispy.”Leah handed me a vegetable peeler and pointed to a bag of potatoes. I needed no further instructions on this. While I worked, Leah flittered around the kitchen, preparing the side dishes. She looked genuinely happy, and we talked and laughed and told tales of Christmases long ago.Just as we pulled the Ribbe from the oven, church bells began ringing from multiple sources. It was 17:00.“It seems like an odd time for church bells,” I said.Leah replied, “In Scandinavia, a new day traditionally starts at sundown, not midnight. Following the old ways, Christmas Day has arrived. It is time to eat.”Jorunn joined us in the mad flurry of activity as places were set, and food moved from the kitchen to the dining room. On the table was Ribbe, boiled potatoes, meatballs, gravy, sausages, sauerkraut, prunes, and lingonberries. Leah poured each of us a tall glass of juleøl, a dark spiced ale, brewed during Christmas all over Norway. She said at one time, a Norwegian king made it illegal to Not brew Christmas Ale. Everything was delicious, and I ate until I could stuff in no more.After dinner, we cleaned up and went into the living room to enjoy coffee, cookies, and a small bowl of Riskrem. I wondered why Leah brought out four bowls of Riskrem. Three topped with whipped cream and a berry sauce, one with only a blob of butter in the middle.Leah said, “We set out a bowl of porridge every Christmas for the fjøsnissen. The tradition evolved from the days when farming families would offer porridge to their barn elf, or nisse. The nisse takes care of the animals in the barn during winter so they don’t get sick. If you don’t do this, the fjøsnissen will play tricks on you.”As we nibbled, Jorunn set the bowl of porridge outside the front door for the fjøsnissen. Then we sat and watched an American Christmas movie on television. After it ended, Leah announced it was time to open the presents. I suspected this would happen and was glad I bought a gift for both Leah and Jorunn. We each dispersed, returned with our packages, and placed them under the Christmas tree.As expected, Leah and Jorunn shared the most gifts for each other, opening the usual mix of chocolates, clothing, and kitchen items. Then Jorunn handed me a gift from her. I opened it and found a DVD labeled, 'Christmas in Norway Tour’, along with a link and instructions to download the video if I preferred. Jorunn told me she made an hour-long video of all the things we did together over the past week, adding music and voiceovers so I would remember the now-completed tour. In exceedingly small letters, at the bottom of the instructions, I saw a link for a story with a similar name and suspected it might be one full of adjectives.Jorunn then opened my gift to her. I remembered the small camera she used this past week and bought her a new top-of-the-line digital camera. From her reaction, I did well.Leah then opened my gift to her. I purchased a genuinely nice Advent star to hang in her window, since she did not have one. It was large and electrically lit and after opening it, she wanted to hang it up right away, which we did. Then we went outside to see how it looked. Leah kissed me and whispered that the Advent Star possessed a special meaning for her this year, a sign of brighter days ahead.Seeing us standing outside, a Julenissen crossed the street and came up to us. The man, dressed in a red jacket with a matching pointed red hat, carried a cloth sack. He was older, and his white beard looked genuine.Jorunn yelled, “God Jul, Julenissen!”As the Julenissen joined us, Leah said, “Nice to see you again, Mr. Bjornstad.”The Julenissen opened a small cloth sack, pulled out a straw goat wrapped with red ribbons, and handed it to Jorunn. Leah explained that the Julenissen come around to houses on Christmas Eve to hand out presents and chocolate to the children. Often, more than one Julenissen would knock on your door during the evening. Unlike America, children get to meet the Julenissen in Norway.“It wouldn’t be the same this year without one of your julebukk!” said an excited Jorunn. Mr. Bjornstad had been coming to Jorunn’s house for a long time, and told us he likes to keep alive the old Norse traditions, such as the julebukk. In addition to handing out hand-made gifts, he tells folklore stories and tales from the days of the Vikings. What a wonderful thing to do to preserve the ancient Norse legacy of sagas and storytelling.Leah excused herself as Mr. Bjornstad started telling such a tale to Jorunn and me. He described Valhalla, where Odin and the brave warriors would train by day, and feast on roast boar and ale at night. Leah returned a moment later with four glasses of Aquavit. We toasted the season and sipped our Aquavit with the Julenissen after the story ended. We then sang a Christmas song together.Then we went back inside and watched the DVD that Jorunn made. The tour sounded exciting and full of fun, which indeed, it was. It also gave Leah another chance to see me in action. It was a full evening, and close to 23:00 when the DVD ended. We were all tired, and it was time for bed. Jorunn told us she was going upstairs to take a shower. Leah and I followed her up to our two bedrooms.A Single CandleDecember 24th - Late EveningFive minutes later, there was a knock on my bedroom door. Opening it, Leah stood there, holding a single candle, and wearing a lavender-colored silk nightgown and robe set. The half-sleeve wrap robe only partially covered her nightgown, leaving the lace-trimmed bustline and hem of her nightgown exposed. She put a finger to her mouth and whispered, “Shhh!” Then she led me by hand to her bedroom. The only light inside came from her single candle.My eyes quickly adjusted, or perhaps it was just my intent stare, “You look incredible.”Leah
Poetry and baring the soul.Based on a post by Jorunn, in 4 parts. Listen to the ►Podcast at Connected.Arriving at her house, Leah and I carried my clothes up to the spare bedroom. I thanked Leah once again, then kissed her.Leah softly whispered, “Jorunn is downstairs!”I replied in the same whisper, “Then kiss me quietly.” And she did.I spent the remainder of the day doing my laundry, once Leah showed me how to use her Norwegian washing machine. Leah opened the clothes drying rack, and when done, I laid my clothes out to dry.For dinner, Leah prepared salmon fillets with boiled potatoes. As Jorunn and Leah washed the dishes, I sat on the center seat of the sofa, reflecting on the day. When they finished, both Jorunn and Leah rushed into the living room, extremely excited, and sat down on either side of me. Jorunn turned on the television and switched to Norwegian National Television. I wondered what the fuss was about.“Five more minutes,” yelped Jorunn.After a brief introduction, an old black-and-white movie started. Both Jorunn and Leah snuggled up tight against me and I put my arms around them. It felt great. The show, called “Dinner for One”, featured a 90-year-old countess celebrating her birthday. She invited four friends but outlived them all. Her butler decides to impersonate each of the four missing guests. As he slips into each of the roles, he drinks a toast, and quickly becomes intoxicated, leading to numerous sight gags. It felt good to laugh along with people again. It was rather short, and when it ended, Leah told me it was the most repeated television show of all time and is quite popular in Scandinavian countries and northern Europe.Leah and Jorunn went around rearranging and straightening Christmas decorations, then announced it was time to make Julekurver. I heard of them, but never actually made one. Made of paper, they are heart-shaped and filled with sweets.We quickly cleared the dining room table, then covered it with red and white paper, a plastic rule, a plastic circle, and scissor. Leah and Jorunn both moved quickly, folding a sheet of paper of each color, and I followed their action. Then it was time to measure and cut, and fortunately, they slowed down to allow me to keep up. Using a circle, we marked a half circle and cut the excess away. Then cut strips into the paper, not going all the way across. We wove the red and white papers together in a checkerboard pattern and unfolded them into a perfect heart shape. I thought the process rather inefficient and decided to show off my engineering skills from 3M by making a fancier one. As I unfolded it, Jorunn and Leah laughed, and a moment later, I discovered one way not to make a Julekurver.After a long and active day, I was tired, so I went to bed. Both Jorunn and Leah were talking softly in the living room as I drifted off to sleep.A nocturnal visitorDecember 23rd - Just Before MidnightI was startled awake when I heard my bedroom door close, followed by a soft, “Shush!”I listened closely in the total darkness for footsteps and heard someone approach my bed. Leah must be ready to resume what we started back at the hotel! A hand pulled back the covers, and instinctively I slid toward the middle of the bed to make space. Leah slid in next to me and drew the covers back over us.Leah moved and shifted, and a hand found the back of my head. I expected her lips to follow, and they did. Soft and gentle, a wonderful way for my nocturnal visitor to say hello. Leah told me at the hotel she did not want to feel rushed, so there was no urgency. Her lips retreated, and her hand slid down to caress my cheek, as delicate fingers gently stroked me.I reached out and found her left shoulder as Leah faced me, then marveled at the smoothness as my hand traced her arm downward. Approaching her hand, I extended further to touch her hip. I began softly rubbing, but her ass beckoned, and my hand moved to cup and squeeze her firm cheek. My fingers began shooting sensations of warmth, softness, and inner firmness directly to my brain. I pulled Leah tight against me and discovered she was already completely naked.Leah swung her left leg over me and moved to an upright position, straddling my crotch. Beneath my boxer shorts, my erect cock fought for release. Her hand found my cock within its shelter but did not liberate it. Instead, her hand pushed my cock flat against my lower stomach, and she slid forward, trapping it with the swollen outer lips of her pussy. Leah began slowly gyrating, and even through the fabric of my boxers, I felt her pussy lips spreading as they slid along either side of my hidden cock.The hushed sounds of Leah cooing and moaning barely reached my ears, as dampness built between us. I reached up with both hands, found her small breasts, and used my thumbs to tease her nipples to an erection. A heavy breath followed by a long ‘uh. Oh; Ah!’ brought me close to premature orgasm, but this was not what Leah wanted, so I held back.Leah must have sensed I was close. She stopped gyrating, lifted herself, and then began inching herself up my torso. She paused for a moment and sat on my chest, then her hands reached out to touch my face. Two fingertips began touring my facial features as if Leah wanted to memorize every feature of my face. In the darkness, my senses heightened, her fingers swirled, and circled, and glided over me. I never would have imagined how erotic it felt.Leah resumed moving higher, her knees passing over my shoulders until they rested on either side of my head. I reached up to confirm what lay just inches above my face and grazed the same hairy splendor I sampled back at the hotel. Inhaling deeply, I picked up traces of the same body wash on her thighs. I was ready to dive back in, so I reached up and grabbed Leah’s hips, then pulled her pussy down toward my awaiting tongue. I paused as her short curly hair began painting her scent onto my face. The scent of arousal overpowered my senses. But? Something strange? I froze. The contradiction awoke my twilight dream state.“Why did you stop, Gunnar?” From the darkness came Jorunn’s voice! The dream of Leah's nocturnal visit was replaced by the reality of a beautiful young woman revealing her devotion and desire to this 56 year old guy.I was stunned. I couldn’t reveal the real reason I stopped; was uncertainty. Jorunn’s pussy smelled different than Leah’s! I hadn’t noticed any difference between Leah’s and Jorunn’s tall, fit bodies. If there were any, they were undetectable in the darkness, especially with only my brief exposure to Leah. “I can’t do this with you, Jorunn.” I softly and sincerely spoke.“I want to make love to you tonight, Gunnar. More than anything in the world. Am I not pretty enough? Has not enough time passed since your wife’s funeral? You are the only man in the world I can love to, without fear of being hurt.”“Jorunn, you are an incredibly beautiful woman. For months, I fantasized about holding you in my arms, kissing you, and wishing to be exactly where I am now. But yesterday, I met your mother.”Jorunn asked, “Did she order you not to have sex with me?”I replied, “It’s not that. I think I’m falling in love with Leah. We spent a wonderful day together, and she swept me off my feet. If that love turns out to be mutual, I am prepared to pledge my heart totally to her and her alone. A lifetime commitment, one I will never dishonor. The only reason you and I got this far tonight is that in the darkness and my dream state, I thought you were Leah. I never would have done it otherwise.” But you are a lovely and desirable woman. I respect you and Leah. So much that I cannot be false to either of you. And I cannot dishonor myself, by doing what I know is dishonorable.”Jorunn shifted positions and lay next to me in the bed. In the darkness, Jorunn whispered, “You are so unlike my father. He always put himself first. I was ready to give myself to you tonight. You could have kept quiet and let it happen. Then lied about it to my mother in the morning. But you didn’t. You are a better man than my father ever was, and I know you will make my mother happy. Please don’t be afraid to give her, and yourself, a chance. She really needs someone like you in her life.”I heard a soft sob and reached out to touch Jorunn’s face. She was crying. Jorunn came into my bedroom tonight, looking for someone to love. She didn’t know about Leah and me, or what happened between us at the hotel. I very much doubt her mother would have told her. I admired what Jorunn just did. She was sacrificing her chance at love so that her mother might have one. Jorunn knew that she bore the duty to initiate affection, after so harshly rejecting my romantic advances, last week.Silence followed, before Jorunn finally said, “What you have shown me, Gunnar, is that there are still good men in this world. But I am still afraid to look for them.”I thought back to the day Jorunn and I went sledging. “Remember what you told me at Korketrekkeren? You don’t need to be afraid of looking for a man, Jorunn. What you need to be afraid of is being too afraid to try looking for a man. Promise me that you will push off, just like riding a sledge, and start looking. When you reach the bottom of that scary hill, you will no longer be afraid, and someone you love will be waiting there for you.”“I will, Gunnar. I promise. And thank you.” Jorunn climbed out of my bed and closed the door as she left.Christmas EveDecember 24 - MorningI woke up in the guest room bed. Hearing noises and holiday folk music in the kitchen, I dressed and went downstairs. Leah smiled and said, “God Jul!”, Norwegian's way of saying merry Christmas. Then she made me scrambled eggs with smoked salmon. Afterward, I enjoyed a slice of fruited Christmas Cake with coffee.“Leah, there is something I need to tell you. Jorunn came into my room last night looking for a man to love. In the darkness and my dream state, I thought it was you. It took a moment for me to realize it was Jorunn, and I stopped myself before going too far. Jorunn and I talked, and I confessed my love for you, to her. She understood, and asked that I give that love a chance. I want to do that. I asked Jorunn to no longer be afraid to look for love, and she agreed.”“Thank you for telling me, Gunnar. I have struggled to get Jorunn to go on dates after her father hurt her so badly. You must be a special man to find a place in her heart.”Leah sat down at the table with me, and continued; “I trust Jorunn, and now I trust you. So you will know, I will come to you tonight, bearing a lighted candle.”I said, “That sounds romantic.” My cock jolted to attention, under my trousers. I smiled and winked.Leah replied, “Wait until you see what I will be wearing.” She stood and returned to her baking, as the soft holiday music filled the busy kitchen. Leah's hips softly gyrated to the soft beat as she hummed with the lyrics.Jorunn came down later for breakfast, and after eating, she announced she would be working on edits and voiceovers for her recent videos. Since they were related to Christmas, she wanted to finish them to post them later tonight.Just before lunch, Leah led me back to the television and as we snuggled on the couch, she turned on “Tre Notter til Askepott”, a 1973 Czech reenactment of Cinderella, dubbed into Norwegian. The story was familiar, with Cinderella granted three wishes. It was enjoyable, but the dubbed dialog did not quite match the lips of the actors, so I needed to concentrate on what they were saying. Leah mentioned that this show is so popular in Norway, that storms of protest arose one year when they decided not to broadcast it. They ended up sending it out later in the holiday.Jorunn joined Leah and me for lunch. We ate Risengrynsgrot, which is rice porridge cooked with milk, sugar, and vanilla. We each had a bowl, and hiding in one of the three bowls was an almond. I suspected possible cheating such that I would be the one getting the almond, but as it turned out, Jorunn got the lucky bowl. As her prize, Leah gave Jorunn a chocolate-covered marzipan pig, an oddity for certain, but part of the tradition. There was porridge left over, and Leah said she would use it to make Riskrem, the delicious rice dessert eaten after tonight’s dinner. Solveig’s Riskrem was one of my favorite parts of the holiday season, and I was looking forward to tasting Leah’s.Leah turned to me and said, “If you want to eat, you must help in the kitchen.”Cooking was not something I knew very well, and after Leah led me into the kitchen, I let her know that. But since we were alone, I moved behind her, pulled her blonde hair aside, and nuzzled her neck.Leah said, “If you don’t stop, Gunnar, it will take longer before we eat.” But she wiggled her hips into my crotch before spinning out of my embrace.I helped Leah remove a large roasting pan from the refrigerator and put it in the oven. “That’s a strange-looking piece of meat,” I said.Leah replied, “It is called Ribbe, or roasted pork belly. It is one of the most popular Christmas meals in Norway. I scored the fat layer on top two days ago into a checkerboard pattern. Once cooked, the bottom meat stays tender while the cracklings on top get crispy.”Leah handed me a vegetable peeler and pointed to a bag of potatoes. I needed no further instructions on this. While I worked, Leah flittered around the kitchen, preparing the side dishes. She looked genuinely happy, and we talked and laughed and told tales of Christmases long ago.Just as we pulled the Ribbe from the oven, church bells began ringing from multiple sources. It was 17:00.“It seems like an odd time for church bells,” I said.Leah replied, “In Scandinavia, a new day traditionally starts at sundown, not midnight. Following the old ways, Christmas Day has arrived. It is time to eat.”Jorunn joined us in the mad flurry of activity as places were set, and food moved from the kitchen to the dining room. On the table was Ribbe, boiled potatoes, meatballs, gravy, sausages, sauerkraut, prunes, and lingonberries. Leah poured each of us a tall glass of juleøl, a dark spiced ale, brewed during Christmas all over Norway. She said at one time, a Norwegian king made it illegal to Not brew Christmas Ale. Everything was delicious, and I ate until I could stuff in no more.After dinner, we cleaned up and went into the living room to enjoy coffee, cookies, and a small bowl of Riskrem. I wondered why Leah brought out four bowls of Riskrem. Three topped with whipped cream and a berry sauce, one with only a blob of butter in the middle.Leah said, “We set out a bowl of porridge every Christmas for the fjøsnissen. The tradition evolved from the days when farming families would offer porridge to their barn elf, or nisse. The nisse takes care of the animals in the barn during winter so they don’t get sick. If you don’t do this, the fjøsnissen will play tricks on you.”As we nibbled, Jorunn set the bowl of porridge outside the front door for the fjøsnissen. Then we sat and watched an American Christmas movie on television. After it ended, Leah announced it was time to open the presents. I suspected this would happen and was glad I bought a gift for both Leah and Jorunn. We each dispersed, returned with our packages, and placed them under the Christmas tree.As expected, Leah and Jorunn shared the most gifts for each other, opening the usual mix of chocolates, clothing, and kitchen items. Then Jorunn handed me a gift from her. I opened it and found a DVD labeled, 'Christmas in Norway Tour’, along with a link and instructions to download the video if I preferred. Jorunn told me she made an hour-long video of all the things we did together over the past week, adding music and voiceovers so I would remember the now-completed tour. In exceedingly small letters, at the bottom of the instructions, I saw a link for a story with a similar name and suspected it might be one full of adjectives.Jorunn then opened my gift to her. I remembered the small camera she used this past week and bought her a new top-of-the-line digital camera. From her reaction, I did well.Leah then opened my gift to her. I purchased a genuinely nice Advent star to hang in her window, since she did not have one. It was large and electrically lit and after opening it, she wanted to hang it up right away, which we did. Then we went outside to see how it looked. Leah kissed me and whispered that the Advent Star possessed a special meaning for her this year, a sign of brighter days ahead.Seeing us standing outside, a Julenissen crossed the street and came up to us. The man, dressed in a red jacket with a matching pointed red hat, carried a cloth sack. He was older, and his white beard looked genuine.Jorunn yelled, “God Jul, Julenissen!”As the Julenissen joined us, Leah said, “Nice to see you again, Mr. Bjornstad.”The Julenissen opened a small cloth sack, pulled out a straw goat wrapped with red ribbons, and handed it to Jorunn. Leah explained that the Julenissen come around to houses on Christmas Eve to hand out presents and chocolate to the children. Often, more than one Julenissen would knock on your door during the evening. Unlike America, children get to meet the Julenissen in Norway.“It wouldn’t be the same this year without one of your julebukk!” said an excited Jorunn. Mr. Bjornstad had been coming to Jorunn’s house for a long time, and told us he likes to keep alive the old Norse traditions, such as the julebukk. In addition to handing out hand-made gifts, he tells folklore stories and tales from the days of the Vikings. What a wonderful thing to do to preserve the ancient Norse legacy of sagas and storytelling.Leah excused herself as Mr. Bjornstad started telling such a tale to Jorunn and me. He described Valhalla, where Odin and the brave warriors would train by day, and feast on roast boar and ale at night. Leah returned a moment later with four glasses of Aquavit. We toasted the season and sipped our Aquavit with the Julenissen after the story ended. We then sang a Christmas song together.Then we went back inside and watched the DVD that Jorunn made. The tour sounded exciting and full of fun, which indeed, it was. It also gave Leah another chance to see me in action. It was a full evening, and close to 23:00 when the DVD ended. We were all tired, and it was time for bed. Jorunn told us she was going upstairs to take a shower. Leah and I followed her up to our two bedrooms.A Single CandleDecember 24th - Late EveningFive minutes later, there was a knock on my bedroom door. Opening it, Leah stood there, holding a single candle, and wearing a lavender-colored silk nightgown and robe set. The half-sleeve wrap robe only partially covered her nightgown, leaving the lace-trimmed bustline and hem of her nightgown exposed. She put a finger to her mouth and whispered, “Shhh!” Then she led me by hand to her bedroom. The only light inside came from her single candle.My eyes quickly adjusted, or perhaps it was just my intent stare, “You look incredible.”Leah
Brage, Mikael and Rudy sit down to talk about Scandinavian social democracy, with a focus on Norway and Sweden. We discuss the periodization of social democracy, starting from the 1905 independence of Norway, through the first World War period, the rise of social democracy in the interwar period, the golden years and the unraveling. We discuss why social democracy was able to take hold in Scandinavia through several historic compromises, what the economics of the countries were, the limits of the politics and how the parties tried to transcend these limits, before concluding with the unraveling of the politics in the 80s. Bibliography: G. Esping-Andersen - Politics Against Markets: The Social Democratic Road to Power W. Korpi - The Democratic Class Struggle K. Ostbjerg - Rise and Fall of Swedish Social Democracy J. Pontusson - The Limits of Social Democracy: Investment Politics in Sweden M. Rasmussen, C. H. Knutsen - Reforming to Survive: The Bolshevik Origins of Social Policies F. Sejersted, M. Adams - The Age of Social Democracy
"Women are not small men – we are cyclical beings." In this episode, the delightful Sheila Arnell shares her journey through yoga, emphasizing the importance of understanding women's health and the menstrual cycle in practice. She discusses her transition from a physically focused practice to a more spiritual and holistic approach, highlighting the significance of listening to the body and respecting its natural rhythms. Sheila also addresses the challenges women face in yoga, the need for inclusivity, and the importance of creating a supportive community. Epic highlights!: ➖Injuries and Their Impact on Practice➖Understanding Women's Health in Yoga➖The Feminine Perspective in Yoga➖The Need for Inclusive Yoga Education➖Embracing Limitless Growth in Practice➖Finding Balance with Lagom (my favourite Swedish word!)Find Shelia HERE: Inre Skolan: LINK IG: @sheilaarnellI took so much value from this conversation, lots to think about in my life and physical practice as a mighty and cyclical woman. I know you will, too. In oneness, Bobbi Thanks for listening!
With the 2026 Winter Olympics in full swing, let's take you on a journey to the Norse Olympics in the Land of the Giants! Thor and Loki make their way to Utgard where King Utgard-Loki challenges them to feats in order for them to stay. But, not all is as it seems... Collected from Snorri Sturluson's Prose Edda and "Folklore and Legends of Scandinavia" edited by Charles Tibbitts. Show notes can be found on our website at: www.talesfromtheenchantedforest.com You can also find us on: Bluesky Mastodon Instagram TikTok
TBTV sits down with Head of Grounds at FC Copenhagen, Oliver Deeming. Oliver discusses his journey from Suffolk rugby pitches to one of Scandinavia's most prestigious football arenas, with a CV boasting Northampton Saints and Tottenham Hotspurs. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Ep 224 Peacewarts: Dept. of Living Roots - The Security of Knowing Your Neighbors (Class 10) We examine why social cohesion is a logistical requirement for peace. This class explores how loneliness drives radicalization, how the "Social Front" of the Danish Resistance saved thousands, and how the West African Ebola response proved that trust is more effective than force during a crisis. Learning Topics: Social Isolation as a Predictor of Radicalization; The 1943 Rescue of the Danish Jews: Neighborhood-level coordination; Community-Led health responses in West Africa; Trust-based security models in Scandinavia; Restorative Justice and Māori Influence Get the book Peace Stuff Enough: AvisKalfsbeek.com/peace-stuff-enough Join the Community / Get the Books: www.AvisKalfsbeek.com Podcast Music: Javier Peke Rodriguez “I am late, madame Curie” https://open.spotify.com/artist/3QuyqfXEKzrpUl6b12I3KW
The Context of White Supremacy welcomes Paul Thomas live from Norway. Classified as not White, Thomas is a professor of pedagogy specializing in critical pedagogy and multicultural education at the University of South-Eastern Norway. He migrated to Norway from Somalia and began driving a cab before matriculating to college and becoming a university professor. We'll discuss his latest book, Too Black to Be Here?: Exploring Racism in Norway through Four Critical Case Studies. He examines the 2011 White Terrorist attack of Anders Breivick and the 2001 Racist murder of 16-year-old Benjamin Hermansen by a gang of White youth. The text mentions many of the typical names that White people allow us to use when discussing Racism: Noel Ignatiev, Dr. Peggy McIntosh, Dr. Charles W. Mills, Dr. Joe Feagin and Ta-Nehisi Coates to name a few. Gus has found that White people promote these scholars as being "acceptable," even though they frequently assert incorrect or illogical thinking about the System of White Supremacy. Such as suggesting that non-white people are “invisible,” White Supremacy being the result of “ignorant” or “unconscious” White behavior, and/or that not all White people are Racist. Dr. Thomas provided a fascinating discussion about the importance of the current conflict over Pres. Donald J. Trump's pursuit of Greenland and how it is impacting people classified as white in Scandinavia and other regions of Europe. $TheCOWS17Years INVEST in The COWS – http://paypal.me/TheCOWS Cash App: https://cash.app/$TheCOWS CALL IN NUMBER: 720.716.7300 CODE 564943#
In the brutal winter of 1933–1934, mysterious “Ghost Fliers” terrorized the skies over Sweden, Norway, and Finland. These unmarked aircraft flew low through raging blizzards and dense fog — conditions that grounded every conventional plane — shining powerful searchlights over remote villages, railways, and military forts. Eyewitnesses, including soldiers and lighthouse keepers, described silent or intermittently silent engines, impossible maneuvers, and craft that appeared and vanished without trace.MF Thomas opens this gripping episode of My Dark Path with a haunting 1910 precursor: a sleek, black phantom biplane circling New York's illuminated Metropolitan Tower at night, performing death-defying stunts that defied the era's primitive aviation. From there, the phenomenon explodes into hundreds of documented sightings across Scandinavia.Governments launched massive investigations. The Swedish military reviewed 487 reports and deemed dozens credible and unexplained. Newspapers were censored. Search parties scoured snowy mountains on skis. Landings were reported. One aircraft allegedly crashed on a remote Norwegian peak — witnesses saw figures clearing snow, heard engines restart, then found nothing but strange tracks in the snow.Were these secret Soviet, German, or Japanese spy planes? Or something far stranger — early UAPs and the direct predecessors of modern UFO encounters?Drawing on rare newspaper accounts and John A. Keel's definitive research, this episode examines one of the largest and most overlooked aerial mysteries of the 20th century.If you love aviation history, unsolved UFO cases, and true fringe mysteries, this one will keep you up at nightRead MF Thomas' novels Like Clockwork https://amzn.to/417lOzyArcade https://amzn.to/4aTpisxA Sickness in Time https://amzn.to/41apSPKSeeing by Moonlight ...
It's Thursday, February 5th, A.D. 2026. This is The Worldview in 5 Minutes heard on 140 radio stations and at www.TheWorldview.com. I'm Adam McManus. (Adam@TheWorldview.com) By Jonathan Clark Sam Brownback: “Dictators fear religious freedom more than nuclear weapons” The International Religious Freedom Summit held its six annual meeting this week in Washington, D.C. Organizers reported nearly 80% of people around the world live in countries with high levels of restrictions on religion. The meeting identified China, Iran, Russia, Nigeria, and India as some of the worst countries for religious freedom. Sam Brownback, co-chair of the summit, said, “Ours is truly a global movement feared by dictators around the world because we represent the heart of freedom. They actually fear religious freedom more than they do aircraft carriers or even nuclear weapons.” In John 8:31-32, Jesus said, “If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” Finnish authorities continue to harass Christian Parliamentarian Attacks on religious freedom are rising in Europe as well. A prominent example is Finnish Parliamentarian Päivi Räsänen. She has faced trial three times for sharing her Christian beliefs online. Her case is now before Finland's top court. Räsänen testified before the U.S. House Judiciary Committee yesterday in a hearing on Europe's threat to American speech. Concerning her case, she has warned, “If I would lose, it would mean … starting a time of persecution of Christians in Finland and also in Europe.” Listen to her comments at the hearing. RÄSÄNEN: “I have been supported by my faith and thousands of expressions of support I have received from around the world, including many from the U.S. Congress. “I remain hopeful. I trust that freedom of expression can still be upheld. It is too important to lose.” Will Europe ban social media for minors? European countries are considering measures to ban social media use for minors. France's National Assembly passed a bill last week that prohibits children under 15 from using social media. The bill heads to the French Senate. President Emmanuel Macron supports the measure. Similarly, Spain and Greece recently announced plans to ban social media use by teenagers there. This comes after Australia became the first country in the world to enforce such a ban last December. Trump signed $1.2 trillion funding bill In the United States, President Donald Trump signed a $1.2 trillion funding bill on Tuesday. This ends the partial government shutdown that began on Saturday. The bill did not including long-term funding for the Department of Homeland Security which includes U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Democrats are demanding changes to the agency before approving more funding. 700 of 3,000 ICE officers leave Minnesota Speaking of ICE, White House Border Czar Tom Homan announced a drawdown of immigration enforcement officers in Minnesota yesterday. About 700 of the roughly 3,000 officers in the state are leaving. Homan's goal is a complete drawdown which depends on cooperation from local officials. He said, “We currently have an unprecedented number of counties communicating with us now and allowing ICE to take custody of illegal aliens before they hit the streets.” Washington Hospital ends transgender mutilations The News Tribune reports a hospital in Washington State is ending its mutilating transgender surgeries. MultiCare Mary Bridge Children's Hospital in Tacoma cited loss of funding under the Trump administration for the closure. President Donald Trump signed an Executive Order in January 2025, protecting children from chemical and surgical mutilation. Last year, over 20 hospitals began rolling back such practices. Walmart first retailer to reach $1 trillion market capitalization Walmart became the first retailer to reach a market capitalization of one trillion dollars on Tuesday. The list of trillion dollar companies has been dominated by tech companies. Not surprisingly, Walmart's record valuation is accompanied by recent growth in its online business and investment in Artificial Intelligence technology. 1,161st anniversary of Anskar, missionary to Denmark and Sweden And finally, this week is the anniversary of the death of Anskar, the first missionary to Denmark and Sweden. The traditional date of his death is February 3, A.D. 865. Anskar was known as the “Apostle to the North” for his work of evangelism in Scandinavia. Historian A.D. Jorgensen wrote of the missionary, “He possessed a rare eloquence both in preaching and in common talk, so that he left on all men an extraordinary impression: the mighty and haughty were frightened by his tone of authority, the poor and humble looked to him as to a father, whilst his equals loved him as a brother. …. What he carried out in the thirty-three years of his bishopric was of imperishable importance.” In Romans 1:16, the Apostle Paul wrote, “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek.” Close And that's The Worldview on this Thursday, February 5th, in the year of our Lord 2026. Follow us on X or subscribe for free by Spotify, Amazon Music, or by iTunes or email to our unique Christian newscast at www.TheWorldview.com. I'm Adam McManus (Adam@TheWorldview.com). Seize the day for Jesus Christ.
On this week's episode of Inside Business, we hear the argument for scrapping mandatory retirement here.Host Cliff Taylor is joined on the line by Irish Times contributor John Fitzgerald who thinks Ireland should follow the lead of Scandinavia, the Baltics and the Netherlands, where three-quarters of the population aged 60-64 are in the labour force. He makes the case that such a move could not only reduce the numbers on the State pension, ease the cost of ageing to the exchequer, but also help alleviate the housing crisis.Also on this episode, we look at the German economy, which is frequently referred to as the Engine of Europe, but has begun to sputter quite a bit in recent times.A lack of much-needed reform, low levels of foreign investment and ineffective fiscal stimulus measures are just some of the reasons the German Chancellor Freidrich Merz is under increasing pressure to revive the economy, and quickly.But what needs to be done before that revival can start? And is there any cause for positivity in the economic outlook for Germany this year? Irish Times Berlin correspondent Derek Scally offers some insights.Produced by John Casey with JJ Vernon on sound. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Steve welcome Danish school teacher Qiriye to discuss haunted castles, the fae, and more from Scandinavian region.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/missing-persons-mysteries--5624803/support.
In this episode of Good Food, host Samuel Goldsmith sits down with Bettina Campolucci Bordi. Chef, author, and founder of Bettina's Kitchen Academy, to explore the evolving world of wellness, retreat cooking, and plant-based cuisine. Bettina shares her remarkable journey from food and beverage manager to self-taught retreat chef, starting with plant-based, gluten-free retreats in southern Spain over a decade ago. She reveals the unique challenges of retreat cooking, from working with unfamiliar kitchens and local teams to creating nutritionally dense menus that satisfy diverse dietary needs. Key Topics: • The surprising truth about longevity: why community matters more than diet• How to add variety to your plate without overcomplicating things• The "less is more" philosophy in an age of wellness trends and biohacking• Simple swaps for incorporating more plants and pulses into your diet• Why retreat chef training is different from traditional culinary education• Growing up between East Africa and Scandinavia and its influence on her cooking Bettina also discusses her cookbooks, including Celebrate, which focuses on creating inclusive dishes that work for guests with different dietary requirements. Plus, she shares her recipe for Swedish meatballs made with black beans, her technique for making aged cashew cheese, and why she believes cooking for yourself is an act of self-care. Subscribers to the Good Food app via App Store get access to the show ad-free, and with regular bonus content such as interviews recorded at the good food show. To get started, download the Good Food app today. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Allen, Joel, and Yolanda discuss the North Sea Summit where nine European countries committed to 100 gigawatts of offshore wind capacity and the massive economic impact that comes with it. They also break down the federal court ruling that allows Vineyard Wind to resume construction with a tight 45-day window before installation vessels leave. Plus GE Vernova’s Q4 results show $600 million in wind losses and Wind Power Lab CEO Lene Helstern raises concerns about blade quality across the industry. Sign up now for Uptime Tech News, our weekly newsletter on all things wind technology. This episode is sponsored by Weather Guard Lightning Tech. Learn more about Weather Guard’s StrikeTape Wind Turbine LPS retrofit. Follow the show on YouTube, Linkedin and visit Weather Guard on the web. And subscribe to Rosemary’s “Engineering with Rosie” YouTube channel here. Have a question we can answer on the show? Email us! The Uptime Wind Energy Podcast brought to you by Strike Tape, protecting thousands of wind turbines from lightning damage worldwide. Visit strike tape.com. And now your hosts, Allen Hall, Rosemary Barnes, Joel Saxum, and Yolanda Padron. Speaker 2: Welcome to the Uptime Wind Energy Podcast. I’m your host, Alln Hall. I’m here with Yolanda Padron and Joel Saxum. Rosemary Barnes is snorkeling at the Greek Barrier Reef this week, uh, big news out of Northern Europe. Uh, the Northeast Summit, which happened in Hamburg, uh, about a week or so ago, nine European countries are. Making a huge commitment for offshore wind. So it’s the, the countries involved are Britain, Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Iceland, question Mark Ireland, Luxembourg, Netherlands, and Norway. That together they want to develop [00:01:00] 100 gigawatts of offshore wind capacity in shared waters. Uh, that’s enough to power about. 85 million households and the PAC comes as Europe is trying to wean itself from natural gas from where they had it previously and the United States. Uh, so they, they would become electricity in independent. Uh, and this is one way to do it. Two big happy, uh, companies. At the moment, Vattenfall who develops s lot offshore and Siemens gaa of course, are really excited by the news. If you run the numbers and you, you, you have a hundred gigawatts out in the water and you’re using 20 megawatt turbines, then you’re talking about 5,000 turbines in the water total. That is a huge offshore wind order, and I, I think this would be great news for. Obviously Vestas and [00:02:00] Siemens cesa. Uh, the, the question is there’s a lot of political maneuvering that is happening. It looks like Belgium, uh, as a country is not super active and offshore and is rethinking it and trying to figure out where they want to go. But I think the big names will stay, right? France and Germany, all in on offshore. Denmark will be Britain already is. So the question really is at the moment then. Can Siemens get back into the win game and start making money because they have projected themselves to be very profitable coming this year, into this year. This may be the, the stepping stone, Joel. Joel Saxum: Well, I think that, yeah, we talked about last week their 21 megawatt, or 21 and a half megawatt. I believe it is. Big new flagship going to be ready to roll, uh, with the big auctions happening like AR seven in the uk. Uh, and you know, that’s eight gigawatts, 8.4 gigawatts there. People are gonna be, the, the order book’s gonna start to fill up, like [00:03:00]Siemens is, this is a possibility of a big turnaround. And to put some of these numbers in perspective, um, a hundred gigawatts of offshore wind. So what does that really mean? Right? Um, what it means is if you, if you take the, if you take two of the industrial big industrial powerhouses that are a part of this pact, the UK and Germany combine their total demand. That’s a hundred gigawatt. That’s what they, that’s what their demand is basically on a, you know, today. Right? So that’s gonna continue to grow, right? As, uh, we electrify a lot of things. And the indus, you know, the, the next, the Industrial Revolution 4.0 or whatever we’re calling it now is happening. Um, that’s, that’s a possibility, right? So this a hundred gigawatts of offshore wind. Is gonna drive jobs all up all over Europe. Right. This isn’t just a jobs at the port in Rotterdam or wherever it may be. Right? This is, this is manufacturing jobs, supply chain jobs, the same stuff we’ve been talking about on the podcast for a while here with [00:04:00] what the UK is doing with OWGP and the, or e Catapult and all the kind of the monies that the, the, the Crown and, and other, uh, private entities are putting in there. They’re starting to really, they’re, or this a hundred gigawatts is really gonna look like building out that local supply chain. Jobs, all these different things. ’cause Alan, like you, you mentioned off air. If you look at a hundred gigawatts of offshore wind, that’s $200 billion or was to put it in Euros, 175 billion euros, 170 billion euros, just in turbine orders. Right. That doesn’t mean, or that doesn’t cover ships, lodging, food, like, you know, everything around the ports like tools, PPE, all of the stuff that’s needed by this industry. I mean, there’s a, there’s a trillion dollar impact here. Speaker 2: Oh, it’s close. Yeah. It’s at least 500 billion, I would say. And Yolanda, from the asset management side, have we seen anything of this scale to manage? It does seem like there’d be a lot of [00:05:00] turbines in the water. A whole bunch of moving pieces, ships, turbines, cables, transformers, substations, going different directions. How, what kind of infrastructure is that going to take? Yolanda Padron: You know, a lot of the teams that are there, they’re used to doing this on a grand scale, but globally, right? And so having this be all at once in the UK is definitely gonna be interesting. It’ll be a good opportunity for everybody to take all of the lessons learned to, to just try to make sure that they don’t come across any issues that they might have seen in the past, in other sites, in other countries. They just bring everything back home to their countries and then just make sure that everything’s fine. Um, from like development, construction, and, and operations. Joel Saxum: I was thinking about that. Just thinking about development, construction, operations, right? So some of [00:06:00] these sites we’re thinking about like how, you know, that, that, that map of offshore wind in, in the Northern Atlantic, right? So if this is gonna go and we’re talking about the countries involved here, Norway, Germany, Denmark, France, Belgium, you’re gonna have it all over. So into the Baltic Sea. Around Denmark, into the Norwegian waters, uk, Ireland all the way over, and Iceland is there. I don’t think there’s gonna be any development there. I think maybe they’re just there as a, as cheerleaders. Um, offtake, possibly, yes. Some cables running over there. But you’re going to need to repurpose some of the existing infrastructure, or you’re not, not, you’re going to need to, you’re going to get the opportunity to, and this hasn’t happened in offshore wind yet, right? So. Basically repowering offshore wind, and you’re going to be able to look at, you know, you’re not doing, um, greenfield geotechnical work and greenfield, um, sub c mapping. Like, some of those things are done right, or most of those things are done. So there, I know there’s a lot of, like, there’s a, there’s two and [00:07:00] three and six and seven megawatt turbines all over the North Atlantic, so we’re gonna be able to pop some of those up. Put some 15 and 20 megawatt machines in place there. I mean, of course you’re not gonna be able to reuse the same mono piles, but when it comes to Yolanda, like you said, the lessons learned, Hey, the vessel plans for this area are done. The how, how, how we change crews out here, the CTVs and now and SOVs into port and that stuff, that those learnings are done. How do we maintain export cables and inter array cables with the geotechnic here, you’re not in a green field, you’re in a brown field. That, that, that work. A lot of those lessons learned. They’re done, right? You’ve, you’ve stumbled through them, you’ve made those mistakes. You’ve had to learn on the fly and go ahead here. But when you go to the next phase of Repowering, an offshore wind farm, the the Dev X cost is gonna go way down, in my opinion. Now, someone, someone may fight back on that and say, well, we have to go do some demolition or something of that sort. I’m not sure, but [00:08:00] Yolanda Padron: yeah. But I think, you know. We like to complain sometimes in the US about how some of the studies just aren’t catered toward us, right? And so we’ve seen it a lot and it’s a lot of the studies that are made are just made in Europe where, where this is all taking place. So it’s gonna be really, really interesting to see such a massive growth where everything’s being developed and where the studies are localized from where. You have this very niche area and they can, they’ve studied it. They know exactly what’s going on there. And to your point, they’ve seen a lot of, they’ve minimized the risk, like the environmental risks as much as they could. Right. And so it’s, it’s going to be really, really interesting to have them Joel Saxum: ensuring and financing these projects should be way easier Speaker 2: when Europe is saying that the industry has pledged to cut costs by 30% between. 20, 25 and 2040. So you would think that the turbine [00:09:00] costs and the installation costs would have to be really cost conscious on the supply chain and, uh, taking lessons learned from the previous generations of offshore wind. I think that makes sense. 30% is still a lot, and I, I think the, the feeling I’m getting from this is, Hey, we’re making a hundred gigawatt commitment to this industry. You have to work really hard to deliver a efficient product, get the cost down so it’s not costing as much as, you know. Could do if we, if we did it today, and we’re kind of in from an offshore standpoint over in Europe, what a generation are we in, in terms of turbines three? Are we going into four? A lot of lessons learned. Joel Saxum: Yeah. The, the new Siemens one’s probably generation four. Yeah. I would say generation four in the new, because you went from like the two and three megawatt machines. Like there’s like Vesta three megawatts all over the place, and then you went into the directive [00:10:00] machines. You got into that seven and eight megawatt class, and then you got into the, where we’re at now, the 15, the 12 and 15 megawatt units, the Docker bank style stuff, and then I would say generation four is the, yeah, the Siemens 21 and a half machine. Um, that’s a good way to look at it. Alan four we’re on the fourth generation of offshore wind and, and so it’s Generation one is about ready to start being cycled. There’s some, and some of these are easier, they’re nearer to shore. We’ll see what, uh, who starts to take those projects on. ’cause that’s gonna be an undertaking too. Question on the 30%, uh, wind Europe says industry has pledged to cut cost by 30% by 20. Is that. LCOE or is it devex costs or is it operational costs or did they, were they specific on it or they just kinda like cut cutting costs? Speaker 2: My recollection when that first came about, which was six months ago, maybe a little longer, it was LCOE, [00:11:00] right? So they’re, they’re trying to drive down the, uh, dollars per, or euros per megawatt hour output, but that the capital costs, if the governments can help with the capital costs. On the interest rates, just posting bonds and keeping that down, keeping the interest rates low for these projects by funding them somehow or financing them, that will help a tremendous amount. ’cause if. Interest rates remain high. I know Europe is much lower than it is in the United States at the minute, but if they interest rates start to creep up, these projects will not happen. They’re marginal Joel Saxum: because you have your central in, in, in Europe, you have your central bank interest rates, but even like the f the, the Indi Individual nation states will subsidize that. Right? Like if you go to buy a house in Denmark right now, you pay like 1.2%. Interest Speaker 2: compared to what, six and a half right now in the states? Yeah, it’s low. Speaker 4: Australia’s wind farms are [00:12:00] growing fast. But are your operations keeping up? Join us February 17th and 18th at Melbourne’s Pullman on the park for Wind energy o and M Australia 2026, where you’ll connect with the experts solving real problems in maintenance asset management. And OEM relations. Walk away with practical strategies to cut costs and boost uptime that you can use the moment you’re back on site. Register now at WMA 2020 six.com. Wind Energy o and m Australia is created by wind professionals for wind professionals because this industry needs solutions, not speeches, Speaker 2: as we all know. On December 22nd, the federal government issued a stop work order. On all offshore winds that included vineyard wind up off the coast of Massachusetts, that’s a 62 turbine, $4.5 billion wind farm. Uh, that’s being powered by some GE turbines. Uh, the government [00:13:00] has, uh, cited national security concerns, but vineyard went to court and Federal Judge Brian Murphy rolled the, the administration failed to adequately explain or justify the decision to shut it down. Uh, the judge issued a stay, which it is allowing Vineyard went to immediately resume work on the project now. They’re close to being finished at a vineyard. There are 44 turbines that are up and running right now and creating power and delivering power on shore. There are 17 that are partially installed. Uh, when the stop order came. The biggest issue at the moment, if they can’t get rolling again, there are 10 towers with Noels on them, what they call hammerheads. That don’t have blades. And, uh, the vineyard wind. Last week as we were recording this, said you really don’t want hammerheads out in the water because they become a risk. They’re not assembled, completed [00:14:00] items. So lightning strikes and other things could happen, and you really don’t want them to be that way. You want to finish those turbines, so now they have an opportunity to do it. The window’s gonna be short. And Yolanda listening to some GE discussions, they were announcing their Q4 results from last year. The ships are available till about the end of March, and then the ships are gonna finally go away and go work on another project. So they have about 45 days to get these turbines done. I guess my question is, can they get it done work-wise? And I, I, I guess the, the issue is they gotta get the turbines running and if they do maintenance on it, that’s gonna be okay. So I’m wondering what they do with blade sets. Do they have a, a set of blades that are, maybe they pass QC but they would like them to be better? Do they install ’em just to get a turbine operational even temporarily to get this project quote unquote completed so they can get paid? Yolanda Padron: Yeah. If, if the risk is low, low [00:15:00] enough, it, it should be. I mean a little bit tight, but what, what else can you do? Right? I mean, the vessel, like you might have a shot of getting the vessel back eventually, or being able to get something in so you can do some of the blade repairs. And the blade repairs of tower would require a different vessel than like bringing in a whole blade, right? And so just. You have a very limited time scope to be able to do everything. So I don’t know that I would risk just not being able to pull this off altogether and just risk the, you know, the rest of the tower by not having a complete, you know, LPS and everything on there just because not everything’s a hundred percent perfect. Joel Saxum: There’s a weird mix in technical and commercial risk here, right? Because. Technically, we have these hammerheads out there, right? There’s a million things that can happen with those. Like I, I’ve [00:16:00] personally done RCAs where, um, you have a hammerhead on this was onshore, right? But they, they will get, um, what’s called, uh, Viv, uh, vortex induced vibration. So when they don’t have the full components out there, wind will go by and they’ll start to shake these things. I’ve seen it where they shook them so much because they’re not designed to be up there like that. They shook them so much that like the bolts started loosening and concrete started cracking in the foundations and like it destroyed the cable systems inside the tower ’cause they sat there and vibrated so violently. So like that kind of stuff is a possibility if you don’t have the right, you know. Viv protection on and those kind of things, let alone lightning risk and some other things. So you have this technical risk of them sitting out there like that. But you also have the commercial risk, right? Because the, the banks, the financiers, the insurance companies, there’s the construction policies and there’s, there’s, you gotta hit these certain timelines or it’s just like if you’re building a house, right? You’re building a house, you have to go by the loan that the bank gives you in, you know, in micro [00:17:00] terms to kind of think about that. That’s the same thing that happens with this project, except for this project’s four and a half billion dollars and probably has. It’s 6, 8, 10 banks involved in it. Right? So you have a lot of, there’s a lot of commercial risk. If you don’t, if you don’t move forward when you have the opportunity to, they won’t, they’ll frown on that. Right? But then you have to balance the technical side. So, so looking at the project as a whole, you’ve got 62 turbines, 44 or fully operational. So that leaves us with 18 that are not. Of those 18, you said Alan? 10 needed blades. Speaker 2: 10 need blades, and one still needs to be erected. Joel Saxum: Okay, so what’s the other seven? Speaker 2: They’re partially installed, so they, they haven’t completed the turbine, so everything’s put together, but they haven’t powered them up yet. Joel Saxum: I was told that. Basically with the kit that they have out of vineyard wind, that they can do one turbine a day blades. Speaker 2: That would be, yeah, that would make sense to me. Joel Saxum: But, but you also have to, you have 45 days of vessel time left. You said they’re gonna leave in March, but you also gotta think it’s fricking winter in. The, [00:18:00] in the Atlantic Speaker 2: they are using jackass. However, there’s big snow storms and, and low uh, pressure storms that are rolling through just that area. ’cause they, they’ve kind of come to the Midwest and then shoot up the east coast. That’s where you see New York City with a lot of snow. Boston had a lot of snow just recently. They’re supposed to get another storm like that. And then once it hits Boston, it kind of hits the water, which is where vineyard is. So turbulent water for sure. Super cold this time of year out there, Joel Saxum: but wind, you can’t sling blades in, in probably more than what, six meters per second’s? Probably your cutoff. Speaker 2: Yeah. This is not the best time of year to be putting blade sets up offshore us. Joel Saxum: Technically, if you had blue skies, yeah, this thing can get done and we can move. But with weather risk added in you, you’ve got, there’s some wild cards there. Speaker 2: I It’s gonna be close. Joel Saxum: Yeah. If we looked at the, the weather, it looks like even, I think this coming weekend now we’re recording in January here, and [00:19:00] this weekend’s, first week in February coming, there’s supposed to be another storm rolling up through there too. Speaker 2: It was pretty typical having lived in Massachusetts almost 25 years. It will be stormy until April. So we’re talking about the time span of which GE and Vineyard want to be done. That’s a rough period for snow. And as historically, uh, that timeframe is also when nor’easters happened, where the storms just sit there and cyclone off the shore around vineyard and then dump the snow back on land. Those storms are really violent and there’s no way they’re gonna be hanging. Anything out in the water, so I think it’s gonna be close. They’re gonna have to hope for good weather. Don’t let blade damage catch you off guard. OGs, ping sensors detect issues before they become expensive, time consuming problems from ice buildup and lightning strikes to pitch misalignment and internal blade cracks. OGs Ping has you covered The cutting edge sensors are easy to install, giving you [00:20:00] the power to stop damage before it’s too late. Visit eLog ping.com and take control of your turbine’s health today. So while GE Ver Nova celebrated strong results in its Q4 report, in both its energy and electrification business, the company’s wind division told a different story. In the fourth quarter of 2025, wind revenue fell 24% to $2.37 billion. Uh, driven primarily by offshore wind struggles, vineyard, wind, uh. The company recorded approximately $600 million in win losses for the full year up from earlier expectations of about $400 million. That’s what I remember from last summer. Uh, the, the culprit was. All vineyard wind, they gotta get this project done. And with this work stoppages, it just keeps dragging it on and on and on. And I know GE has really wanted to wrap that up as [00:21:00] fast as they can. Uh, CEO Scott Straza has said the company delivered strong financial results, which they clearly have because they’re gas turbine business is taking orders out to roughly 2035, and I think the number on the back order was gonna be somewhere in the realm of 150 billion. Dollars, which is an astronomical number for back orders. And because they had the back orders that far out, they’re raising prices which improves margins, which makes everybody on the stock market happy. You would think, Joel? Except after the, the Q4 results today, GE Renovo stock is really flat, Joel Saxum: which is an odd thing, right? I talk about it all the time. Um, I’m always thinking they’re gonna drop and they go up and they go up and they go up. But today was just kind of like a, I don’t know how to take it. Yeah. And I don’t know if it’s a, a broader sentiment across what the market was doing today because there was some other tech earnings and things of that sort, but it’s always something to watch, right? So. Uh, there, [00:22:00] there’s some interesting stuff going on on in the GE world, but one thing I want to touch on here, we’re talking like vineyard wind caused them this, these delays right there is a, a, a larger call to understand why there was these delays and because it’s causing. Havoc across the industry. Right. But even the, like, a lot of like, uh, conservative lawmakers, like there were some senators and stuff coming out saying like, we need more transparency to understand these 90 day halts because of what it’s doing to the industry, right? Because to date there hasn’t been really any explanation and the judges have been just kind of throwing ’em out. Um, but you can see what it’s done here to ge. Recording $600 million in win losses. I mean, and that is mostly all vineyard wind, right? But there’s a little bit of Dogger bank stuff in there. I would imagine Speaker 2: a tiny bit. Really? ’cause Dogger has been a lot less stressful to ge. Joel Saxum: But it is, yeah. The, the uncertainty of the market. And that’s why we kind of said a little bit, I said a little bit ago, like when this thing is done, when Vineyard [00:23:00] Point is like, and when you can put the final nail in the coffin of construction on that, it is gonna be agh sigh of relief over at GEs offices For sure. Speaker 2: Our friend Alina, Hal Stern appeared in Energy Watch this week and she’s spent a long time in the wind industry. She’s been in it 25 years, and, uh, she commented that she’s seeing some troubling things. Uh, she’s also the new CEO of Wind Power Lab over in Denmark, and they’re a consultancy firm on wind turbines and particularly blades. Uh, Lena says that she’s watched some. Really significant manufacturing errors in operational defects and wind turbine blades become more frequent. And in 2025 alone, Windpower lab analyzed and provided repair recommendations for over 700 blades globally. And I assume, or Blade Whisperer Morton Hamburg was involved in a number of those. Uh, the problem she says is that the market eagerly, uh, [00:24:00] demanded cheap turbines, which is true. And, uh. Everything had to be done faster and with lower costs, and you end up with a product that reflects that. Uh, we’ve had Lena on a podcast a couple of times, super smart. Uh, she’s great to talk to, get offline and understand what’s happening behind the scenes. And, uh, in some of these conference rooms between asset managers, operators, and OEMs, those are sometimes tough. Discussions, but I, I think Lena’s pointing out something that I, the industry has been trying to deal with and she’s raising it up sort of to a higher level because she has that weight to do that. We have some issues with blades that we need to figure out pretty quickly. And Yolanda, you ran, uh, a large, uh, operator in the United States. We’re dealing with more than a thousand turbines. How locked in is Lena, uh, to [00:25:00]some of these issues? And are they purely driven just by the push to lower the cost of the blades or was it more of a speed issue that they making a longer blades in the same amount of time? Where’s that balance and, and what are we going to do about it going forward as we continue to make larger turbines? Yolanda Padron: She’s great with, with her point, and I think it’s. A little bit about the, or equally about the OEMs maybe not being aware of these issues as much, or not having the, the bandwidth to take care of these issues with limited staff and just a lot of the people who are charge of developing and constructing these projects at a very short amount of time, or at least with having to wear so many hats that they. Don’t necessarily have the, the bandwidth to do a deep dive on what the potential risks could be in [00:26:00] operations. And so I think the way I’ve, I’ve seen it, I’ve experienced it. It’s almost like everybody’s running a marathon. Their shoe laces untied, so they trip and then they just kind of keep on running ’cause you’re behind, ’cause you tripped. And so it just keeps on, it’s, it’s, it’s a vicious cycle. Um. But, uh, we’ve also seen just, just in our time together and everything, that there’s a lot of people that are noticing this and that are taking the time to just pause, you know, tie those releases and just talk to each other a little bit more of, Hey, I’m the one engineer doing this for so many turbines. You have these turbines too. Are you seeing this issue? Yes. No. Are, how are you tackling it? How have you tackled it in the past? How can we work together to, to use the data we have? Right? That, I mean, if you’re not going to get a really great answer from your OEMs or if you’re not going to get a lot of [00:27:00] easily available answers just from the dataset that you’re seeing from your turbine, it’s really easy now to to reach out to other people within the industry and to be able to talk it over, which I think is something that Lena. Is definitely encouraging here. Joel Saxum: Yeah. Yeah. It’s, I mean, she, she makes a statement about owners needing to be technically mature, ensure you have inspections, get your TSAs right. So these are, again, it’s lessons learned. It’s sharing knowledge within the market because at the end of the day, this is a new, not a new reality. This is the reality we’re living in. Right. It’s not new. Um, but, but we’re getting better at it. I think that’s the, the important thing here, right? From a, from a. If we take a, the collective group of operators in the world and say like, you know, where were you two, three years ago and where are you today? I think we’re in a much better place, and that’s from knowledge sharing and, and understanding these issues. And, you know, we’re, we’re at the behest of, uh, good, fast, cheap pick. [00:28:00] Right. And so that’s got us where we are today. But now we’re, we’re starting to get best practices, lessons learned, fix things for the next go around. And you’re seeing efforts at the OEM level as well to, uh, and some, some of these consultants coming out, um, to, to try to fix some of these manufacturing issues. You know, Alan, you and I have talked with DFS composites with Gulf Wind Technology. Like there, there’s things here that we could possibly fix. You’re starting to see operators do. Internal inspections to the blades on the ground before they fly them. That’s huge. Right? That’s been the Wind Power lab has been talking about that since 2021. Right. But the message is finally getting out to the industry of this is what you should be doing as a best practice to, you know, de-risk. ’cause that’s the whole thing. You de-risk, de-risk, de-risk. Uh, so I think. Lena’s spot on, right? We know that this, these things are happening. We’re working with the OEMs to do them, but it takes them a technically mature operator. And if you’re, if you don’t have the staff to be technically mature, go grab a consultant, [00:29:00] go grab someone that is to help you out. I think that’s a, that’s an important, uh, thing to take from this as well. Those people are out there, those groups are out there, so go and go in, enlist that to make sure you’re de-risking this thing, because at the end of the day, if we’re de-risking turbines. It’s better for the whole industry. Speaker 2: Yeah. You want to grab somebody that has seen a lot of blades, not a sole consultant on a particular turbine mine. You’re talking about at this point in the development of the wind industry, you’re talking about wind power labs, sky specs kind of companies that have seen thousands of turbines and have a broad reach where they’ve done things globally, just not in Scandinavia or the US or Australia or somewhere else. They’ve, they’ve seen problems worldwide. Those people exist, and I, I don’t think we as an industry use them as much as we could, but it would get to the solutions faster because having seen so many global [00:30:00] issues with the St turbine, the solution set does vary depending on where you are. But it’s been proven out already. So even though you as an asset manager. May have never heard of this technique to make your performance better. You make your blades last longer. It’s probably been done at this point, unless it’s a brand new turbine. So a lot of the two x machines and three X machines, and now we’re talking about six X machines. There’s answers out there, but you’re gonna have to reach out to somebody who has a global reach. We’ve grown too big to do it small anymore, Yolanda Padron: which really should be a relief to. All of the asset managers and operations people and everything out there, right? Like. You don’t have to use your turbines as Guinea pigs anymore. You don’t have to struggle with this. Speaker 2: That wraps up another episode of the Uptime Wind Energy Podcast, and if today’s discussion sparked any questions or ideas, we’d love to hear from you. Reach out to us on LinkedIn and don’t forget to subscribe so you never miss an episode. [00:31:00] And if you found value in today’s conversation, please leave us a review. It really helps other wind energy professionals discover the show for Rosie, Yolanda and Joel. I am Alan Hall, and we’ll see you here next week on the Uptime Wind Energy Podcast.
In this episode, we sit down with archaeologist Cecilia Ljung from Uppsala University to explore one of the biggest transformations of the Viking Age: the shift from Norse pagan traditions to Christianity.Through graves, runestones, and early towns, we follow the physical evidence of how belief, ritual, and daily life changed across Scandinavia.Subscribe to stay updated! Also available on all platforms where podcasts are found, such as Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music and more. Find all the links in our linktree: https://linktr.ee/grimfrost
Full Text of Readings The Saint of the day is Saint Ansgar Saint Ansgar's Story The “apostle of the north” (Scandinavia) had enough frustrations to become a saint—and he did. He became a Benedictine at Corbie, France, where he had been educated. Three years later, when the king of Denmark became a convert, Ansgar went to that country for three years of missionary work, without noticeable success. Sweden asked for Christian missionaries, and he went there, suffering capture by pirates and other hardships on the way. Fewer than two years later, he was recalled, to become abbot of New Corbie (Corvey) and bishop of Hamburg. The pope made him legate for the Scandinavian missions. Funds for the northern apostolate stopped with Emperor Louis's death. After 13 years' work in Hamburg, Saint Ansgar saw it burned to the ground by invading Northmen; Sweden and Denmark returned to paganism. He directed new apostolic activities in the North, traveling to Denmark and being instrumental in the conversion of another king. By the strange device of casting lots, the king of Sweden allowed the Christian missionaries to return. Saint Ansgar's biographers remark that he was an extraordinary preacher, a humble and ascetical priest. He was devoted to the poor and the sick, imitating the Lord in washing their feet and waiting on them at table. He died peacefully at Bremen, Germany, without achieving his wish to be a martyr. Sweden became pagan again after his death, and remained so until the coming of missionaries two centuries later. Saint Ansgar shares the celebration of his liturgical feast with Saint Blase on February 3. Reflection History records what people do, rather than what they are. Yet the courage and perseverance of men and women like Ansgar can only come from a solid base of union with the original courageous and persevering Missionary. Ansgar's life is another reminder that God writes straight with crooked lines. Christ takes care of the effects of the apostolate in his own way; he is first concerned about the purity of the apostles themselves.Saint of the Day, Copyright Franciscan Media
As we continue our series on the different flavors that each grain brings. We dive into Wheat this episode. The abundance of it, it's many uses. And it's flavor contribution to a whiskey, and the world. I hope you enjoy and Be BlessedBadmotivatorbarrels.com/shop/?aff=3https://www.instagram.com/zsmithwhiskeyandmixology?utm_source=ig_web_button_share_sheet&igsh=ZDNlZDc0MzIxNw==Wheat is a global staple because of its high yields, extreme climate adaptability, and exceptional shelf stability. In the world of whiskey, it acts as a "gentling agent," transforming the spirit's character from bold and spicy to soft and approachable. Why Wheat is So AbundantExtreme Adaptability: Wheat grows in diverse climates across six continents, from sub-arctic regions in Scandinavia to subtropical zones in Africa.High Efficiency: Modern hybrid varieties have significantly increased production yields while maintaining a stable harvested area.Long Shelf Life: When kept dry, wheat seeds are shelf-stable for years, a historical necessity for surviving droughts and famines.Ease of Cultivation: Unlike more labor-intensive crops like rice, wheat is relatively easy to grow in massive amounts. Wheat's Contributions to WhiskeyMellowed Flavor Profile: Replacing spicy rye with wheat in a mash bill (creating "wheated bourbon") removes peppery notes, allowing the natural sweetness of corn to shine through.Soft Mouthfeel: Wheat contributes a creamy, velvety, or "pillowy" texture to the liquid, often described as a "rounded" mouthfeel.Distinct Aromas: It typically imparts notes of honey, vanilla, caramel, and freshly baked bread.Graceful Aging: Wheat's gentle nature allows it to interact harmoniously with charred oak, letting barrel notes like toffee and toasted coconut emerge without being overshadowed by heavy spice.Approachability: Because it is less aggressive on the palate, wheated whiskeys (like Maker's Mark) are frequently recommended as entry points for beginners. 1. The "Cradle" and Ancient FoundersGeographic Origin: Wheat was first domesticated around 10,000–12,000 years ago in the Fertile Crescent, particularly in modern-day southeastern Turkey and parts of the Levant.Ancestor Species: It began with wild Einkorn and Emmer, two of the "eight founder crops" of the Neolithic Revolution.The "Accidental" Harvest: Hunter-gatherers initially gathered wild grains that shattered easily. Domestication happened when humans unknowingly selected mutant strains with a "tough rachis", which kept the seeds attached to the stalk rather than scattering them, making large-scale harvesting possible.2. Genetic ComplexityPolyploidy (Genome Merging): Unlike many plants, wheat has a massive, complex genome. Modern bread wheat is "hexaploid," meaning it contains six copies of its genes. This resulted from natural hybridization events between different wild grass species and ancestral wheats over thousands of years.Resulting Adaptability: This genetic "super-stacking" gave wheat the ability to adapt to almost any climate, from the sub-arctic to the sub-tropics.3. The Shift to CivilizationPermanent Settlements: Because wheat could be easily stored for years, humans were no longer forced to follow seasonal food sources. This surplus led to permanent villages, specialized labor (like potters and bakers), and eventually the first empires in Mesopotamia and Egypt.Industrial and Green Revolutions:In the 1870s, the steel roller mill allowed for the mass production of white flour.In the 1950s–60s, Norman Borlaug (the "Father of the Green Revolution") developed semi-dwarf, high-yield varieties that doubled global production and saved millions from starvation.4. From Bread to the BottleColonial Impact: European settlers brought wheat to the Americas in the late 15th century. By the 1800s, the U.S. Great Plains became the world's "breadbasket."
Ellen sets the record straight on Norway lemmings, busting over 400 years of myths. We discuss rodent audacity, ecological impacts that can be seen from space, spontaneous generation, Ole Worm, Atlantis, a Disney lie, and so much more.Works Cited:“Genome analyses suggest recent speciation and postglacial isolation in the Norwegian lemming” - Edana Lord et al., PNAS, June 2025“Aposematism and crypsis in a rodent: antipredator defence of the Norwegian lemming” - Malte Andersson, Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology, April 2015"Vole and lemming activity observed from space" - Johan Olofsson et al, Nature Climate Change, May 2012"Ole Worm (1588-1654) - anatomist and antiquarian" - Rafael Romero Reveron & Luis A Arráez-Aybar, European Journal of Anatomy, July 2015"The Norwegian Lemming and its Migrations" - W. Duppa Crotch, Popular Science Monthly, August 1877"Lemming Suicide Myth: Disney Film Faked Bogus Behavior" - Riley Woodford, Alaska Department of Fish & Game, September 2003"Falling lemming populations" - Chris Smith, ScienceNorway.no, July 2012"Lemmings' loss is bounty for moss" - Bjørnar Kjensli, ScienceNorway.no, March 2012Links:For more information about us & our podcast, head over to our website!Follow Just the Zoo of Us on BlueSky, Facebook, Instagram & Discord!Follow Ellen on Instagram or BlueSky!
Ellen sets the record straight on Norway lemmings, busting over 400 years of myths. We discuss rodent audacity, ecological impacts that can be seen from space, spontaneous generation, Ole Worm, Atlantis, a Disney lie, and so much more.Works Cited:“Genome analyses suggest recent speciation and postglacial isolation in the Norwegian lemming” - Edana Lord et al., PNAS, June 2025“Aposematism and crypsis in a rodent: antipredator defence of the Norwegian lemming” - Malte Andersson, Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology, April 2015"Vole and lemming activity observed from space" - Johan Olofsson et al, Nature Climate Change, May 2012"Ole Worm (1588-1654) - anatomist and antiquarian" - Rafael Romero Reveron & Luis A Arráez-Aybar, European Journal of Anatomy, July 2015"The Norwegian Lemming and its Migrations" - W. Duppa Crotch, Popular Science Monthly, August 1877"Lemming Suicide Myth: Disney Film Faked Bogus Behavior" - Riley Woodford, Alaska Department of Fish & Game, September 2003"Falling lemming populations" - Chris Smith, ScienceNorway.no, July 2012"Lemmings' loss is bounty for moss" - Bjørnar Kjensli, ScienceNorway.no, March 2012Links:For more information about us & our podcast, head over to our website!Follow Just the Zoo of Us on BlueSky, Facebook, Instagram & Discord!Follow Ellen on Instagram or BlueSky!
Should the BBC be publicly funded? This week, Alan and Lionel are joined by media researchers and fellows of the British Academy, Georgina Born and Justin Lewis, whose new report on public service media tells us what the data really says. Reforms are needed, but how radical should they be?The researchers discuss how to ensure the BBC's independence and accountability, and what the UK can learn from international media systems, like those in Germany and Scandinavia, about how to make governance more democratic. They also explore what works, what doesn't—and why it all matters.And, with Nigel Farage promising to abolish the licence fee, is there a way to future-proof the broadcaster? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
This week, our Gabfest panel includes Steve and guest hosts Nadira Goffe and Laura Miller with a typically eclectic collection of topics. First up, Dana hops on the call to decode the unspoken truths and dream imagery of Kleber Mendonça Filho's film The Secret Agent. Set in 1970s Recife, Brazil and starring a very charming Wagner Moura, the film is a heterodox brew of political thriller, magical realism, and attentive character study about the everyday surreality of life under dictatorship.Next, it's back to Westeros with a discussion of A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, a Game of Thrones prequel set 100 years before the original show based on George R.R. Martin's fantasy epic. Grounded and surprisingly funny, don't expect dragons in this knight's tale.Finally, they turn to “Gluttons for Punishment,” a recent Vulture article by Lila Shapiro about UPenn religious studies professor Justin McDaniel using some extreme, unorthodox measures to get his students to finish books.In an exclusive bonus episode for Slate Plus subscribers, the panel talks to Laura about the secret pleasures of wood stacking as discussed in her recent piece “The Art of the Holzhausen.”EndorsementsNadira: Some melancholy shoegaze pop from Scandinavia, specifically the albums Goodbyehouse by Snuggle and Big City Life by Smerz.Laura: The novels of Robert Jackson Bennett in his Shadow of the Leviathan series including Hugo-winning The Tainted Cup and A Drop of Corruption.Steve: The Substack essay “The Wall Looks Permanent Until It Falls Down” by Adam Bonica about the cost of American exceptionalism.And a bonus one from Dana: Pictures of Ghosts, the documentary by The Secret Agent director Kleber Mendonça Filho about Recife, Brazil in the 1970s.--Email us your thoughts at culturefest@slate.com. Podcast production by Kevin Bendis. Production assistance by Daniel Hirsch. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
This week I discuss the current challenges facing wine due to climate change. I cover some strategies the industry is undertaking to address the major issues -- from vineyard and tech solutions to new varieties (Pilzwiderstandsfahige Reben or PiWi grapes!). Then I cover emerging regions that are doing a surprisingly great job making innovative wines! From Normandy, France to the UK, Tasmania, and countries in Scandinavia, you will get a great idea of what is happening on the cutting edge of wine! As promised, here are some names of Danish and Swedish Vineyards: Denmark: Skærsøgaard Dons Cuvée Brut is award winning Dansk Vincenter Frederiksborg Vin Vinperlen Domain Aalsgaard Lille Gadegaard Dyrehøj Vingaard Nygårdsminde Vingård (northernmost commercial wine production) Sweden: Kullabergs vingård Arilds Vingård Thora Vingård Vejby Vingård Lottenlund Estate Flyinge Vingård Flädie Mat & Vingård Full show notes and all back episodes are on Patreon. Become a member today! www.patreon.com/winefornormalpeople _______________________________________________________________ Check out my exclusive sponsor, Wine Access. They have an amazing selection -- once you get hooked on their wines, they will be your go-to! Make sure you join the Wine Access-Wine For Normal People wine club for wines I select delivered to you four times a year! To register for an AWESOME, LIVE WFNP class with Elizabeth or get a class gift certificate for the wine lover in your life go to: www.winefornormalpeople.com/classes
This week, our Gabfest panel includes Steve and guest hosts Nadira Goffe and Laura Miller with a typically eclectic collection of topics. First up, Dana hops on the call to decode the unspoken truths and dream imagery of Kleber Mendonça Filho's film The Secret Agent. Set in 1970s Recife, Brazil and starring a very charming Wagner Moura, the film is a heterodox brew of political thriller, magical realism, and attentive character study about the everyday surreality of life under dictatorship.Next, it's back to Westeros with a discussion of A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, a Game of Thrones prequel set 100 years before the original show based on George R.R. Martin's fantasy epic. Grounded and surprisingly funny, don't expect dragons in this knight's tale.Finally, they turn to “Gluttons for Punishment,” a recent Vulture article by Lila Shapiro about UPenn religious studies professor Justin McDaniel using some extreme, unorthodox measures to get his students to finish books.In an exclusive bonus episode for Slate Plus subscribers, the panel talks to Laura about the secret pleasures of wood stacking as discussed in her recent piece “The Art of the Holzhausen.”EndorsementsNadira: Some melancholy shoegaze pop from Scandinavia, specifically the albums Goodbyehouse by Snuggle and Big City Life by Smerz.Laura: The novels of Robert Jackson Bennett in his Shadow of the Leviathan series including Hugo-winning The Tainted Cup and A Drop of Corruption.Steve: The Substack essay “The Wall Looks Permanent Until It Falls Down” by Adam Bonica about the cost of American exceptionalism.And a bonus one from Dana: Pictures of Ghosts, the documentary by The Secret Agent director Kleber Mendonça Filho about Recife, Brazil in the 1970s.--Email us your thoughts at culturefest@slate.com. Podcast production by Kevin Bendis. Production assistance by Daniel Hirsch. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Heat pumps sit at the heart of Europe's strategy to cut emissions and reduce dependence on imported gas. Under the EU's REPowerEU plan, the bloc is targeting 60 million heat pumps by 2030. By the end of 2025, almost 30 million units were already installed — progress, but still only halfway to the goal.Gerard and Laurent are joined by Paul Kenny, Director General of the European Heat Pump Association (EHPA), to unpack why adoption has surged in countries such as Japan, Scandinavia and parts of the US, while many European markets continue to lag.After a strong year in 2022, European heat pump sales slowed in 2023 and 2024 amid high upfront costs, a shortage of qualified installers, weaker policy support and an unfavourable price relationship between gas and electricity. Paul explains why confidence is returning in 2025, with 1m heat pumps sold across 13 European countries in the first half of 2025, a 9% increase on 2024.We also look beyond residential heating to the rapid rise of industrial heat pumps, which could become a major decarbonisation tool for sectors requiring heat below 200°C, including food processing and pharmaceuticals. The conversation explores how heat pumps can add flexibility to the power system, in some cases reducing the need for battery storage, and why data centre heat management is emerging as a key new application.As the leading voice of Europe's heat pump industry, EHPA is working to make heat pumps the preferred technology for sustainable heating and cooling — strengthening Europe's competitiveness, resilience and energy security in the process.-----At Redefining Energy, we are excited to be part of International Energy Week, where some of the biggest names in global energy come together for a packed agenda tackling the ideas, technologies, and policies shaping the future. ENGIE's CEO Catherine MacGregor will be speaking, as well as IEA Executive Director Dr Fatih Birol and Shell's CEO Wael Sawan. Join us there and get 20% off your ticket with the promo code REIEWEEK20. https://www.ieweek.co.uk/--Finally, Gerard and Laurent are invited by Jan Rosenow, professor of energy and climate policy at Oxford university and an energy policy expert, for a live session at Oriel College in Oxford on 25/2/26.
Today we get LOUD with Maria Algren, co-founder of Common Clouds, Scandinavia's first acne-positive skincare brand. Based in Stockholm, Common Clouds was built to challenge traditional beauty standards and the idea that acne needs to be “fixed.” In this conversation, Maria shares her personal journey with acne, rosacea, and skin shame, and how those experiences—along with years spent working inside the beauty industry—sparked the creation of a brand rooted in transparency, education, and compassion. We dive into how beauty standards differ between Scandinavia, North America, and Asia, why “natural beauty” can sometimes create even more pressure, and how acne stigma continues to affect mental health across generations. Maria also opens up about starting a fully female-led company, building skincare products without marketing fluff, and setting realistic expectations around what skincare can—and cannot—do. This episode is a reminder that skincare goes far beyond the surface, and that confidence, worth, and purpose aren't defined by clear skin. Find more from Common Clouds: https://www.instagram.com/commonclouds.official/?hl=en https://commonclouds.com/en-eu?srsltid=AfmBOop5ra4O0H0YC2GBo1pT6TnEgmt5T9XxmzU15RAUZgu_OkyaLacN Shop real skin. real results: https://nine2fiveskin.com/?srsltid=AfmBOopk2v0D54GGBytjOROnxl5BkDhrJvUaxzx9fIQXnqogUbGbyZEL Audio versions: Catch LTWL on Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/na/podcast/loudtalk-with-lavi/id1664975601 Catch LTWL on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3lXkBxqJOYzwu3g15fCmCM For podcast highlights and updates follow: LTWL Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/loudtalkwithlavi LTWL TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@loudtalkwithlavi More Lavi: Lavinia Rusanda YouTube: / @laviniarusanda Lavinia Rusanda TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@laviniarusanda Lavinia Rusanda Instagram: https://www.https://www.instagram.com/laviniarusanda Join content creator, engineering, and business student Lavinia Rusanda as she uncovers the secrets of the beauty industry, breaks down the walls of beauty standards, and encourages self-love and confidence while bringing awareness to acne and real, unfiltered skin.
Discussion of things literally or figuratively unearthed in the last quarter of 2025 continues. It begins with potpourri then covers tools, Neanderthals, edibles and potables, art, shipwrecks, medical finds, and repatriations. Research: Abdallah, Hanna. “Famous Easter Island statues were created without centralized management.” PLOS. Via EurekAlert. 11/26/2025. https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1106805 Abdallah, Hannah. “Early humans butchered elephants using small tools and made big tools from their bones.” PLOS. Via EurekAlert. 10/8/2025. https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1100481 Abdallah, Hannah. “Researchers uncover clues to mysterious origin of famous Hjortspring boat.” EurekAlert. 10/12/2025. https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1108323 Archaeology Magazine. “Medieval Hoard of Silver and Pearls Discovered in Sweden.” https://archaeology.org/news/2025/10/14/medieval-hoard-of-silver-and-pearls-discovered-in-sweden/ Archaeology Magazine. “Possible Trepanation Tool Unearthed in Poland.” 11/13/2025. https://archaeology.org/news/2025/11/13/possible-trepanation-tool-unearthed-in-poland/ Arkeologerna. “Rare 5,000-year-old dog burial unearthed in Sweden.” 12/15/2025. https://news.cision.com/se/arkeologerna/r/rare-5-000-year-old-dog-burial-unearthed-in-sweden,c4282014 Arnold, Paul. “Ancient ochre crayons from Crimea reveal Neanderthals engaged in symbolic behaviors.” Phys.org. 10/30/2025. https://phys.org/news/2025-10-ancient-ochre-crayons-crimea-reveal.html Arnold, Paul. “Dating a North American rock art tradition that lasted 175 generations.” Phys.org. 11/28/2025. https://phys.org/news/2025-11-dating-north-american-art-tradition.html Bassi, Margherita. “A Single Gene Could Have Contributed to Neanderthals’ Extinction, Study Suggests.” Smithsonian. 10/30/2025. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/a-neanderthal-gene-variant-related-to-red-blood-cells-may-have-contributed-to-their-extinction-180987586/ Benjamin Pohl, Chewing over the Norman Conquest: the Bayeux Tapestry as monastic mealtime reading, Historical Research, 2025;, htaf029, https://doi.org/10.1093/hisres/htaf029 Benzine, Vittoria. “Decoded Hieroglyphics Reveal Female Ruler of Ancient Maya City.” ArtNet. 10/27/2025. https://news.artnet.com/art-world/foundation-stone-maya-coba-woman-ruler-2704521 Berdugo, Sophie. “Easter Island statues may have 'walked' thanks to 'pendulum dynamics' and with as few as 15 people, study finds.” LiveScience. 10/19/2025. https://www.livescience.com/archaeology/easter-island-statues-may-have-walked-thanks-to-pendulum-dynamics-and-with-as-few-as-15-people-study-finds Billing, Lotte. “Fingerprint of ancient seafarer found on Scandinavia’s oldest plank boat.” EurekAlert. 10/12/2025. https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1109361 Brhel, John. “Rats played major role in Easter Island’s deforestation, study reveals.” EurekAlert. 11/17/2025. https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1106361 Caldwell, Elizabeth. “9 more individuals unearthed at Oaklawn could be 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre victims.” Tulsa Public Radio. 11/6/2025. https://www.publicradiotulsa.org/local-regional/2025-11-06/9-more-individuals-unearthed-at-oaklawn-could-be-1921-tulsa-race-massacre-victims Clark, Gaby. “Bayeux Tapestry could have been originally designed as mealtime reading for medieval monks.” Phys.org. 12/15/2025. https://phys.org/news/2025-12-bayeux-tapestry-mealtime-medieval-monks.html#google_vignette Cohen, Alina. “Ancient Olive Oil Processing Complex Unearthed in Tunisia.” Artnet. 11/21/2025. https://news.artnet.com/art-world/ancient-olive-oil-complex-tunisia-2717795 Cohen, Alina. “MFA Boston Restores Ownership of Historic Works by Enslaved Artist.” ArtNet. 10/30/2025. https://news.artnet.com/art-world/mfa-boston-david-drake-jars-restitution-2706594 Fergusson, Rachel. “First DNA evidence of Black Death in Edinburgh discovered on teeth of excavated teenage skeleton.” The Scotsman. 11/5/2025. https://www.scotsman.com/news/first-dna-evidence-black-death-edinburgh-discovered-teeth-excavated-teenage-skeleton-5387741 Folorunso, Caleb et al. “MOWAA Archaeology Project: Enhancing Understanding of Benin City’s Historic Urban Development and Heritage through Pre-Construction Archaeology.” Antiquity (2025): 1–10. Web. Griffith University. “Rare stone tool cache tells story of trade and ingenuity.” 12/2/2025. https://news.griffith.edu.au/2025/12/02/rare-stone-tool-cache-tells-story-of-trade-and-ingenuity/ Han, Yu et al. “The late arrival of domestic cats in China via the Silk Road after 3,500 years of human-leopard cat commensalism.” Cell Genomics, Volume 0, Issue 0, 101099. https://www.cell.com/cell-genomics/fulltext/S2666-979X(25)00355-6 Hashemi, Sara. “A Volcanic Eruption in 1345 May Have Triggered a Chain of Events That Brought the Black Death to Europe.” Smithsonian. 12/8/2025. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/a-volcanic-eruption-in-1345-may-have-triggered-a-chain-of-events-taht-brought-the-black-death-to-europe-180987803/ Hjortkjær, Simon Thinggaard. “Mysterious signs on Teotihuacan murals may reveal an early form of Uto-Aztecan language.” PhysOrg. 10/6/2025. https://phys.org/news/2025-10-mysterious-teotihuacan-murals-reveal-early.html Institut Pasteur. “Study suggests two unsuspected pathogens struck Napoleon's army during the retreat from Russia in 1812.” Via EurekAlert. 10/24/2025. https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1102613 Jones, Sam. “Shells found in Spain could be among oldest known musical instruments.” The Guardian. 12/2/2025. https://www.theguardian.com/science/2025/dec/02/neolithic-conch-like-shell-spain-catalonia-discovery-musical-instruments Kasal, Krystal. “Pahon Cave provides a look into 5,000 years of surprisingly stable Stone Age tool use.” Phys.org. 12/16/2025. https://phys.org/news/2025-12-pahon-cave-years-stable-stone.html Kristiansen, Nina. “Eight pages bound in furry seal skin may be Norway's oldest book.” Science Norway. 11/3/2025. https://www.sciencenorway.no/cultural-history-culture-history/eight-pages-bound-in-furry-seal-skin-may-be-norways-oldest-book/2571496 Kuta, Sarah. “109-Year-Old Messages in a Bottle Written by Soldiers Heading to Fight in World War I Discovered on Australian Beach.” Smithsonian. 11/6/2025. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/109-year-old-messages-in-a-bottle-written-by-soldiers-heading-to-fight-in-world-war-i-discovered-on-australian-beach-180987649/ Kuta, Sarah. “A Storm Battered Western Alaska, Scattering Thousands of Indigenous Artifacts Across the Sand.” Smithsonian. 10/31/2025. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/a-storm-battered-western-alaska-scattering-thousands-of-indigenous-artifacts-across-the-sand-180987606/ Kuta, Sarah. “Archaeologists Unearth More Than 100 Projectiles From an Iconic Battlefield in Scotland.” Smithsonian. 11/5/2025. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/archaeologists-unearth-more-than-100-projectiles-from-an-iconic-battlefield-in-scotland-180987641/ Kuta, Sarah. “Hundreds of Mysterious Victorian-Era Shoes Are Washing Up on a Beach in Wales. Nobody Knows Where They Came From.” Smithsonian. 1/5/2026. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/hundreds-of-mysterious-victorian-era-shoes-are-washing-up-on-a-beach-in-wales-nobody-knows-where-they-came-from-180987943/ Lawson-Tancred, Jo. “Golden ‘Tudor Heart’ Necklace Sheds New Light on Henry VIII’s First Marriage.” Artnet. 10/14/2025. https://news.artnet.com/art-world/tudor-heart-pendant-british-museum-fundraiser-2699544 Lawson-Tancred, Jo. “Long-Overlooked Black Veteran Identified in Rare 19th-Century Portrait.” ArtNet. 10/27/2025. https://news.artnet.com/art-world/black-veteran-thomas-phillips-portrait-identified-2704721 Lipo CP, Hunt TL, Pakarati G, Pingel T, Simmons N, Heard K, et al. (2025) Megalithic statue (moai) production on Rapa Nui (Easter Island, Chile). PLoS One 20(11): e0336251. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0336251 Lipo, Carl P. and Terry L. Hunt. “The walking moai hypothesis: Archaeological evidence, experimental validation, and response to critics.” Journal of Archaeological Science. Volume 183, November 2025, 106383. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0305440325002328 Lock, Lisa. “Pre-construction archaeology reveals Benin City's historic urban development and heritage.” 10/29/2025. https://phys.org/news/2025-10-pre-archaeology-reveals-benin-city.html#google_vignette Lock, Lisa. “Pre-construction archaeology reveals Benin City's historic urban development and heritage.” Antiquity. Via PhysOrg. 10/29/2025. https://phys.org/news/2025-10-pre-archaeology-reveals-benin-city.html#google_vignette Lynley A. Wallis et al, An exceptional assemblage of archaeological plant fibres from Windmill Way, southeast Cape York Peninsula, Australian Archaeology (2025). DOI: 10.1080/03122417.2025.2574127 Lyon, Devyn. “Oaklawn Cemetery excavation brings investigators closer to identifying Tulsa Race Massacre victims.” Fox 23. 11/6/2025. https://www.fox23.com/news/oaklawn-cemetery-excavation-brings-investigators-closer-to-identifying-tulsa-race-massacre-victims/article_67c3a6b7-2acc-44cb-93ce-3d3d0c288eca.html Marquard, Bryan. “Bob Shumway, last known survivor of the deadly Cocoanut Grove nightclub fire, dies at 101.” 11/12/2025. https://www.bostonglobe.com/2025/11/12/metro/bob-shumway-101-dies-was-last-known-cocoanut-grove-fire-survivor/?event=event12 Marta Osypińska et al, A centurion's monkey? Companion animals for the social elite in an Egyptian port on the fringes of the Roman Empire in the 1st and 2nd c. CE, Journal of Roman Archaeology (2025). DOI: 10.1017/s1047759425100445 Merrington, Andrew. “Extensive dog diversity millennia before modern breeding practices.” University of Exeter. 11/13/2025. https://news.exeter.ac.uk/faculty-of-humanities-arts-and-social-sciences/archaeology-and-history/extensive-dog-diversity-millennia-before-modern-breeding-practices/ Morris, Steven. “Linguists start compiling first ever complete dictionary of ancient Celtic.” The Guardian. 12/8/2025. https://www.theguardian.com/science/2025/dec/08/linguists-start-compiling-first-ever-complete-dictionary-of-ancient-celtic Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. “Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Resolves Ownership of Works by Enslaved Artist David Drake.” 10/29/2025. https://www.mfa.org/press-release/david-drake-ownership-resolution Narcity. “Niagara has a 107-year-old shipwreck lodged above the Falls and it just moved.” https://www.narcity.com/niagara-falls-shipwreck-iron-scow-moved-closer-to-the-falls Newcomb, Tim. “A 76-Year-Old Man Went On a Hike—and Stumbled Upon a 1,500-Year Old Trap.” Popular Mechanics. 11/21/2025. https://www.popularmechanics.com/science/archaeology/a69441460/reindeer-trap/ Nordin, Gunilla. “Ancient wolves on remote Baltic Sea island reveal link to prehistoric humans.” Stockholm University. Via EurekAlert. 11/24/2025. https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1106807 Oster, Sandee. “DNA confirms modern Bo people are descendants of ancient Hanging Coffin culture.” Phys.org. 12/6/2025. https://phys.org/news/2025-12-dna-modern-bo-people-descendants.html Oster, Sandee. “Rare disease possibly identified in 12th century child's skeletal remains.” PhysOrg. 10/10/2025. https://phys.org/news/2025-10-rare-disease-possibly-12th-century.html Osuh, Chris and Geneva Abdul. “Lost grave of daughter of Black abolitionist Olaudah Equiano found by A-level student.” The Guardian. 11/1/2025. https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025/nov/01/lost-grave-daughter-black-abolitionist-olaudah-equiano-found-by-a-level-student Silvia Albizuri et al, The oldest mule in the western Mediterranean. The case of the Early Iron Age in Hort d'en Grimau (Penedès, Barcelona, Spain), Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports (2026). 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As Dish Media's new head of programmatic partnerships, Kristinnsson is helping turn advanced TV into a single, addressable marketplace. Episode TranscriptPlease note, this transcript may contain minor inconsistencies compared to the episode audio.Damian Fowler (00:00):I'm Damian Fowler.Ilyse Liffreing (00:01):And I'm Ilyse Liffreing.Damian Fowler (00:02):And welcome to this edition of The Big Impression.Ilyse Liffreing (00:09):Today, we're joined by Liam Kristinnsson, head of programmatic partnerships at Dish Media, where he's helping shape how the company connects advertisers with premium audiences across both linear and digital environments.Damian Fowler (00:23):Dish has been pushing hard into the programmatic space. From Dish Connected, it's addressable solution across the ecosystem to Advantage, which links programmatic buying with linear inventory in real time. It's all part of a broader move to bring automation and accountability to advanced TV.Ilyse Liffreing (00:39):We'll talk with Liam about how Dish is tackling fragmentation, what premium really means in a mixed green world, and where the next phase of programmatic growth is headed.Damian Fowler (00:51):So let's get into it.Liam Kristinnsson (00:57):Dish Connected has really revolutionized our product in the marketplace. We've been able to convert an additional four million to five million households into tangible CTV devices across real-time bidding systems across the industry. And it's kind of given us a leg up against some of our more linear competition where we now have full autonomy over our inventory and can enable and provide transparency downstream to any client.Damian Fowler (01:28):That's amazing. I mean, there was a moment there where there was a sort of either all linear or CTV, but this is something that's kind of connecting thoseLiam Kristinnsson (01:38):Two worlds. I think this is the start of the convergence. I know it probably truly started post-pandemic, I would say, but the reality is now that what is perceived as underutilized impression-based audiences are now becoming tangible and kind of overlapping with their traditional legacy linear purchases. And there's much more value to it because we are not enabling people to find attribution in a more roundabout extrapolated way, but we can provide meaningful real time results to third party attribution vendors or measurement vendors.Damian Fowler (02:20):And that brings us to Advantage, which you introduced in May to Power Programmatic and Linear at the same time. Could you tell us a little bit more about that?Liam Kristinnsson (02:30):Yeah. So the beauty of Advantage is it really expands upon what we've already built for Programmatic in Disconnected, but it provides solutions across the whole suite of products we have. Our addressable business can tap into real-time kind of innovations, real-time optimizations against audiences, ensure that we are better delivering across the target audience and finding that incremental reach that in the past may have been next to impossible to verify. And now we have all that inventory in one place. It's kind of like a grocery store when I think the industry has become accustomed to going to a bodega. That's very New York with me, I understand. I like that. But sometimes bodegas have eggs, they have a deli, they might have milk, but they might not always have milk and seltzer and all the little things that you want on a day-to-day basis. And the reality is something lacking when it comes to you being able to actually fill your fridge.(03:35):Now we have all those components that the customer or the client is looking for.Damian Fowler (03:40):Yeah. I like that analogy.Ilyse Liffreing (03:41):It's a good one. Yeah, no, I like that. And now Liam, I'm curious about the advertisers you're working with. Is there a new segment of buyers that Programmatic is really opening the door to here? What is basically your sense of that cohort?Liam Kristinnsson (03:58):Yeah, I think it really has grown overnight programmatic in general, but I think it allows us to have expanded exposure across all clients that are looking for that more meaningful kind of results. I think we are seeing a lot of success in generating a lot of traction across the CPG world, the direct to consumer world. And I think we're finding a nice overlap from a category perspective of what we traditionally looked at as direct IO or addressable business, but maybe not all those brands or clients in maybe like a pharmaceutical vertical would tap or earmark dollars for commitments early in their planning phase. Now they have the liberty and the luxury to find that right audience and enable dollars downstream where we're just not hunting in that lane and now we can kind of, instead of spreading ourselves thin, the technology can enable us to really kind of tap into all those brands, whether it be the CPG or the pharmaceuticals.(05:05):Now on the CPG side, I would double down further. I think because in the linear world, traditionally there's a level of fragmentation when you were to buy linear and you're only getting a percentage of the marketplace. Now the transparency and data that we're passing downstream really changes that, right? Because now these CPG brands are looking to trade off their kind of gross rating points, but kind of understand, all right, am I serving a family that would buy my products? And now we're freeing up the inventory and making it available to those brands that maybe were not always keen on addressable or linear didn't provide enough eyeballs. We're compensating for that with the data we'reIlyse Liffreing (05:49):Providing. Do you have an example of a brand you're working with?Liam Kristinnsson (05:52):Yeah. So I mean, more specifically, even though that wasn't in some of the categories I called out, there was one or two major financial brands that we've been able to elevate our profile quite significantly with and then partner with them around some of their initiatives on the backend. And I think it kind of shows some of the flexibility that a publisher can now provide brands that I don't think they ever associated with a conglomerate or a media company like ourselves.Damian Fowler (06:23):On that point, there is a perception that the space is fragmented and that there's linear here and then there's streaming here. Do you think that that is changing that perception, maybe thanks to some of the work that you're doing?Liam Kristinnsson (06:36):I think that's a lot of our goal. I think that we are simplifying the process and enabling a household or a device level, right? And the device level tends to be at the unique user level and we have the ability to kind of triangulate that and make sure that we're providing good and strong data down to our partners. I think that as a marketplace holistically, I think the fragmentation has changed and I think a lot of that's around some consumer behavior that has changed or specifically around the way consumers are watching more free content or there's pockets where they're not required to provide a subscription. And I think that there's still a gap there and we do have some front porch access to our apps, but we are looking on our end to continue to develop and then enable through Advantage how we can kind of provide those, specifically those returning viewers, that clean look to the advertisers on the back end and really kind of leveraging deterministic data and first party signals to really define that audience more cleanly in some ways that competitors of ours maybe can't do.Ilyse Liffreing (07:53):Overall, how would you describe your measuring the success of these programmatic partnerships?Liam Kristinnsson (08:00):Yeah. So I think that that's a really unique place because that's something that has been our bread and butter. We have our own targeting and attribution team. They've worked very diligently on the direct IO side. I think a lot of the legacy information that they've been able to provide clients and the insights and the ways that we've been able to either cut our inventory or kind of group or the target audiences for these clients have helped demonstrate the programmatic partners the value in not just our audience, which I think is somewhat being underserved because Dish tends to be middle America and maybe they have less apps or maybe they leverage less apps. So they have been underserved. We have a legacy of success around specific verticals and we're able to kind of provide that to these brands. I think the challenge is it's a little bit of a black hole sometimes of how they tie it back to each other.(08:56):And I think there needs to be a little bit more assistance on our end. And by us, I mean the royal we across the industry of like providing some of those insights that I kind of alluded to earlier, whether it's, are we targeting and talking about unique users? Are we looking at success at a household level? And there is some innovation that's required there in the industry, but I think what we're doing is really at the forefront of enabling that.Ilyse Liffreing (09:23):Are there any particular channels that have surprised you in terms of performance or even advertiser adoption?Liam Kristinnsson (09:31):Sure. I mean, I think I imagine everybody talks about the success of sports. Sports has been a real catalyst to the boon of CTV enablement in general, but I think that I'd be remiss not to call out that a lot of our entertainment brands have shined, but not in the ways that traditionally they've been leveraged, right? Even though certain pockets of inventory is not super desirable in the marketplace at times, like news, there are a ton of clients that we've seen a lot of traction there and like pick up incremental success and really drive reach by anonymizing the content that they buy and focusing on the audience.Damian Fowler (10:20):That's interesting. Is there still some resistance to the idea of being around current affairs and news?Liam Kristinnsson (10:26):Yeah. I think I myself came from the website world years ago and I saw firsthand when a certain brand would be next to a certain type of content. And I understand the urgent need to not expose a valuable legacy luxury brand to something that may or may not be bad, right? Yeah. But the reality is often there is a disconnect from the content being consumed and the pod of commercials that's watched, right? Yeah. And while we often, and I'm sure we ... My mother certainly will watch news for hours and hours upon day, which is maybe not healthy for her lifestyle, but I think what's great about it, specifically when she goes to sit down, she is glued in to the TV. And that's something I think that a lot of people are trying to figure out, are people watching? Are they tuned in? Are they walking away?(11:30):And that's the black box of advertising, but I know that people that watch news are glued into the TV and consuming the content between segments. It's kind of like sports, right? Yeah.Damian Fowler (11:43):I think that's true. And I think that's true across all channels as far as I know people reading digital news as well, but I don't want to go off on a massive digression about news, but anyway. But it is fantastic. Can we pull back and look at the big picture a little bit? And we were wondering if there were any precedents or points of inspiration inside or outside of media that inform how you think about programmatic partnerships at Dish?Liam Kristinnsson (12:10):Sure. I mean, I think that back to what I was saying about evolution, I think often in the media industry, we look at things like baseball teams are run today. Not to use a sports analogy. I know you guys are probably sick of them, but- We love sports analogies here. Nelly said the trade death.(12:32):But the reality is these days people want home run hitters. And I think back in the day, that's a little bit of a cyclical history. People always want home run hitters and like big stats, but you win championships with diversity. And I think what partnerships means today is not what it maybe meant 12 or 13 years ago. I think there's a ... We're becoming a world where people, we're all playing Tetris and there's a way to make it all fit together if we cooperate and enable each other. So it's not one size fit all fits all. I think there's a lot of small partnerships and that's good for the competition of the industry and it doesn't take away from the value of these big partnerships. And I think I don't think in my time in TV there's ever been more opportunity there than there is today.Ilyse Liffreing (13:28):Something we often write about at the current is the value of like premium content versus maybe like user generated. For instance, what would you say is the importance of premium and I guess what kind of premium content is most popular? I mean, you brought up sports, but are there any others?Liam Kristinnsson (13:50):Yeah. I mean, I think premium content, I'm sure many people discuss across the course of ad week or just in the industry and in general, how valuable, unique and what's deemed as traditionally primetime TV is. But the reality is it's even more valuable than that because you are in a lot of ways demanding an eclectic audience to watch your spectrum of content and you can't always guarantee that in other places. There is also, sure there's some oversaturation for specific channels and maybe the product that they air, but the reality is it is not what everybody is consuming these days, right? It's Halloween. Everybody can find a bunch of great horror movies or Halloween's coming up, I should say. Everybody could find a bunch of great horror movies across the board, can't always guarantee what is in that content, how glued in they are versus just kind of like, "Oh, it's in season." I think with premium content, specifically around live TV, there's 365 days a year of people competing against each other from a content perspective, but it demands eyeballs.(15:07):And I think we're also starting to see a surprising jump in the youth getting app fatigue, I suppose, that is better enabling that premium content to ensure eyeballs there, but they're paying attention and I cannot stress that enough. In a world of a short attention span, they want to know what's going on and they consumeDamian Fowler (15:28):It. I would almost say it's short form content fatigue to a certain extent. There's something nice about a long form, a game,Liam Kristinnsson (15:41):ADamian Fowler (15:41):Football game,Liam Kristinnsson (15:42):A soccer game, or a movie. To that point, right? I was probably part of the problem with TV from a consumer point of view. I became like a cinephile which didn't help a company's ability to monetize myself, but the more meshed I get into the industry and the more, I don't know, popular I get, the less time I have to go find a film, right? The more time I have to maybe watch a drama about women in New York and I will watch the rerun that I just saw the week before at eight o'clock in anticipation of what's going to happen at nine o'clock, but really because I want to see the reunion or the interview at 10 o'clock, right? So now I'm consuming the same content twice, but I'm even more engaged in the live TV and there's something afterwards that is actually, maybe taped, but it feels live, right?(16:37):Yeah.Damian Fowler (16:37):And that's the proposition that Dish is getting into. I'd want to ask you, how's Dish Media building on the momentum that you've already created?Liam Kristinnsson (16:45):Yeah, I think right now it's what more can we do and how can we keep providing and enabling inventory for the right providers? I think that the assumption in the marketplace for any new product that comes out is, wow, this is it, it's here. 100% of it's enabled. That's never the case, right? It takes a year to ramp up typically for the average product, sometimes as much as three for us. We've been hitting the gas and I think now we're about to go from fifth to sixth speed and really kind of enable our inventory holistically to the marketplace. So for us, it's a little bit of crawl, walk, run from an enablement perspective and with that comes even greater insights into what are they consuming, what's the audience? How do we help define and clean up that audience downstream and then let others maybe do what they do best.(17:45):But we are really in a great position to keep kind of growing that and exposing net new insights about users that I'm not sure everybody's contemplating.Damian Fowler (17:56):Yeah, I'm sure.Ilyse Liffreing (17:57):Very cool. I have a question here about the economy and as you know, and everybody does, it's on kind of shaky ground, you don't know. How do you see spend evolving in the programmatic space at this time?Liam Kristinnsson (18:16):Well, I'm glad you asked that. I think there is marketplace concerns about what is happening on the demand side and a lot of them are valid. A lot of them are maybe being overthought perhaps, but I think there's some rocky roads ahead for specific industries, but it presents a unique opportunity. And I think from a publisher perspective, maintaining the value of inventory and the premium content that they have is absolutely a must because we are going to continue to provide insights and improve products that ultimately will provide better outcomes for backend users. If we kind of enable knee-jerk reactive spend, I think that actually goes against the grain of supply path optimization and increasing outcomes holistically under the guise of potentially lower rates or what have you. But I truly believe that if one category is down, another needs to go up. And I think advertising is like a mutual fund like that where I have lived in Europe in the past and there's a phrase in Scandinavia that like, no matter what happens to our small economy, people will advertise beer because somebody will buy it, right?(19:46):And I think that's much more universal than just in a few select small countries. And I think in a lot of ways we saw that in the pandemic, right? Direct to consumer brands, a lot more variety of entertainment companies or hardware products or TVs were able to kind of put their best foot forward and give the consumer options, right? And I think it's some of their responsibility to provide those options. What we, the publishers can do is enable and ensure they're getting the right results for the content and fitting them in the content or audiences that they really can get the best out of them, right?Damian Fowler (20:28):Absolutely. Okay. We're going to bring this home now with some quick fire questions, right? And here's the first one. What are you obsessed with figuring out right now?Liam Kristinnsson (20:38):Well, this might be a little divisive, but I am obsessed with continuing to improve supply path optimization, but I believe that comes with the slow sunsetting of linear. When I got to Dish, we were still primarily, while our bread and butter was addressable, we were still primarily from a percentage basis, linear, right? Since then, we've completely flipped the script. We are by far and away, mostly impression based. And the reality is I think that we are leveraging too many legacy tools to tell and provide stories on outcomes that are not always as accurate as they should be. We live in a world where transparency is key, maybe not full transparency all the time, but enough transparency where I, the client or brand should be getting a return on our investment or understanding why the audience or the content I was targeting is not working for me.(21:42):And I think that's, those are the pockets we need to start exploring and understanding, not so much the, how do I understand foot traffic on a day-to-day basis, but not convert that to sales when I'm extrapolating out 32 families, right? So that's really, really what I think needs to happen. And I think there's a lot of work to be done there and it's not going to happen overnight, but it starts here and starts with an advantage really.Ilyse Liffreing (22:06):Wow. And why do you think that the slow death of linear, as you said, has to happen for that?Liam Kristinnsson (22:15):I shouldn't say it has to happen. I think there is a time and a place for it, right? I think if I'm going to a bodega and I think I want a soft drink, that's their goal is to make sure that the first thing I think of is whatever the product is, but I think that time and a place is actually creating a lot of noise downstream and creating a lot of challenges for folks on the attribution and measurement side to actually understand and holistically look at their media purchases. And I think it's okay to have gross in terms of volume, ways of looking at how media should be purchased and leveraged, but I believe nine out of 10 clients really, they deserve the insights and the understanding of who is buying their products and how we can figure out how to kind of tie that together and improve into the next year.(23:10):That's how their products are going to build, especially with some of this like in certain categories. There's maybe too many brands or too little, right? Better data will inform beyond individual clients, but it'll enable people to start unique businesses that can compete in an area where there's clearly a lot of eager consumers,(23:35):Right?Ilyse Liffreing (23:36):Very cool. What's one piece of wisdom you'd pass on to other media leaders navigating the shift to programmatic?Liam Kristinnsson (23:43):Yeah. So I hate to say the same thing twice, but if I were to give one piece of wisdom is value your inventory that is going to be the future of your business and there are ways that you can improve your product and enable and improve a third party client or vendor's product, but racing to the bottom for what is happening tomorrow will not enable you next year. And it's a real concern in the marketplace, but my concern is actually twofold that it doesn't actually just hurt publishers, but it ends up ultimately hurting the brands and the people buying the inventory because they are going to receive exponentially more noise, right? And I think that as an industry with a lot of noise, we should really think about like how we can kind of isolate it into, and harness it into, into actual meaningful outcomes.Damian Fowler (24:48):If you could pick one brand that's really nailing programmatic right now, who would it be?Liam Kristinnsson (24:53):Without explicitly calling out a unique brand, but I'll give you two types of folks that are really nailing programmatic. One, I think is second tier auto brands where they are unlocking, and I really think Disconnected plays a great role here. They are unlocking and understanding how they can better access inventory for the right audiences, period. That could be isolating and understanding how I could serve ads from a reach perspective across the city of Des Moines, or it can be somebody looking for blonde-haired men that have two boxer dogs. Secondly, and I think this is part of the paradigm shift across the industry. I think there's quite a number of CPG brands that legacy-wise have really had outstanding success reaching mass eyeballs, whether it's through billboards, radio, traditional linear television. But now again, like they are able to fill a void across the whole ecosystem by getting better, more dynamic insights into the audiences that they're selling to, but also they're actually getting insights, period.(26:13):Retail data, you're talking about? Retail data, yes. And I think if I'm a chip brand, sometimes I want people to know my name first. And that's great. There's a need for that, but eventually you have to start focusing on how you can get money back from that. It's not just about getting your name out there, or it could be diversified. Maybe your name is out there, but now other names have come in, right? Now, how do you leverage the dynamic component of programmatic to diversify your creative and your ability to deliver to the same audience? It'll change the way we think and look at maybe traditional frequency capping or traditional exposure, but now the brand through Programmatic can really lead the new age of creative storytelling and how people understand or change the way people think they know products.Damian Fowler (27:13):And that's it for this edition of The Big Impression.Ilyse Liffreing (27:15):This show is produced by Molten Heart. Our theme is by Love and Caliber, and our associate producer is Sydney Cairns.Liam Kristinnsson (27:22):And remember ... We're also starting to see a surprising jump in the youth kind of getting app fatigue, I suppose, that is better enabling that premium content to ensure eyeballs there, but they're paying attention.Ilyse Liffreing (27:37):I'm Damian. And I'mDamian Fowler (27:38):Ilyse. And we'll see you next time. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
Ben Jacobsen is the founder of Jacobsen Salt Co., the Oregon-based artisan salt company he started in 2011 to bring world-class sea salt to American kitchens. After studying and working in Scandinavia, where he first discovered the transformative impact of high-quality finishing salts, Ben returned to Oregon and spent years experimenting with sea water from dozens of Pacific Northwest sites before settling on Netarts Bay for its uniquely bright salinity.Under his leadership, Jacobsen Salt Co. became the first company in the Pacific Northwest to revive traditional salt harvesting, combining meticulous sourcing and small-batch techniques to create salts noted for their delicate crunch and pure briny flavor.IG jacobsensaltco | jacobsensalt.comFind Me:IG + TikTok citrusdiaries.studiocitrusdiaries.com | hello@citrusdiaries.comCreate your podcast today! #madeonzencastr
The show's coverage of things literally or figuratively unearthed in the last quarter of 2025 begins with updates, books and letters, animals, and just one exhumation. Research: Abdallah, Hanna. “Famous Easter Island statues were created without centralized management.” PLOS. Via EurekAlert. 11/26/2025. https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1106805 Abdallah, Hannah. “Early humans butchered elephants using small tools and made big tools from their bones.” PLOS. Via EurekAlert. 10/8/2025. https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1100481 Abdallah, Hannah. “Researchers uncover clues to mysterious origin of famous Hjortspring boat.” EurekAlert. 10/12/2025. https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1108323 Archaeology Magazine. “Medieval Hoard of Silver and Pearls Discovered in Sweden.” https://archaeology.org/news/2025/10/14/medieval-hoard-of-silver-and-pearls-discovered-in-sweden/ Archaeology Magazine. “Possible Trepanation Tool Unearthed in Poland.” 11/13/2025. https://archaeology.org/news/2025/11/13/possible-trepanation-tool-unearthed-in-poland/ “Rare 5,000-year-old dog burial unearthed in Sweden.” 12/15/2025. https://news.cision.com/se/arkeologerna/r/rare-5-000-year-old-dog-burial-unearthed-in-sweden,c4282014 Arnold, Paul. “Ancient ochre crayons from Crimea reveal Neanderthals engaged in symbolic behaviors.” Phys.org. 10/30/2025. https://phys.org/news/2025-10-ancient-ochre-crayons-crimea-reveal.html Arnold, Paul. “Dating a North American rock art tradition that lasted 175 generations.” Phys.org. 11/28/2025. https://phys.org/news/2025-11-dating-north-american-art-tradition.html Bassi, Margherita. “A Single Gene Could Have Contributed to Neanderthals’ Extinction, Study Suggests.” Smithsonian. 10/30/2025. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/a-neanderthal-gene-variant-related-to-red-blood-cells-may-have-contributed-to-their-extinction-180987586/ Benjamin Pohl, Chewing over the Norman Conquest: the Bayeux Tapestry as monastic mealtime reading, Historical Research, 2025;, htaf029, https://doi.org/10.1093/hisres/htaf029 Benzine, Vittoria. “Decoded Hieroglyphics Reveal Female Ruler of Ancient Maya City.” ArtNet. 10/27/2025. https://news.artnet.com/art-world/foundation-stone-maya-coba-woman-ruler-2704521 Berdugo, Sophie. “Easter Island statues may have 'walked' thanks to 'pendulum dynamics' and with as few as 15 people, study finds.” LiveScience. 10/19/2025. https://www.livescience.com/archaeology/easter-island-statues-may-have-walked-thanks-to-pendulum-dynamics-and-with-as-few-as-15-people-study-finds Billing, Lotte. “Fingerprint of ancient seafarer found on Scandinavia’s oldest plank boat.” EurekAlert. 10/12/2025. https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1109361 Brhel, John. “Rats played major role in Easter Island’s deforestation, study reveals.” EurekAlert. 11/17/2025. https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1106361 Caldwell, Elizabeth. “9 more individuals unearthed at Oaklawn could be 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre victims.” Tulsa Public Radio. 11/6/2025. https://www.publicradiotulsa.org/local-regional/2025-11-06/9-more-individuals-unearthed-at-oaklawn-could-be-1921-tulsa-race-massacre-victims Clark, Gaby. “Bayeux Tapestry could have been originally designed as mealtime reading for medieval monks.” Phys.org. 12/15/2025. https://phys.org/news/2025-12-bayeux-tapestry-mealtime-medieval-monks.html#google_vignette Cohen, Alina. “Ancient Olive Oil Processing Complex Unearthed in Tunisia.” Artnet. 11/21/2025. https://news.artnet.com/art-world/ancient-olive-oil-complex-tunisia-2717795 Cohen, Alina. “MFA Boston Restores Ownership of Historic Works by Enslaved Artist.” ArtNet. 10/30/2025. https://news.artnet.com/art-world/mfa-boston-david-drake-jars-restitution-2706594 Fergusson, Rachel. “First DNA evidence of Black Death in Edinburgh discovered on teeth of excavated teenage skeleton.” The Scotsman. 11/5/2025. https://www.scotsman.com/news/first-dna-evidence-black-death-edinburgh-discovered-teeth-excavated-teenage-skeleton-5387741 Folorunso, Caleb et al. “MOWAA Archaeology Project: Enhancing Understanding of Benin City’s Historic Urban Development and Heritage through Pre-Construction Archaeology.” Antiquity (2025): 1–10. Web. Griffith University. “Rare stone tool cache tells story of trade and ingenuity.” 12/2/2025. https://news.griffith.edu.au/2025/12/02/rare-stone-tool-cache-tells-story-of-trade-and-ingenuity/ Han, Yu et al. “The late arrival of domestic cats in China via the Silk Road after 3,500 years of human-leopard cat commensalism.” Cell Genomics, Volume 0, Issue 0, 101099. https://www.cell.com/cell-genomics/fulltext/S2666-979X(25)00355-6 Hashemi, Sara. “A Volcanic Eruption in 1345 May Have Triggered a Chain of Events That Brought the Black Death to Europe.” Smithsonian. 12/8/2025. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/a-volcanic-eruption-in-1345-may-have-triggered-a-chain-of-events-taht-brought-the-black-death-to-europe-180987803/ Hjortkjær, Simon Thinggaard. “Mysterious signs on Teotihuacan murals may reveal an early form of Uto-Aztecan language.” PhysOrg. 10/6/2025. https://phys.org/news/2025-10-mysterious-teotihuacan-murals-reveal-early.html Institut Pasteur. “Study suggests two unsuspected pathogens struck Napoleon's army during the retreat from Russia in 1812.” Via EurekAlert. 10/24/2025. https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1102613 Jones, Sam. “Shells found in Spain could be among oldest known musical instruments.” The Guardian. 12/2/2025. https://www.theguardian.com/science/2025/dec/02/neolithic-conch-like-shell-spain-catalonia-discovery-musical-instruments Kasal, Krystal. “Pahon Cave provides a look into 5,000 years of surprisingly stable Stone Age tool use.” Phys.org. 12/16/2025. https://phys.org/news/2025-12-pahon-cave-years-stable-stone.html Kristiansen, Nina. “Eight pages bound in furry seal skin may be Norway's oldest book.” Science Norway. 11/3/2025. https://www.sciencenorway.no/cultural-history-culture-history/eight-pages-bound-in-furry-seal-skin-may-be-norways-oldest-book/2571496 Kuta, Sarah. “109-Year-Old Messages in a Bottle Written by Soldiers Heading to Fight in World War I Discovered on Australian Beach.” Smithsonian. 11/6/2025. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/109-year-old-messages-in-a-bottle-written-by-soldiers-heading-to-fight-in-world-war-i-discovered-on-australian-beach-180987649/ Kuta, Sarah. “A Storm Battered Western Alaska, Scattering Thousands of Indigenous Artifacts Across the Sand.” Smithsonian. 10/31/2025. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/a-storm-battered-western-alaska-scattering-thousands-of-indigenous-artifacts-across-the-sand-180987606/ Kuta, Sarah. “Archaeologists Unearth More Than 100 Projectiles From an Iconic Battlefield in Scotland.” Smithsonian. 11/5/2025. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/archaeologists-unearth-more-than-100-projectiles-from-an-iconic-battlefield-in-scotland-180987641/ Kuta, Sarah. “Hundreds of Mysterious Victorian-Era Shoes Are Washing Up on a Beach in Wales. Nobody Knows Where They Came From.” Smithsonian. 1/5/2026. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/hundreds-of-mysterious-victorian-era-shoes-are-washing-up-on-a-beach-in-wales-nobody-knows-where-they-came-from-180987943/ Lawson-Tancred, Jo. “Golden ‘Tudor Heart’ Necklace Sheds New Light on Henry VIII’s First Marriage.” Artnet. 10/14/2025. https://news.artnet.com/art-world/tudor-heart-pendant-british-museum-fundraiser-2699544 Lawson-Tancred, Jo. “Long-Overlooked Black Veteran Identified in Rare 19th-Century Portrait.” ArtNet. 10/27/2025. https://news.artnet.com/art-world/black-veteran-thomas-phillips-portrait-identified-2704721 Lipo CP, Hunt TL, Pakarati G, Pingel T, Simmons N, Heard K, et al. (2025) Megalithic statue (moai) production on Rapa Nui (Easter Island, Chile). PLoS One 20(11): e0336251. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0336251 Lipo, Carl P. and Terry L. Hunt. “The walking moai hypothesis: Archaeological evidence, experimental validation, and response to critics.” Journal of Archaeological Science. Volume 183, November 2025, 106383. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0305440325002328 Lock, Lisa. “Pre-construction archaeology reveals Benin City's historic urban development and heritage.” 10/29/2025. https://phys.org/news/2025-10-pre-archaeology-reveals-benin-city.html#google_vignette Lock, Lisa. “Pre-construction archaeology reveals Benin City's historic urban development and heritage.” Antiquity. Via PhysOrg. 10/29/2025. https://phys.org/news/2025-10-pre-archaeology-reveals-benin-city.html#google_vignette Lynley A. Wallis et al, An exceptional assemblage of archaeological plant fibres from Windmill Way, southeast Cape York Peninsula, Australian Archaeology (2025). DOI: 10.1080/03122417.2025.2574127 Lyon, Devyn. “Oaklawn Cemetery excavation brings investigators closer to identifying Tulsa Race Massacre victims.” Fox 23. 11/6/2025. https://www.fox23.com/news/oaklawn-cemetery-excavation-brings-investigators-closer-to-identifying-tulsa-race-massacre-victims/article_67c3a6b7-2acc-44cb-93ce-3d3d0c288eca.html Marquard, Bryan. “Bob Shumway, last known survivor of the deadly Cocoanut Grove nightclub fire, dies at 101.” 11/12/2025. https://www.bostonglobe.com/2025/11/12/metro/bob-shumway-101-dies-was-last-known-cocoanut-grove-fire-survivor/?event=event12 Marta Osypińska et al, A centurion's monkey? Companion animals for the social elite in an Egyptian port on the fringes of the Roman Empire in the 1st and 2nd c. CE, Journal of Roman Archaeology (2025). DOI: 10.1017/s1047759425100445 Merrington, Andrew. “Extensive dog diversity millennia before modern breeding practices.” University of Exeter. 11/13/2025. https://news.exeter.ac.uk/faculty-of-humanities-arts-and-social-sciences/archaeology-and-history/extensive-dog-diversity-millennia-before-modern-breeding-practices/ Morris, Steven. “Linguists start compiling first ever complete dictionary of ancient Celtic.” The Guardian. 12/8/2025. https://www.theguardian.com/science/2025/dec/08/linguists-start-compiling-first-ever-complete-dictionary-of-ancient-celtic Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. “Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Resolves Ownership of Works by Enslaved Artist David Drake.” 10/29/2025. https://www.mfa.org/press-release/david-drake-ownership-resolution “Niagara has a 107-year-old shipwreck lodged above the Falls and it just moved.” https://www.narcity.com/niagara-falls-shipwreck-iron-scow-moved-closer-to-the-falls Newcomb, Tim. “A 76-Year-Old Man Went On a Hike—and Stumbled Upon a 1,500-Year Old Trap.” Popular Mechanics. 11/21/2025. https://www.popularmechanics.com/science/archaeology/a69441460/reindeer-trap/ Nordin, Gunilla. “Ancient wolves on remote Baltic Sea island reveal link to prehistoric humans.” Stockholm University. Via EurekAlert. 11/24/2025. https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1106807 Oster, Sandee. “DNA confirms modern Bo people are descendants of ancient Hanging Coffin culture.” Phys.org. 12/6/2025. https://phys.org/news/2025-12-dna-modern-bo-people-descendants.html Oster, Sandee. “Rare disease possibly identified in 12th century child's skeletal remains.” PhysOrg. 10/10/2025. https://phys.org/news/2025-10-rare-disease-possibly-12th-century.html Osuh, Chris and Geneva Abdul. “Lost grave of daughter of Black abolitionist Olaudah Equiano found by A-level student.” The Guardian. 11/1/2025. https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025/nov/01/lost-grave-daughter-black-abolitionist-olaudah-equiano-found-by-a-level-student Silvia Albizuri et al, The oldest mule in the western Mediterranean. The case of the Early Iron Age in Hort d'en Grimau (Penedès, Barcelona, Spain), Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports (2026). DOI: 10.1016/j.jasrep.2025.105506 Skok, Phoebe. “Ancient shipwrecks rewrite the story of Iron Age trade.” PhysOrg. 10/14/2025. https://phys.org/news/2025-10-ancient-shipwrecks-rewrite-story-iron.html The History Blog. “600-year-old Joseon ship recovered from seabed.” 11/15/2025. https://www.thehistoryblog.com/archives/74652 The History Blog. “Ancient pleasure barge found off Alexandria coast.” 12/9/2025. https://www.thehistoryblog.com/archives/74860 The History Blog. “Charred Byzantine bread loves stamped with Christian imagery found in Turkey.” 10/13/2025. https://www.thehistoryblog.com/archives/74352 The History Blog. “Early medieval silver treasure found in Stockholm.” 10/12/2025. https://www.thehistoryblog.com/archives/74343 The History Blog. “Roman amphora with sardines found in Switzerland.” 12/15/2025. https://www.thehistoryblog.com/archives/74904 The Straits Times. “Wreck of ancient Malay vessel discovered on Pulau Melaka.” 10/31/2025. https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/se-asia/wreck-of-ancient-malay-vessel-discovered-on-pulau-melaka Thompson, Sarah. “The forgotten daughter: Eliza Monroe Hay’s story revealed in her last letters.” W&M News. 9/30/2025. https://news.wm.edu/2025/09/30/the-forgotten-daughter-eliza-monroes-story-revealed-in-her-last-letters/ Tuhkuri, Jukka. “Why Did Endurance Sink?” Polar Record 61 (2025): e23. Web. https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/polar-record/article/why-did-endurance-sink/6CC2C2D56087035A94DEB50930B81980 Universitat de Valencia. “The victims of the Pompeii eruption wore heavy wool cloaks and tunics, suggesting different environmental conditions in summer.” 12/3/2025. https://www.uv.es/uvweb/uv-news/en/news/victims-pompeii-eruption-wore-heavy-wool-cloaks-tunics-suggesting-different-environmental-conditions-summer-1285973304159/Novetat.html?id=1286464337848&plantilla=UV_Noticies/Page/TPGDetaillNews University of Glasgow. “Archaeologists recover hundreds of Jacobite projectiles in unexplored area of Culloden.” 10/30/2025. https://www.gla.ac.uk/news/headline_1222736_en.html University of Vienna. “Neanderthal DNA reveals ancient long-distance migrations.” 10/29/2025. https://www.univie.ac.at/en/news/detail/neanderthal-dna-reveals-ancient-long-distance-migrations Zhou, H., Tao, L., Zhao, Y. et al. Exploration of hanging coffin customs and the bo people in China through comparative genomics. Nat Commun 16, 10230 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-65264-3 Zinin, Andrew. “Ancient humans mastered fire-making 400,000 years ago, study shows.” Phys.org. 10/10/2025. https://phys.org/news/2025-12-ancient-humans-mastered-years.html See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Feeling bogged down by meetings and out of her depth at work, travel writer Laura Hall quit her job and embarked on a fresh challenge to get her life back on track. Her new book, The Year I Lay My Head in Water: Swimming Scandinavia in Search of a Better Life, documents the year that followed, spent cold-water swimming around Scandinavia. Jen chats to Laura about the book, the appeal of the sea, the insanity of cold-water swimming, and the absolute joy of taking on a daft challenge. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Join Justin as he chats with actor Magnus Bruun about becoming Eivor in Assassin's Creed: Valhalla, the importance of fiction, growing up in Scandinavia, and more!Link to purchase my new supernatural horror novelette NO PERPETUAL CARE:https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0G5438774Magnus Bruun bio:“Magnus Bruun is a Danish actor known for a variety of roles across film and television, most recognized for his portrayal of Cnut in The Last Kingdom and Eivor in Assassins Creed: Valhalla (where he provides the lead male voice, and mo-cap for all iterations of the character). Though accumulating an impressive portfolio of roles since 2007, it is safe to say that Bruun's calling revealed itself in when he took on the role of Cnut in the historical fiction television series, The Last Kingdom. With his striking Viking-like appearance and Danish as his mother tongue, Bruun has embodied the character both physically and mentally. Bruun's filmography also includes productions such as When The Dust Settles, Sprinter Galore, Land of Mine and Gaelden. In 2020, Bruun became a fan favourite amongst Assassins Creed fans when it was revealed he voiced the male lead, Eivor, as well as providing mo-cap for the role in Assassins Creed: Valhalla.”Intro and outro theme created by Wyrm. Support Wyrm by visiting the Serpents Sword Records bandcamp page (linked below):https://serpentsswordrecords.bandcamp.com/Monsters, Madness and Magic Official Website. Monsters, Madness and Magic on Linktree.Monsters, Madness and Magic on Instagram.Monsters, Madness and Magic on Facebook.Monsters, Madness and Magic on Twitter.
00:54 Turning an undersea cable into a seismic detectorResearchers have shown that they can piggyback a signal on a 4,400-kilometer-long telecom cable that runs from California to Hawaii, allowing it to act like 44,000 separate seismic-activity detectors. Their method takes advantage of impurities found in glass fibre-optic cables, which reflect light differently when they are stretched and distorted by the pressure of seismic waves.Science: Seafloor telecom cable transformed into giant earthquake detector04:17 The origin of an ancient boatChemical analysis of the caulking found on the wood an ancient boat has helped researchers identify the origins of the vessel, that sank off the coast of Denmark 2,400 years ago. The team's analysis suggests it voyaged from much farther away that had been thought — perhaps coming from the Baltic Sea region. The team also found a fingerprint left in the caulk, although who it belonged to is unknown.LiveScience: Fingerprint of ancient seaborne raider found on Scandinavia's oldest plank boat08:29 How heating up helps some plants pollinateSome plants called cycads (Zamia spp.) heat up to attract the beetles that pollinate them. These beetles have heat-seeking sensors in their antennae, which they use locate the plants. Male cycads warm up around 3 hours before females, meaning that beetles head to them before first carrying pollen over to the females.Science: Heat-seeking beetles drawn to plants that glow in infrared13:08 The exoplanet shaped like a lemonThe discovery of exoplanet PSR J2322-2650b reveals how unusual other worlds can be. This exoplanet takes just 7.8 hours to orbit an ultra-dense pulsar whose intense gravity pulls PSR J2322-2650b into a lemon shape.New Scientist: Strange lemon-shaped exoplanet defies the rules of planet formationSubscribe to Nature Briefing, an unmissable daily round-up of science news, opinion and analysis free in your inbox every weekday. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Take your RV dreams to Europe, get real-world solo travel advice, explore expedition-ready vans, and catch up on key RV industry trends.This week on the RV LIFE Podcast, John talks with Kay and Nick Flint from Fantasy RV Tours about guided RV trips in Europe and Scandinavia. Learn how renting locally, following a scouted route, and traveling with a group can remove the stress of 220-volt power, tight fuel stations, and multiple currencies—while adding new friendships along the way.Then Jim and Rene sit down with solo full-time RVer and travel agent Katy Jones of Unplugged Travel. She shares lessons from years of work camping in national parks, how she rescues clients when trips go sideways, and why having a human “wizard behind the curtain” still beats DIY and AI for winter storage, security, and long-stay getaways in places like Mexico or Costa Rica.Next, Rose & Glynn talk with 27 North founder Pavel Bozovic about premium overland rig builds, from marine-grade components and carbon fiber shells to obsessive attention to weight, crosswinds, and braking distance. Pavel offers a simple RV shopping test—call a brand's helpline—and a candid take on entrepreneurship: why some people are better off as a great number two.John and Bob close the episode with RV industry news, including RVTI's push to train the next generation of technicians, KOA's latest growth and new builds, Italian-built Wingham motorhomes entering the U.S., and Grand Design's new Omega frame technology.Guided travel, solo inspiration, premium rigs, and RV industry insights—all in one episode.Get Complete Show Notes & Full Transcripthttps://podcast.rvlife.com/rvlife150/Connect & Learn Morehttps://facebook.com/rvlifepodcast/https://instagram.com/rvlifepodcast/https://www.facebook.com/groups/rvlifemovementBe A Guest or Share Your Story!https://podcast.rvlife.com/contactSpecial Discount Codes: Click Link & Use Code* RV LIFE Pro 25% off at check out
You can send a text, include contact info to get a response. Last episode we looked at France, Scandinavia and Italy. Italy was particularly fascinating, but we were bare able to scratch the surface. Now we look at Germany, contrasting Talleyrand's careful thought about France and Louis the 18th with Metternich and Hardenberg's lack of vision.Finally, Castlereagh gives up his efforts to get the slave trade abolished and settles for a compromise. This allows him to deploy his super power, cold hard cash, to essentially buy Alexander's agreement on the Saxon Question. Tempers cool, the allies will stay together.
As the new year begins, I'm revisiting my Europe travel bucket list for 2026.So I'm sharing the destinations that are calling my name — along with a few beloved places I'm eager to return to.This annual tradition is less about rigid travel plans and more about dreaming, reflecting and noticing how our travel wishes evolve over time.In this episode, I walk through my Travel Bucket List for 2026, highlighting a mix of new destinations and long-time favorites across Europe.From England's countryside and dramatic coastlines to iconic regions of France, Italy, Ireland and Scandinavia, I share what's drawing me to each place and why they've earned a spot on my travel bucket list this year.I also touch on the places I'm most excited to revisit — destinations that left a lasting impression and still have more stories to reveal.Whether it's returning to wild landscapes, exploring quieter regions, or imagining a future long-distance walk, this episode is about how travel dreams shift as we do.If you love Europe travel, reflective planning, and using a travel bucket list as a source of inspiration rather than pressure, this episode is for you. Want to chat more about travel to Europe?Send me a message at Lynne@WanderYourWay.comIn this episode:1:30: Intro5:05: Places I crossed off from my 2025 list7:02: Rome, Italy8:45: Sligo & Donegal, Ireland11:40: Iceland13:27: Lake Como, Italy15:41: Slovenia18:00: Brittany, France19:45: Grindelwald / Lauterbrunnen / Interlaken, Switzerland21:59: Finland24:36: Cornwall & Devon, England26:34: The Shetland Islands & Orkney Islands, Scotland31:24: Bonus item34:30: Return list45:55: Wrapping it upImportant links:Discover SligoCounty Donegal • IrelandExploring Astonishing Iceland with Monika Pronczuk: Beyond the Golden CircleSlovenia OverviewTravel to Switzerland with Carolyn Schönafinger of Holidays to SwitzerlandDiscovering Amazing Finland with Tarja Koivisto of Visit FinlandExploring the Islands of Scotland with Bo FraserWander Your Way AdventuresWander Your WayWander Your Way ResourcesSafety Wing Insurance ★ Support this podcast ★
Are you dreading the cold, dark months ahead? In Scandinavia, where the winters are among the coldest and darkest on earth, many people look forward to winter as a time of coziness, beauty, and rest. Psychologist Kari Leibowitz, PhD, author of How to Winter, talks about how cold weather and darkness affect our body and mind and what can we learn from the way that residents of cold-weather places approach the season. Originally published Dec. 4, 2024. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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