Podcast 334: Of Monuments and Men

 

On this podcast, we share two stories. First, it's a trip to a giant mailbox (pictured above, left). Many years ago, this podcast slagged off this mailbox on account of the fact that it's not an actual mailbox you can deposit mail into. 

This prompted a sternly worded email from listener Jogvan Thompsen (pictured above, right), who said we had gotten our story wrong. He also had some notes on other things other podcasts got wrong. In response, I met up with Jogvan the next time I was in the Faroe Islands and he set the record straight. As part of that show, I had wanted to personally apologize to the mailbox ,but that never really happened. But on this podcast, that wrong has been righted. We hear about the history of the mailbox, and why you can't put mail in it anymore. And we apologize.

Then we remember a ferry crossing, and a moment on song on the boat and how it makes us yearn for a time where we can travel again and reconnect with people and places we love.

We took the trip as part of a tour offered by a company now known as Tora Tourist.

As always, you can listen everywhere. We're everywhere. It's amazing you haven't heard the episode already. So break out whatever you listen to podcasts on and do your thing. If you want, you can listen on the media player at the bottom of this post, or you can download the show directly here.

Podcast 333: Whisky a Go-Go!

 

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Rúni Nielsen (@cruisarin)

On this podcast, we talk all about whisky, or whiskey, depending on how you roll. Runi Nielsen is a well known Faroese activist, an installer of food inspection equipment, and a whiskey aficionado. We'll talk to Runi about how he got such a vast collection and what he loves about it. We'll also hear about the prospect of a Faroese whiskey. (In the time between the interview and the release of this podcast, that whiskey was released and it has received good reviews.)

We'll also get an update on the pandemic, and remember a lovely evening of song ten years ago.

As always, you can listen on every single podcasting platform in the world. Well, most of them. We're not on that stupid one that charges you money to listen and doesn't share that money with the podcasters. But you can find us on all the others. You can also listen on the media player at the bottom of this post or download the show directly here.

Podcast 332: Checking In With The Neighbors, 2020

 

Every once in a while, we like to check in with the neighbors. In this case, the neighbors are Orkney, and the person we're talking to is Tom Ordeman. Tom hosts the Bruck Podcast, which is about many things, but has a strong Orkney bent to it. 

So, to be clear, two people who live in Oregon will be discussing life on various North Atlantic islands. Sounds odd, we know, but somehow it works. We'll talk about how the pandemic is changing life on the islands.

On this show, Tom makes reference to his quest for an Orkney brew called Skull Splitter. You can hear the podcast he did on the subject here.

As always, you can listen on Apple Podcasts, Stitcher Smart Radio (if they still exist), Google, Spotify, and really anywhere quality podcasts are given away for free. You can also download the show directly here or listen on the media player at the bottom of this post.

Podcast 331: Faroe Pride, Then and Now

 

In 2012, LGBT Foroyar organized a Pride march. They told people they were going to get 1,000 people on the streets of Torshavn to march for gay rights. If you turned off your microphone, organizers would admit they thought they'd get 1,000 people to attend, but 500 would also be a historic gathering.

Five THOUSAND people showed up, one tenth the population of the entire country, and history was made. The next year 6,000 people attended. Eventually, the Faroese parliament approved gay marriage in the Faroe Islands. 

On this podcast we revisit that historic 2012 march and talk with Eiler Fagratlet about what has happened in the years since.

As always, you can listen on Apple, Stitcher, Scrunchy, Google Play, Spotify, ClumpShift, and I Heart Radio. (Note: some of those services might not actually exist.) You can also listen on the media player at the bottom of this post or you can download the show directly here.

Podcast 330: G! Festival 2020... Really!

 

During these pandemic times, everything is cancelled. This includes the 2020 G! Festival. So this podcast includes our coverage of the 2020 G! Festival, which was cancelled, but kind of happened. To be clear, there was no G! Festival this year. But it kind of happened?

Confused? You should be. We'll clear up that up by talking to Hans Kristian about what exactly happened in Gota last week. Was it the G! Festival? You decide.

Then we take a look back at a favorite G! Festival moment from 2014.

As always, you can listen on the media player at the bottom of this post, on Apple, Google, Spotify, and whatever service you use to get podcasts. You can also download the show directly here.

Podcast 329: Island Games, Gibraltar

On this podcast, we talk about the Island Games, a bi-annual sporting event for small island nations. Heri Simonsen will recap how the Faroe Islands team did in the 2019 games in Gibraltar, and give his hopes for the 2021 games in Guernsey.

Then we'll travel to Vestmanna and look at the dam.

As always, you can listen on Apple Podcasts or Spotify or anywhere quality podcasts are given away for free. You can also listen on the media player at the bottom of this page or download the show directly here.

Podcast 327: Svinoy

This week, we take a small ferry to a small island to talk to the proprietor of the only retail establishment of any kind on the island of Svinoy. We'll learn how he and his wife left the "big city" of Klaksvik for an island with only 9 residents.

As always, you can listen on just about any podcast platform, or on the media player at the bottom of this post You can also download the show directly here.

Podcast 326: Tourism in the Time of Corona

Credit: Kristin Vang/Visit Faroe Islands

This week, we talk to Guðrið Højgaard, who is the Director of Visit Faroe Islands. These are strange times for people who promote tourism. Borders are closed, people are in lockdown, and almost all flights to and from the Faroe Islands have been cancelled.

But while things were shutting down, Højgaard and her team came up with Remote Tourism. We'll talk about how Visit Faroe Islands came up with this unique campaign, and the prospects for tourism moving forward.

Then we'll stand in front of a hotel under construction.

As always you can listen on all the major podcast platforms, and even most of the minor ones. You can also listen on the media player at the bottom of this post, or you can download the show directly here.

Podcast 325: In The Studio With SAKARIS

On this podcast, we talk to SAKARIS. SAKARIS is a Faroese composer, producer, and musician living in Iceland. For the past two months, he's been going into the studio and allowing people to watch as he tries to create a song. Sometimes it goes well. Other times... well...

But whatever the result, it's a fascinating watch. We'll talk to Sakaris about the thrills and perils of creating with an audience watching, and how deadlines and constraints can make for better art.

Then we'll go to a forgotten village and search for some history.

You can listen on your favorite podcast platform, or your least favorite, it really doesn't matter to us. You can also listen on the media player at the bottom of this post, or download the show directly here.

Podcast 323: Elin Sings, Remote Tourism, and Life Under Lockdown.

On this week's podcast, we get an update on the COVID-19 infection numbers in the Faroe Islands and listen to a coronavirus-themed opera. (You can watch that opera here.) For more information about the novel coronavirus in the Faroes, please visit the official government site, the state broadcaster, or Local.fo.

Then we explore "remote tourism." While the Faroe Islands is currently closed to tourists, you can still explore them remotely. For a limited time, Visit Faroe Islands will allow you to take a tour of Faroese villages, and control the tour guide in real time. Just to be clear, this isn't a simulation, it's a real live person, taking directions from people in real time. To learn more about this intriguing way to see the Faroes, check out Visit Faroe Islands' Remote Tourism site.

But wait, there's more! We spend the third segment of our show talking to Elin Brimheim Heinesen about life under lockdown in the Faroe Islands. And then she sends us off with a song.

As always, you can listen on the media player at the bottom of this post, on Apple Podcasts, Google Play, Spotify, and just about anywhere you find podcasts. You can also download the show directly here.