LETTERS FROM AMERICA

The search for Swedish footprints within the United States diverted my road trip to the University of Nevada in Reno, to speak to basketball player Hanna Jolinder, who recently arrived to take the position as Guard in the Nevada Wolf Pack after years in the highest basketball league in Sweden, including a position in the Swedish National Team.We sat down in the Airstream and talked about the importance of support from older teammates, the differences between Swedish and American players, and about embracing your talent.

The all-American road trip led me to the many wineries of Sonoma Valley, where I met up with Swedish-born Katarina Bonde at West Wines, the vineyard she founded with her husband almost twenty years ago. We talked about stepping into the winemaking industry without really knowing what to expect, about how grapes teach you patience, and about what it was like to have the first American wine selected for the Nobel Prize banquet. - And what is it about this ancient beverage that makes it so special?Listen to her story on what to expect when buying a small vineyard - years in the waiting, years in the making - and if there's a Swedish way of growing grapes.

Mr. Shelgren is a movie producer, writer, and director for the world-renowned Ojai Film Festival, north of Los Angeles, California. He is also 'Sven' to most people who've met him, a nickname he took in honor of his Swedish heritage. We met in the Airstream as the podcast tour passed Ojai, and we talked about the spirit of creativity, the changes in Hollywood, and being proud of who you are - and about rollercoasters, the myth of the Swedish Blondes, and not finding polar bears in Stockholm.

Gudrun Giddings is a movie & TV producer based in Los Angeles, California, and she's also the Honorary Consul of Sweden in LA - and in my mind the perfect guest when Letters from America visits "La-La-Land".But Gudrun had another plan and wasn't all up for questions about an industry that, in her mind, tends to be overexposed. Instead, she turned the tables - literally - and sat me in the guest seat to answer all her questions about the road trip tour. This is the "Malibu Coup"!

Ingrid Hagelberg (or "Vismaya") stumbled into this tour by chance while I was visiting Sedona, Arizona, where she has lived for many years. Her life story takes wild turns, making it hard to keep up, but it all comes back to one thing - her passion for singing. Ingrid is an International Jazz Singer and award-winning actress, born in Trelleborg, Sweden, with a career that stretches from Tokyo to Los Angeles, South Africa to Poland, and Sweden to Germany, alongside international recording sessions, TV shows, and award-winning stage performances.

“Letters from America" is a road trip podcast in search of the Swedish heritage in the United States - stories from a country built with bricks from all parts of the world. - It’s the letters from America, about America, to America.I am Martin Wærn, and in partnership with the Embassy of Sweden in Washington, DC, Volvo Cars USA, Volvo Trucks USA, and Airstream Inc. , I'm on a twelve-month tour to celebrate the 250th anniversary of American independence by exploring the people and places of Swedish America through a series of interviews and short stories. It’s a coast-to-coast (and back) assignment, through Swedish American stories found in New Sweden, Maine, the Bronck House, Coxsackie, Mount Rushmore, South Dakota - and everything in between. We’ll meet both well-known and everyday voices, sharing their stories alongside daily posts of all the mishaps, fortunes, lucky strikes, wrong turns, and right mornings that will shape us throughout the year.

I met with Pia Nilsson, the former Senior Head Coach for the Swedish National Teams in Golf, co-founder of Vision 54, and the coach behind multiple victories on the LPGA Tour, PGA Tour, European Tour, and Japan Tour, including several major winners and top-ranked world players, outside her home in Scottsdale, Arizona - to speak about everything I don't know about golf.

I met with Swedish-born Fredrik Thomsson to talk about what motivated him to leave his teenage room on the Swedish island of Gotland thirty-five years ago, throwing himself headlong into a ranch in Oklahoma to work for reining-horse legend Bob Loomis, and further through hundreds of horses and countless competitions, until today, having his own champion ranch outside Pilot Point, Texas, accompanied by nicknames such as Mr. International, the Swedish Cowboy, or Fred Fortunate - and a wind whispering of a new legend in the making.

I met with Don Raines, Senior Planner in the city of Dallas, Texas, to talk about two remarkable Swedes that helped not only shape the city itself - but left iconic marks on the entire country.Join me to hear Don speak about his love for Dallas, about Carl Wickman, the Swedish immigrant who founded the iconic Greyhound Buses, and about John Eric Johnson, a second-generation Swede who became three times elected mayor of Dallas right after the Kennedy assassination and who was the man behind the key development of both Texas Instruments and Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport.PS. Please follow this show on Spotify or YouTube. It really helps!

I met with Pernilla Wittung-Stafshede, Professor of Chemistry and BioSciences and former member of the Nobel Committee in Chemistry, outside her new lab at Rice University in Houston and we talked about the winding road that guided her to where she is now, about changing your mind, and about the essence of protien folding.

I met with Anna Hammarlund Blixt, the newly appointed Consul General of Sweden, outside her residence in Houston, Texas, to discuss Sweden's relationship with America's second-largest state, the sense of independence, the importance of being on-site, and the power of Swedish innovations - plus all the everyday life challenges that come with accepting an assignment that involves the entire family.

I met with Swedish-born Caroline Brunious (née Fromell) - the Swedish clarinet player and child protege who's now one of the top jazz clarinet players - outside her home in New Orleans, Louisiana, to talk about the journey that led her to this center stage of the Jazz Universe.

The Old Swedes Church in Swedesboro (New Jersey) was founded by Swedish Lutheran settlers who originally worshiped in a log cabin on the site at the beginning of the 18th century. Earlier this year, I was invited to speak with Senior Warden Robert Fritz about the Church’s 300-year history.

I met with Pierre Schelander, Pastor at the Swedish Church in Florida, to speak about the differences between Swedish and American parishes, the vocabulary of faith, and flying to Swedish congregations in both Argentina and Brazil.

I met with legendary Viveca Averstedt - the fastest person outside the USA for 5 years - at her home in Orlando, Florida, and we talked about the rollercoaster world of bodybuilding, drag racing, and top fuel cars, and the sweet life of running your own Swedish food truck. 

From Log Houses and Art to Spotify and the Grammy Awards, Swedes have left their mark in America for almost 400 years.  Tracey Beck is the Executive Director of the American Swedish Historical Museum in Philadelphia - the oldest Swedish museum in the United States - and she was kind enough to meet with me for a recap of Swedish history within the United States. We met in my caravan outside the museum, speaking about everything from settling, hostile takeovers, and becoming “American”. PS. Eriksbergs Slott is south of Katrineholm, in Sweden.

In this first episode, I was given the opportunity to enter the intense world of the National Hockey League - a world I know little to nothing about. Rasmus Sandin, from Uppsala, Sweden, plays defense for the Washington Capitals, joining a line of almost 30 legendary Swedish players who have fought for the team’s victory over the years. We met in my caravan outside their training facility, Medstar Capitals Iceplex, to talk about hockey, family, and time - you know, those things that make life important.