Shows
A Daring JourneyE10: Reflections on MigrationIn this final episode of Vågespel we ask: How can the stories of Norwegian emigrant women expand our understanding of migration in our own time? In the previous episodes we have heard about Norwegian women from the 19th century who dared to cross an ocean, borne by hope and the determination to forge new lives in a new land. Migrants today, in the 21st century, are also searching and hoping for a better life in a distant country and they face many of the same challenges: language barriers and cultures whose custums and norms can be difficult to compr...2025-06-2919 minA Daring JourneyE9: A Patchwork QuiltIn this episode, we take a look at what the women built. We meet again women from earlier episodes—Gjertrud Rumohr Haug, Lina Svåi, Rakel Tonette Atlaksdatter. Women whose strong and steady hands nurtured everyday life in the Norwegian-American communities – through spinning, baking, sewing, and song.Through vivid stories, letters, and memories, we gain an intimate glimpse into the women’s communities that grew in homes, church halls, and women’s associations – spaces that embraced both daily life and faith. We hear how they passed on culture, language, and tradition – from hand to hand, from mother to daughter, f...2025-06-2938 min
VågespelE10: Tankar om migrasjonI denne siste episoden av Vågespel spør me: korleis kan historiane om dei norske utvandrarkvinnene utvida vår eiga forståing av migrasjon i vår tid?I dei tidlegare episodane har me høyrt om norske kvinner frå 1800-talet som våga å kryssa havet, borne av håp og vilje til å skapa seg eit nytt liv i eit framandt land. Også migrantane i det 21. hundreåret søkjer og håpar på eit betre liv i eit fjernt land, og møter mange av dei same utfordringane: språkbarrierar og kulturar med skikkar og normer som kan ver...2025-06-2924 minA Daring JourneyE8: It Began with a LetterIn this episode we see how expectations, love and the freedom to make choices became determining factors in the lives of Norwegian immigrant women. For some the next step was suggested in a letter—a picture, a promise, a hope. We hear about Lina Svåi’s simple praerie wedding and Inga Brekke’s marriage to a prosperous Scottish shopkeeper in Sioux Falls.Through the stories of these women we see how marriage could be both a shelter and a burden, and the difficulties they faced navigating the opposing pulls of Norwegian duty and America freedom. At the center...2025-06-1532 minA Daring JourneyE7: A New BeginningIn this episode we follow young women who take the step from farm to city and who find a new beginning in a new land. They arrive with hands that know work and backs accustomed to responsibility and are handed a workday filled with scrub pails, crying children, sewing machines—and dreams. Through the letters and stories of Ingeborg Marie Brekke and Anna Slinde, we hear how the shift to urban life reshaped their daily life and their sense of what was possible. Some learned new languages, enrolled in night school and found new career paths. Others found themselves standi...2025-06-1526 minA Daring JourneyE6: The World in Their HandsIn this episode, we meet the women who helped build a new country through physical labor, endurance, and warmth. Through powerful stories and letters from Lina Svåi, Gjertrud Rumohr Haug, Anna Slinde, Margretha Nesheim, and Rakel Tonette Rannestad, we hear how these women carried the weight of daily life in their hands: cooking, cleaning, caring for children, and tending to livestock. They were also midwives, caregivers, and cultural bearers. In the absence of doctors, it was the neighbor woman who came when a child was about to be born. And when death knocked, it was those same hands t...2025-05-2544 minA Daring JourneyE5: Building a Life in AmericaAfter crossing the ocean, the true encounter with the new country awaited—a meeting that, for many, was brutal, lonely, and full of trials. In this episode, we follow women who arrived in the United States with hope and dreams, only to be met with coldness, cholera, unpaid labor, and a language they didn’t understand.Through powerful stories from Gjertrud Rumohr Haug, Lina Svåi, Anna Slinde, Guri Rosseland, and Margretha Nesheim, we learn what it was like to be new in a foreign society. They struggle through illness, rejection, the Civil War, and brutal Indigenous upris...2025-05-1143 minA Daring JourneyE4: The Journey Westward ContinuesIn Episode 4, The Journey Westward Continues. After arriving in New York, a new and demanding journey unfolds—this time inland. It’s no longer about ships and coastlines, but trains, canals, and the endless prairies. We follow newly arrived women as they try to find their footing in a foreign land—navigating language barriers, deception, illness, and the harsh forces of nature.Through powerful stories and letters, we are brought close to Gudrun Fagerlie, Linka Preus, Marta Larsen, Magreta Nesheim, and Rakel Tonette Atlaksdatter. They show us what it was like being a woman on a journey into th...2025-04-2746 minA Daring JourneyE3: A New World AwaitsIn episode 2 we followed the brave women who took the big step – leaving Norway in search of a new life. In episode 3 they embark on their journey across the sea.Crossing the Atlantic was more than just another leg af the journey – it was a turning point in life. Through letters, diaries, and vivid scenes, we meet Gjertrud Rumohr Haug, Lina Svåi, Anna Slinde, Rakel Tonette Atlaksdatter and Linka Preus. They take us from the west coast of Norway, through cramped quarters and stormy nights, to the harbor in New York, where a new world awaits....2025-04-0631 minA Daring JourneyE2: Taking LeaveIn episode 1 we explored the historical background of Norwegian emigration—what drove people to leave and what did the world look like to those who made the great leap.In this episode we take a closer look at the act of departure itself. Leaving Norway in the 19th century was not just a physical transition but also an emotional and social rupture. For most, home was a lifelong anchor, and breaking free from the security of family, kinship ties and the last itself was dramatic. Yet, many women chose to leave—hoping for freedom, new opportunities, and a ch...2025-03-2332 minVågespelE1: VågespelVelkomen til lanseringa av Vågespel, ein podkast som lyfter fram historia om den norske kvinna som utvandra frå Noreg til Amerika mellom 1825 og 1925.Kor mykje veit du om kvinnene som la ut på denne ferda? Korleis opplevde dei reisa, kva var det som dreiv dei, og kva utfordringar møtte dei i det nye landet? Me startar reisa attende med historiske kjelder og samtidsrelaterte perspektiv for å kasta nytt lys over utvandringa og dei menneskelege historiane bak.Før me dykker inn i dei personlege breva og dagbøkene, må me forstå den historiske bakgrunnen: Kva dreiv u...2025-03-0820 minA Daring JourneyE1: A Daring JourneyEpisode 1: VågespelWelcome to the launch of Vågespel, a podcast that highlights the history of Norwegian women who emigrated from Norway to America between 1825 and 1925.How much do you know about the women who embarked on this journey? How did they experience the voyage, what drove them, and what challenges did they face in their new country? We begin our journey back in time with historical sources and contemporary perspectives to shed new light on emigration and the human stories behind it.Before we dive into the personal letters and diaries, we...2025-03-0816 min