HeyJaredLETTERS FROM AMERICA
A road trip podcast in search of the Swedish heritage in the United States, celebrating the 250th anniversary of American independence by exploring the people and places of Swedish America through a series of interviews and short stories.
- Indexed episodes, last 90 days
- 16
- Latest publication
- Sep 29, 2026
- Audience
- Checking…
- Earliest in this view
- Jul 7, 2026
Latest episodes
MOLLY STEENSON | The Swedish history of Minnesota and the concept of being Swedish (opens the original)
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Is Minnesota as Swedish as it says it is? And what does it really mean to be a Swede? I drove to Minneapolis to meet with Molly W. Steenson, President and CEO of the American Swedish Institute, and to learn about Swan Johan Turnblad, the Swedish newspaper publisher behind "Svenska Amerikanska Posten", who donated the property that is now the American Swedish Institute. But also to confirm the Swedish immigration history of Minnesota and to ask her what it is to be "Swedish" in the United States
BARB HUGHES | Learning Swedish to unlock your family's history (opens the original)
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Barb Hughes' grandparents came to Minnesota by the beginning of the last century. They were Swedish woodworkers and cabinet makers, seeking a life in the growing city of Minneapolis, and soon became part of the city's Swedish community. But the ties to their homeland were never broken, leaving a trail of stories, letters, and tales that continued through the generations, and to unlock her past, Barb decided at an early age to learn Swedish. A decision that not only woke up her inner Swede but al
KAI S. SWANSON | The Swedish footprint of Augustana College - and everything in between (opens the original)
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Augustana College planted its Swedish roots in Rock Island, Illinois, in 1875, with an increasingly large Swedish American community supporting a new institution and aiming to foster a proud Swedishness in the United States. Early on, all students had to be born in Sweden, but today applications are open to all, and the college describes itself as "a leading liberal arts and sciences college in Illinois". I sat down with Kai S. Swanson, Special Assistant to the President of Augustana College, to
SVEN SJÖSTEDT | From Örebro to Minnesota, walking in Wilhelm Moberg's footsteps (opens the original)
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Sven Sjöstedt moved to the United States at his wife's request: a full-blooded American girl he met while he was stationed as a Senior Administrative Officer for the Swedish Railroad, and she was in Uppsala to study. She gave him ten years in Sweden before vetoing their move back to the US. After a brief stay in Tulsa, Oklahoma, they ended up north of Minneapolis, Minnesota, where they rooted their lives in the existing Swedish community. I steered this road trip to Lindström, Minnesota, to hear
NIKKI O’NEILL | Coming back to America as a full grown Swede (opens the original)
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Singer-songwriter Nikki O'Neill was seven when her family moved from Los Angeles, California, to Stockholm, Sweden. Growing up as a young American girl in that small country on the other side of the globe slowly turned her into a full-fledged "Swede". Twenty years later, she moved back. With determination and a dream - to dedicate her life to art and music. I met Nikki when this road trip brought me to Andersonville, Chicago, to hear her story and ask what it's like to make this "reverse journey
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