
Archipelago
Archipelago Audio
An English-language podcast about arts, culture, and ideas in Denmark — Scandinavia's smallest (mostly) island nation.
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Top 10 Archipelago Episodes
Goodpods has curated a list of the 10 best Archipelago episodes, ranked by the number of listens and likes each episode have garnered from our listeners. If you are listening to Archipelago for the first time, there's no better place to start than with one of these standout episodes. If you are a fan of the show, vote for your favorite Archipelago episode by adding your comments to the episode page.

Introducing 'Dad Mode Activated'
Archipelago
02/23/25 • 1 min
From the producer and host of Archipelago, Dad Mode Activated explores the reality of becoming a father after the age of 40.
With episodes released every fortnight, the podcast features conversations with late-blooming dads who are rewriting the playbook of modern parenthood.
Expect real-life stories, honest advice and the occasional laugh about the unexpected perks of being dads who remember the ‘80s.
To find out more, visit https://dadmodeactivated.co/

Pieces of Aidt
Archipelago
08/22/19 • 26 min
We kick off season two of Archipelago with a very special guest indeed.
Naja Marie Aidt has been described as “one of the most intelligent writers of the contemporary literary world” and as “one of the compassionate voices in fiction”.
Born in Greenland and raised in Copenhagen, she’s the author of ten poetry collections and three short-story collections — including Baboon, which won the Nordic countries’ most prestigious literary award, the Nordic Council's Literature Prize, as well as the Danish Critics Prize for Literature.
Domestic plaudits have led to international acclaim, too.
Baboon was published in English-speaking markets in 2014, and Naja’s debut novel, Rock Paper Scissors, in 2015.
But both books are likely to be eclipsed by Naja’s latest book in translation.
It’s a work of non-fiction called When Death Takes Something From You Give It Back — a cryptic and, as it turns out, deeply personal title that only hints at the tragedy the book describes.
Believe me when I say it’s one of the most remarkable books you’ll ever read.
I was thrilled when Naja found time in her busy schedule at the Aarhus Literature Festival this summer to discuss it with me.
Further reading:
“When Death Takes Something From You Give It Back” official page, Quercus
Naja Marie Aidt's back catalogue
Archipelago is produced by Mother Tongue Media – a new home for English-language podcasts in Denmark. Visit mothertongue.dk to find out more.
The music used in Archipelago is produced by two local artists:
Squares and Triangles
https://squaresandtriangles.bandcamp.com/
Scenery

Mad World
Archipelago
06/05/19 • 42 min
Once a foodie wasteland, Copenhagen is today a major gastronomic destination.
It is, of course, the epicentre of New Nordic cuisine — the culinary movement that championed hyper-local, seasonal ingredients and elevated foraging and fermentation to art forms.
But it’s also a global food city — one where savvy diners can find everything from Surinamese peanut soup to Ethiopian injera, Vietnamese banh mi to Cantonese dim sum.
Even the local government has gone gourmet. There are honey bees on the roof of one town hall, a gin distillery in the basement of another.
In this episode, we take a snapshot of the Copenhagen food scene — and discuss how it’s changed, why that matters, and where it could be going next.
Up first is American journalist Lisa Abend, who writes about current affairs, culture and food for the New York Times, the Washington Post, and Time magazine, among others.
Then we meet Nick Curtin, Andrew Valenzuela, and Camilla Hansen — the co-founders of Alouette, which was awarded a Michelin star within a year of opening in a former envelope factory in Islands Brygge.
Finally, we discuss the intersection of food and theatre with Rasmus Munk, the head chef and founder of soon-to-be-relaunched restaurant Alchemist, and its dramaturge Louise Knudsen.
Further reading:
Lisa Abend on “The Food Circus”
Alouette
http://www.restaurantalouette.dk/
Alchemist
http://restaurant-alchemist.dk/
Archipelago is produced by Mothertongue Media — a new home for English-language podcasts in Denmark. Visit mothertongue.dk to find out more.
The music used in Archipelago is produced by two local artists:
Squares and Triangles
https://squaresandtriangles.bandcamp.com/
Scenery

Archipelago Trailer
Archipelago
04/27/19 • 0 min
A preview of the brand-new podcast about arts, culture and ideas in Denmark. Produced by Mothertongue Media.

Memory Palace
Archipelago
09/22/19 • 25 min
Meik Wiking is one of the world’s leading happiness experts.
The founder of the Happiness Research Institute, he’s also the author of two New York Times bestsellers — The Little Book of Hygge and The Little Book of Lykke — which have been translated into more than 35 languages and sold over a million copies worldwide.
Little wonder, then, that he's been dubbed “probably the world’s happiest man”.
But when Meik turned 40, he realised that, statistically speaking, as a Danish man, he’d lived half his life.
Which got him thinking: how many of the 14,610 days he’d lived could he remember?
So he decided to start researching memories, culminating in his latest book — The Art of Making Memories, a lighthearted but thought-provoking series of tips about how to create and remember happy memories.
We discuss the book with Meik and discover why Andy Warhol changed his perfume every three months, why we should take more photos of our cereal boxes, and how to memorise the order of a deck of card in just minutes.
Further reading:
Happiness Research Institute
https://www.happinessresearchinstitute.com/
The Art of Making Memories, Penguin Random House
https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/311273/the-art-of-making-memories/9780241376058.html
Archipelago is produced by Mothertongue Media, a home for English-language podcasts in Denmark. Visit mothertongue.dk to find out more.
The music used in Archipelago is produced by two Copenhagen-based artists:
Squares and Triangles
https://squaresandtriangles.bandcamp.com/
Scenery
https://scenerymusic.bandcamp.com/

This Amarkaner Life: Bee Curious
Archipelago
11/30/22 • 19 min
There's already a bit of a buzz around this episode — if only because the Amarkaners in question are the island’s hard-working honeybees.
In episode three, we visit Bybi — a bee-powered project based in Amager’s historic Sundholm district — to meet its British founder, Oliver Maxwell.
We learn about Bybi's unusual origin story and location, discover why Oliver prefers to see honey as an "invitation" not a product, and hear about the honey that has some of Copenhagen's best chefs "falling over backwards".
“As soon as you start working with bees, you realise that honey is absolutely magical," Oliver says. "You put these creatures out around the city and over a few days, weeks and months, they accumulate this absolute treasure."
The sound design is by two artists — Squares and Triangles and Scenery.

This Amarkaner Life: The Cold Shock
Archipelago
12/16/22 • 20 min
The Helgoland sea-bathing club, at the northern tip of Amager's beach, is home to one of the world's oldest winter-bathing associations, Det Kolde Gys ("The Cold Shock").
In episode four of This Amarkaner Life, we brave the heat of the sauna and the icy waters of the Øresund to talk to some of the association's hardiest members.
We meet a woman who's been winter bathing for 30 years and a local physio who swims in the sea every morning and is one of the club's saunagus "masters".
They reveal why they love winter bathing so much, how it makes them feel, how to get started, and why Helgoland, in particular, is so special.
Further information
Helgoland
Gys og Gus, by Charlotte Ringbæk et al.
Squares and TrianglesScenery

Stories Behind Bars
Archipelago
04/16/20 • 19 min
Danish "song kindergartens" hit the right notes, while a 19th-century prison provides an unsettling location for an overnight stay.
In this episode, we visit Trekroner Børnehus, a kindergarten outside Roskilde, to hear about Sangglad — a scheme to "increase and improve" singing in Danish pre-schools.
Then we head to Horsens Prison Museum, in Jutland, to discover how a notorious jail has been transformed into a popular tourist attraction.
Further reading:
Sangglad
Horsens Prison Museum
Archipelago is produced for Mothertongue Media.
The sound design is by Squares and Triangles and Scenery.

Blixen En Pointe
Archipelago
11/09/19 • 23 min
“Those who wish to relive their lives, never lived them in the first place.”
The words of Karen Blixen — the acclaimed Danish writer whose life story is the basis of a brand-new ballet created exclusively for the Royal Danish Theatre in Copenhagen.
Blixen sketches the writer's life story from her childhood years in Denmark through her unhappy marriage to her half-cousin Bror Blixen, her years running a coffee plantation in Kenya—where she embarked on a doomed love affair with Denys Finch Hatton—and the final years of her life, back home in Denmark, when she found global fame at last.
To discover how to tell the life story of one of Denmark’s best-known writers through that most expressionistic yet wordless form of storytelling — ballet — we speak to three of the people behind Blixen: dancer and choreographer Gregory Dean; principal dancer Kizzy Matiakis, who plays Blixen; and costume and set designer Jon Morrell.

Introducing... The Recipe
Archipelago
10/29/21 • 2 min
Say hello to a brand-new food podcast.
It’s called The Recipe — and it's all about the new generation of restaurants and the people behind them.
If you heard the Mad World episode of Archipelago, in which we took a look at the Copenhagen restaurant scene, you’ll have a pretty good idea of what The Recipe will be like.
We’ll be exploring what it takes to run a successful restaurant — and taking a closer look at some of the ingredients.
Along the way, we’ll be meeting the food world’s most forward-thinking individuals — and finding out how they think, how they work, and how they’re shaping the future of the industry.
Brought to you by Superb, The Recipe is a show for anyone who’s ever had a great plate of food put in front of them and wondered how it got there.
Episode 1 drops on Sunday 31 October — but the only thing that’s scary about it is how inspirational it is.
Follow us now wherever you get your podcasts.
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FAQ
How many episodes does Archipelago have?
Archipelago currently has 21 episodes available.
What topics does Archipelago cover?
The podcast is about Ideas, Culture, Places & Travel, Society & Culture, Documentary, Podcasts, English, Danish, Arts and Travel.
What is the most popular episode on Archipelago?
The episode title 'Stories Behind Bars' is the most popular.
What is the average episode length on Archipelago?
The average episode length on Archipelago is 24 minutes.
How often are episodes of Archipelago released?
Episodes of Archipelago are typically released every 20 days.
When was the first episode of Archipelago?
The first episode of Archipelago was released on Apr 27, 2019.
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