A Podcast Series

On July 4, 1825, the Norwegian sloop Restoration set sail from Stavanger, bound for America. The journey was rough, with weeks of storms and hardship, but after months at sea, the ship arrived in New York City—the first Norwegian emigrant vessel to ever make the crossing.

Since that landfall, nearly a million Norwegians have followed, leaving their mark on America in countless ways. Some turned the prairie into farmland. Others laid railroad tracks or carried on Norway’s deep-sea fishing traditions. The history books are filled with Norwegians who shaped American politics, culture, and society—whether as governors like Knute Nelson or as infamous figures like Belle Gunness, the notorious serial killer.

200 Norwegians is a podcast series in 200 chapters, telling the good, the bad, and the ugly of Norwegian emigration—hosted by writer and journalist Fredrik Kalsveit, himself a recent Norwegian immigrant to the U.S.