Helle Strandgaard Jensen, "Sesame Street: A Transnational History" (Oxford UP, 2023)

Dec 29, 2025

Helle Strandgaard Jensen, an associate professor at Aarhus University and the author of "Sesame Street: A Transnational History," dives into the global journey of the iconic show. She discusses how its U.S.-centric ideals often collided with international skepticism and differing educational philosophies. By examining archival research across seven countries, Jensen reveals the complexities of marketing this beloved program worldwide. She also highlights the interplay between its anti-commercial rhetoric and the commercial realities that ultimately shaped its global success.

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INSIGHT

Transnational View Changes The Story

A transnational comparison reveals business and cultural dynamics missing from U.S.-focused Sesame Street histories.
Following funding, marketing, and localization exposes how ideas about childhood shaped global reception.

ADVICE

Organize Archives With Tagged Databases

Build an archival database with rich tags to manage comparative transnational research efficiently.
Use tools like Tropy to create searchable, cross-referenced collections for large multi-country projects.

INSIGHT

A Cognitive Model Of The Child

Sesame Street embodied a cognitive-psychology model that prioritized measurable literacy and numeracy skills.
That model treated the child as an individual learner rather than as a culturally situated social actor.

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In Sesame Street: A Transnational History (Oxford UP, 2023), author Helle Strandgaard Jensen tells the story of how the American television show became a global brand. Jensen argues that because the show's domestic production was not financially viable from the beginning, Sesame Street became a commodity that its producers assertively marketed all over the world. Sesame Street: A Transnational History combines archival research from seven countries, bolstering an insightful analysis of how local reception and rejection of the show related to the global sales strategies and American ideals it was built upon.

Contrary to the producers’ oft-publicized claims of Sesame Street’s universality, the show was heavily shaped by a fixed set of assumptions about childhood, education, and commercial entertainment. This made sales difficult as Sesame Street met both skepticism and direct hostility from foreign television producers who did not share these ideals. Drawing on insights from new histories about childhood, education, and transnational media, the book lays bare a cultural clash of international proportions rooted in divergent approaches to children's television. In doing so, it provides a reflective backdrop to the many ongoing debates about children's media.

In contrasting the positive receptions and renunciations of Sesame Street, Jensen demonstrates that it was only after a substantial rethinking of Sesame Street’s aims and business model that this program ended up on numerous broadcasting schedules by the mid-1970s. Along the way, this rethinking and the constant negotiations with potential international buyers created and shaped the business and corporate brand that paved the way for the Sesame Street we know today.

Peter C. Kunze is a visiting assistant professor of communication at Tulane University.

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