

Danish Originals
American Friends of Statens Museum of Kunst
Danish Originals is an ongoing podcast series that spotlights the intersection of Danish creativity, originality, and innovation in the US. It is a collection of interviews with Danish cultural figures — some who live in the US, and others who do not — that explore how their journeys are fueled by vision and ambition. And each episode opens with each guest reflecting on an artwork from Denmark's National Gallery.Presented by the American Friends of Statens Museum for Kunst (AFSMK), Danish Originals is partially sponsored by Scan Design Foundation and Studio Haslund. Hosted by Tina Jøhnk Christensen, directed by Christian D. Bruun, produced by Teresa Lai, with original music by Joachim Svare. We invite you to subscribe to Danish Originals for weekly episodes. And we invite you to donate to the American Friends of Statens Museum for Kunst and become a patron.
Episodes
Mentioned books

Apr 24, 2025 • 40min
S6E5. Louise Bokkenheuser
From her home in New York, Pulitzer finalist and Ebbe Munck Prize-winning Danish writer and editor LOUISE BOKKENHEUSER talks her upcoming novel How to Organize the World, and recalls her time as a war correspondent in Bagdad, Iraq for The Los Angeles Times and what her experience taught her about human beings' capabilities in treating each other. She further shares her thoughts on the state of journalism in the US under a second Trump presidency.Louise selects a work by J.F. Willumsen from the SMK collection.https://open.smk.dk/en/artwork/image/KMS3413(Photographer: Maury Loeb)----------We invite you to subscribe to Danish Originals for weekly episodes. You can also find us at:website: https://danishoriginals.com/email: info@danishoriginals.com----------And we invite you to donate to the American Friends of Statens Museum for Kunst and become a patron: https://donorbox.org/american-friends-of-statens-museum-for-kunst

Apr 17, 2025 • 39min
S6E4. Henrik Rehr
From his apartment in Battery Park City in Manhattan, where he's called home since 1992, award-winning Odense-born Danish cartoonist and graphic novelist HENRIK REHR revisits starting his comic shop and drawing studio Den Blå Bil in his hometown in Odense. Henrik discusses his book Tribeca Sunset: A Story of 9-11 about his family's experience during the 2001 terrorist attack in New York City and shares his thoughts on how 9/11 changed the US.Henrik selects a work by Christen Købke from the SMK collection.https://open.smk.dk/en/artwork/image/KMS359(Photographer: Sebastian Kim-Rehr)----------We invite you to subscribe to Danish Originals for weekly episodes. You can also find us at:website: https://danishoriginals.com/email: info@danishoriginals.com----------And we invite you to donate to the American Friends of Statens Museum for Kunst and become a patron: https://donorbox.org/american-friends-of-statens-museum-for-kunst

Apr 10, 2025 • 33min
S6E3. Merete Angelica Baird
From her home in Manhattan, Hellerup-born Danish journalist, writer, and tv personality MERETE ANGELICA BAIRD talks about her current projects, a memoir that is also a recipe book, and her popular Danish tv series Verdensdamerne, or Ladies of the World. She recalls her work as a journalist for Politiken and Weekendavisen, covering all aspects of art and culture, she revisits her world travels, and explains, based on her own 65-year old marriage, why Danes and Scots are a perfect match.Merete Angelica selects a work by Erik Henningsen from the SMK collection.https://open.smk.dk/en/artwork/image/KMS1454(Photographer: Henrik Thalbitzer)----------We invite you to subscribe to Danish Originals for weekly episodes. You can also find us at:website: https://danishoriginals.com/email: info@danishoriginals.com----------And we invite you to donate to the American Friends of Statens Museum for Kunst and become a patron: https://donorbox.org/american-friends-of-statens-museum-for-kunst

Apr 3, 2025 • 36min
S6E2. Marc Hom
From his home in Cooperstown in upstate New York, Danish photographer MARC HOM recalls moving to New York City when he was 21, and cutting his teeth working at Harper's Bazaar. A veteran New Yorker known for his iconic portraits of some of the world's most notable figures, Marc talks about establishing trust with his subjects, and about his recent museum exhibition Marc Hom: Re-Framed, his first, in which he challenged his viewers to understand photography in new and unexpected ways.Marc selects a work by Paul Høm from the SMK collection.https://open.smk.dk/en/artwork/image/KMS4205(Photographer: Thomas Loof)----------We invite you to subscribe to Danish Originals for weekly episodes. You can also find us at:website: https://danishoriginals.com/email: info@danishoriginals.com----------And we invite you to donate to the American Friends of Statens Museum for Kunst and become a patron: https://donorbox.org/american-friends-of-statens-museum-for-kunst

Mar 27, 2025 • 40min
S6E1. Amanda Collin
From her home in Copenhagen, Danish actress AMANDA COLLIN recalls her first acting seminar in New York at 23, which led to her iconic roles today in Danish films The Promised Land (2024) and The Quiet Ones (2024) and US series House of the Dragon (2024). Amanda talks about play in acting, and about accepting the unknown and being in the present. And she shares her latest project, The Creative Cycle Wheel, conceived and imagined for creative women.Amanda selects a work by Anne Marie Carl Nielsen from the SMK collection.https://www.open.smk.dk/en/artwork/image/KMS6085(Photographer: HEIN photography)----------We invite you to subscribe to Danish Originals for weekly episodes. You can also find us at:website: https://danishoriginals.com/email: info@danishoriginals.com----------And we invite you to donate to the American Friends of Statens Museum for Kunst and become a patron: https://donorbox.org/american-friends-of-statens-museum-for-kunst

Mar 13, 2025 • 41min
S5E10. Barbara Topsøe-Rothenborg
From her home in Gentofte outside of Copenhagen, Danish director and former child star BARBARA TOPSØE-ROTHENBORG revisits her 11-year stay in Los Angeles, starting when she was 21, where she got her filmmaking education on the job. Returning home in search of a directing career and a work-life balance, Barbara talks about her film Loving Adults, the first Netflix Danish language original feature, and other projects that highlight her priority to tell female and personal stories.Barbara selects a work by C.A. Lorentzen from the SMK collection.https://open.smk.dk/en/artwork/image/KMS920(Photographer: Caspar Willumsen)----------We invite you to subscribe to Danish Originals for weekly episodes. You can also find us at:website: https://danishoriginals.com/email: info@danishoriginals.com----------And we invite you to donate to the American Friends of Statens Museum for Kunst and become a patron: https://donorbox.org/american-friends-of-statens-museum-for-kunst

Mar 6, 2025 • 36min
S5E9. Jamil GS
From his home in Nordvest, Copenhagen, Danish-American photographer JAMIL GS recalls his time living in Los Angeles as a child, growing up bi-cultural in Denmark, and moving to New York in the 1990s where for 20 years, he captured hip-hop and street culture. Jamil talks about encountering racism in the US, and his artistic life celebrating multiculturalism. He talks about Young Stringers, an initiative he started to respond to rhetoric towards immigrant communities in Denmark today.Jamil selects a work by SUPERFLEX from the SMK collection.https://open.smk.dk/artwork/image/KMS8810(Photographer: Mishael Fapohunda)----------We invite you to subscribe to Danish Originals for weekly episodes. You can also find us at:website: https://danishoriginals.com/email: info@danishoriginals.com----------And we invite you to donate to the American Friends of Statens Museum for Kunst and become a patron: https://donorbox.org/american-friends-of-statens-museum-for-kunst

Feb 27, 2025 • 40min
S5E8. Signe Byrge Sørensen
From her production company on Vesterbrogade, Copenhagen-born Oscar-nominated Danish film producer SIGNE BYRGE SØRENSEN shares her thoughts on what she learned to do producing her new film, The End, her first narrative feature and a six-country co-production. Signe talks about film as a collaborative art form, what she looks for in projects, the public support of film in Denmark, and the practical benefits, especially for documentaries, of award campaigns and film festivals.Signe selects a work by Loui Michael from the SMK collection.https://open.smk.dk/en/artwork/image/KMS7159(Photographer: Pascal Bünning)----------We invite you to subscribe to Danish Originals for weekly episodes. You can also find us at:website: https://danishoriginals.com/email: info@danishoriginals.com----------And we invite you to donate to the American Friends of Statens Museum for Kunst and become a patron: https://donorbox.org/american-friends-of-statens-museum-for-kunst

Feb 20, 2025 • 49min
S5E7. Joshua Oppenheimer
From his home in Copenhagen, a city he's called home for more than a decade, Texas-born Oscar-nominated American-Danish filmmaker JOSHUA OPPENHEIMER talks about his new narrative film The End (2024), an apocalyptic musical. Joshua discusses The End alongside his Oscar-nominated documentary films The Act of Killing (2012) and The Look of Silence (2014), and how the three provocative and divisive projects are mirrors to challenge us to look at ourselves.Joshua selects a work by Pieter Bruegel the Elder from the SMK collection.https://open.smk.dk/en/artwork/image/KMS1639(Photographer: Pascal Bünning)----------We invite you to subscribe to Danish Originals for weekly episodes. You can also find us at:website: https://danishoriginals.com/email: info@danishoriginals.com----------And we invite you to donate to the American Friends of Statens Museum for Kunst and become a patron: https://donorbox.org/american-friends-of-statens-museum-for-kunst

Feb 13, 2025 • 42min
S5E6. Tonny Sørensen
On a stay in Los Angeles from Copenhagen, Søborg-born Danish entrepreneur and artist TONNY SØRENSEN recalls his 32-year-long stay in Los Angeles, initiated by his 1991 World Championship title in taekwondo, his acting aspirations, to leading the clothing brand Von Dutch Originals to international heights. He discusses communities he created outside of LA, including one based on Freetown Christiania, leaving LA, success and failure, and his current focus on his photography.Tonny selects a work by André Derain from the SMK collection.https://open.smk.dk/en/artwork/image/KMSr14(Private photograph)----------We invite you to subscribe to Danish Originals for weekly episodes. You can also find us at:website: https://danishoriginals.com/email: info@danishoriginals.com----------And we invite you to donate to the American Friends of Statens Museum for Kunst and become a patron: https://donorbox.org/american-friends-of-statens-museum-for-kunst


