Danish Originals

From his home in Israels Plads, Soviet Union-born, Copenhagen-based Danish American businessman and startup investor ILYA KATSNELSON recalls arriving in the US as a refugee at the age of ten, his formative years in Wisconsin, and moving to Denmark, later surviving a German maximum security jail when the Russian state issued a retaliatory Interpol red notice against him. Equally, he talks about his commitment to bringing the US and Denmark closer together through education, art, and culture.
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For today's episode, Ilya Katsnelson chose Carl Bloch's Fra et romersk osteria, or In a Roman Osteria, from 1866 from the collection of the National Gallery of Denmark.
https://open.smk.dk/en/artwork/image/KMS4087  
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Photographer: Davy Denke
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This conversation with Christian D. Bruun occurred on April 6, 2026.
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We invite you to subscribe to Danish Originals for weekly episodes. You can also find us at:
website: https://danishoriginals.com/                                
email: [email protected]

From her home in Greenwich Village, Manhattan, Copenhagen-born, New York-based Danish-Scottish documentary film producer and director MAIKEN BAIRD talks about her latest film on Palestinian American scholar Edward Said that is entirely archive-based. She revisits her iconic works, such as Client 9 (2010), Venus and Serena (2012), Oscar winner Icarus (2017), and Ghislaine Maxwell: Filthy Rich (2022), and describes the challenges in telling real stories that help us understand our world. 
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For today's episode, Maiken Baird chose Lauritz Hartz's Landskab med bakker, or Rolling Landscape, from 1927 from the collection of the National Gallery of Denmark.
https://open.smk.dk/en/artwork/image/KMS7062
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Photographer: Terry Gruber
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This conversation with Asger Hussain occurred on March 26, 2026.
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We invite you to subscribe to Danish Originals for weekly episodes. You can also find us at:
website: https://danishoriginals.com/ 
email: [email protected]

From her home in Copenhagen, Fuglebjerg-born Danish arts and culture advisor FREDERIKKE MØLLER talks about her recent position with the Danish Embassy in Washington, D.C. facilitating Danish arts programming and dialogue in the US. Frederikke shares her thoughts on the changing US cultural scene under the Trump administration, and describes her current initiatives with Seattle's National Nordic Museum and her dream to work on collaborations among Nordic cultures.
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For today's episode, Frederikke Møller chose Jakob Kudsk Steensen's Primal Tourism from 2016 from the collection of the National Gallery of Denmark.
https://open.smk.dk/en/artwork/image/KMS8931
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Photographer: Per Sommer
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This conversation with Gregers Heering occurred on March 11, 2026.
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We invite you to subscribe to Danish Originals for weekly episodes. You can also find us at:
website: https://danishoriginals.com/                                
email: [email protected]

From his home in Concord, Massachusetts, New England-born former US Ambassador to Denmark RUFUS GIFFORD recalls his start in politics, his ongoing connection to Denmark, and his work under Barack Obama and Joe Biden. He describes the current problematic chapter in transatlantic relationships, exemplified by the tensions with Denmark and Greenland, the MAGA movement in the US, and his passion to help elect a transformational US leader in 2028 in the post-Trump world order.
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For today's episode, Rufus Gifford chose C.W. Eckersberg's En sejlads til Charlottenlund, or Sailing from Copenhagen to Charlottenlund, from 1824 from the collection of the National Gallery of Denmark.
https://open.smk.dk/en/artwork/image/KMS8684
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Photograph Source: Rufus Gifford
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This conversation with Nicolai Rottbøll occurred on March 18, 2026.
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We invite you to subscribe to Danish Originals for weekly episodes. You can also find us at:
website: https://danishoriginals.com/
email: [email protected]

From her home in Østerbro, Copenhagen- and Madison, Wisconsin-based Danish author PERNILLE IPSEN talks about her book and collective memoir My Seven Mothers: Making a Family in the Danish Women's Movement which is an English translation and adaptation of the 2020 Montana Prize Danish original. She describes her mothers' roles in the 1970s Red Stockings and Lesbian Movements, and traces the differences between writing in English as a historian and in Danish as a nonfiction author.
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For today's episode, Pernille Ipsen chose Dea Trier Mørch's Fødsel, or Birth, from 1978 from the collection of the National Gallery of Denmark.
https://open.smk.dk/en/artwork/image/KKS2009-19
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Photographer: Bobbie Harte
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This conversation with Christian D. Bruun occurred on December 2, 2025.
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We invite you to subscribe to Danish Originals for weekly episodes. You can also find us at:
website: https://danishoriginals.com/
email: [email protected]