CN17 A Box in the Attic

Crossing North

How will we be remembered when we’re gone? Swedish cultural attaché and former curator Helene Larsson Pousette discusses the importance of archiving our lives as a way to take control of what stories are told about us in the future. Whether you preserve your memories in an official archive or keep them in a box in the attic, Helene argues that archiving yourself is a form of activism that has the power not only to change how we see the past, but also how we see one another. Together with assistant professor Amanda Doxtater, we discuss how to think like an archivist. *** This episode was written, edited, and produced by Colin Gioia Connors. *** Transcript available at https://scandinavian.washington.edu/crossing-north-17-box-attic *** At 01:05, Helene mentions her new book, “Arkivism: En Handbok” (in Swedish), which she co-edited with Lina Thomsgård, and which was initiated by Stockholm Museum of Women’s History and published in 2021 in collaboration with the independent publishing firm Volante. Find it at: https://volanteshop.com/bok/arkivism/ *** At 21:14, Helene mentions a Swedish biography of Ester Blenda Nordström, “Ett jävla solsken,” by Fatima Bremmer. It has been translated into English as “Life in Every Breath: The Extraordinary Ester Blenda” by Gloria Nneoma Onwuneme. *** Theme music used with permission by Kristján Hrannar Pálsson. Spotify: open.spotify.com/album/1dDmFxNvfYVnQwq7up7rxS *** Crossing North is a production of the Department of Scandinavian Studies and the Baltic Studies Program at the University of Washington in Seattle. scandinavian.washington.edu/crossing-north-podcast *** Support Crossing North: Donate to the "Friends of Scandinavian Languages and Literature Fund" scandinavian.washington.edu/support-us