<![CDATA[THE LONG WAY ROUND — EPISODE 01 ICELAND: FIRE, FISH, AND THE COUNTRY THAT JAILED ITS BANKERS]]> https://rss.com/podcasts/the-long-way-round-episode-01-iceland-fire-fish-and-the-country-that-jailed-its-bankers Three hundred and ninety thousand people, no army, one of the oldest parliaments on earth, and a banking collapse ten times the size of the whole economy. A 35-minute deep dive into Iceland — how it was settled, how it survived Denmark and a volcano that killed a fifth of the population, how it beat the Royal Navy over fish, what it eats, how it votes, what it costs, and what daily life there is really like compared with North America.

In episode one, host Marcus Vale, historian and economist Dr. Elena Reyes, and travel producer Theo Lindqvist take on Iceland. We start on an empty island in 874 AD and end at seven in the morning in a geothermal swimming pool in the snow, which is, genuinely, where Icelandic public life happens.

Along the way: the Althing at Thingvellir and the world's oldest parliament; five centuries of Danish trade monopoly; the Laki eruption of 1783 and the famine that nearly emptied the country; independence by paperwork in 1944; the Cod Wars, in which a nation with no military beat the Royal Navy using a net cutter and a NATO base; the 2008 banking collapse and the very rare decision to prosecute the bankers; geothermal heat, heated pavements and an electricity grid that is effectively fossil-free; the tourism boom that started with an unpronounceable volcano; lamb, skyr, plokkfiskur, rye bread baked in the ground, fermented shark, and the hot dog that is the true national dish; the sagas, Laxness, the Christmas book flood, Bjork and a Euro 2016 team coached in part by a dentist; the honest version of the elf story; and a careful, direct comparison with life in Canada and the United States — healthcare, tipping, unions, safety, small talk, darkness, and what it costs to buy a beer.

Hosts:

- Marcus Vale — anchor, ex-foreign desk, dry as the Atacama.

- Dr. Elena Reyes — economic historian, keeps everyone honest with the numbers.

- Theo Lindqvist — travel producer, food-first, has been rained on professionally.

]]> RSS.com 2026.817.133114 Sun, 06 Sep 2026 21:56:02 GMT en bd8db847-1296-507a-b498-d494a1007cc5 https://media.rss.com/the-long-way-round-episode-01-iceland-fire-fish-and-the-country-that-jailed-its-bankers/podcast_cover_20260906_214252_1cc3e72f37b61808d11a711e4a6c4295.jpg THE LONG WAY ROUND — EPISODE 01 ICELAND: FIRE, FISH, AND THE COUNTRY THAT JAILED ITS BANKERS https://rss.com/podcasts/the-long-way-round-episode-01-iceland-fire-fish-and-the-country-that-jailed-its-bankers no Support rhonjay25 rhonjay25 rhonjay25 false episodic podcast true <![CDATA[THE LONG WAY ROUND — EPISODE 01 ICELAND: FIRE, FISH, AND THE COUNTRY THAT JAILED ITS BANKERS]]> Three hundred and ninety thousand people, no army, one of the oldest parliaments on earth, and a banking collapse ten times the size of the whole economy. A 35-minute deep dive into Iceland — how it was settled, how it survived Denmark and a volcano that killed a fifth of the population, how it beat the Royal Navy over fish, what it eats, how it votes, what it costs, and what daily life there is really like compared with North America.

In episode one, host Marcus Vale, historian and economist Dr. Elena Reyes, and travel producer Theo Lindqvist take on Iceland. We start on an empty island in 874 AD and end at seven in the morning in a geothermal swimming pool in the snow, which is, genuinely, where Icelandic public life happens.

Along the way: the Althing at Thingvellir and the world's oldest parliament; five centuries of Danish trade monopoly; the Laki eruption of 1783 and the famine that nearly emptied the country; independence by paperwork in 1944; the Cod Wars, in which a nation with no military beat the Royal Navy using a net cutter and a NATO base; the 2008 banking collapse and the very rare decision to prosecute the bankers; geothermal heat, heated pavements and an electricity grid that is effectively fossil-free; the tourism boom that started with an unpronounceable volcano; lamb, skyr, plokkfiskur, rye bread baked in the ground, fermented shark, and the hot dog that is the true national dish; the sagas, Laxness, the Christmas book flood, Bjork and a Euro 2016 team coached in part by a dentist; the honest version of the elf story; and a careful, direct comparison with life in Canada and the United States — healthcare, tipping, unions, safety, small talk, darkness, and what it costs to buy a beer.

Hosts:

- Marcus Vale — anchor, ex-foreign desk, dry as the Atacama.

- Dr. Elena Reyes — economic historian, keeps everyone honest with the numbers.

- Theo Lindqvist — travel producer, food-first, has been rained on professionally.

]]> https://rss.com/podcasts/the-long-way-round-episode-01-iceland-fire-fish-and-the-country-that-jailed-its-bankers/3129339 f4071b7b-fa6e-4a84-bdd6-2e442389bdff 2089 full 1 1 Sun, 06 Sep 2026 21:54:04 GMT false true Canada, Canada