Politics

for those who want the argument, the demands and what's been sent to the editors · strong statements first, the case file last

Read these first, in this order

1. 1The word that was missingI've been playing with the expression "leseambisjon", which apparently doesn't exist on the Internet at all.
2. 2Cricket in AustraliaSome kids get it from home, and some don't. It's not enough that some teachers are heroic.
3. 3Are you allowed to say this?The most condescending thing you can say about ordinary people is surely that world literature "isn't for them".
4. 4Where is the knowledge strategy for adults?Why doesn't Teater Innlandet have a little lecture series on theater history? (Why doesn't NRK????)
5. 5Bring back FjernsynsteateretI would never have paid 800 kr to go to the opera if I didn't know I liked it.

Everything on this

6 more pieces, in the order they belong together

• Case file · 2 September 2026The reading-for-pleasure strategy for adultsThe government is writing a reading-for-pleasure strategy for adults. What it asks about, what reading ambition adds, and five proposals from posts and letters.
• The Argument · 11 February 2025Adult beginnersUneducated rogues, happy amateurs and a study that should have been done: how adults get started with literature, art and music.
• The Argument · 6 May 2024Nobody said it existedNever once did a teacher say to me "here's something a bit more literarily advanced that you might want to try".
• The Argument · 31 August 2026But writing!?Writing in school: short reading comprehension answers, no whole stories, and what lots of practice has to do with it. From a letter to Skrivesenteret, August 2026.
• Essays and experiences · 13 May 2024Fjernsynsteater until 2 a.m.Me, who can't last more than 20 minutes of a Netflix series before I start checking my phone.
• The Argument · 7 April 2025Subtitles in the theaterIn Athens all the performances are subtitled in English and Greek. We actually do have more than just waffles to offer!

Reading list

books, recordings and places · the sentences are mine, from The List, the catalog and what I've written elsewhere

• E. D. Hirsch: Why Knowledge MattersbookThis is an incredibly readable book about the big shift away from a focus on content/knowledge to a focus on "critical thinking", creativity etc. His argument is that you can't have critical thinking/creativity etc without "knowing things".
• E. D. Hirsch: Cultural LiteracybookSitting here reading E. D. Hirsch now — wanted to start with the oldest (Cultural Literacy) even though he's written a lot after that. An incredible amount here that makes sense.
• Jonathan Rose: The Intellectual Life of the British Working ClassesbookPretty incredible to read about how weavers in Scotland read Milton while they were weaving, miners got together to set up libraries, had theater companies that put on Shakespeare.
• Ingeborg Refling Hagen: the books about the warbookHer books about World War II should be required reading in school.
• Peer Gynt, Bentein Baardson, Fjernsynsteateret 1993recordingNRK has the whole Peer Gynt by Bentein Baardson. Awesome recording. At the very least the monologue at the start has to be shown!
• Antigone, Hålogaland Teater, FjernsynsteateretrecordingFirst I saw Antigone with Hålogaland Teater (with music by Mari Boine), a really great performance.
• Musikkens verden (1963)bookJust bought an amazing book — a Norwegian encyclopedia of music from 1963. It's 3264 pages, bound with wooden covers (never seen that before), lavish articles about classical music, composers, pieces, operas — just a joy to read.
• National Theatre at HomeplaceIt's one of the only theatres in the world that makes high quality recordings available... There's no such thing in France or Germany, etc (sadly).
• Collège de FranceplaceIf I want to learn about the Norwegian wage bargaining model from Kalle Moene, about the power market, about Nynorsk, about the history of the Sami — I'm not going to get that from College de France.
• KulturbaseplaceThey do have treasures, but they hide them well! That's exactly why I built Kulturbase.no.
• Applaus Scene, for schoolsplaceBut, if you're a teacher — make sure your school subscribes to Applaus Scene, it doesn't cost much. And feel free to show Peer Gynt at school.