Exclusive interview with the President of Iceland: Guðni Th. Jóhannesson

2021 has been such an interesting year for me and I was just as shocked as anyone that I was able to interview the President of Iceland, Guðni Th. Jóhannesson. I talk about how the opportunity to interview Guðni during the podcast episode because it is quite unusual. The President was very kind to answer all of my questions, including the questions that the members of the All Things Iceland Patreon submitted.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QTJo-K3_PV8&t=1s

Here are the questions I asked the President of Iceland during the interview:

• What motivated you to run for President of Iceland in 2016?
• Can you explain a bit about what your duties are, and what kind of power you do have in the Icelandic government? –
• What have you learned from previous Icelandic Presidents
• What is most challenging about being President of Iceland?
• How has COVID impacted your Presidency?
• What He likes about being President of Iceland
• The myths about Iceland he wants to debunk
• The President’s favorite history about Bessastaðir (The Icelandic President’s Residence)
• Has there been anything interesting and/or strange that have you experienced since leaving behind your life as an ordinary citizen and becoming the head of the Icelandic state?
• One of the most surprising things I read about you is you’re a very distant cousin of Barack Obama. Was it shocking to you when you found that out? Also, have you met the Obamas?
• What is your favorite Icelandic word or phrase?

Questions From my patrons on Patreon

• Before assuming the office of the president you had an academic background in Icelandic history. When you leave office what do you think you will focus on studying or writing about?
• As an individual who has translated the works of Stephen King into Icelandic what is your favorite work by the Author? Is there any literature you would love to see translated that has not been?

Join the All Things Iceland Patreon Community

Some of you might be aware that one of my goals for the podcast is to travel around Iceland more to interview different people in each region. In July 2020, I set up the All Things Iceland community on Patreon. It’s a membership platform that was founded in 2013. It allows or creators like me to provide exclusive content to listeners like you in exchange for a monthly subscription.

Each month I am doing Ask Me Anything videos, Live Chats, and Folklore Friday each week. Sometimes I do updates about my life in Iceland. I do not share this content on any other channel. The support from my patrons on the All Things Iceland community on Patreon will help to evolve All Things Iceland. There are several membership tiers to choose from and each tier has a variety of benefits.

If you would like to join the community, go to patreon.com/allthingsiceland. I look forward to having you join.

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Þakka þér kærlega fyrir að hlusta (og að lesa) og sjáumst fljótlega.

Thank you kindly for listening (and reading) and see you soon!