Today on Sauna Talk, we welcome Tom Carlson, a sauna enthusiast and a SaunaTimes public sauna map supporter. Tom caught the sauna bug in Germany, and brought home his love and appreciation for good heat. And, like many of us, Tom recognizes how good sauna is like a candle that lights another candle. And with this, there are really good saunas dotted all over the world. Several years ago, we built the SaunaTimes Public Sauna Map . With over 200 entries and counting, there's a good chance that as ...
Mar 30, 2024•36 min
Today on the Sauna Talk bench, we welcome three guests who are aligned to helping veterans through sauna as a means of healing our heroes. Their stories are heartfelt, their passions are clear. And for those of us who know sauna, we know that their purpose is meaningful and their success rate undeniable. (ie sauna is good for us!)! Who is Healing Heroes Saunas? The co-founders, Mike and Josh: as introduction: Mike Lotzer On the right side of the bench we have, Mike Lotzer. Mike is the Lead Pasto...
Mar 07, 2024•1 hr 22 min
Today from any one of 22 saunas, we Sauna Talk from the Great Northern Sauna Village , Malcolm Yards, Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA. "The Great Northern Sauna Village is a social and therapeutic experience hosted at Malcolm Yards. Visitors can immerse themselves in sauna culture by interacting with various Thermaculture traditions. And connecting with local sauna companies and builders. During 60-90- minute Steam Sessions, guests can explore various types of traditional wood-fired sauns. These inc...
Feb 01, 2024•1 hr 20 min
Jan 08, 2024•1 hr 15 min
Today we welcome back Dr. Charles Raison to this Sauna Talk podcast part 2. I encourage you to check in with Part one, where Chuck and i work from the starting block about Sauna health benefits and research surrounding hypethermia and hot/cold contrast therapy. In this episode, by design we go deeper. We unpack hot cold therapy as a novel treatment for mental health. 101.3 101.3 isn't just the radio frequency for a hit music station in the Twin Cities. We have foundational research surrounding t...
Jan 04, 2024•40 min
Today on the virtual smoke sauna bench, please welcome my friend Jarmo Hiltunen. Author of the brand new book: Building a Traditional Finnish Smoke Sauna. I am overjoyed that for many, Jarmo will be your voice to the introduction to the wonderfulness of smoke sauna. Jarmo is a builder, but I would call him more of an artisan. Also, he is also a smoke sauna spiritual evangelist. His book is now available on Amazon As we type the words "smoke sauna" into the Amazon search bar, we have to sift our ...
Dec 11, 2023•43 min
Welcome to this Sauna Talk podcast episode with Nick Fox: Minnesota's first Wim Hof certified instructor and baker of amazing homemade bread. We communed in heat, cold plunge and nature in my backyard sauna recently and you'll hear my interview with Nick in just a moment. But before then, I'd like to take you back to a dark and cold February night in Minnesota a few years ago when Nick first sat down to watch the VICE documentary on Wim Hof, the Ice Man. Inspired by the science and adventures in...
Dec 01, 2023•1 hr 22 min
Today we welcome a very special guest to Sauna Talk: Dr. Charles Raison. His biography is as follows: Dr. Raison is a the Mary Sue and Mike Shannon Chair for Healthy Minds, Children & Families in the School of Human Ecology and a Professor in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Wisconsin – Madison. Dr. Raison received his medical degree from Washington University in St Louis, Missouri, where he was elected to Alpha Omega Alpha and won the Missouri State Medical Association Awar...
Nov 06, 2023•43 min
Welcome to this mini Sauna Talk episode from inside and around the World's Largest Sauna. The sauna was constructed as part of the RunningMan festival outside of Atlanta Georgia, this past weekend, mid October 2023. I'll try to connect the dots to how the World's Largest Sauna came about. And it started with the folks at Embrace North , building a few saunas for the All Day Running organization. And as All Day Running began planning for the RunningMan festival, well, their experience with good h...
Oct 24, 2023•36 min
Today on the bench, we welcome Todd Furneaux who is spearheading the building of the World's Largest Sauna. The sauna is being constructed as part of Running Man , a three day festival happening outside of Atlanta Georgia this mid October 2023. During this episode, you'll hear about Todd's company and cohorts, All Day Running . And how the idea of building the World's Largest Sauna was surely fostered on the sauna bench or in the cold plunge. As with endorphins running and community spiriting, t...
Oct 01, 2023•42 min
Today on the virtual sauna bench, i'm pleased to bring you Sauna Talk: Emma O'Kelly, author of the new book Sauna: The Power of Deep Heat . We join Emma from her home in North London. And, we hear from Emma how the idea for this book was seeded through the pandemic. Plus, how the health benefits of sauna helped make the book happen. In the book, Emma does a great job outlining the reported health benefits of sauna, and we touch upon a few of these during our interview. You wil be transported to ...
Sep 05, 2023•59 min
Today on the global sauna bench, we Sauna Talk with Mikkel Aaland from inside and just back from war torn Ukraine. Introduction from Minnesota Before we dive into this episode, I'd like to paint a picture of where I am sitting and what i'm thinking about. I am speaking to you while sitting on my deck at our island cabin in Northern Minnesota. I can see about 8 miles to the East, along a shoreline dotted with islands and outcroppings of birch and pine. It's a crystal clear day with light puffy cl...
Aug 10, 2023•48 min
Today on the virtual sauna bench, we Sauna Talk with Jackie from Cedar Grove Saunas in Northern Maine. Jackie is just back from her sif week sauna pilgrimage to four countries in Northern Europe. Jackie has built her own saunas, and is four years into hosting guests traveling far and wide to Cedar Grove Saunas. We are kindred spirits of good heat. We share an interest and passion towards the Latvian Pirtus tradition, spearheaded by Biruté and Rimus from the Lithuanian Bath Academy. Are you inter...
Jul 13, 2023•41 min
Today on the virtual Sauna Talk bench, we join Marishi Morchida 持田 摩利支, from the Japan Sauna Institute 日本サウナ総研. Marishi joins us from his apartment in Washington, DC. During this episode, we learn about the active Japan sauna culture. How thermal bathing is intertwined into Japanese culture. You'll learn some key differences between Japanese sauna culture vs. North American in particular. Like many of us, Marishi is a serious sauna enthusiast. Not so much frown serious, but super into it passion...
Jun 17, 2023•41 min
Today from many of the 12 or so sauna benches, we hear from guests attending Sauna Days 2023 at Larsmont Cottages, Two Harbors, Minnesota. The stories are from their hearts. We get to tap into their motivations and ambitions to make their way to Northern Minnesota for the third Sauna Days festival this early chilly May weekend. Though upwards of 200 people were in attendance, we hear from a fraction of the attendees. Most were on other benches or experiencing the world's largest cold plunge in L...
May 26, 2023•1 hr 10 min
Today on the bench, we are joined with David Dragseth, Lutheran paster and CEO of Superior Saunas. Let's consider for a moment, the Venn Diagram overlap of A: Lutheran Pastors and B: Sauna business CEOs. To my knowledge, the overlap is a body of one: David Dragseth. Also of note, if we consider the Venn Diagram overlap of A: Lutheran Pastors and B: Guests to the podcast Sauna Talk, well, i'm happy to report that David Dragseth is joined with Lutheran Pastor Dave Pearson. For those looking for so...
May 05, 2023•1 hr 24 min
Today on the Sauna Talk bench, we visit with Anya and Dan Bondarenko from the Banya House. Dan is Latvian, with Ukrainian family heritage. Anya is 100% Ukrainian. Her town has been completely destroyed from the Putin invasion. Anya is a nutritionist, with a focus on plant medicine. We gather in their outdoor backyard sauna….. er.. banya. The Banya House , Prior Lake, Minnesota. The design, size, and structure is comparable to the 612 Sauna Society Sauna, a sauna that I had a big hand in building...
Apr 25, 2023•1 hr 3 min
Today on the sauna bench we sit with Brian who is perhaps the most researched yet least experienced sauna aficionado in the world. Connecting through consulting services One of the things I do in the world of sauna is offer consultation services. I don't offer this service to make money, but more to help others realize their authentic sauna dreams. And the other reason is that though I do love to help, my entire day may get sucked up by answering questions and helping guide. I get to meet some g...
Apr 18, 2023•48 min
Sauna Talk: Kirk Jensen is a host of a thousand saunas (and more). Kirk is one of the lead hosts at the 612 Sauna Society sauna, Minneapolis Minnesota USA. This episode may be especially interesting for those considering starting a sauna business. Or for those who have attended a "butts on the bench public sauna" and want to know more about how sauna host manages the comings and goings of sauna guests....
Mar 29, 2023•1 hr 11 min
This episode was recorded in January 2023 from the Sauna Village, Malcolm Yards, Minneapolis Minnesota, as part of the Great Northern Festival. It was a cold well below freezing day outside. As the Saunapreneurs began firing up their sauna stoves outside, inside we were able to sit down and visit with Shaelyn and her brother Justus, and then David Dragseth, CEO of Superior Saunas. The history and brain child of a Sauna Village in Minneapolis goes back quite a few years. Subject for another podca...
Feb 28, 2023•53 min
Today on Sauna Talk, we are pleased to welcome Bruce Oreck, who joins us from his off grid home in Baja Mexico. During this episode, we talk about sauna, Finnish sauna, and his experiences being hosted and welcomed by Finns all over the country. As US Ambassador to Finland during the Obama administration, his tenure was unique in that he served for a long period, from 2009 – 2015, which he says with a wink "was made possible because when they called from Washington looking for me, I told my secr...
Jan 11, 2023•1 hr 5 min
Today on Sauna Talk, we are joined by several different summer guests to my island cabin sauna in Northern Minnesota. This episode features guests from literally all over the world who have all found themselves on my sauna bench which I co built in 1996 and is still humming along strong. The sauna is 3.5 hours North of Minneapolis, MN close to the Boundary Waters Canoe area on Lake Vermilion, one of the largest lakes in Minnesota. Stretching 26 miles East to West, our cabin sits on the largest o...
Nov 16, 2022•1 hr 59 min
Today's Sauna Talk podcast episode is with Lewis Jenkinson, who shares with us his heart and soul of good sauna. Today on the bench we welcome Lewis Jenkinson from the absolute midpoint of England, just North of Manchester. With the rise in interest of sauna – real sauna – (not lightbulbs, toaster ovens, or other minimally ventilated fragmentations), it's interesting to learn how others have become impassioned with and driven towards advancing the authentic sauna experience in their lives. It's ...
Sep 18, 2022•1 hr 13 min
Today on Sauna Talk, we meet with photographer George Cory, who is documenting the British sauna movement. George Cory is reporting in from Folkestone on the Southeast Coast of England. He is a current master's student studying photography and is an avid sauna enthusiast. We catch up with George in his hometown in Great Britain. He is one of the first photographers in the UK to immerse himself in this emerging culture and has so far documented the owners, builders, and users of authentic saunas ...
Aug 08, 2022•44 min
Greetings from Sompasauna in Helsinki. Today we visit with Yana who takes us through her deep connection to sauna, from Aufguss at the large public saunas in Germany, to the Danish Sauna Association, and now with her employment with Studio Puisto , a Helsinki based architectural firm that focuses on sustainable hospitality and sauna design. Here we have a look at their new commercial sauna project Saunaravintola, Northeast of Tampere, Finland. Sompasauna To be able to Sauna Talk is one thing, an...
Jun 14, 2022•51 min
Today on the bench we hear from several guests attending Sauna Days 2022 at Larsmont Cottages. What a great time we had, sharing our collective and individual passions about sauna. We came from all over, but are united in spirit! Let's here from: 1. Katy, Sisu & Löyly , Grand Rapids, MN. Who has a sauna by the Lake Superior shoreline, build and converted from an old Fish House on site. 2. Eric, Voyageur Saunas . A big fan of the sauna tribe, and sauna builder from Twin Cities, Minnesota. 3. ...
May 26, 2022•50 min
Dr. Jonathan Bricker is a Professor of Public Health Science at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center and University of Washington in Seattle. A recipient of over $25 million dollars in research funding, and author of over 110 scientific publications, Dr. Bricker's research focuses on developing and testing health habits that prevent cancer. He has been enjoying sauna since his first exposure in 1991 as an exchange student in Oulu, Finland. He now enjoys his backyard sauna which he constructed with ...
Apr 03, 2022•1 hr 31 min
Why are there no saunas in elderly homes?" "I work with infrared, but it is more of a treatment… Infrared is not connected to the Norwegian culture of badstu (sauna)." Today on Sauna Talk, we visit with Lasse Erikson, reporting in from the outskirts of Oslo, Norway. Lasse is a Sweat enthusiast with a mission to bring more sauna and sweat experiences to the world. He is head of Norges Badstulaug, a Board member of International Sauna Association, and VP Aufguss WM group. Aufguss: "We are story te...
Feb 26, 2022•1 hr 29 min
"The feeling I get with wood fired (sauna) is so much deeper than any kind of heat I've every experienced. I feel human when I get out of a wood fired sauna." Today on the sauna bench, we are joined by Mindstrong Harvey, founder, CEO, of The Mindstrong Project . Many of us may not have heard of the Mindstrong Project, but if you were a pro athlete talking about performance, breath work, contrast therapy, sauna, Wim Hof, or any combination of any of these, I can pretty much guarantee you that you...
Jan 26, 2022•47 min
Please welcome Alex Blyashuk to the Sauna Talk podcast. Though sauna in Belarus is quite popular, Alex, a native of Belarus, didn't grow up with sauna (or banya as it is called in his home country) but discovered the Russian style sauna experience through several road trips from his hometown in Buffalo, NY up to Toronto, Canada. Alex and his buddies would pack up their car, often on Fridays, head over the Peace Bridge, through Fort Erie, Ontario and up the QE Parkway to experience the heat, stea...
Dec 27, 2021•1 hr 9 min
