What makes the current Nordic mania so unlikely is that during the twentieth century the popular cultural influences tended mostly to flow in the opposite direction. Socialize with Scandinavian males of a certain age, for instance, and the conversation will at some point almost certainly turn to the sketches of Monty Python or the Police Academy movies. The women, meanwhile, will share misty-eyed memories of the male cast members of ER, or of their time working as au pairs in New York. More recently, a whole new generation are all familiar with Homeland, Mad Men, and House of Cards. The
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