Sweden in Focus – Details, episodes & analysis

In this week's episode: foreign minister steps down, new screen use recommendations, why the government is scrapping flight tax, and Sweden's biggest ever toxic waste scandal. 

Host Paul O’Mahony is joined this week by The Local's Becky Waterton and Richard Orange. 

Here are links to some of the topics discussed in the episode:

• Swedish foreign minister Tobias Billström to step down and leave politics
• Swedish government to scrap flight tax from next summer 

• 'The situation is dramatic': Sweden issues new advice on screen time for youngsters 

• 11 people on trial in Sweden's biggest toxic waste scandal 

Sign up now and get early, ad-free access to a full-length episode of the Sweden in Focus podcast every weekend, as well as Sweden in Focus Extra every Wednesday.

Please visit the link that applies to you and get a 40% discount on Membership+

• For signed-in members: Upgrade to Membership+
• For new members: Get Membership+ 

Read more about Membership+ in our help centre.

Already have Membership+ but not receiving all the episodes? Go to the podcast tab on your account page to activate your subscription. 

Become a member at https://www.thelocal.se/podcasts/podcast-offer?tpcc=padlock.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this week's episode: Government backtracks on biofuels. How happy is the right-wing coalition at the half-way point of its tenure? Church politicians push to ban practice of fathers 'giving away the bride'.

Host Paul O’Mahony is joined this week by The Local's Emma Löfgren and James Savage. 

Here are links to some of the topics discussed in the episode:

• Will a U-turn on biofuels win the government back green voters?

• Seven totally Swedish wedding traditions 
• ARCHIVE: What are Sweden's church elections and how do they work? 

Sign up now and get early, ad-free access to a full-length episode of the Sweden in Focus podcast every weekend, as well as Sweden in Focus Extra every Wednesday.

Please visit the link that applies to you and get a 40% discount on Membership+

• For signed-in members: Upgrade to Membership+
• For new members: Get Membership+ 

Read more about Membership+ in our help centre.

Already have Membership+ but not receiving all the episodes? Go to the podcast tab on your account page to activate your subscription. 

Become a member at https://www.thelocal.se/podcasts/podcast-offer?tpcc=padlock.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this special episode of Sweden in Focus James Savage travels to the Almedalen political week on Gotland, where he asks the chief economist of the Confederation of Swedish Enterprise, Sven-Olov Daunfeldt, whether things might get better for work permit holders any time soon.

Also in this episode: Russia is waging a hybrid war against European countries including Sweden. But what does that mean, and what does a church near Västerås Airport have to do with it? James interviews expert Patrik Oksanen, fellow of the Royal Swedish Academy of War Sciences and senior advisor at the Fores think tank to find out.

Related articles:

• Sweden cuts state funding for Russian church after intelligence warnings
• Sweden's migration agency celebrates cutting waiting times for work permits
• In Detail: How Sweden plans to further toughen its work permit system

Become a member at https://www.thelocal.se/podcasts/podcast-offer?tpcc=padlock.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

JOIN THE LOCAL: Podcast listener offer

__

In the latest episode of Sweden in Focus we chat about the heavy snow that has fallen this week and how Sweden has coped. 

• READER PICS: Snow turns Sweden into a winter wonderland
• Six things they don’t tell you about the snow in Sweden
• 
  

 We look at how Advent is celebrated in Sweden.

• How a German Christmas tradition became distinctively Swedish

We discuss the second spectacular spy story in the space of two weeks. 

• Russian couple arrested as spies after helicopter raid in Stockholm

We talk about the resurgence of tensions between the Sweden Democrats and the Liberals. 

We examine what we know about Sweden’s plans to get rid of permanent residency permits, and we hear from Ann-Cathrine Jungar, assistant professor at Södertörn University and an expert on radical right parties in the Nordics, on why the government wants to abolish them. 

• EXPLAINED: What do we know about Sweden’s plans to withdraw permanent residency?

And finally we’ll end with a short quiz to gauge our panelists’ Swedishness this week.

Become a member at https://www.thelocal.se/podcasts/podcast-offer?tpcc=padlock.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In the latest episode of our Sweden in Focus podcast, host Paul O’Mahony is joined by regular panelists Becky Waterton, Richard Orange and James Savage, as well as guest Sayaka Osanami Törngren, Associate Professor in International Migration and Ethnic Relations at Malmö University.

This week we start with a chat about the World Cup in Qatar which kicks off this weekend.

• How can I watch the 2022 World Cup on Swedish TV?

We discuss a major spy scandal involving two brothers.

• KEY POINTS: What do we know so far about Sweden’s new spy scandal?

We look at an incredibly detailed newspaper article in Svenska Dagbladet that shines a light on what was happening behind the scenes when Ulf Kristersson was trying to put together his government.

We examine why Sweden doesn’t gather data on race and ethnicity like many other countries and discuss whether it should change its approach. This is the article by David Crouch that we mention: 

• ‘No such thing as race’: why Sweden’s colour-blind approach is failing

Finally, was last week’s quiz success a flash in the pan? We put our panelists through their paces again with three more questions about Swedish culture and society.

__

JOIN THE LOCAL: Podcast listener offer

Become a member at https://www.thelocal.se/podcasts/podcast-offer?tpcc=padlock.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In the latest episode of our Sweden in Focus podcast, host Paul O’Mahony is joined by regular panelists Becky Waterton, Richard Orange and James Savage. The episode also features an interview with Paul Levin, Director of Stockholm University’s Institute for Turkish Studies. 

Sweden's speech culture. 

• When and how should you give a speech or toast in Sweden?

The new government’s first budget and how people in Sweden have reacted to it.

• EXPLAINED: How Sweden’s 2023 budget could benefit your finances
• Sweden’s government slammed for broken pledges in ‘restrictive’ budget
• KEY POINTS: Which election promises are missing from Sweden’s budget?
• LIST: The biggest spending proposals in Sweden’s new budget
• Swedish budget document states changes mean missing EU 2030 climate goals

Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson’s trip to Turkey.

• INTERVIEW: 'Perhaps Erdogan just wants to drag out the decision on Sweden's Nato entry'
• Swedish PM hails ‘very productive’ Nato meeting with Turkish president

Gotland terror trial.

• Knife terror attack was to ‘hit back at the Swedish people’
• Swedish terror trial: ‘I still check what people have in their hands’

We end with a quiz to find out if our panelists have what it takes to pass a mock citizenship test. Here's a similar test we ran on the site recently.

• QUIZ: Can you pass The Local’s mock-up Swedish citizenship test?

__

JOIN THE LOCAL: Podcast listener offer

Become a member at https://www.thelocal.se/podcasts/podcast-offer?tpcc=padlock.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In the latest episode of our Sweden in Focus podcast, host Paul O’Mahony is joined by regular panelists Becky Waterton, Richard Orange and James Savage. The episode also features interviews with Jörgen Hedman, an author and researcher who has written extensively about the history of a Swedish village in Ukraine, and Kimberly Nicholas, a climate scientist at Lund University. 

This week's topics:

• Houdini's homecoming: the snake returns

Work permits

• Swedish businesses attack plan to hike work permit threshold 

Energy & Climate

• INTERVIEW: ‘If the world follows Sweden’s new path, we’re headed for climate disaster’
• Top Moderates accuse government of 'breaking promise' on energy prices
• What do we know about Sweden's electricity price subsidy? 
• Swedish government and Sweden Democrats propose fuel tax cuts

Ukraine

• EXPLAINED: What problems are Ukrainian refugees facing in Sweden? 
• INTERVIEW: 'We know there are Russian tanks in Ukraine's Swedish village' 

Update:

• Reader question: Will an extra year's shelter change Ukrainians' rights?

All Saints Day 

• Where can I experience All Saints' Day in Sweden
• How is All Saints' Day marked in Sweden?

__

SURVEY: Share your feedback

JOIN THE LOCAL: Podcast listener offer

Become a member at https://www.thelocal.se/podcasts/podcast-offer?tpcc=padlock.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In the latest episode of our Sweden in Focus podcast, host Paul O’Mahony is joined by regular panelists Becky Waterton, Richard Orange and James Savage, as well as US tech worker Kat Zhou, who found herself in the eye of a storm after posting about her experiences of racism in Sweden on Twitter. We also hear from Kash Haresamudram, a doctoral researcher in Lund who was one of more than 500 respondents to our survey on xenophobia in Sweden. 

You can read more about these stories on the links below.

• SURVEY: Sweden is decades behind on racism and diversity
• US tech worker's account of racist abuse in Sweden goes viral
• 'The response in Sweden is just incredibly racist and it proves my point'

We also take a closer look at some of the stories making the news in Sweden this week: 

• Deadly snake on the loose ... sort of
• Lost 17th century warship found in Sweden 
• Sweden Democrats lose power in their flagship municipality
• Jimmie Åkesson leader not invited to Nobel celebrations
• 27 seconds of spectacular silence
• Six tips for selling property in Sweden's current housing market 

SURVEY: Share your feedback on Sweden in Focus

JOIN THE LOCAL: Podcast listener offer

Become a member at https://www.thelocal.se/podcasts/podcast-offer?tpcc=padlock.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

SURVEY: Share your feedback on Sweden in Focus

JOIN THE LOCAL: Podcast listener offer

__

In the latest episode of our Sweden in Focus podcast, host Paul O’Mahony is joined by regular panelists Becky Waterton, Richard Orange and James Savage. We also have expert commentary from labour policy expert Tove Hovemyr and human rights expert John Stauffer, legal director at Human Rights Watch. 

In this week's episode we dig into the makeup of the new government which was officially unveiled on Tuesday. We discuss who the new ministers are and the main talking points in the first week of Ulf Kristersson’s reign as prime minister.

• KEY POINTS: Everything you need to know about Sweden's new government

We also take a closer look at the government’s plans for work permits with the help of policy expert Tove Hovemyr.

• 'Sweden's new migration policy will have a huge impact on competitiveness'
• EXPLAINED: Who will be affected by Sweden's new immigration policy?
• 
  

And and we speak to human rights law expert John Stauffer to examine whether the new coalition’s contract constitutes a threat to fundamental rights.

• INTERVIEW: 'Civil rights groups in Sweden can fight this government's repressive proposals' 

Become a member at https://www.thelocal.se/podcasts/podcast-offer?tpcc=padlock.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

SURVEY: Share your feedback on Sweden in Focus

JOIN THE LOCAL: Podcast listener offer

__

In the latest episode of our Sweden in Focus podcast, host Paul O’Mahony is joined by regular panelists Becky Waterton, Richard Orange and James Savage. 

After weeks of deliberation the Moderate Party leader Ulf Kristersson told the parliamentary speaker on Friday he was finally ready to form a new government. Assuming he survives a vote in the Riksdag on Monday, Kristersson is expected to become prime minster next week and will start work assembling a government. We discuss what we know so far about the make-up of the next government and how it plans to govern Sweden.  

READ ALSO:

• How does Sweden's new government want to change migration policy?
• Key points - How will Sweden's new coalition deal affect foreigners?

__

Please leave a rating or review wherever you listen to the podcast as it helps ensure that more people discover it. 

Become a member at https://www.thelocal.se/podcasts/podcast-offer?tpcc=padlock.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.