A Swedish Fika

After living more than 20 years in the US as a Swede, I have thought a lot about how little Americans know about Sweden and what a small country Sweden really is. So for today's episode, I started searching the internet for the most commonly asked question about Sweden. And Swedes, and I will try and answer them as well as I can.And I will answer three categories. The first is, is Sweden blank. The second one I search for is are Swedes blank. And I then took a look at Do Swedes blank, and las...

According to the RSF (Reporters Without Borders), World Press Freedom Index for 2022 Sweden ranks #3 just behind Norway and Denmark. The list is based on the degree of freedom journalists and news organizations have in each country and the efforts that authorities make to safeguard this freedom. Today I want to explore what freedom of speech and censorship mean in Sweden. Openness and transparency are vital parts of Swedish democracy. There are four fundamental laws that are the controll...

Although. I have lived here for 22 years now, and here in the US, there is still food that I really miss from Sweden. Food that is hard to get here, and if I really wanted, I have to cook it myself. Today I want to talk about food. Food that I miss from Sweden. But I also want to talk about some things that I have learned to love here in the US. And some things we have both in Sweden and here in the US that are different between the two countries. So if you like food and are...

Sweden is the world’s third-largest music exporter, just behind the US and the UK. Over the past decades, Sweden has been cultivating future songwriters, producers, musicians, and DJs. The so-called Swedish Music "Miracle" is the years between 1990-2003 when Swedish musicians made it firm on the US Billboard.The world is looking to Swedish songwriters and producers, for music that works well on mainstream radio, playlists, and pop charts. If the only Swedish band or musician you can name...

Swedish & Nordic designs are popular in homes around the world, and it is easily recognizable. Today, I will focus on interior design and furniture. I will try to take you through a modern Swedish home room-by-room. I will also take a look at IKEA, the store that more than any other has spread the Swedish design ideal around the world. The main elements of all designs are functionality/simplicity/craftsmanship. You will find muted colors with lots of white, grey, and tan, with ...

In today’s episode, I want to share some ideas for those of you that have ever thought about taking a vacation in Sweden. I will start with travel restrictions, talking about some general things that you need to know like where to stay, how to travel within Sweden, some tips for food, and so forth.I will then talk about places to visit and activities to take part in. For that part of the episode, I will talk about four different regions of Sweden, starting with the capital Stockholm, an...

Midsummer Eve is celebrated on the Friday of the week between June 19 and June 25. This is a time that you spend with friends and family often in large gatherings. And like so many holidays, it's filled with food and drink. But as I said, there are some traditions with roots in folklore, not like the movie I talked about in the beginning, with Norse roots, but it has some magic connected to the folklore. The Nordic Midsummer celebration has its roots in Christian tradit...

Between August 3rd, 1991, and November 8 the same year 5 different shootings took place in Stockholm. All of them seemed to have the same perpetrator since they all indicated a red dot on the victims before being shot, like from a laser sight, and they all seemed to be targeting immigrants. The four first victims survived, but the 5th died the day after the incident. After this, no more shootings occurred until January 22nd, 1992, when the shooting spree started again, and between Januar...

The term was coined by the criminologist and psychiatrist Nils Bejerot to explain the aftermath of a bank robbery in Stockholm, Sweden in 1973.It is not a psychological diagnosis, but a way to describe and understand the responses some hostages have towards their captures. Although Stockholm syndrome was named based on the location of a bank robbery-hostage situation, some of the same behaviors and feelings are seen in victims of other types of trauma. Today, I will share the...

The regal warship Vasa was built in Stockholm, Sweden, in 1628 and was supposed to be the fastest and most armed warship of the Baltic sea, and maybe all of Europe. Instead, it turned into a catastrophe as it sunk after just a few minutes on its maiden voyage. This catastrophe in the mid-20th century turned into a great success as the ship was almost intact and salvaged from the bottom of Stockholm harbor. Today Vasa is a beloved museum in the heart of Stockholm. Today I will g...