A Swedish Fika

Until this day I can vividly remember third grade in Sweden when we started the Vikings I was fascinated with the mythology the stories about how the world and the humans were created and the stories about the gods the Giants and all other beings and today I want to share some of those stories with you. I will talk about the saga of the creation of the Cosmos, Ask, and Embla, the two first humans, and how the world was constructed and organized. I will also talk about some of the Go...

Today Sweden is looked upon as a peaceful neutral country, but it hasn't always been that way. And today I want to talk about one of the historical events that I, as a kid was very fascinated about, and that is the Stockholm bloodbath, or as it's also called the Stockholm massacre.It started with the Danish king Christian II who was to become the king of Sweden, but Sweden wasn't that easy to convince that this was a good thing. We had supporters of Christian II as the king led by archbishop ...

Today, I want to introduce you to some creatures from Swedish traditional folklore. Some of them are pretty harmless while others are violent and scary. So if you have young kids within hearing distance, or if you are easily scared yourself, you should proceed with caution beyond this point. The beings I will talk about are; tomten (gnome)troll älvor (fairies)vittror (no translation)lyktgubben (the lantern man)näcken (nixie)mylingen (no translation)skogsrået (forest nymph)maran...

Today, I want to tell you the story of the king who became a pirate. This is a true story, but some of the facts can be questioned as it all took place in the late 14th century and the documentation was not that precise, but I will try to tell this story to the best of my abilities. The king I am talking about was Erik the king of the Kalmar Union, which consisted of Denmark, Norway, and Sweden in the late 14th century. But we need to start this story much earlier. We actually need...

Today, I want to introduce you to some famous Swedes. Some of them you might be familiar with, but I hope I will introduce you to some new names as well. This list will include both people from the present as well as from the past. When I started to plan for this episode, I had no idea that a small country like Sweden had so many famous people. So I have decided to make this a couple of episodes. The focus of today will be Hollywood. Support the Show.Thank You for listening to A Sw...

Being such a small country, Sweden has been the growing ground for many inventions. Some of them many of us use on a daily basis. Today I want to talk about some of these Swedish inventions, and I will divide this into five main groups; work-related, travel, medical, tech, and everyday items. Some of these inventions might surprise you that they are Swedish, others you may already be familiar with, but I hope you will find my selection interesting and maybe you will learn somethin...

Easter in Sweden was until the 1970s observed as a religious holiday, but today it is largely secularized with a blend of Christian, folklore, and old Norse traditions. It is still an official holiday in Sweden with many people off from work on both Friday and Monday of the weekend. Today I will talk about the different traditions on skärtorsdag (Maundy Thursday), långfredag (Good Friday), påskafton (Easter Eve), påskdagen (Easter Sunday), and annandag påsk (Easter Monday). I will ...

Sweden has always been at the forefront of technology and banking innovations. They introduced their first automated cash machine in July 1967. They got their first payment cards in the 1950s, digitalized bank accounts in the 1960s, and developed internet infrastructure and internet banking in the mid-90s. But today's question is; Is Sweden moving towards a cashless society?Today I will talk about how this trend toward a cashless society started, where we are now, and what will happ...

In the year 2000 Sweden officially recognized five national minorities and their languages as official minority languages. Jews and YiddishRoma and Roman ChibSami and the Sami languageSwedish Finns and FinnishTornedalers and Meänkieli (sometimes known as Torne Valley Finnish or TornedalsfinskaIn parts of Sweden where Sami, Finnish, and Meänkieli are still widely used, which is in the north and northeast of the country, this means that the people are allowed to use these languages when de...

If you talk to someone, especially an American, that have worked in Sweden for some time one of the things you probably will hear is that Sweden has a fantastic work-life balance. But what does that mean, what is it Sweden do so well and why?What are the factors that create this balance between work and the rest of your life? Today I will talk about four aspects of the work-life balance. Working hoursSick days and care of childrenVacationsParental leaveBut I want to start by talking...