This week, Alex interviews Dr. Sverker Sörlin, a Swedish historian and academic, about Sweden's decision to avoid a lockdown and their alarmingly high death rate.

Compared to its Scandinavian neighbours that have imposed lockdowns and seen far lower rates, Sweden is an outlier. Recently, the country's celebrity scientific advisor Anders Tegnell has said the decision to only ban gatherings of over 50 may have been a mistake. In this episode, Alex wants to know what it is about Sweden that made them do it differently.

Dr.Sverker is an academic of "Idé och lärdomshistoria", translated from Swedish as History of Science and Ideas. He frequently appears in Swedish media and is an extremely knowledgable interviewee to talk about Sweden's coronavirus policy.