Sweden in Focus

For our second bonus episode this week’s we’re going to listen to the familiar voice of our Nordic editor Richard Orange and his recent interview with Henry Catalini Smith, chairman of the Unionen trade union club at Spotify. The interview was recorded on the 14th of April, a couple of days after Unionen submitted its request to start negotiations with Spotify over the introduction of a collective bargaining agreement. 

We’ll hear why Henry Catalini Smith wanted to start a union club, how he tailored the message for Spotify’s many immigrant workers, how layoff announcements have affected the company, how management reacted to his union efforts, and much more. 

Last week, after this interview was recorded, Spotify pushed back against the drive to unionize by distributing leaflets to employees arguing against the need for a collective bargaining agreement. Read more about Spotify’s counter-arguments and other perspectives on the unionization process via the links below.

• Would foreign tech workers in Sweden gain or lose from a union deal?
• Swedish word of the day: Kollektivavtal
• INTERVIEW: ‘Spotify need to realise they’re a bigger player and should act like one’

And don’t miss our two-part interview with Sen Kanner, union club chairperson at Klarna, which you can find in the two previous episodes.

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In this bonus episode of our Sweden in Focus podcast, host Paul O’Mahony and panelists Richard Orange and James Savage are joined by Sen Kanner, union club chairperson at Swedish financial services company Klarna.

Tune in as she tells us more about the process of unionizing a workplace in Sweden, how long it can be expected to take, how the tech sector differs from other industries, how much it matters that many tech workers are foreign, and what advice she would give others considering the same course of action.

You can listen to part 1 of the interview in the previous episode.

Related articles: 

• Swedish word of the day: Kollektivavtal
• INTERVIEW: 'Spotify is going to find that a union deal is a competitive advantage'
• INTERVIEW: 'Spotify need to realise they're a bigger player and should act like one'

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• Share your feedback on Sweden in Focus

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In the latest episode of our Sweden in Focus podcast, host Paul O’Mahony is joined by panelists James Savage and Richard Orange, as well as our guest this week, Sen Kanner, chairperson of the union club at Klarna. 

This week Richard tells us about a new TV investigation into alleged large-scale Russian spy activity in the Baltic Sea. 

• Are Russian spy ships planning sabotage of energy infrastructure?

We take a look at the spring budget presented this week by finance minster Elisabeth Svantesson and the political implications for the main parties. 

• How Sweden’s new spring budget will affect your finances

We’ve all tittered at some point at a Swedish word that sounds similar to a word with a different meaning in our own languages. This week we’re especially focused on words that people with native languages other than English have been sharing with us.

• More Swedish words that just sound wrong in other languages

Staying with language, we chat about some alternatives to Swedish for Immigrants (SFI) classes. 

• What are the alternatives to the free Swedish for Immigrants course?

Two of Sweden’s biggest tech companies, Spotify and Klarna, are in the news right now over attempts by workers to convince management to sign on to collective bargaining agreements. In both cases the people behind the unionization drive are immigrants to Sweden. This week our guest, Sen Kanner, tells us all about the process at Klarna. 

Don’t miss:

• INTERVIEW: ‘Spotify is going to find that a union deal is a competitive advantage’
• INTERVIEW: ‘Spotify need to realise they’re a bigger player and should act like one’

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In the latest episode of our Sweden in Focus podcast, host Paul O’Mahony is joined by Johan Wicklén, a reporter with public broadcaster SVT and the author of a book on Sweden's war on drugs. 

Tune in for the second part of a wide-ranging conversation on everything from the history of Sweden’s zero tolerance drug policy to whether our guest thinks Sweden will eventually move towards liberalization like many other countries have done in recent years. 

You can listen to the first part of the interview in last week's episode. 

• ARCHIVE - Is Sweden's zero-tolerance approach to drugs a failing model?

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

This week we take a closer look at what makes a Swedish Easter. 

• Witches and herring: Seven traditions that reveal it's Easter in Sweden
• PODCAST: 65,000 bomb shelters, a Swedish teacher's tips, and Easter insults
• 'Ash fart', 'fat pig' and 'long lazy': a guide to Sweden's Easter insults

We discuss a new court ruling allowing demonstrators to burn the Quran, as well as terrorism arrests connected to the right-wing extremist Rasmus Paludan’s Quran-burning demo outside the Turkish embassy in Stockholm. 

• Sweden arrests five over suspected terror plot linked to Quran burning
• Swedish court: Police wrong to refuse permission for Quran burning
• PODCAST: Why Sweden experienced its worst riots in decades
• ‘Police should have stopped Koran-burning demos after the first day’

We examine a new survey that shows a majority of Swedes prioritize security over democracy. 

• ARCHIVE - OPINION: To protect Sweden’s democracy, trust is not enough

Finally, and with the help of journalist and author Johan Wicklén, we delve into Swedish attitudes to drugs and how likely the country is to liberalize its policies. 

• ARCHIVE - Is Sweden's zero-tolerance approach to drugs a failing model?
• How to argue without losing your Swedish friends

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

This week we kick off with a few current talking points in Sweden: the weather's still bitterly cold but at least the Easter break is coming up; why a post-match football interview sparked a racism row; and should Sweden follow Denmark's lead on Brexit Brits?

• What changes in Sweden in April 2023?

As food prices hit record highs we look at why a price war has finally broken out in Sweden's supermarkets. 

• Swedish grocery giants to cut prices on hundreds of items

We discuss why Hungary is still keeping Sweden waiting on Nato as Finland forges ahead.

• Hungary calls on Sweden to address ‘grievances’ to end Nato spat

We talk about how comfortable Sweden is with nudity and whether attitudes have changed over time.

• How to get naked in Sweden without embarrassing yourself

And finally we dig into a report this week from Sweden's climate watchdog predicting that government policies will cause emissions to increase for the first time in two decades.

• Swedish government’s new climate policies ‘will lead to rising emissions’

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

This week we’re talking about why the Swedish state may soon find itself in court over its alleged climate inaction. 

• Swedish court to hear young people’s climate lawsuit against the state

After our chat with crime reporter Diamant Salihu a few weeks ago we go deeper on Swedish gangster rap and look at how close some of its most successful practitioners are to the gang violence they depict. 

• ‘Supply and demand, motherfxxker!’: The real violence behind Sweden’s gangster rap
• INTERVIEW: ‘Everybody in Sweden who buys cocaine should know the money is used to buy bullets’

We’ll give you some background on Chris O’Neill, the British-American husband of Princess Madeleine as the couple prepare to move back to Sweden. 

• The difficulties of moving to Sweden as a non-EU spouse… even if you marry a Swedish princess
• ARCHIVE: A look at Swedish royal fiancé Chris O’Neill

We have an interview with the United States’ ambassador to Sweden, Erik Ramanathan, about his impressions of Sweden and the strength of the countries’ bilateral relationship. 

And, finally, we’ll see what the forecast is like for the Swedish property market, and why foreigners are busy snapping up summer homes. 

• ‘New era’: Swedish bank warns interest rate could hit five percent
• Foreign buyers snap up cheaper Swedish holiday homes
• Seven gorgeous Swedish holiday homes for less than a million kronor
• How to get the best rate on your mortgage in Sweden

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

In this week’s episode we discuss how the fallout from the recent banking sector turmoil might affect savers in Sweden. 

• How safe is your money in a Swedish bank account?

What’s going on with Nato? Are Hungary and Turkey are going to let Finland and Sweden in?

• ‘Increased chance that Finland joins NATO before Sweden’: PM

Is it time to dispense with ‘de’ and ‘dem’ in written Swedish and instead embrace ‘dom’? 

• DE/DEM: Is Sweden about to carry out its biggest language reform in 50 years?

In a week when the Christian Democrats’ party secretary was fired after another senior figure in the party filed a police report against him, we look at how the scandal has played out so far and how the party has handled it. 

• Swedish MEP comes forward as accuser in Christian Democrat ‘me-too’ case
• LIST: Sweden’s biggest seven ‘me-too’ cases

In the latest instalment of our ambassador series, we have an interview with Canada’s ambassador to Sweden, Jason LaTorre.

We also look at who’s who in the the Skarsgård acting dynasty before rounding off with tips for some of our own favourite Swedish films. 

• SKARS-GUIDE: Who’s who in Sweden’s Skarsgård acting dynasty?

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In this special bonus episode of the Sweden in Focus podcast, we hear more from our guest Jonathan Leman, a researcher with the Expo Foundation, which monitors and exposes far-right extremism in Sweden. 

Host Paul O’Mahony is also joined by panelists James Savage, Becky Waterton and Emma Löfgren.

In this episode we continue our chat about the far-right Sweden Democrats' interactions with the more extreme fringe of the nationalist movement. 

We discuss the Sweden Democrats' increasing climate scepticism and their intervention to block LGBTQ cultural events. We also talk about the party's stance on Russia's invasion of Ukraine and whether their renewed ties to the far-right alternative media ecosystem represents a security threat. 

• EXPLAINED: Why the Sweden Democrats are still a far-right party
• ‘It’s incredible: We have effectively got through the Sweden Democrat migration policy’

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In the latest episode of our Sweden in Focus podcast, host Paul O’Mahony is joined by guest Jonathan Leman from the Expo Foundation, as well as panelists Becky Waterton, Emma Löfgren and James Savage. 

In this week’s episode we discuss why two lay judges (nämndemän) resigned after a highly controversial court ruling that hinged on an interpretation of the word snippa.

• How Sweden's lay judge system works

With tax declaration season soon upon us we’ll provide some handy tips to get you through it.

• KEY DATES: The deadlines you need to know for Swedish tax season
• Nine key things you need to know about your Swedish tax return
• Your Swedish tax return: 11 ways to get money back

We’ll also talk about how food prices in Sweden just keep on rising to new record levels and how you can save money.

• ‘They’re making us so poor’: Swedish food prices hit record high
• Seven ways to save money on food and drink in Sweden

In the latest instalment of our ambassador series, we have an interview with Taiwan’s representative to Sweden, Klement Gu.

Finally, for our main topic today we chat to Jonathan Leman about how and why the far-right Sweden Democrats have become more radical since being welcomed in from the cold by the parties now in government. 

• What a new report tells us about far-right extremism in Sweden
• ‘The Sweden Democrats no longer need to worry about how they appear’

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