This week we take a look at the stories likely to shape Sweden in 2024, from politics and Nato to minority rights, Eurovision, and the economy. 

Host Paul O’Mahony is joined for the preview of 2024 by all our regular panelists: James Savage, Becky Waterton, Richard Orange and Emma Löfgren.  

Here are links to some of the stories we discuss:

• What will happen in Swedish politics in 2024?

• Turkey links Nato ratification of Sweden to F-16 fighter jet sale

• 'We're losing the life we built in Sweden': Work permit holders dread uncertain future

• Hotels, tickets and scams: What to know about visiting Malmö for Eurovision 2024

• Foreigners in Sweden: How the migration paradigm shift affects our lives

• What's going to happen to the Swedish economy in 2024?

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This week we look back at the biggest news stories in Sweden in 2023, from quran burnings and a heightened terror threat to Nato wrangling, the King's jubilee, and new income requirements for work permit holders.

Host Paul O’Mahony is joined for the review of the year by all our regular panelists: James Savage, Becky Waterton, Richard Orange and Emma Löfgren.  

Here are links to some of the stories we discuss:

• The 20 events that formed Sweden's political landscape in 2023

• Turkey links Nato ratification of Sweden to F-16 fighter jet sale

• What you need to know about Sweden's terror threat

• 'Our kids don't even live long enough to become adults'

• 'We're losing the life we built in Sweden': Work permit holders dread uncertain future

• IN PICTURES: Swedes throng capital for royal jubilee
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In this week's episode: Christmas travel, birds attack giant straw goat, White Christmas dreams, rumours of a new political party, and what can immigrants do to increase their prospects of landing a job in Sweden? 

Host Paul O’Mahony is joined this week by The Local's James Savage and Becky Waterton, and we also have an interview with Amanda Herzog, an American marketing expert who runs a company offering courses to international job seekers.

Here are links to some of the stories we discuss:

• What to be aware of when travelling in Sweden this Christmas

• Sweden's Gävle goat is Christmas dinner for peckish birds
• GOATWATCH: Here's how you can livestream Sweden's Christmas goat

• Is Sweden heading for a white Christmas?

• What will happen in Swedish politics in 2024?

• If skilled foreigners can't find work, does Sweden have a talent shortage?

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This week: banks cut rates, the state of Sweden’s democracy, new Pisa rankings, how child refugees have integrated, the ex-Syrian banker behind a successful hummus restaurant, government counts cost of migration, compulsory courses for newcomers, Lucia, Nobel banquet.

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

Here are links to some of the stories we discuss:

• Which Swedish banks now offer the cheapest mortgage rates?

• Is Sweden sliding towards autocracy one year on from the election?
• LISTEN: Does Sweden's new coalition deal threaten basic rights?

• Swedish students' maths and reading scores plunge in Pisa world rankings

• IN DATA: Why have so many of Sweden's Afghan child refugees got jobs?
• Syrian banker applied for 'over 2,000' jobs in Sweden before creating his own
• Sweden's government calls for investigation into cost of immigration
• What do we know about plans to make a compulsory 'Sweden course' for immigrants?

• What you need to know about celebrating Lucia in Sweden

• The dinner that proves Sweden is anything but lagom

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This week: Jimmie Åkesson talks about demolishing mosques, the latest on the Tesla strike, Sweden’s Advent celebrations, solutions journalism, and why some criminologists think it’s time for Sweden to ditch zero tolerance on drugs.

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

Here are links to some of the stories we discuss:

• Inside Sweden: How will the Tesla strike end?
• Tesla sues Swedish state agency over number plate blockage

• Julmys: How to get into the Christmas spirit like a Swede
• Swedish word of the day: advent

• Seven things we've learned about adding a solutions focus to reporting on migration
• As Europe comes out of lockdown, what lessons can be learned from Sweden?

• INTERVIEW: The past, present and future of Sweden's zero-tolerance drug policy

• Sweden Democrat leader calls for mosques to be demolished
• Why Sweden's far-right leader is showing his radical side
• Why the Sweden Democrats are still a far-right party
• LISTEN: How the Sweden Democrats are flirting with the extreme right
• ARCHIVE: Islam 'Sweden's biggest threat': far-right leader

• How to handle these 10 maddeningly Swedish passive-aggressive habits

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Host Paul O’Mahony is joined this week by The Local’s Becky Waterton and Richard Orange, and we also have an interview with Northern Lights tour operator Chad Blakley.

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Here are links to some of the stories we discuss:

• How to get tickets for Eurovision in Malmö
• How much can I charge if I rent out my home on Airbnb in Sweden?

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

• OPINION: Why Sweden’s flat hierarchy can make people seem boring

• IN DATA: Why do people in Stockholm live the longest lives in Scandinavia?

• ‘I found the American dream in Swedish Lapland’
• How to take the best pictures of the Northern Lights

• Left Party and Sweden Democrat congresses
• How to take the best pictures of the Northern Lights

• Sweden’s central bank leaves interest rate unchanged
• Swedish food prices 26 percent higher than two years ago – which items are worst affected?
• How much will life in Sweden cost you in 2024?

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In this week's episode: practical Swedes, saying hej to strangers, dithering Liberals, Sweden awaits central bank decision, climate movement split over Greta Thunberg's Palestine support, how Swedish attitudes to Israel-Palestine have changed over the years. 

Host Paul O’Mahony is joined this week by The Local’s Emma Löfgren and Richard Orange, and we also have an interview with the author and former ambassador Mathias Mossberg.

Here are links to some of the stories we discuss:

Fitting in

• Ten signs you’re becoming more Swedish than the Swedes

Saying hi

• Swedish city launches campaign to get locals to say ‘hi’

Politics

• Family in focus as Busch kicks off November congresses

Greta Thunberg

• Greta Thunberg slammed over pro-Palestinian statements at climate rally

Israel-Hamas war

• How the Israel-Gaza attacks became party politics in Sweden

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This week on Sweden in Focus: TV history show provokes debate, far-right leader gives speech in Arabic, Sweden's media subsidy system explained, surviving November, and how a wave of international arrests is affect Sweden's gang conflict.

Host Paul O’Mahony is joined this week by The Local’s James Savage and Becky Waterton, and we also have an interview with Expressen’s crime reporter Katrin Krantz.

Here are links to some of the stories we discuss this week:

History of Sweden 

• OPINION: Why are racists in Sweden angry at history?
• ARCHIVE: Who were the first Scandinavians?

Sweden Democrat speech 

• OPINION: Åkesson’s speech may be in Arabic, but it’s for Swedish speakers

Swedish media subsidies 

Mentioned at the end of this article: 

• EXPLAINED: Swedish newspapers and how they work

Swedish November survival

• How to love November in Sweden (no, seriously!)
• Baby, it’s mörv outside: Sweden’s 13th month is here
• Is this Swedish Christmas trend the secret to happiness?
• Heartwarming story about Gothenburg’s public library goes viral

Gangs

• Who’s who in Sweden’s gang conflict?

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In this week's Sweden in Focus we discuss: industrial action hits Tesla and Klarna, fears that new salary requirements for work permit holders will undermine the Swedish labour market model, how an oil spill and new fishing quotas have put the Baltic Sea in focus , and an ill-tempered battle for control of Sweden’s Green Party.

Host Paul O’Mahony is joined this week by The Local’s James Savage and Richard Orange.

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Here are links to some of the stories we discuss this week:

Strikes

• Tesla threatens to bring in strikebreakers as Swedish workers strike
• INTERVIEW: Is Klarna ready for the Swedish model?
• Historic strike called off after Klarna signs collective bargaining agreement

Work permits

• ‘Irresponsible experiment’: Swedish business leader slams higher work permit threshold
• ARCHIVE: Is the Swedish Model the fairest of them all?

Baltic Sea

• Clean-up after Sweden ferry oil spill could last ‘up to a year’

Politics

• Poll misery for the government and the warring Greens
• Is the Green Party’s past to blame for its current problems?

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

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