Sweden in Focus

In this week's episode we talk about why northern Sweden doesn’t get the recognition it deserves from southerners, and we prepare for the annual Lucia festivities by getting to know some of the most common songs that are sung to mark the day.

For membership+ subscribers we find out why Swedish publishers have reported Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg to the police.

Finally we examine how new Swedish migration rules could affect foreign residents in 2026.

Host Paul O'Mahony is joined this week by regular panelists Becky Waterton and James Savage.

Here are links to some of the topics discussed in the episode:

• Why northern Swedes feel ignored and underappreciated

• Things you should NEVER say to a Swede on Lucia day
• The historical dark side of Sweden's Lucia tradition

• Swedish media body reports Mark Zuckerberg to police over scam ads

The link we mention for reporting scam ads isn't live yet. We'll add it here once it's up. 

• How new Swedish migration rules could affect foreign residents in 2026

• Why does the Swedish right love to bash SVT?

Sign up now and get early, ad-free access to a full-length episode of the Sweden in Focus podcast every weekend, as well as Sweden in Focus Extra every Wednesday.

Please visit the link that applies to you and get a 40% discount on Membership+

• For signed-in members: Upgrade to Membership+
• For new members: Get Membership+ 

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

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Can our panelists pass the vocabulary section of högskoleprovet, the Swedish university entrance exam?

Host Paul O’Mahony is joined this week by The Local's Becky Waterton and James Savage.

Do you know what a nässeldjur is? None of our panelists did. Tune in to see how you fare in our multiple-choice quiz. 

Already a Membership+ subscriber? Make sure to activate Sweden in Focus Extra via the podcast tab on your account page. 

READ ALSO:

• SWEDISH TEST: Can you pass the vocab part of Sweden's version of the SAT? 
• What you need to know about applying to university in Sweden 
• The seven stages of learning Swedish every foreigner goes through 

Sweden in Focus Extra is a podcast for The Local's Membership+ subscribers.

Sign up to Membership+ now and get early, ad-free access to a full-length episode of the Sweden in Focus podcast every weekend, as well as Sweden in Focus Extra every Wednesday.

Please visit the link that applies to you and get a 40% discount on Membership+

• For signed-in members: Upgrade to Membership+
• For new members: Get Membership+ 

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

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this week's episode we talk about Sweden’s immigrant deportation centres and why reports of miserable conditions there should concern everyone in Sweden.

We also discuss the two-decades old murder in a religious sect of a pastor’s wife in a case that gripped Sweden for months at the time. 

With 2026 nearly upon us, we hear some of The Local’s readers’ predictions for what next will bring.

Finally, a Sweden Democrat youth leader argued at the weekend that Islam has no place in Sweden. Is this kind of extreme comment a harbinger of what’s to come if the far-right party gets its first ever ministerial appointments after next year’s election?

Host Paul O'Mahony is joined this week by regular panelists Richard Orange and James Savage.

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Here's the Black Friday deal mentioned in the introduction. 

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And here are links to some of the topics discussed in the episode:

• Swedish migration detention centres slammed for causing 'unnecessary suffering'
• Why the state of Sweden's detention centres matters for all of us
• 'Poor training at Swedish deportation centres risks improper treatment'
• Swedish migration detention centre 'a prison in every way'

• ARCHIVE: Why a Swedish town notorious for murder is back in the spotlight

• TELL US: What are your predictions for life in Sweden in 2026?

• Leader of Sweden Democrat youth group: 'Islam has no place in Sweden'
• Sweden Democrat youth wing leader calls for US-style 'ICE' police force

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

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In this week’s episode we hear a conversation our Nordic editor Richard Orange had recently with Sasan Kazemian, an Iranian doctor who quit his job and left Sweden for Iran in September after he was refused a work permit extension.

We’ve spoken to him previously for the podcast and wanted to catch up again to find out about his application to return to Sweden on a Blue Card visa.

But any hopes he had of coming back to his girlfriend and apartment in Huddinge have been put on hold after the Migration Agency deemed him a “threat to public order”.

Having spent lots of time and money learning Swedish and getting his Swedish medical qualifications, Kazemian is determined to return. But how likely is it that he’ll win his appeal?

Tune in to this week's episode for the full story. 

READ ALSO:

• 'Threat to public order': Doctor's Swedish work permit application rejected again
• 'It's a brain drain': Doctor ordered to leave Sweden over mix-up with Migration Agency

Sweden in Focus Extra is a podcast for The Local's Membership+ subscribers.

Sign up to Membership+ now and get early, ad-free access to a full-length episode of the Sweden in Focus podcast every weekend, as well as Sweden in Focus Extra every Wednesday.

Please visit the link that applies to you and get a 40% discount on Membership+

• For signed-in members: Upgrade to Membership+
• For new members: Get Membership+ 

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

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this week's episode we talk about strategies for coping with the long Swedish winter now that temperatures have taken a serious nosedive.

In politics, with several parties teetering on the brink of the parliamentary threshold, we examine what happens to their votes if they don’t quite make it.

For Membership+ subscribers, we discuss new figures from the Migration Agency confirming a major slowdown in citizenship and work permit approvals.

Finally, we look at what readers of The Local are telling us about items they miss from home and how they manage to get their hands on them in Sweden.

Host Paul O'Mahony is joined this week by regular panelists Becky Waterton and James Savage.

____

Here's the Black Friday deal mentioned in the introduction. 

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And here are links to some of the topics discussed in the episode:

• 'My heart jumps with joy!' How foreigners feel about the Swedish winter
• What you need to know about winter tyres in Sweden

• The strange power of Sweden's four-percent minnows

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

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this week’s episode deputy editor Becky Waterton chats with Tom Simpson, a New Zealander who missed the kind of savoury pies that were commonplace in his homeland so much that he set up his own bakery and set to work creating NZ pies, which can now be found in supermarkets all over Sweden. 

So what's in his pies, and what advice he would give to anyone considering setting up their own business in Sweden?

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

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this week's episode we talk about a new map that shows just how successfully we immigrants are managing to take control of Sweden.

We also put faces to the names of some of Sweden’s most popular brands.

For Membership+ subscribers we uncork the results of a reader survey about the Swedish sense of humour.

We also get into why it will no longer be possible to drop in for a visit to your local Migration Agency contact centre.

Finally, we examine why language tests for citizenship applicants might not see the light of day for another three years.

Host Paul O'Mahony is joined this week by regular panelists Richard Orange and Becky Waterton.

Here are links to some of the topics discussed in the episode:

• Sweden Democrats MEP publishes controversial 'immigration map'
• OPINION: Our immigrant takeover of Sweden is progressing nicely

• Gorbys, Kalles and Billys: The faces behind Sweden’s favourite brand names

Sign up now and get early, ad-free access to a full-length episode of the Sweden in Focus podcast every weekend, as well as Sweden in Focus Extra every Wednesday.

Please visit the link that applies to you and get a 40% discount on Membership+

• For signed-in members: Upgrade to Membership+
• For new members: Get Membership+ 

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

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Can our panelists pass the vocabulary section of högskoleprovet, the Swedish university entrance exam?

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

Can you tell your lenses from your lentils? Have you heard the term på måfå? And what's a show trial in Swedish? 

READ ALSO:

• SWEDISH TEST: Can you pass the vocab part of Sweden's version of the SAT? 
• What you need to know about applying to university in Sweden 
• The seven stages of learning Swedish every foreigner goes through 

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

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this week's episode we talk about how many people get divorced in Sweden and what the experience has been like for readers of The Local.

We also look at international flights: why are there more flights than before out of Stockholm and why is it so expensive to fly from Gothenburg? Also, who are all those people in the photos in the arrivals hall at Arlanda Airport?

For Membership+ subscribers, we examine what detainees are saying about conditions inside Sweden’s immigrant detention centres.

And with the Centre Party electing a new leader, is anyone in Swedish politics ready to present an optimistic view of Sweden’s future?

Host Paul O'Mahony is joined this week by regular panelists Richard Orange and James Savage.

Here are links to some of the topics discussed in the episode:

• 'Not seen as a taboo or failure': What it's like getting divorced in Sweden

• International flights at Arlanda above pre-pandemic levels
• Flights from Gothenburg almost twice the price of Stockholm or Copenhagen

• 'Worse than prison': Brexit Brit locked up in Swedish detention centre then deported

• Who is the Swedish Centre Party's new leader and why does it matter?
• GUIDE: Everything you need to know about Sweden's political parties

Sign up now and get early, ad-free access to a full-length episode of the Sweden in Focus podcast every weekend, as well as Sweden in Focus Extra every Wednesday.

Please visit the link that applies to you and get a 40% discount on Membership+

• For signed-in members: Upgrade to Membership+
• For new members: Get Membership+ 

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

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

It's quiz time again in this week's episode of Sweden in Focus Extra for Membership+ subscribers.

Can our panelists pass the vocabulary section of högskoleprovet, the Swedish university entrance exam?

Host Paul O’Mahony is joined this week by The Local's Becky Waterton and James Savage.

Sweden in Focus Extra is a podcast for The Local's Membership+ subscribers.

Sign up to Membership+ now and get early, ad-free access to a full-length episode of the Sweden in Focus podcast every weekend, as well as Sweden in Focus Extra every Wednesday.

Please visit the link that applies to you and get a 40% discount on Membership+

• For signed-in members: Upgrade to Membership+
• For new members: Get Membership+ 

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

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.