The most common birthday in Sweden is 22 March. Rewind the tape nine months and you’ll realise that these birthday celebrators were conceived around the time of Midsummer’s Eve. Link or coincidence? Well, this celebration of sunlight and summer

#6 Is the Swedish start-up scene as hot as they say?

Mar 2nd, 2017 34m 52s

Sweden has a reputation as the start-up darling of Europe. The home of Spotify has proven to be a genuine incubator of tech and creative talent, and is now second only to Silicon Valley in its count of ‘unicorn’ startups – those valued at more

#5 Do Swedes actually do any work?

Feb 23rd, 2017 33m 44s

Employees in Sweden get more paid holiday than nearly any other country in the world – a guaranteed minimum of 25 days a year. Add to that around a dozen public holidays. When the Swedes actually are at work, they’re bound to spend an average o

#4 The world's oldest free press. So what?

Feb 16th, 2017 28m 58s

In 1766, Sweden became the first country in the world to write freedom of the press into its constitution. Freedom of the press remains a cornerstone of Sweden’s freedom of speech and goes hand in hand with a very liberal freedom of information

#3 Swedes – the happiest or loneliest people in the world?

Jan 13th, 2017 33m 56s

A long history of social welfare, an abundance of green spaces, access to technology, short working hours, and relatively low unemployment are factors contributing to Sweden’s reputation as one of the world’s happiest countries. But some say th

#2 Will Sweden be first to be run by robots?

Jan 12th, 2017 31m 27s

Some call Swedes early adopters, others call them technologically obsessed. Sweden just might make it as the first country to roll out 5G and is nearly cashless already. So far, so good. But is there a downside? When machines start doing the th

#1 Swedish parental leave – as gender egalitarian as it gets?

Jan 11th, 2017 37m 12s

In Sweden, parents of a newborn are given 480 days of leave to split between them to look after their child. Most of the days are paid up to 80 per cent of the parent’s salary and can be taken until the child turns eight. Paid by the state, the

Rate