Swedishness Episode #1 Parental Leave

Swedishness Podcast Parental Leave in Sweden (episode 1)

Sweden knows its awesomeness, and is ready to share it with the world!  Has been for awhile, with great sites like Sweden.se.  This year the Swedish Institute has launched a new podcast called Swedishness.

Here is a little information about the podcast:

Together with co-host Philip O’Connor, an Irish journalist who has lived in Sweden for 18 years, Kattis Ahlström interviews Swedish and non-Swedish experts. The podcast is in English and will be released in seven episodes about everything from parental leave and digital technology to Swedish tradition, Swedes and happiness.

In this first episode, Philip and Kattis tackle parental leave in Sweden.

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 system encourages both parents to take time off to spend time with their child. What is it like to have all that time with your child, and what is it like to get back to work after so many months away? Soundcloud

What do you think, Swedish Freaks, about this episode and the new podcast in general?

Bergman Sjostrom

Found Bergman Script to be a Swedish Film

Note to self. Do a post on Igmar Bergman, the “world-famous filmmaker, legendary theatre director and exceptional writer” from Sweden, who produced numerous amounts of films during the 50s, 60s and 70s. There is a whole foundation that talks about his work and life, but we won’t get into that now.

A script found in 2002 of Bergman’s is going to be adapted for film, reports Yahoo. “Sixty-four minutes with Rebecka” touches on sexual and social topics of the 1960s and was a project Bergman was planning on producing with two other directing giants.  Unfortunately the project fell threw and was never realized.  Bergman’s rough draft of the manuscript was found among items he donated to an institute in his name.

The story has recently been adapted for radio by Suzanne Osten, who knew and had a conflicting relationship with Bergman. Radio Sverige released the radio version on November 6th, where you can download or listen to for free in Swedish.

Or, if you want Swedish subtitles, check out the YouTube video above. The film is in pre-production and is set to release sometime in 2018.

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