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APN podcast: Finland's Midsummer political storm

The All Points North podcast hears how a MeToo scandal is rocking Finnish politics.

Wille Rydman All Points North
  • Yle News

Revelations about the alleged behaviour of MP Wille Rydman (NCP) towards women and underage girls has sparked a heated debate about standards and morals within the Finnish political environment.

"I see much public support for somehow changing this, but at the same time I see very strong public opposition to making any changes to this culture," media and gender researcher Anu Koivunen told APN.

"So we have both MeToo and anti-MeToo."

You can listen to the show using the embedded player here, on Yle Areena, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

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Finnish political culture faces a Midsummer storm
Image: Yle News

This week's episode also hears how a former employee of a pensions company alleged he was fired from his role after revealing he was in a same-sex marriage.

The company launched an internal probe, but said it found no evidence of discrimination in the termination of the man's probationary period.

"Discrimination is still quite a big concern and issue in Finland, according to the European Union's Agency for Fundamental Rights. I think it was only 8 percent who could be completely open about their identity in the workplace," Youth Policy and Advocacy Expert Lotte Telakivi of human rights group Seta said.

Midsummer myths and magic

With Midsummer just around the corner, APN also learns about the origins of one of the most important dates in the Finnish calendar.

"For the ancient Finns, it was a holiday devoted to sky god Ukko," Yle News' resident expert on Finnish history Eddy Hawkins told APN.

"The more booze you drank, the more food you ate, the greater glory to Ukko the high god. Gods like to be flattered, and if you flatter them enough, you are going to have a good harvest this year."

Join the discussion

This week's show was presented by Ronan Browne and Veronica Kontopoulou. The sound engineer was Joonatan Kotila.

If you have any questions or would like to share your thoughts, contact us via WhatsApp on +358 44 421 0909, on our Facebook or Twitter accounts, or at yle.news@yle.fi and allpointsnorth@yle.fi.