There was once a kingdom called Doggerland – a land of mammoths, hunters and forests that stretched between what is now Britain and the continent. 8,000 years ago, the Atlantis of the North Sea was sunk by melting ice caps, tsunamis and rising seas. “Doggerland” is also the title of Kim Ekberg’s second feature film – an experimental, black-and-white hybrid drama set primarily in Norrköping. The loose plot revolves around Alf (John Holm), a diabolo artist by day who is approaching 40 but still lives in a townhouse neighborhood with his overprotective mother. In the hybrid film “Doggerland,” John Holm…
Author: Raymond
Just over half of the seventeen small figures are lined up on a long podium that extends through the first of the gallery’s two rooms. Together they form a pyramid formation, similar to an age staircase, in which the devil is born, lives and dies in 17 steps. The pieces are about the size of pots of geraniums and must be lifted out of the box with two hands. What is striking about the figures is how full of desire the color that decorates the porcelain is. For example, at the beginning of his life, the devil rides into a…
This is a comment text. The author is responsible for the analysis and positioning in the text. When I complained to a friend a few weeks ago that I wouldn’t have had the time to read as much as I wanted in 2025, he responded with a true cultural person comment: “So? I read at least four books a week myself.” Wow. Enough, because my friend is well-read and interested in literature, but even for a culture-loving person, 200 books a year sounded incredible – especially considering that he has a full-time job, other hobbies and children. “Most impressive,” I…
This is a comment text. The author is responsible for the analysis and positioning in the text. The US capital is covered in snow. Over ten thousand flights have been canceled, CNBC reports. “What happened to global warming?” writes US President Donald Trump on his Truth Social platform. Even in Sweden, right-wing populists have pointed out that snow-covered Sweden is a supposed refutation of global warming. At the same time, it reports on how the world is going through a historically hot time. 2025 was the third warmest year on record. The last eleven years have been the eleven warmest…
This is a review. The author is responsible for the opinions in the text. Comedy thriller Rating: 4. Rating scale: 0 to 5. “A private life” Director: Rebecca Zlotowski Screenplay: Anne Berest, Rebecca Zlotowski, Gaëlle Macé. Cast: Jodie Foster, Daniel Auteuil, Mathieu Amalric, Virginie Efira, etc. Duration: 1 hour, 47 minutes (11 years). Language: French. Cinema premiere Double languages, double lives, double genres. There doesn’t seem to be much in Rebecca Zlotowski’s elegantly composed thriller about a psychoanalyst trying to understand why her long-time patient suddenly took his own life. Well, if she has it. Maybe she was murdered? The…
He was once called the demon trainer and produced world stars such as Magdalena Forsberg, Helena Ekholm, Hanna Öberg and Sebastian Samuelsson. Wolfgang Pichler embodies Swedish biathlon. He says he is German, but feels Swedish at heart. But in the Olympic Stadium in Antholz he is there in red and green clothing as an advisor to the Bulgarian national team. The 71-year-old Pichler resigned as captain of the Swedish national team in 2019. In recent seasons he has offered his help to one of the smallest nations in the biathlon world. But not even Pichler had probably dared to dream…
This is a review. The author is responsible for the opinions in the text. novel Claire Messud “This strange eventful story” Trans. Eva Johansson Nature & Culture, 405 pages “This strange eventful story”. It’s an apt title for the partly autobiographical family chronicle by the American Claire Messud, now in a beautiful Swedish translation by Eva Johansson. Born in 1966, Messud is the kind of novelist who is often nominated for the Booker Prize and also achieves success with readers. And there is a lot that drives and enriches this novel text: For almost a century, different people from the…
Sweden missed out on a medal in the men’s mixed relay and distance race. When it came time to decide on the women’s distance, Sweden took third, fifth and sixth place in the overall World Cup. But Anna Magnusson (two misses), Hanna Öberg (three misses) and Elvira Öberg (two misses) failed to stick together at the shooting range. Anna Magnusson, the big surprise of the season, had only missed one shot until the last shot. However, there was another missed shot and therefore an extra minute, which dashed any hopes of a really good placing. Hanna Öberg, who won both…
What is your relationship to bathing culture? – I’m an old swimmer, but my God, it’s been many years since I swam at Frelsborgsbadet in Borås. I wasn’t exactly a star, but I have that culture with me. I grew up summering in Varberg since I was two weeks old. They never took me out of the sea. You could say we lived right on the water. So I know a lot about water. I love water. Why do you think Busch Theater has continued to attract audiences since its founding in the 1990s? – Because people can laugh. It’s…
Tampa Bay fans are used to seeing their Swedish team’s captain wearing a cap that says “No Solo” in capital letters on the front. Even when Tre Kronor landed in Malpensa, just outside Milan, the 198 centimeter tall hill was wearing the headdress. Hedman has been an ambassador for the initiative in Florida for several years, whose mission is to raise awareness of mental illness and encourage those struggling to have the courage to seek help and open up. Where does your commitment come from? – The thing about mental illness is that it’s a bit taboo. Especially in sports…
This is an opinion piece in Dagens Nyheter. The author is responsible for the opinions in the article. We live in strange times. Sweden is preparing. We buy artillery systems, join NATO, and urge households to stock up on canned food and crank up radios. But as we simultaneously build defenses against external threats, we are dismantling defenses on another front. The cuts to public services come at a time when authoritarian states such as Russia, China and Iran are investing heavily in undermining established media outlets in democracies. The information war is in full swing as political leaders and…
Lundholm had a good run in the second qualifying round in the Humpback of Livigno, but it was not enough to place him in the top 20 going into the final. “It wasn’t my best ride, but it was still nice to do one,” said Lundholm, who crashed in the first qualifying round. Now the Olympic debut is over and hopefully the worst of the nerves have faded ahead of the weekend’s parallel competition, which may be Elis Lundholm’s best chance at the Olympics. – There were a lot of nerves. There’s a lot you’re not used to, with cameras…
This is the third year for Warsalon. Tell us more about the initiative? – “Warsalongen” is an art exhibition and auction where artists, gallerists and collectors donate art to be auctioned by the Stockholm auction house. All money goes directly to War Child’s work with protection, education and psychosocial support so that the 520 million children growing up in war today can come out on the other side and become part of our shared world. – When we started “Warsalongen”, we were the ones courting the artists. Many artists now come to us. I think the art world sees the…
There are reports in London that street music is dying out and in Brussels the number of musicians has halved in just a few years. In Sweden there are no official statistics, but in Stockholm the pan flute musicians in the city have long since disappeared, rebel Robban has been banished from Slussen and the organ aunt in Plattan is dead. The only one I can think of is the mustachioed uncle playing the zither on the subway. When you least expect it, he gets on, grabs the strings a little and then just as quickly gets off at the…
When Lag Edin makes his Olympic debut against Italy, Christoffer Sundgren begins his third Olympics as a curler – a sport he didn’t actually want to start. Although his parents were enthusiastic curlers at home in Sveg, he himself preferred another sport than ice hockey – hockey. But then a classmate took him to the curling hall – and he was hooked. – What surprised me was that it was so difficult. “It was the challenge that appealed to me,” says the 36-year-old, who recently arrived in the Olympic city of Cortina. As Niklas Edin When he reorganized his team…
Many athletes dream of taking part in the Olympic Games. Not all Olympians will be able to experience the games at home. When Joel Retornaz takes on Sweden in the opening game of the men’s curling tournament on Wednesday, he will begin his second home Olympics. He was in Turin 2006 a 22-year-old newbie. 20 years later, he is a 42-year veteran. – The opportunity to compete in the Olympics in your home country feels unique. It feels incredible to do two of these. “I feel so privileged,” says Retornaz. In Turin he led a young, inexperienced team that was…
Henric Holmberg was best known as a member of the musical theater group Oktober in the 1970s and as an actor and director at the Gothenburg City Theater and the Backa Teater. He was born in Växjö and grew up in Miselås in Småland. He came into contact with theater for the first time through the performances at the Riksteatern in Växjö. As a student in Lund, he was involved in the student theater there. In 1973 he was part of the later musical theater group Oktober, which also included Eva Remaeus (“Five ants are more than four elephants”). The…
Keeps his distance – even from the king When Sebastian Samuelsson won Olympic gold in the relay in 2018, Carl XVI was. Gustaf was there too. After the finish, the Swedish biathlon star gave the surprised king a “royal hug,” he said in an interview with HBO: – I kind of jumped on him and hugged him! And I understood afterwards that you don’t do it that way. He stood there stiff as a stick. At this year’s Olympics, the king chose the cross-country sprint before Samuelsson’s distance race on Tuesday. – He must have done some calculations as to…
It is empty and desolate in the catacombs of the Santagiulia Arena and Italy have just finished their last training session of the day late in the evening. “Do you want to talk to me? ‘freak’?” asks the team’s press contact. Even though it’s Olympic time, the Italian national ice hockey team isn’t usually crowded with journalists – but there is one player who, with the exception of a report in SVT last year, has been forced to turn down interview requests he received ahead of the Winter Games. He is Swedish and his name is Mikael Frycklund. That’s what…
Among the 14 main referees selected to judge Olympic ice hockey, there are two Swedes with the same last name, although they are not related: Mikael Holm and Christopher Holm. – Enormously great and honorable to be chosen. “Since all the NHL players are there this time, it is the biggest tournament we are allowed to manage,” says the former, who officiated two World Cup finals in a row. Although the Olympic Games take place on European soil, ice hockey is decided on a small ice rink. However, the regulations of the International Ice Hockey Federation apply – not those…