“Who is Mela?”

by Nina Peirano, FE23

One day I sat down with Daniella Rossi who is a friend and an colleague to interview her about her life and what she does for a living now.

Peirano: What were you like growing up?

Rossi: It was different because I was not brought up in just one country right, so we moved around a lot with my parents, so every three years we would change countries, and that was kind of –– I mean I guess if you don’t know anything else it becomes normal, but it was tough, tough as in I didn’t have any roots. I’m very fond of my mother, she was the only person who I always had.

Peirano: She was like your person?

Rossi: Yes, she was my everything, all the rest would change but she wouldn’t change, so I’m very fond of her and very attached, and it was a happy childhood –– I hated school, I absolutely HATED school, each minute of it. I mean if I saw a shooting star, I would wish upon it for the school to burn down, or all my teachers to be abducted by aliens, that was me. I went to a French school, and the French school is very, how should I say, it was not exactly child-friendly. Unless you were among the top five in the class you were Jack Shit, and I wasn’t very good at school, I was always placed on the last row and I didn’t really care.

Peirano: What was the worst about it? Any good memories?

Rossi: Noooo everything… oh great food, because we had starters, main courses and dessert, we had cheese platters so that was very nice, and I had great friends in school, but school itself was just… it was hard I had to repeat my fourth grade because I didn’t have average grades in math.  

Peirano: What are you like now? What do you like and what do you do?

 Rossi: I’m a social person and I like hanging out with new people, and that’s because of my childhood, because I’m used to changing all the time so I like new people. I’d do anything; just place me anywhere and I could talk to anyone, and I think it’s fun. What else?  I’ve so called “grown up”. at least on paper, and I do grown up things such as I work, I have had a full time job for the past ten years, and I never thought I would.

Peirano: Why is that? Why didn’t you think you would work?

Rossi: I didn’t think I was ever going to work because I –– well where I’m from, it’s okay not too, I mean if you have the means, it’s okay, and I had so many other things to do and I didn’t have time for working, and I know that sounds very odd but that’s the way it is. I studied for many many years –– well I had 1 job, I was a flight attendant.

Peirano: You were?! That’s so cool

Rossi: Yeah, I was, because my father told me, “So you either finish university or you go and find yourself a job,” and trust me I finished university, so I worked for a year and then I went back to studying.

Peirano: What do you work with now?

Rossi: Wow I’m a… well my so-called title is “something-office”. I think it’s… I don’t know, I usually say “office manager” but it’s called something else which means that I take care of everything that has to do with the office.

Peirano: Everything? 

Rossi: As in supplies, as in facilities; if something happens to the building, if something needs changed or breaks down, I would be the person to go to.

Peirano: Do you like it?

Rossi: I love it, I absolutely love it. Had I known that working is this fun I would have started earlier, but I think working in Sweden is very different than working anywhere else because I believe that in the rest in the world, unless you are a top manager, you’re worth nothing, and in Sweden even though I started out as a receptionist, it was fun. I mean people were very nice to me, everyone was very nice you don’t have the “he or she” that you have in southern Europe and in many many other countries, so it’s nice. And they give you money.

Peirano: How did you get into this line of work?

Rossi: Well, I moved to Sweden 10 years ago and I didn’t have a job so I was just kind of hanging around, but people kept asking me at parties, “What do you do for a living?” and each time I said nothing special, they would ask me if a was on maternity leave or if I had had a breakdown, because no one was without a job, you see where I’m coming from? So I had a friend who told me, “Listen my brother has a company, I know they had a receptionist and I know she’s very often sick on Mondays and Fridays, why don’t you just ask if you can cover for her?” So I went up and I asked to talked to the HR manger and I told her, “Listen why don’t you call me any day, just call me in the morning, it would take me five minutes to get there”, and she called me every Friday and Monday, and the eventually this girl had kid number two so she went on maternity leave very early, so I replaced her for maternity leave, and then they sacked her and they took me. 

Peirano: Is it what you saw yourself doing growing up?

Rossi: Fuck no, but funny you asked, but I wouldn’t have minded being a diplomat, but that requires hard work the studying and being good at what you study, and that’s just not me is it?

Peirano: Did you try at all?

Rossi: No, I didn’t 

Peirano: Do you regret that?

Rossi: I should say that I don’t regret it, but of course I do. But then again why try something if you know you’re not gonna obtain it? and I knew that there was no way I would have gotten into those schools. 

Peirano: If you could meet your younger self, what would you say and why?

Rossi: I would say that it’s not that hard and things will get better over time, because it wasn’t easy. You were very lonely even though I wasn’t lonely.

Peirano: Are you proud of how far you’ve come in life?

Rossi: Yes, I am, see with age you get happier, trust me, it was hell the fourteen-through-thirty years, but after that it’s great, and after forty its fantastic because you don’t give a shit anymore.

Peirano: What are your dreams now?

Rossi: To move back to Italy and be with my parents as long as I have them.

Peirano: Where do you see yourself in ten years?

Rossi: On a farm in Tuscany with my mother and father but after that, because eventually I’ll be alone, I still see myself there taking care of animals, sheltering dogs, I have a thing for stray dogs. Just peace because I had too much “no peace” growing up, so I just want nothing, an easy life. 

Peirano: What is your biggest regret in life?

Rossi: You know what, I guess if you ask anyone most people would say that they don’t regret anything, and I don’t. Everything I’ve done I’d do it again, and the only thing that I would do better is I would try to be better at school, because I believe that had I had an easier time at school I would be something else right now, not that I’m not happy where I am just that maybe I’d be a diplomat. But no, I don’t regret anything.

Christer Falk on South Africa, patents, and fatherhood

 by Linnea Falk, FE23

I got the chance to interview my dad, who has been through a lot in his life. This interview will only cover a tiny bit.

Linnea Falk: What is the scariest thing you have done?

Christer Falk:  I know. The scariest thing I have done must have been when I went skydiving from four thousand meters , I thought I was gonna die for real. I was terrified.

Linnea Falk:  Where did you do that? And how long ago?

Christer Falk: New Zealand. It was… I think it was about 23 years ago.

Linnea Falk: Were you there with anyone?

Christer Falk: Yes with your mother, she also did it, she was just as terrified as me.

Linnea Falk: Why were you there?

Christer Falk: We wanted to go to New Zealand to explore the country, there were natural experiences everywhere. The country is made up of two big islands and we were on both of them. There also was an earthquake there, which happens often in New Zealand. But me and your mother managed to not get hurt, we ran out from the house and just stood in an open landscape, and nothing happened to us or the house –– but we were really nervous and it was strange for us… and it was funny because the people who lived there was used to it and didn’t care, but we panicked. 

Linnea Falk: Okay sounds scary. What in your life are you most proud of ?

Christer Falk: Oh that’s easy, that I have the most beautiful daughters that I love, and will forever support them.

Linnea Falk: Hahhhaha. How was your childhood?

Christer Falk: It was great, but it was sad that my parents separated so early. I missed my dad very much and especially when we moved to South Africa, because he was left alone in Sweden, so I missed him.

Linnea Falk: What was it like in South Africa?

Christer Falk: It was different…. At that time there was something that was called Apartheid, when blacks and whites were separated, it was awful. I was only seven years old and I noticed that everything was strange. And my mother did not manage well, so we just stayed for one and a half years. We were supposed to live there forever, because my mother had met a man there, but it didn’t work out so well between them.

Linnea Falk: What was school like there?

Christer Falk: It was very different from the Swedish school system because  teachers were much stricter, and we had school uniforms, which I liked. I was beaten by my teachers with a ruler if I got a bad grade on an exam. And then I had to stand in the dunce corner if I spoke during the lessons 

Linnea Falk: Did that happen to you a lot?

Christer Falk: Yes in the beginning I felt like I was beaten almost every single day. But it was only because I was used to the Swedish school system, but I learned to behave like they wanted. I just had to sit still and not talk to anyone until after the lessons.

Linnea Falk: How did you get interested in what you work with today?

Chirster Falk: That’s a great question… It was a coincidence, I have always been very interested in technology and that’s why I became an engineer. I studied at KTH to become an engineer, but then there was another student in my class that got a job at the patent and registration office. And it sounded very interesting, so I applied for a job there also, and I got it, and after that was hooked on patents and inventions. And it’s  fun because it is technology that is at the forefront all the time, I work with brand new technology. 

Linnea Falk: Is there anything in your life that has been an eye-opener for you?

Christer Falk: Yes. To become a dad… I will come to another matter as well. But there is so much love to give. I think I have mentioned before that when Hanna your big sister came, I thought that I could never love any child as much as this girl, and then you came and it was absolutely incredible, there was just as much love, that was an eye-opener, I thought the whole time is was never gonna work, but it did. 

And then another one is that if you want something very much… have a dream, then it’s often fulfilled. If you have a big dream about something special it will come true. I think that’s kind of cool.

Linnea Falk: Is there anything in your life you have been traumatized over?

Christer Falk: Something that traumatized me?

Linnea Falk: Yes.

Christer Falk–  There was a scary thing that happened when I lived in South Africa. I was chased by a man there…a scary old man, but I had my bicycle so I could ride away from him, but I know whether if I hadn’t taken my bike that day he would have kidnapped  or killed me. I was terrified, and after that I got tunnel-vision. But I don’t know if that was traumatizing, I got away….

Linnea Falk: What is your best decision you have made?

Christer Falk: My absolute best decision was marrying your mother, because otherwise you wouldn’t have existed.

Linnea Falk: For how long have you two been together?

Christer Falk: We have been since 12 December 1992, it is almost 31 years now.

Linnea Falk: How did you meet?

Christer Falk: We  met each other for the first time at a housewarming party at her friend Kattis´s.

Linnea Falk: And then?

Christer Falk: And then we met at a dance place where I knew she would be… or I hoped she would be there, so I went there and I heard from my friend that she hoped I would be there also. And we talked the whole night. And then 12 december 1992 I asked her out to take a coffee with me in the old town in Stockholm on Lucia. And after that it has always been us.

“Some people just enjoy taking and giving punches.” Interview with a hardcore football supporter

By Natan Widmark, FE23

When I’m watching football games I can´t stop getting distracted by the big flags and burning flares. I´m always wondering who the people behind the masks and smoke truly are, and how everything works, so I’ve chosen to interview a person who’s active in the Swedish football supporter-scene. He wished to stay anonymous, so I am going to call him Kalle. Kalle and I met in my neighborhood because he apparently lives pretty close to me. 

Widmark: Could you tell me something about yourself first? 

Kalle: Well, I am 18 years old and I live in Stockholm where my club is located.

Widmark: When and why did you become a supporter? 

Kalle: I’ve always loved my club, and my parents took me to a lot of games in my childhood, but at the end of 2019, I think October maybe, I got really interested in the Ultras that always show their passion at the games, and in the summer of 2022 I started getting more and more involved. Today I’m a prospect to one of the groups.

Widmark: You said Ultras, what is that? 

Kalle: An Ultras is a person who gives everything for the club and is a member of an Ultras group. It will consume a pretty big amount of your life to live that lifestyle, and I mean a lot. We contribute to the atmosphere in the stadium with for example: flags, flares, banners and tifos.

Widmark: What’s a “Tifo”?

Kalle: I would describe a tifo as an artform. If you look at it from a larger perspective, it’s often a big painting that the supporters put over the stands right before the game is about to start, but it can also include things like flags, banners, pyrotechnics, confetti and crêpe paper rolls. The tifos are only used one time, and can cost hundreds of thousands of Swedish crowns, all paid for by the supporters.

Widmark: How has this lifestyle affected your personal and social life?

Kalle: Both negatively and positively. 

Widmark: How?

Kalle: I’ve met many people who I call friends now, and a pretty big amount of my friends are people that I’ve got to know through football. Almost everyone close to me, like my family and girlfriend, have expressed extreme displeasure, it’s a lot of late nights, and plans that have to be compromised because of this.

Widmark: And is it worth it?

Kalle: Of course, every second and penny spent is worth it.

Widmark: Are all the dangerous pyrotechnics and fighting really necessary though?

Kalle: Yes, pyrotechnics contribute to like half of the atmosphere in the stadium and attract a lot of people to the games, and the club benefits by selling more tickets. 

Widmark: And the fights?

Kalle: Not all supporters fight but some do. Probably because they feel like they have to defend the honor of the club, and by backing out you´re showing that you’re weak. Also the adrenaline kick, some people just enjoy taking and giving punches. This question is probably more complex than that, and you would have to ask a psychiatrist or someone of that caliber for a better explanation.

Widmark: If you one day have children, would you like them to follow your footsteps?

Kalle: Yes, I would. Of course I wouldn’t want them to be super violent and get hurt, but I wish for them to find the same kind of friendships, the sense of belonging and joy that I have.

A young boy and his interests

By Oscar Edman Bornholm, FE23

I decided to interview my friend and classmate Natan Widmark. It took a while to decide what I wanted to interview him about, but in the end I thought it was a good idea to ask him about his life since he seems like an interesting person that not only I hoped to get to know better during this interview but i also hope that a lot of other people gets to see what Natan’s life looks like. 

Bornholm: Where do you live?

Widmark: I live in the capital of Sweden called Stockholm. In Greater Stockholm I live in Bergshamra, located in Solna. 

Bornholm: Do you live in a house or in an apartment? 

Widmark: I live in an apartment. 

Bornholm: How long have you lived there?

Widmark:  I have lived there for about five or six years.

Bornholm: Have you ever moved?

Widmark:  Yes, before I lived in Bergshamra I lived in Västra Skogen, so yes I have moved before.

Bornholm: Who do you live with? 

Widmark: I live with my mother and father and my sister and my two dogs. 

Bornholm: Do you have any other family members?

Widmark: Yes of course, I have lots of family members like my grandparents, my cousins, my aunt, uncle  and a lot more.

Bornholm: What do you and your family do on different holidays?

Widmark: I usually celebrate holidays with my family and we just eat dinner and overall just have a good time. 

Bornholm: What’s your favorite holiday?  

Widmark: Well I think my favorite holiday would be new years. 

Bornholm: Do you have any traditions that you like to do on that holiday, or maybe a certain food you like to eat?

Widmark: Well I think a tradition for everyone is to shoot off fireworks on New Year’s, but I like to celebrate New Year’s with my family or friends, and I don’t really have a certain food I eat but we usually eat something fancier than usual. 

Bornholm: Ok, so in the future where do you want to live?

Widmark: Well I’ve lived in Solna my entire life so I would probably keep on living there as an adult.

Bornholm: And who do you want to live with? 

Widmark: Well for now i just want to live by myself, but who knows maybe I will find my soulmate in the future.

Bornholm: And what kind of job do you want to have, to be able to buy your future home?

Widmark: Well I haven’t really decided what I want to work with, but one thing that seems interesting is to own a minigolf course and get very rich.

Bornholm: When do you want to start working?

Widmark: Well I want to start working as soon as possible but after I graduate, I just want to chill for a bit, maybe travel somewhere and explore the world. 

Bornholm: Did you ever have any other dream jobs as a kid?

Widmark: No not really, I probably have dreamed about some silly job maybe like being an astronaut or something, but I can’t really come up with anything specific. Actually I dreamed about not working as a kid, it just seemed boring and just overall a waste of time. 

Bornholm: What interests do you have?

Widmark: Well I like to hang out with my friends and just have a good time, but a big interest is football, I don’t play football but I love football culture, my favorite football club is AIK. 

Bornholm: Why do you have those interests?

Widmark: I don’t know actually, it’s kind of always been my thing you know, ever since I was a kid I’ve liked football so it just became natural for me to be interested in it. 

Bornholm: How long have you had those interests?

Widmark: Well as I said I’ve liked football since I was a kid, but rooting for AIK hasn’t been there since I was a kid, I started to seriously go to all the matches and really engage in the club about three or four years ago and now I basically go to every game I can, and I’ve made lots of friends through football culture. 

Bornholm: How long do you think you will have those interests? 

Widmark: Well I believe that a lot of new interests will come into my life, but I think football culture will always have a special place in my heart that will make me have that interest for the rest of my life. 

Bornholm: Have you ever experienced anything cool or scary in your life, to do with football culture? 

Widmark: Well in football culture there’s a lot of violent and scary things that happen, but one thing that was both funny and scary was after a football game, a guy got taken away by the police and then he gets thrown in a big police car, and when he’s in the car he gets a crazy idea and lights a “bengal” –– which is basically a stick that glows and produces smoke. So then the whole car gets filled with smoke and the police have to open the door to the car and then the guy just runs for his life and gets away.

”I think the worst choice you can make is having a bulletproof plan for what comes next.” -Alexandra Karlsson

By Vasiliki Karlsson, SB23 

I decided to interview my sister Alexandra Karlsson. She turned twenty this year which means she officially hit the one year mark from graduation day. I remember it like yesterday when she broke down at least every week due to the pressure she felt, because every interaction she had with relatives or friends during the last term was about, “What comes next?”

Vasiliki Karlsson: How was your time towards the end of high school?

Alexandra Karlsson: My last term was probably the hardest because reality was creeping up on me. During my first and second year I only got “average” grades which meant that the only thing I could rely on now to allow me to continue my studies was the university admissions exam. That was also a hard thing to process because I have dyscalculia and dyslexia, and the university admissions exam only tests your math, Swedish, and English knowledge –– unfortunate for me I guess. There were also a lot of expectations on me towards the end. I remember all the stories from teachers and my parents about university being their best decision in life, and basically mandatory for a bright future. 

Vasiliki Karlsson: Do you think social constructs have an impact on which path you take after graduation?

Alexandra Karlsson: Yes, I would say that social norms have a humongous impact on people. In today’s society I would say that the norm is to have a semi-set plan right before graduating. For example you should know that you want to travel or go backpacking for a year, then move on to study law at Uppsalas university. However I don’t think this is reality for everyone. When you choose a career path, it’s hard to change that later on in life, which means you’re “stuck” in that field. All of my friends planned their future taking into account what their parents preferred, or what their surroundings expected of them. Now a year later they are regretting their decisions, which is totally fine, but they have lost money that could have been saved up towards something they are passionate about. I think the worst choice you can make is having a bulletproof plan for what comes next.

Vasiliki Karlsson: What are you doing now after graduation?

Alexandra Karlsson: I am currently employed at a school as a teacher’s assistant. In contrast to a lot of my friends I am pleased with my choice, because I still don’t have a set plan about further studies, so I am having fun instead and will continue the teaching path until I find my true passion. Of course I have plans to see the world as soon as I have enough in my savings account, and I also know that I have an interest in doing voluntary work outside of Sweden which might be my next goal. However nothing is set in stone, and I don’t mind my plans changing.

Vasiliki Karlsson: Do you have anything you would like to say to people who are anxious about what their future holds?

Alexandra Karlsson: Sitting in a classroom is not for everyone, and I want to remind people in the same position I was a year ago that you are still young and have a lot of time to make mistakes, then learn and make new ones. The last tip I want to give is believe in yourself, and it is normal to not have it all mapped out, even in your twenties. 

Writing became synonymous with working

by Mira Singh Sjöqvist, SB23

She grew up loving to write and read. She wrote from her imagination: from making up stories to winning the Swedish Grand Prize for Journalism, from being a journalist working as a reporter, to becoming an author and a translator –– but how did it happen and why? My grandmother Suzanne Sjöqvist tells me all about it over a cup of tea. 

Mira Singh Sjöqvist: How did you get into journalism?

Suzanne Sjöqvist: My father wrote novels and my mother wrote poetry, while I made up fairy tales and told stories. For me, writing became synonymous with working. It was the only job I knew. When I was eight years old I started sending in my poems to newspapers. Some got published and I got paid. Encouraged by my small childhood successes, my enthusiastic parents and their writing friends, I almost fell into journalism. At a very young age, I was lucky enough to be employed at Sweden’s then largest daily newspaper Expressen, and remained there for thirty years.

Mira Singh Sjöqvist: Did your life outside work change or get affected as a journalist, and in what way?

Suzanne Sjöqvist: Yes. Journalism is a consuming profession that is both exciting and varied. I rarely knew what to expect when I arrived at work. Soon I began to see a story in everyone I met. Everything I wrote needed to be true and confirmed by independent sources. Of course I made mistakes and got things wrong, ignorant and inexperienced as I was. Readers sometimes got upset with me and it happened that my bosses scolded me –– not that fun, but I learned a lot. I constantly had to perform, preferably better and faster than others. There was always a deadline. A constant competition with other newspapers and with my own colleagues. Journalists are childish, they say. They seek confirmation. Look at me! I’m so brilliant! When I was awarded the Swedish Grand Prize for Journalism in 1984, I got my fifteen minutes of fame. Then as a mother of three, I had a daily challenge to put together a work-life balance. 

Mira Singh Sjöqvist: Did you travel as a journalist, and what would you report about then?

Suzanne Sjöqvist: Yes, I traveled and wrote, I reported from trials, schools, workplaces, demonstrations, the Swedish Parliament, about immigration, women’s soccer, drug dealing, poverty, prisons, hospitals, food prices, refugee camps, the subway system, the charter business, you name it. I think It was fun to see so much of Sweden. I drove and flew, maybe only stayed an hour at my destination, but I know what it looks like in Arvidsjaur, on Gotska Sandön, in Rosengård. In Greenland, in East Timor and in Brazil. As the newspaper’s correspondent in Copenhagen, I would have to familiarize myself with pretty much everything: politics, boxing, Christiania, royal weddings, the construction of the Öresund Bridge and much more. But I could not wait to do deeper interviews and long travel reports. I was fed up with breaking news.

Mira Singh Sjöqvist: Why and how did you go from being a reporter to becoming an author?

Suzanne Sjöqvist: As I got older and gained more experience in life I wanted to dive a bit deeper into, and get more space for, my stories. Actually I always wanted to become an author, that was the goal, but it was easier to begin as a reporter. When I was young I didn’t really have anything interesting to write about. Suddenly a colleague and I then got the chance to publish our reporting from a Swedish neighborhood as a book. I was able to have a million readers at the newspaper, while a book like this one didn’t get many buyers. Although our message still got out. The prime minister quoted it in his government statement. The author Kerstin Ekman referred to it in her inaugural speech in the Swedish Academy. The book was discussed in all kinds of media. We were interviewed on TV, participated in debates and held lectures in libraries.

Mira Singh Sjöqvist: What kinds of books have you written and what are they about?

Suzanne Sjöqvist: My next book was based on a six-month series of interviews with Stockholm’s “King of Jeans”. Then, after a year of persuading, I got a publisher on board with the idea of a book about children and grief. As the project’s editor, I invited children and teenagers who had lost a parent to write about that. It turned out to be a book I am proud of (Du är hos mig ändå). The book won the Young Minds book award in England in 2007.  It was translated and published in England, America, Finland and Japan. I also went on a lecture tour in Tokyo. 

Mira Singh Sjöqvist: Do you have a book coming up, what kind of book?

Suzanne Sjöqvist: Yes I actually have. Today I am struggling with a novel. Here, as in my youth, I am free to fantasize. I think it is difficult after a long life as a journalist. I have to remind myself that it’s OK to fantasize, as long as my characters’ thoughts and feelings seem genuine and believable. I also translate literature. This work makes me reflect on and develop my own language. When translating I have to be faithful to the author’s story and at the same time make sure that the text flows smoothly in Swedish. Otherwise, no one will read the book. Which is what journalists and authors want: to be read.

Maria Matyasik – A Brave Heart

By Oliwia Milczarek, FE23

I’m sitting in the warmth of my home, on a call with my great-grandmother, Maria Matyasik. She was born in 1925, after World War I. My sweet great-gram-gram is currently 98 years old. For as long as I can remember, she has told me stories from her life that have ever since been able to motivate and inspire me, and like any other grandma she has her own little nicknames for me.

Milczarek: So dear Gram-Gram, can you tell me about your first job and what influence it had on you?

Gram-Gram(Matysiak): Oliwciu, my first job was in the post office at the end of WWII, and let me tell you, it wasn’t an easy one. Because of some orders, we weren’t able to deliver certain letters, other letters were opened and read and if their contents were improper the letter would sadly never arrive to the addressee. All those years working in the post office have taught me respect for other people’s privacy. I also realized that time flows extremely quickly, and that the little things are important.

Milczarek: Is that why you decide to start a family so early in your life? 

Gram-Gram(Matysiak): Possibly my dear, but partially also because I met your great grandfather. Kaziu was a charming, dashing and intelligent young man who also was the head of the village. He always helped others in need. That’s why I had no doubts about becoming his wife. 

Milczarek: Gram-Gram, you also became a mother pretty fast. Was it easy to raise your children? And do you have any interesting stories about them?

Gram-Gram(Matysiak): Sweet little crumb, raising children is never easy, because everyone is different. Motherhood is an exciting part of a woman’s life, which brings a lot of happiness but also sorrow. 

Milczarek: What do you mean by sorrow? Any particular story you have associated with it?

Gram-Gram(Matysiak): Y’know how little girls like to feel like princesses? My sweet little daughter Małgosia wore a pretty white dress, a flower wreath and very neatly curled hair for her confirmation day (in the Christian tradition), on this day she looked just like a little princess. We all went to church and we were extremely happy, but I was not prepared for the horror I would endure just a couple of hours later. After the ceremony we went home to continue celebrating, and I was serving the guests tea and sweets. When I was done I wanted to take care of my youngest daughter, but Małgosia stopped me and said that she would take care of her younger sister. I agreed not knowing what would happen next. I saw the girls, little Małgosia smiling happily and Urszule in the baby stroller. When I went into the kitchen after a few minutes to grab the cake baking in the electric baking pan, I noticed my sweet little child, in her little white dress, lying on the floor completely still, her body lifeless. The paramedics didn’t make it in time, Małgosia died from an electric shock, and her happiest day was her last. 

Milczarek: Gram-Gram after such a sad incident, did you become mentally stronger as a mother?

Gram-Gram(Matysiak): Sweet pea, it definitely gave me more strength and courage to face fate. 

Milczarek: If I understand it correctly Grandma, that was not the only sad thing that happened in your motherhood, right?

Gram-Gram(Matysiak): Fate puts us through many trials and after that trial I faced another one, which was fighting for my eldest daughter’s life. Hania had heart problems, that required surgical intervention. I searched for a heart surgeon that would help my daughter, but only one decided to help her. It was Zbigniew Religa, a not-so-well-known heart surgeon at the time. They performed open-heart surgery, and because of that had to stop her heart for two minutes, they were the longest two minutes of my life. But the two minutes also gave me a lot of happiness. To this day I enjoy Hania’s little anecdotes.

Milczarek: Gram-Gram, could you tell me your secret to surviving hard times?

Gram-Gram(Matysiak): Sweety, sad and happy times are written into the life of every single one of us. My children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren are my happiness and strength. Everyone has it, they just need to find it.

The importance of journalism

Linnea Kluge, SB23

Journalism is a fundamental part of a functioning society, and all the different kinds of journalism all work together to make our world work. Jonas Alsgren is a 53 year old journalist living in Stockholm and working with a journalistic TV program. Today we’ll dive deeper into what journalism is and what role it plays in society, according to Jonas Alsgren. 

Kluge: Could you tell me a little about your work?

Alsgren: I’m the boss at a television programme called “Kalla fakta” at TV4. We investigate and research different problems in society. Everything from politics and politicians, healthcare, children’s care and all the other things people want us to look into. We try to tell the public the truth about these important kinds of issues. 

Kluge: So what is it exactly that you do?

Alsgren: Well, I lead and guide the work, look through tons of tips sent in from the public, and then pick out the issues we can make a programme about. Along with me there are seven reporters, four photographers and a couple of editors that all work together to create all the episodes. Usually I sit in on several meetings a day and give my thoughts and feedback on their work. We are always working on a number of programs. We used to have set times when our programs would air, but now we air our work when we have finished it. Last year we did twenty three different programmes, of all different lengths. Some would only be a couple of minutes while others were over an hour. 

Kluge: How did you get into this line of work?

Alsgren: I started with studying political science at the University of Uppsala and eventually started working at the student radio there. Somewhere during that time I managed to figure out that journalism was what I wanted to do, specifically investigative journalism. The radio programme wasn’t really anything serious, I tried investigating some bicycle thefts in Uppsala at the time but nothing really came out of it, though it was a good experience. 

Kluge: You said you work with investigative journalism, what exactly does that mean and how does it differ from the “normal” kind of journalism and news reporting we see on TV?

Alsgren: What we do involves finding the truth about something, instead of just reporting it as it is, we dig for more information and try to find out why something happened. Usually we report on things that are swept under the rug, maybe someone with a lot of power did something wrong, then we try to find out about it. I think this is a very important part of journalism, people need to know these things, they need to get another perspective than just the one the news gives them. 

Kluge: Which type do you feel is the most important?

Alsgren: Since I work with investigative journalism, I have to say that it is a bit more important than news reporting. But both are a fundamental part of a functioning democracy and therefore very needed in society. We watch politicians and people with power, and then inform the public of what is being said. 

Kluge: What are the reactions to your programs usually like?

Alsgren: We always hope that we can get a debate about it going, get people talking about the issue, but that isn’t always the case. Sometimes the debate is almost non-existent, for example with our program “Barnen på fjärde våningen” from 2022 when I both hoped and thought it would get more attention than it actually ended up getting. Other times it’s the opposite and it gets more attention than we thought, or the people being investigated get quite upset about it. 

Kluge: Who is your usual audience for the program?

Alsgren: The number of people that see our programs can vary a lot, we can have everything from 200,000 viewers to a million viewers per program. Usually we have an older audience, which I guess comes from the older generations being more interested in our content. Most I would guess are around 40 to 60 years old. We do, though, want a bigger audience of younger people, even teens, since they are the future of this world. We therefore try to reach this younger audience, we have for example started using TikTok as a way of doing this. We have posted parts of our content for around one and a half years now on TikTok to try to draw attention to the issues being brought up, but we haven’t been able to see a real difference in the viewers of our show yet. 

Kluge: Do you ever get a lot of recognition for your programmes?

Alsgren: This year we did a story called “Partiernas hemliga pengar” which showed the  public how five out of eight of Sweden’s political parties received large amounts of money anonymously, which is illegal. Just like in many other investigations we used a hidden camera for this. This specific program actually got a lot of attention and ended in several politicians resigning. (Kalla Fakta was nominated for, and won, the category for “Årets granskning”(“The Investigation of the Year”) at Kristallen 2023 and “Årets program”(“The Programme of the Year”) for this specific episode of their show. It also won both “Stora journalistpriset”(“The Big Journalism Prize”) and multiple “Guldspadar” från “Föreningen grävande journalister”(“The Union for Investigative Journalists”).

Jonas Alsgren

Kluge: Could you tell me about your book, The Big Boss?

Alsgren: In 2019 me and Erik Palm (the co author of the book) published a book called The Big Boss. The book follows Stefan Persson’s life and how he came to create the world famous store H&M. Stefan Persson himself is extremely well-off but his workers, the seamstresses who make the clothes do not make enough to even live off of. (Studies show that H&M workers in countries like Bulgaria, despite working around 80 hours per week, don’t even make two thirds of the EU’s poverty threshold.) We spent a really long time on the book, interviewing workers and looking through documents. 

Kluge: Where did the idea come from?

Alsgren: It was Erik Palm who came up with it. We had previously done coverages at Kalla Fakta about H&M and the work conditions the employees face, but there was just so much more to it. A book takes a lot more time and contains a lot more information as well. Usually we work on each story for the show for about five to six months; the book took us about five to six years to complete. I believe investigative books like this one can have a different impact than an investigative program. Partly because books last a lot longer than TV programmes. 

Kluge: The book shows a lot of quite bad things about Stefan Persson, what did he think about your book? 

Alsgren: Stefan Persson obviously wasn’t very happy about the book, he didn’t want everything to come out and tried to stop the book. He didn’t succeed since we did publish it, but he was very angry with us. A lot of the time this can be a problem while doing journalism, people trying to go against you and stop your work, because they don’t want the truth about them, their business or work to come out. 

Kluge: What do you do when that happens?

Alsgren: What we try to do then is make sure we have proof of things, that the things we hear and find out are really true. If we make sure to do that we don’t have anything to worry about. Sometimes if it goes far “Medierna”(A radio program at SR that reviews different media and journalism) and “Granskningsnämnden”(Reviews radio and TV programmes in Sweden to see if laws are being followed.) can get involved, like when Kalla Fakta did a program about Lilla Erstagården, but everything worked out fine for us then. 

Kluge: To finish, what do you think could improve today’s journalism?

Alsgren: I think a lot of journalism today is about being first with the news, if someone else has already reported on it it’s like there is no point in also reporting it. It’s all about the competition. This is something I don’t really like or agree with, it should be about the actual journalism part and not a competition. If this could change, along with the younger generation getting more involved, I believe journalism could get a lot better. 

An Orthodox ex-archdeacon on being Christian today

Interview by Theodora Bergner, FE23

An interview with the strong opinionated, self-employed, psychologist and ex-archdeacon Michael, in which he talks openly about faith, religion and life. I think we had an interesting conversation about important subjects and matters that often aren’t talked about today. A quite different person with different opinions from Swedish society today.  

Theodora: How did religion affect your childhood?

Michael: Not at all really. My mother was raised in Northern Sweden and went to Sunday school but she was never herself a practicing believer. It was during tough times of my life that I alway felt drawn to the church –– at that time the Church of Sweden. I started spending time with my neighbor who lived just next door. We played music together, and he started talking to me about life and faith. I looked up to him, and he taught me about Christianity. I started going along with him to church and it was probably there my journey began.

Theodora: When did you officially become a Christian?

Michael: Well technically I have been a Christian since I was baptized in 1973, you are then re-born in Christ’s body. But to be a true Christian you also have to start practicing Christianity. We say that you can be a private believer but not a private Christian. You have to start going to church. And so I did, when I was sixteen years old I officially became a practicing Christian when I started going to the church of Sofia at Södermalm.

Theodora: Which church do you belong to and why? 

Michael: Even though my journey began in the Church of Sweden I now belong to the Orthodox Church. You see in the year 1054 the church split into two parts, the East and the West. That is to say the orthodox church remained what it had been, and the Roman Catholic Church was formed. They established new rules that benefited them, but weren’t a part of Christianity’s original belief. So the Orthodox Church turned its back on the Catholics. They think the Catholics are schismatic: they are partly right but have some vital details wrong. An Orthodox person can therefore take communion in the Roman Catholic Church even though they prefer not to, but a Catholic is not allowed to take communion in the Orthodox Church. The Church of Sweden is not even schismatic but heretical, that means complete inaccuracy in the way one practices the Christian faith. We are absolutely not allowed to take a so-called communion from a so-called priest in the church of Sweden. You mock the true sacrament by letting someone who is not worthy, and unable, administer it to you.

Theodora: Why do you belong to Christianity and not any other religion? 

Michael:  Jesus Christ said that he is the way, the truth and life and I believe in those words. There is no other way to God, the other paths are false and can quite literally lead you to Hell, or at least not to salvation. A wise priest once told me that Christianity differs from all other religions in that Christianity is not a religion but a path. What did he mean by that then? Well a bit provocatively, that priest also said that God became man so that man can become God. There is thus a path for us to divine realization. As we perceive it, no other religion has that. It makes Christianity unique and it is of course a very sympathetic thought that no matter how much of a scumbag you are, there is someone who has already paid the price for your stupidity. And who will sit by our side when we are brought before the court.

Theodora: That’s really interesting, can you give an example of how other religions differ from Christianity?

Michael: Islam for an example was founded in the 7th Century, and in my opinion as a reaction against Christianity. In many aspects Islam is very similar to Christianity, we have some of the same traditions that come from the Christian monk life. Islam is very much a plagiarized form of Christianity but they believe that there were greater prophets then Jesus, like Mohammed. When that happens, quite similar but still incorrect, it is as I said the formation of a reaction against Christianity. We don’t need to mention any names, but we know who it is that reacts most strongly against Christianity, and it is he who rules this world.

Theodora: Is your faith strong?

Michael: Leif GW Persson said that if he has the option of choosing to believe or not to believe, he would choose to believe because faith is a very beautiful thing. For me it has never been a question of choosing whether I believe or not, but a question of how I relate to it. I can’t choose to believe, it is just something I do whether I want to or not. So from that aspect I would say that I am a strong believer. Since we live in Sweden, a secularized and de-Christianized country I would say that I am perceived as a strong believer as well. However compared to my orthodox sisters and brothers in the Middle East and East Central Europe I would probably be perceived as a slacker, who is not well disciplined enough with daily prayers and sacraments. 

Theodora: What is it like to be a believer in modern times?

Michael: It’s tough, for me it’s probably not as tough as for many others as I’m a confident and self-determined person. I have fairly good self esteem and I can stand on my own two feet. But more sensitive and cautious people can easily be mocked into thinking that they are less-intelligent because of their beliefs. I think especially young people have a difficult time with it, they often try to deny or keep it as a secret in order not to get ridiculed. But it’s difficult, we live in a very atheistic and liberalized society. Man has made himself god, we must have absolute and immediate satisfaction. Any sort of gratitude towards a higher power is gone and it makes people feel very lost and lonely. Which is something we can see very clear signs of today.

Theodora: What do you think about atheists?

Michael: I usually say that I am happy to talk about faith, teaching and life with any person. No matter what their spiritual, philosophical or religious beliefs are. However I have no great interest in discussing existential questions with an atheist. The difference between a religious person and an atheist is that we say we believe, but they say that they know. An absolute certainty that there can be no such thing as a higher power or god. It’s like comparing apples and pears. An atheist once told me that I am only a Christian because I’m afraid of dying. But I said to him it is you who are afraid and are taking the easy way out. You can act like a piece of shit and then not have to worry about the consequences of it all when you die. They think everything just ceases to exist. However I have actually noticed that atheists often actually are agnostics when you scratch the surface a bit. An agnostic, unlike an atheist, says that God might exist. They don’t exclude it but they also don’t confirm it. And if that’s the belief I think there can be an interesting conversation. 

Theodora: What is your thought on death?

Michael: The dawn of life. “When once in the dawn of life I reach the golden gate and then receive Jesus’ great love and for me it stands open”, is the psalm they sing at the pearly gates. This life is a schooling, and when we die we graduate into real life. We just have to try to study as hard as we can until our graduation. For the day will come when we stand in front of the court being evaluated. I try not to live life as if my hair was on fire, only seeking pleasure, drinking the most expensive wines, owning the most and having as much sex as possible. A Christian perspective is believing that life is not a chase but a journey, having the perspective of eternity.