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APN Podcast: Finland's stormy summer of political scandals

The All Points North podcast reviews a summer of political turbulence in Finland as a series of racism and far-right scandals rocked the newly-formed coalition government.

Photo shows Riikka Purra speaking at a press conference, with the All Points North logo in the bottom left corner.
Finns Party leader Riikka Purra speaking to the media at a press conference in July.
  • Yle News

Since Prime Minister Petteri Orpo's (NCP) right-wing government came into office on 20 June, it has been beset by a series of racism and far-right scandals.

The controversies have mostly revolved around the past activities and writings of Finns Party MPs, all of whom have taken on ministerial positions within the Orpo administration.

All Points North looks back at the timeline of turmoil, from the events leading up to the resignation of Vilhelm Junnila to newly-appointed Interior Minister Mari Rantanen's backtracking, and from Deputy PM Riikka Purra's racist and violent blog comments to racist texts sent by Wille Rydman.

Listen to the episode via this embedded player, on Yle Areena, Apple or via Spotify.

Is racism becoming normalised in Finland?

With racism at the centre of many of this summer's political scandals, APN also hears from Finland's Non-Discrimination Ombudsman Kristina Stenman, who has expressed concern about the rise in racism and hate speech in Finnish society.

"We get messages from people who have been living in Finland for a long time, saying that racism is becoming more of an everyday thing, and that these kinds of slurs and problematic behavior are something that people encounter more frequently today," Stenman told the show.

Foraging in the forest

With the hazy days of summer fading, and autumn on the horizon, APN also receives some tips on foraging for mushrooms in the forests of Finland from food expert Taru Karonen.

"Try to tag along with someone who knows what they're doing, because it's a tricky thing to identify edible mushrooms, as you have to consider the location and what the mushroom looks like and also beware of look-alikes that might be poisonous," she said.

Join the conversation!

This week's show was presented by Ronan Browne and Veronica Kontopoulou with additional reporting by Matthew Schilke. The sound engineer was Anders Johansson.

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 [email protected] and [email protected].

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