What’s different about femininity in Finland? Joel Willans, author and creator of Very Finnish Problems consults lifestyle and travel blogger Varpu Pöyry, of Her Finland. We learn about the perils of gender stereotypes and Varpu’s engineering approach to improving her memory. Co-host Thomas Nybergh is mostly concerned about the social lives of Finnish men.

A special guest, Yle News journalist Ronan Browne, also appears briefly while shooting a story about Very Finnish Problems.

Contact: veryfinnishproblems@inktank.fi

Produced by Thomas Nybergh / Ink Tank Media

Shownotes:

Yle News’ story on Very Finnish Problems: https://yle.fi/uutiset/osasto/news/self-deprecating_finnish_memes_a_big_online_hit/10120020

The circumstances surrounding Finland's first female prime minister's resignation: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iraq_leak

Joel’s book - 101 Very Finnish Problems: https://www.gummerus.fi/fi/kirja/9789512407507/101-very-finnish-problems/

Yle News - Finland ranks sixth in English skills, early instruction crucial: https://yle.fi/uutiset/osasto/news/finland_ranks_sixth_in_english_skills_early_instruction_crucial/10071036

Varpus’ book recommendation - “How to Learn Almost Anything in 48 Hours: Shortcuts and brain hacks for learning new skills fast” by Tansel Ali: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/26242226-how-to-learn-almost-anything-in-48-hours

Joel’s book recommendation - “A Little Life” by Hanya Yanagihara: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/22822858-a-little-life

Thomas’ podcast recommendation - The Assasination, an investigation into the death of Pakistan’s first female prime minister, Benazir Bhutto: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p05r6cgx/episodes/downloads

Check out Varpu’s Finnish words and memory tricks on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/p/BekdQqHnuUZ/