Episode 13: When you don’t get sisu

This time, Very Finnish Problems creator Joel Willans is joined by Joanna Nylund, author of Sisu: The Finnish Art of Courage, to discuss, as the book title suggests, Finnish resilience. Is sisu somehow a Finnish cultural trait or do Finns mostly benefit from briefly defining a necessary universal way to stay sane while facing hardship? Co-host Thomas Nybergh returns to blame Joel for British imperialism and remains skeptical about how close to nature Finns really are.

Contact: veryfinnishproblems@inktank.fi

Produced by Thomas Nybergh / Ink Tank Media

Shownotes:

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

Sisu explained: https://finland.fi/arts-culture/sisu-within-finnish-key-life-love-success/

Get Joanna’s book Sisu in Finnish: https://www.readme.fi/kirja/sisu/

Get Joanna’s book Sisu in English: https://www.octopusbooks.co.uk/books/detail.page?isbn=9781856753807

The Finnish Famine 1866-68: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Finnish_famine_of_1866–68

National romanticism: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Romantic_nationalism

How to Win Friends and Influence People: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/How_to_Win_Friends_and_Influence_People

American center-right politician Barack Obama touring the Nordics yanksplaining social democracy to business leaders: https://www.forbes.com/sites/oliversmith/2018/10/01/european-business-leaders-spent-500000-on-photos-with-obama/#7324362d6235

The End of History: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/End_of_history

Joel's appearance on Finnish Public Broadcaster Yle’s podcast All Points North: https://yle.fi/uutiset/osasto/news/all_points_north_podcast_7_breaking_down_brexit_with_susanna_turunen_and_joel_willans/10129196

Joanna’s book recommendation - Factfulness by Hans Rosling, on how the world has gotten better without the West noticing: https://www.theguardian.com/world/commentisfree/2018/apr/11/good-news-at-last-the-world-isnt-as-horrific-as-you-think

Bill Gates on Hans Rosling: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5uooRe07mYM

Hans Rosling interviewed on British TV: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1vr6Q77lUHE

Thomas’ podcast recommendation - Behind the Bastards, an informative, funny weekly rant on some of the worst people in history: https://www.behindthebastards.com/

Joel’s recommendation: Classical Trancelations, unforgettable electronic music reinterpreted by classical orchestra at Helsinki Arena (streamable worldwide): https://areena.yle.fi/1-50007533?seek=6671

More from Very Finnish Problems

  1. 49:30Episode 16: When you think life is hard in FinlandJun 15, 2019
  2. 46:23Episode 15: When your world-leading coffee consumption is a shamMay 19, 2019
  3. 58:19Episode 14: When your main exports are spooky hippos and metal musicMar 27, 2019
  4. 01:06:28Episode 13: When you don’t get sisuOct 30, 2018
  5. 58:05Episode 12: When Northern Lights have been seen by everyone except youAug 13, 2018
  6. 51:31Episode 11: When you don’t like strong womenMar 16, 2018
  7. 50:00Episode 10: When you queue for free buckets and they run outFeb 05, 2018
  8. 42:02Episode 9: When you can’t figure out which dairy product is milkNov 06, 2017
  9. 33:48Episode 8: Driving for 14 hours and only seeing forestOct 21, 2017
  10. 40:40Episode 7: When the whole country is on ski break and you can’t skiOct 06, 2017