Sommarprat

Every summer, Swedish public radio produces a weekly series called “Sommar i P1” in which different famous (and some less famous people) get to host a programme for 90 minutes and talk freely about their lives and play their favourite music. Over the years, several prime ministers have had their own programmes and so have a range of other celebrities, including the founder of IKEA, Ingvar Kamprad. From this summer, the programmes with the Oxford-based futurist Nick Bostrom and the musician Lisa Miskovsky stand out.

Anyhow, a colleague told me that she downloads these programmes and listens to them later in the fall to somehow extend the feeling of summer. I guess I had something similar in mind when I ordered a back issue of Monocle’s “Summer Weekly”. As such, I am happy to report that it works, from Strandbad Gänsehäufel to Oaxaca, I remain a hopeless escapist. For the real world stuff, I am afraid that Beirut is still hanging in limbo as it is unclear if Ally will get her vacation approved.