The Old Country Newsletter – Högsommar och Vargavinter

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Postcard from the North

In other news

🤸‍♀️ Starting in 2026, sports journalist Karin Frick will take over as host of the beloved Swedish reality competition show Mästarnas mästare, in which retired elite athletes compete in various physical and mental challenges. She replaces Micke Leijnegard, who has led the program since its debut in 2009. The 18th season will feature returning contestants, an Olympic theme, and other yet-to-be-revealed changes, with Frick promising a star-studded lineup and aiming to bring her own style while maintaining strong group dynamics among participants.

🪖 Former Swedish national security adviser Henrik Landerholm accidentally left behind documents containing sensitive details about Sweden’s NATO strategy toward Turkey back before Sweden joined the alliance, according to Dagens Nyheter. At least one document reportedly included information from a meeting with U.S. National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan and was based on classified material from the Swedish Security Service and Armed Forces. Experts warn the incident could damage Sweden’s relations with both Turkey and the United States, calling the security lapse highly serious.

⚽ Swedish football star Alexander Isak has reportedly decided never to play for English club Newcastle United again, according to The Athletic. Despite Newcastle’s refusal to sell the 25-year-old striker, Isak is said to consider his time at St James’s Park over and does not wish to rejoin the squad. The decision comes amid reports that he has expressed a desire to transfer to Liverpool, which Newcastle has so far blocked.

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Water Shortage Warning for Stockholm Region

Swede-ish Notes

Wolves, Farmers, and Balcony Biologists

Last week, we added a new segment to the newsletter: a quick look at something current or historical – told with a little more opinion than the rest of The Old Country. Not an editorial, not quite news – think of it as a coffee-break reflection. This time, we’re heading deep into the Hundred Acre Wood.

Once upon a time, the Swedish wolf was nearly gone. In the 1800s, relentless hunting and persecution drove numbers down drastically, and by the 1960s, wolves were on the brink of extinction. Protection came in 1966, stopping the final wipe-out. Then, in the 1970s, wolves wandered in from Finland and Russia, slowly re-establishing themselves—first in the north, and now with territories in central and even southern Sweden.

As the wolf population has grown, so have the opinions—loud, passionate, and often extreme. On one side, defenders insist the wolf is an ancient part of Swedish nature, and dismiss their opponents as trigger-happy rural types eager to tick another animal off their hunting tally. On the other side, many hunters and farmers see wolves not as biodiversity’s saviours, but as predators that leave only death in their wake. They fire back at “balcony biologists” in big cities—comfortable in their apartments, debating online while farmers witness the damage in the fields.

The louder the voices get, the harder it becomes for the moderate middle—the “swing voters” of wildlife policy—to make a reasoned decision. The debate becomes less about solutions and more about identity, leaving us further from a long-term solution.

Meanwhile, nature continues on its own schedule, blissfully indifferent to our human arguments. The wolves roam, the sheep graze, and the internet hums with outrage.

Do you have a story from the past that could be worth sharing? I bet you do! Or would you like to see something else in the newsletter and have suggestions for topics? If so, please reach out!