P J O’Rourke - Noam Chomsky - Aleksis Kivi - Our World TV - Visions of War TV - Rise of the Nazis: Dictators at War TV -
Finland is a rich country. What have they got? They got Nokia phones and plywood. How’d they get so rich? Because they’re free. P J O’Rourke
The country that consistently ranks among the highest in educational achievement is Finland. A rich country, but education is free. Germany, education is free. France, education is free. Noam Chomsky
What is that land of hill and dale
That is so beautiful,
The land aglow with summer days,
Land with the northern lights ablaze,
Whose beauty all the seasons share,
What is that land so fair? Aleksis Kivi, The Finnish Land
As the push to save the planet gets even more urgent, one town has already cut its carbon emissions by 80%. Il in northern Finland is the greenest town in Europe, powered by 100% renewable energy. And the next generation are already leading the way in energy-saving ways of living. People still hunt and fish as part of their everyday lives. But could there be a cost to being Europe’s greenest town? Our World: Europe’s Greenest Town, BBC 2019
Lapland is Europe’s last great wilderness. It stretches across Norway, Sweden, Finland and Russia, way above the Arctic Circle. The far north of Finland is home to the Sami, Europe’s only indigenous people who still live off the land. But life for the Sami people is changing: Climate Change is affecting the Arctic more than any other part of the Earth. The melting ice is opening up opportunities for shipping routes, and there’s talk of a new railway, which could threaten the Sami’s way of life. Our World: Fighting for Lapland, BBC 2020
After Finland the Red Army will go on the defensive. Visions of War: The World in Flames, 2003
In June 1942 Hitler travelled to Finland to have talks with the Finnish leader Mannerheim in a railway carriage. The talks were being recorded by the Finns for posterity. Rise of the Nazis II: Stalingrad, BBC 2022