Sweden: living with guns and gangs

We're at the Black Sea coast on the last night of June. Everything is building up to the sunrise. This is Bulgaria’s ‘July Morning’ observance - somewhere between a counter-cultural musical festival, and a secular pilgrimage marking the start of July. It revolves around reaching the coast in time to meet July’s first sunrise. This celebration has an unlikely origin story - a 1971 song, also called July Morning, by English rock band Uriah Heep.

‍

With thanks to Kmetal Tsonko Tsonev, Alex Boreva, Katie Revell, Andrea Morán and Cicely Fell.

Producer: Carys Wall

Executive producer: Dave Howard

Sound designer: Jonathan Webb

A Bespoken Media Scotland Production

‍

Click here to listen.

In the summer of 1978, many Swedish workers relished the chance to take longer, paid vacations than ever before.This was thanks to an update to Sweden’s Annual Leave Act - or Semesterlagen in Swedish - passed the previous year.

‍

The law guaranteed all employees four consecutive weeks of vacation, and increased their total annual leave to five weeks, giving them some of the longest paid holidays in the world.These policies transformed the way Swedes do business. Many factories and offices shut down for an entire month during the summer. Today,Sweden retains its strong reputation for work-life balance, and the annual leave act has given rise to the 'sommar jobb' - short summer jobs that help cover holiday absences.

‍

(Photo: Inga Persson. Credit: Inga Persson)

Producer: Maddy Savage

A Bespoken Media production for BBC World Service.

‍

Click here to listen.

The story of Scotland's longest-serving and first ever female First Minister. Available on BBC Sounds

Campaigner Louise Lancaster has gone from law-abiding teacher to law-breaking eco-activist, and been jailed for her actions. Is she a concerned campaigner or a reckless fanatic?

Click here to listen.