High school students from Sweden point out differences with the U.S. like guns and free health care & college

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Swedish students
Swedish students from the Tall Ship Gunilla visit WMNF. By Seán Kinane/WMNF News (24 Jan. 2023).

On WMNF’s Tuesday Café, host Seán Kinane talked with a group of students from Sweden. They take classes on a ship that will sail out of Tampa to destinations like Cuba and Belize. We compared what it’s like in the U.S. to Sweden for things like health care and education.

About 40 students walked to WMNF from their Tall Ship Gunilla that’s docked in the Channel District / Port Tampa Bay. We only had room for six of them on the microphone: Rasmus Olsbo, Esther Rundquist, Eskil Bengtsson, Andrea Engström, Klara Persson and Adam Boman.

We touched on a range of topics like:

  • Education: they can go to university for free anywhere in Europe (and they get a monthly stipend).
  • Health care: prescription medications are free for children. There’s a small charge for surgery.
  • Religion: One 2015 survey estimated that 21% of people in Sweden believe in a god. The students think that might be an overestimation.
  • Guns: They are surprised that anyone can own a gun in the U.S. In Sweden all guns are registered, must be locked and are generally only for hunting.

Listen to the show here:

Watch video of the interview here.

WMNF’s Tuesday Café

WMNF’s Tuesday Café airs weekly beginning at 10:06 a.m. ET.

You can listen on 88.5 FM in Tampa Bay, on wmnf.org or on the WMNF Community Radio app.

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