The Swiss Connection
Swiss stories for the world with host Susan Misicka. In every episode, we cover a universal topic with strong Swiss ties. You’ll be surprised at how much "Swissness" there is out there. This podcast was produced by SWI swissinfo.ch, a multilingual public service media company in Switzerland.
Episodes
Construction workers got a surprise recently while laying a pipeline underneath Lake Lucerne in central Switzerland. On the lake floor they found the traces of a prehistoric village! This finally confirmed a long-standing theory among archaeologists, who believed that people had lived in the area thousands of years ago.
But why were the traces of their home so deep within the lake? Across Switzerland there are about 500 pile dwellin...
In this second part of our two-part series on assisted suicide, SWI reporter Kaoru Uda tells host Susan Misicka what it was like to accompany two Japanese patients who came to Switzerland to die.
SWI swissinfo.ch is a Multilingual Public service media based in Bern, Switzerland.
Every year, over 1,000 seriously ill people end their lives in Switzerland with the help of suicide assistants.
Assisted suicide is legal in several countries, including Switzerland, Canada and the Netherlands. A handful of other countries – like Germany and Colombia – are working out the legal and practical details.
Some people even travel great distances to die in Switzerland because assisted suicide is illegal where t...
Now that Switzerland has approved marriage for all, host Susan Misicka talks with some couples who explain why it's important to them. We also hear from opponents of Swiss legislation granting same-sex couples the right to marry.
SWI swissinfo.ch is a Multilingual Public service media based in Bern, Switzerland.
In this encore episode of The Swiss Connection, we visit Swiss century-old pen and pencil maker Caran d'Ache. Podcast host Susan Misicka takes a tour of the factory and feels a bit silly when Caran d’Ache President Carole Hubscher sees her hasty choice of writing instrument.
SWI swissinfo.ch is a Multilingual Public service media based in Bern, Switzerland.
Swiss designers gave us the big-name Helvetica and Frutiger typefaces in the 20th century. Now a modern-day designer from Basel is collaborating on a new font that we might soon be seeing a lot more of. Nina Stoessinger of Frere-Jones Type in Brooklyn talks about inspiration and challenges.
SWI swissinfo.ch is a Multilingual Public service media based in Bern, Switzerland.
How soon will we start buying our groceries with Bitcoin? What kind of scams do we need to be aware of? And why is Switzerland so sweet on cryptocurrencies and blockchain? SWI finance correspondent Matt Allen gives host Susan Misicka an overview of what he's learned while covering this scene over the past several years.
SWI swissinfo.ch is a Multilingual Public service media based in Bern, Switzerland.
A gorgeous location for a film festival: Locarno in southern Switzerland. The international event features about 200 films in 10 days. But what makes the Locarno Film Festival so special? In this episode, SWI culture editor Eduardo Simantob tells podcast host Susan Misicka why he loves it.
SWI swissinfo.ch is a Multilingual Public service media based in Bern, Switzerland.
Swiss architect Renata von Tscharner has devoted over two decades to improving the public spaces along the Charles River in Massachusetts. She even hopes to get people swimming in Boston's so-called "dirty water" on a regular basis. We met her at the Rhine River in her native Basel.
SWI swissinfo.ch is a Multilingual Public service media based in Bern, Switzerland.
In this episode host Susan Misicka introduces our sister podcast, Inside Geneva. Nuclear weapons were banned by international treaty at the start of 2021. But the treaty doesn’t apply to any of the nuclear powers, since none of them signed it. So are nukes really banned? Inside Geneva host Imogen Foulkes talks to Cordula Droege, Chief Legal Officer of the International Committee of the Red Cross, Beatrice Fihn of the International ...
The success of Swiss chocolate depends on cocoa beans harvested far away, often with the help of minors. In this episode we discuss whether it's OK for children to work, and how to figure out if kids helped make your candy bar.
SWI swissinfo.ch is a Multilingual Public service media based in Bern, Switzerland.
What does soil sound like, and what do those sounds mean? We find out from the world’s first scientist to use acoustics to research the soil and underground biodiversity. Also, we explore some of Zurich's greenspaces with a conservation biologist.
SWI swissinfo.ch is a Multilingual Public service media based in Bern, Switzerland.
Switzerland missed its target to reduce its carbon footprint in 2020. But there are still some promising developments when it comes to electric mobility in Switzerland – on the roads and up in the air. In this episode we take a ride in an electric plane and kick the tires on Swiss electric car infrastructure.
SWI swissinfo.ch is a Multilingual Public service media based in Bern, Switzerland.
In this follow-up to "The Dirt on Digging for Gold" we hear about some measures to make the gold trade more sustainable. Swiss anti-corruption champion Mark Pieth provides insight into the social problems sparked by gold mining. And members of the Swiss Better Gold Association share their experiences in Latin America.
SWI swissinfo.ch is a Multilingual Public service media based in Bern, Switzerland.
The past year has been a strange time for all of us. It can be even harder if you’re an expat. One in ten Swiss people lives outside of Switzerland. In this episode, we hear from a few Swiss citizens who are living in the United States. They tell us how they’re experiencing the coronavirus pandemic and politics in their adopted homeland.
SWI swissinfo.ch is a Multilingual Public service media based in Bern, Switzerland.
Switzerland is the home of some of the world’s biggest pharmaceutical companies. But when it comes to coronavirus vaccines, the Swiss pharma giants are not part of the discussion. How did they miss out? Or did they? And what does it mean for the next pandemic?
SWI swissinfo.ch is a Multilingual Public service media based in Bern, Switzerland.
The case of a Swiss couple abusing Indian children – and getting away with it – shows the limits of the international police network.
SWI swissinfo.ch is a Multilingual Public service media based in Bern, Switzerland.
Multiple spy agencies, secret documents, international intrigue, and a Swiss company's encryption machines are at the heart of this episode. But does anybody really know the whole story?
SWI swissinfo.ch is a Multilingual Public service media based in Bern, Switzerland.
Switzerland is celebrating a rather awkward anniversary this year. It was only 50 years ago that women got the right to vote at the federal level. What was the hold-up? And what’s still holding women back today?
SWI swissinfo.ch is a Multilingual Public service media based in Bern, Switzerland.
Sometimes changing names and continents is the best way to cope in a pandemic. For Swiss country music singer-songwriter Florian Fox, this meant moving to Nashville, Tennessee. He tells us why he's in the right place at the right time.
SWI swissinfo.ch is a Multilingual Public service media based in Bern, Switzerland.
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