I had the pleasure of visiting and reporting on the latest Studentafton. With the Grand Hotel banquet hall as a backdrop and three prominent political commentators as guests, the expectations were high. Did Studentafton live up to my expectations? This is the answer:

Studentafton, which featured political commentators My Rohwedder, Fredrik Furtenbach and Henrik Torehammar, was undoubtedly a breath of fresh air. Swedish politics, especially as the election is approaching, becomes more and more distant from substantive political issues and instead develops into a shouting match between our most prominent politicians. This evening, however, stood in stark contrast to this. The commentators sincerely discussed important political questions and smoothly switched between different topics, exploring everything from what the most important question in the election will be to which party leader they would most like to have a beer with. Even though the conversation topics did tend to derail, the conversation carried depth and substance often lacking from the current political landscape. The analysis from the guests were razor-sharp and although the conversation was inherently political we did not get the same jargon that we usually get. There were no “politician’s answers” and no avoiding the question, which I feel the entirety of the audience appreciated.

This Studentafton brought with it an invigorating feeling. The commentators shone light on some of the most interesting questions in the election: Who will cooperate with whom? How does social media affect the election? Which coalition has the upper hand in the most important questions? Apart from the guests, there is also due praise to be handed out to the organizers of the event who posed interesting questions and were clearly adequately prepared. Finally, I advise anyone who is tired of today´s political discourse to read the works by the guests and to attend the next Studentafton for sincere and interesting conversations.

Below are some of  my favorite quotes from the evening:

Henrik: “ Magdalena Andersson is quite horrible with social media and in debates, but people trust her anyway”.

Henrik:  “I want to get drunk, not go for a run”.

Fredrik: “The Greens (Miljöpartiet) were lucky that the seals started dying”.

My: “I would want to be the press secretary for the Liberals (Liberalerna), because then you can say whatever you want”.