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    The Nordic Theory of Everything: In Search of a Better Life
    The Nordic Theory of Everything: In Search of a Better Life
    The Nordic Theory of Everything: In Search of a Better Life
    Audiobook10 hours

    The Nordic Theory of Everything: In Search of a Better Life

    Written by Anu Partanen

    Narrated by Abby Craden

    4/5

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    About this audiobook

    A Finnish journalist, now a naturalized American citizen, asks Americans to draw on elements of the Nordic way of life to nurture a fairer, happier, more secure, and less stressful society for themselves and their children.

    Moving to America in 2008, Finnish journalist Anu Partanen quickly went from confident, successful professional to wary, self-doubting mess. She found that navigating the basics of everyday life—from buying a cell phone and filing taxes to education and childcare—was much more complicated and stressful than anything she encountered in her homeland. At first, she attributed her crippling anxiety to the difficulty of adapting to a freewheeling new culture. But as she got to know Americans better, she discovered they shared her deep apprehension. To understand why life is so different in the U.S. and Finland, Partanen began to look closely at both.

    In The Nordic Theory of Everything, Partanen compares and contrasts life in the United States with life in the Nordic region, focusing on four key relationships—parents and children, men and women, employees and employers, and government and citizens. She debunks criticism that Nordic countries are socialist “nanny states,” revealing instead that it is we Americans who are far more enmeshed in unhealthy dependencies than we realize. As Partanen explains step by step, the Nordic approach allows citizens to enjoy more individual freedom and independence than we do.

    Partanen wants to open Americans’ eyes to how much better things can be—to show her beloved new country what it can learn from her homeland to reinvigorate and fulfill the promise of the American dream—to provide the opportunity to live a healthy, safe, economically secure, upwardly mobile life for everyone. Offering insights, advice, and solutions, The Nordic Theory of Everything makes a convincing argument that we can rebuild our society, rekindle our optimism, and restore true freedom to our relationships and lives.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherHarperAudio
    Release dateJun 28, 2016
    ISBN9780062643186
    Author

    Anu Partanen

    Anu Partanen’s work has appeared in the New York Times and the Atlantic. A journalist in Helsinki for many years, she has also worked at Fortune magazine as a visiting reporter through the Innovation Journalism Fellowship at Stanford University. She lives in New York City.

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    Reviews for The Nordic Theory of Everything

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    • 2/5
      Tired of hailing northern European social democracy without any historical context. These countries are racially and culturally homogenous and benefitted greatly from centuries of European colonialism. Europe ain't my rope to swing on.

      2 people found this helpful

    • 2/5
      The beginning of the book was very interesting but as it went on I felt like it was hard to listen to. The book (I went about half way through) compared life of the Nordic Region vs the U.S. As I listened, I just felt like it kept talking down upon the US and bragged about how great the Nordic Region is. I completely understand that the US has a lot to work on and that we can improve the way of life here but to listen to hours of reasons why the country we live in is bad just was a little depressing for me.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 5/5
      I used to live in Europe and moved to the US almost a decade ago. All I can say is that this book speaks the truth. My fellow US citizens please read and demand change.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 5/5
      In The Nordic Theory of Everything, Partanen compares and contrasts life in the United States with life in the Nordic region, focusing on four key relationships—parents and children, men and women, employees and employers, and government and citizens. She debunks criticism that Nordic countries are socialist “nanny states,” revealing instead that it is Americans who are far more enmeshed in unhealthy dependencies than we realize. As Partanen explains step by step, the Nordic approach allows citizens to enjoy more individual freedom and independence than we do.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 5/5
      Eye opening . Brings many cultural aspects to reflect on.
    • 2/5
      As a Finn, I know how "great" our system is and support it wholeheartedly. However, this book could (and should?) have been a blog or a piece in a journal, because it really only has one point which is repeated over and over for 6+ hours. I completely agree that our sytem is way better, but the author really lacks any criticism towards the systems and parts of the text are really misinformed if not completely untruthful. Few random experiences here and there do not really make anything credible. Also, I neve want to hear about the Nordic theory of love again. Ever. Oh, and the narrator was a bit awful: I undertand if no one who could pronounce Finnish was available, but i really detest chanigng to al ower pitch when "speaking as a man". Shudder.
    • 1/5
      Part rage against America, part memoir of a young pampered woman who just discovered the outside world. Dripping with condescension and full of trite slogans.
    • 5/5
      This book was an eye-opener: Well written, and clearly made the point as to why the United States is loosing in economic competitiveness, its people being the most "free" in the world, and not ranking as well in happiness, effectiveness of education, and more. What is really shame is the United States has chosen the path which has resulted in this -- mainly through disinformation. For example it is not the Nordic countries that are socialist "nanny states," but instead it is the United States which has become the nation that is enmeshed in unhealthy dependencies than we realize. The book focuses on four key issues: (1) family, parents and children; (2) men and women; (3) employees and employers; (4) government and citizens.
    • 5/5
      This is the most amazing book and I just have to rave about it. It will be near the top of the list for best reads of the year for me. The Nordic Theory of Everything: In Search of a Better Life by Anu Partanen is written by a skilled Finnish born and raised journalist who is presently living in the U.S. with her American husband. It is a comparison/contrast between the two cultures in all the critical features that bring us peace and happiness....affordable high quality health care, day care, education, living wages, paid vacations, independence (and more) so that we can devote ourselves to the things that really matter.. I could quote paragraph after paragraph where she "gets" things argued or researched perfectly in favour of the "Nordic Way of Love" where equity of access and independence is the huge critical societal feature. Oh boy do they have things figured out!I am writing this as a Canadian and many of her concerns are true in our world as well. The "luck of birth" favours us greatly or unfairly too. She convincingly argues that a culture of equity gives advantage to all. For our future well being the playing field must be leveled at the very least at the starting gate and in childhood.
    • 4/5
      I initially picked up this book because I am very interested in the Nordic approach to schools and education and while the author didn’t go into that as much as I had hoped I found their overall approach to services and general well-care of their citizens fascinating…and depressing considering how far, far from anything like this the United States is.I appreciated the author's personalization of the issues, using her own experiences to show the differences, both pro and con and her writing style is very approachable and flowed well. The only truly negative thing I have to say is by the end of this book I cringed every time she used the term Nordic theory of love. I understand the importance of that phrase and its meaning within the book, but every other paragraph was a bit much. There is a lot to look at and think about in this book, I doubt everything could be easily transferred over to the U.S. but there are so many ideas that could and should be at least tried in order to make our country and the lives of our citizens better.