Global News Podcast - The Happy Pod: Finland named world's happiest country... again

Episode Date: March 23, 2024

This week, Finland has been voted the happiest country in the world for the seventh year running, we find out why. Also: The mountain rescue team who survived a helicopter crash and saved a man stranded in a crevasse. And ding dong, who's there, a fish!

Hello, this is the Global News Podcast from the BBC World Service, with reports and analysis from across the world. The latest news seven days a week. BBC World Service podcasts are supported by advertising. If you're hearing this, you're probably already listening to BBC's award-winning news podcasts. But did you know that you can listen to them without ads? Get current affairs podcasts like Thank you. Amazon Music with a Prime membership. Spend less time on ads and more time with BBC Podcasts. Hi, Namulanta Kombo here with some very exciting news. Dear Daughter is back for a new series. I'm putting together a handbook to life for daughters everywhere,

full of stories and advice to help navigate life. That's Dear Daughter from the BBC World Service. Find it wherever you get your BBC podcasts. It's just been voted the happiest country in the world again for the seventh year in a row. My advice would be wear your woolen socks, have a cup of hot tea and hold on to the ones that you love. We hear from two television hosts in Finland about what makes them smile. My name is Mikko Kekäläinen. Welcome to the Happy Pod. My name is Ella Kanninen and you are listening to the Happy Pod on the BBC World Service.

Hello, I'm Harry Bly from Finland to Italy, where a mountain rescue team had a brush with death, but pressed on to save a man's life. If I have a problem, I am happy to know that there are other rescue men like me in the mountains. We'll hear from one of the rescuers also. Who's there? A fish. We get so nice messages of people being amazed that they can help out. Some people even said this is what the internet is for. Find out who's answering the door. And a musical contest like no other.

Is it a flute? A French horn? An oboe. Stay with us. What do you picture when I say Finland? Lakes, forests, saunas. Well, as you may have heard on the Global News Podcast, it's just been voted the world's happiest country, again, for the seventh year in a row. Let's be clear, it's not just the saunas. Finland is a country with a strong welfare system and, on paper, a better work-life balance too, with annual holidays of around four to six weeks. A connection with nature is a priority for many too. But let's hear from someone more qualified to tell us why Finland is so happy. Ella Kaninen is a television presenter who was voted Finland's most positive person in October last year when she spoke to our producer Anna Murphy. We've talked on the Happy Pod previously about Finland being the

happiest country. Why do you think that is? Finland has good social security system, good healthcare system. We enjoy being in the nature. We have a lot of lakes and forests. Simple things that make us very, very happy. Well, we asked Ella to call us again, this time with her co-host at the broadcaster YLE, Mikko Kekäläinen, to tell us more about why Finland is such a happy country. There are many reasons to feel happy here in Finland. And one is, of course, the beautiful nature around us that gives us, really us Finns, a lot of energy. And we have a lot of space around us as well, which makes it easy to be alone if one prefers to be alone. And then of course, the society as a whole is functioning very well, the infrastructure is strong. So I think those

are some of the basic elements for the happiness of most Finns. Ella, what makes you happy? Freedom. I feel free every day and I feel happy to express myself freely every day. So I think that is part of why I feel happy every day. It's not just Finland that's happy. Second place was Denmark, third place Iceland and fourth place Sweden. So clearly these northern European Nordic countries are doing something right. Yeah, we had good beer here as well. And one of the reasons that Finnish people are happy is always when we get ahead of Sweden. Always beating Sweden in anything makes us always happy. We love Swedes. There's a bit of

rivalry with them as well. And what's your advice for listeners day to day on staying happy, staying positive? My advice is just to live day by day and to appreciate the small things in everyday life, which could be the beautiful weather, sunshine, good food, nice chat with a friend, nothing really more special than that. Yeah, my advice would be wear your woolen socks, have a cup of hot tea and hold on to the ones that you love. I'm going to have a cup of hot tea after this. Are there any Finnish proverbs about happiness that you could tell us about? Oh, there are so many proverbs that say, don't try to reach more than you can.

And the total opposite, you know. The Finns say that whoever has happiness should hide one's happiness. That's the Finnish way of thinking. Be modest with your happiness. Yeah, be modest. So we covered this story a few days ago. And according to one of our colleagues who spoke to the Finnish tourist board, they are now changing that proverb to those who have happiness should share it. So apparently that is now changing.

So what would that be in Finnish? First of all, good luck with that. Yeah. But I suppose that would be something like... Kel onni onni. You said no. Hyvää kivaat sulle. Hyvää kivaat sulle. But I suppose that would be something like... Right, so which do you think is better of the two? Are you going to hide it or flaunt it? Yeah, the new one. Yeah, absolutely. Absolutely.

Flaunt your happiness. Ella Kaninen and Mikko Kekalainen, hosts of the TV show Pohalli Seitzeman, that means half past six, on the Finnish broadcaster YLE. And if you think your country has the edge when it comes to happiness, please do get in touch. Spread the joy. Details at the end of the podcast. Now to Italy and an extraordinary rescue mission.

On Monday, a helicopter responding to an emergency in the mountains on the Swiss-Italian border crashed on a glacier 4,500 metres above sea level. Miraculously, no-one was injured and the rescue team chose to continue their mission, saving a mountaineer who'd become stuck in a crevasse. One of the team, Paolo Pettinaroli, spoke to Jannat Jalil, starting with the moment of the crash. Yes, it's a very comfortable flight. We are very

relaxed because the mission is quite easy. And in one moment, very close to the target zone. The helicopter, I don't know why, lose the stability and start to turn very, very quickly. And we crash in three, four seconds, I think. And what was going through your mind when that happened? So it's not easy to explain, but the only way to survive in this situation is to have a very hard reaction in terms of thinking, what can I do? So I catch my chair and I try to be completely one body with the chair and think in advance to what I have to do when the helicopter crash. I think all of this thing and, you know, two, three seconds and it's finished. And after the crash, I check the other member of the group. Everybody is still alive and talk with me. And so, OK,

we are alive. Now we have to escape to escape very very quickly you must have been so relieved at that moment really happy overjoyed yeah yeah yeah of course very happy full of adrenaline so it's not easy to put in the correct way your your thinking your your soul also. But one time that we know that nothing happened to us, we decided to try to recover the person in the crevasse. So we go down in the glacier and we found this person. It's not so deep in the crevasse, around three meters, but it's impossible for him to go out by himself. There is a very easy technique to recover with the rope. It's a kind of pull up. And one time that the person

go out, he told me it's able to go down in the valley by himself with the friend. So we decide to leave him to go down by himself and we went back to the helicopter and recovered the pilot and operator and waiting for another helicopter to rescue us. And how are you all doing now? Fortunately, I'm not injured. So today

I returned back climbing and tomorrow morning I will be in a rescue team operation, it's a training, with helicopter again. So my life starts again in the same way. Given all the risks, why do you carry out mountain rescues? So I started more than 25 years ago because I'm a mountaineer. So I think that it's a good idea because I got the experience, become a rescue man to help the other.

And one time I think that if I have a problem, I am happy to know that there are other rescue men like me in the mountains. It's a kind of help the same person like me. Yeah, a network where everyone helps each other. And I think I will be again a rescue man. Yes. Italian mountain rescue worker Paolo Pettinaroli. To a different type of rescue and recovery, this time in Tanzania.

The government there provides what it calls sober houses, to a different type of rescue and recovery, this time in Tanzania. The government there provides what it calls sober houses, places where people can get help to beat their addictions, including by putting their minds to outdoor pursuits. Rachel Wright reports from the northern Tanzanian city of Arusha. It's about a couple of miles outside of Arusha. I've come to this huge cornfield where the corn crops are towering maybe 10 feet high. And there are all these young men who are working here.

And the difference about these young men is they're all recovering drug addicts. I asked the men if any of them spoke English and if they did, if they'd like to tell me their story. Peter volunteered. My mother passed away when I was four years old. My father remarried and my stepmother wasn't really too kind with me. In high school, I started smoking cigarettes, cutting class, drinking, smoking, and drugs I got into was first-party drugs like ec ecstasy and I tried heroin and I got hooked on heroin and heroin is what got me hitting rock bottom and that's when I decided I needed some help. I lost pretty much all I had valued in my life. So what happened? What turned your life around? It was an intervention with my uncle and my father this day. You need some help,

you need some to some professional help. Okay, so what is a sober house, Peter? You are pretty much, say, locked up. So until you detox. Pretty tough, though, to lock you up. Yeah. Did it work? It worked.

It was hard at first. I was, like, really struggled with that, rebelled. But after a while, it worked, getting to know about the program, so it's being able to forgive myself and balance my emotions, deal with my emotions. And so now you're working in this maize field in this beautiful area, is this part of your treatment? It's like aftercare, we are taught to be able to get responsible and being able to put ourselves to work, doing something positive, worthwhile. We help a lot of people who are also in the sober houses.

They get food from this. So it's like giving back for me, service. So it's service and gratitude. And do you feel better? You look very happy. You're smiling. Do you feel happy now? Yeah, I feel fantastic.

Thanks for asking. I feel great. I'm adjusting, getting back to reconcile my family and the society. I kind of actually feel like I fit in, doing something that's actually valuable. Peter ending that report by Rachel Wright. In this podcast, we've showcased several incredible musicians playing instruments like piano, guitar, fiddle, even the bagpipes. But if you fancy something a little more unusual, you might be interested in the conch shell. In the US state of Florida, Key West's annual Conch Shell Blowing Contest,

or Conch Honk as the locals call it, celebrates this rather different kind of musical heritage. Ella Bicknell has more. If you couldn't tell, that was a cover of Elton John's Crocodile Rock, followed by, let's say, a valiant attempt at Amazing Grace. Contestants of all ages wielded conch shells of various sizes, coaxing out whatever tune came to mind. Judges weren't just looking for volume, but for the quality, duration and sheer novelty of the sounds produced by these unconventional instruments.

This year, the men's division saw a tie. Brian Cardis, a cardiologist from Georgia, and Peter Drake, a mental health counsellor from Connecticut. Peter became a conch enthusiast as a teenager. He's now a true conch-blowing veteran. I would give the advice of start slowly, learn that base note that the conch shell has within it, and just play it nice and clear, as clear as they can. Tried to pick a song that was fun and a crowd pleaser, and one that would fall in line with the limited amount of notes that you can play on a conch shell. A Merry Christmas to you!

However, conch honk is not only just a bit of fun competition. In the Florida Keys, the shells hold a deep historic significance. For centuries, sailors, fishermen and islanders have relied on them as a vital tool of communication. Locals proudly call themselves Conches, and Key West is unofficially known as the Conch Republic. A playful nod to the island's independent spirit. Our Conch Honk reporter Ella Bicknell. Stay with us, we've got another story about musical instruments, this one a little less abstract and and we know it helps because otherwise they

were waiting there for weeks. Will you help answer the fish doorbell? Where to Be a Woman is the podcast celebrating the best of women's well-being. I'm Sophia Smith-Gaylor. And I'm Saatchi Kaur Cole and we're on a quest to find out where in the world women are living their best lives we're hearing from some incredible women about what their countries are getting right and picking the best bits for our female fantasy land

because you can't build it if you can't imagine it first where to be a woman from the BBC World Service listen now wherever you get your BBC podcasts. Life and death were two very realistic coexisting possibilities in my life. I didn't even think I'd make it to like my 16th birthday, to be honest. I grew up being scared of who I was.

Any one of us at any time can be affected by mental health and addictions. Just taking that first step makes a big difference. It's the hardest step. But CAMH was there from the beginning. Everyone deserves better mental health care. To hear more stories of recovery, visit CAMH.ca. If you're hearing this, you're probably already listening to BBC's award-winning news podcasts. But did you know that you can listen to them without ads? Get current affairs podcasts like Global News, AmeriCast and The Global Story, plus other great BBC podcasts from history to comedy to true crime,

all ad-free. Simply subscribe to BBC Podcast Premium on Apple Podcasts or listen to Amazon Music with a Prime membership. Spend less time on ads and more time with BBC Podcasts. A few other headlines now and let's start with a story we covered in the episode before last. You may remember 72-year-old Anne Hughes from South Wales, who went viral online after getting caught on a shopfront shutter, which then hoisted her into the air. Well, her ordeal has now been immortalised in a mural on the shop's shutters. In the US, scientists have identified a new prehistoric creature

related to modern-day frogs, and they've named it after a very famous Muppets character, Kermit. The proto-amphibian, thought to have lived 270 million years ago, is now called Kermitops gratis. And what's black and white and red all over? It's not a joke. It's a new type of beetle discovered in Australia. An insect research student spotted the fluffy specimen during a camping trip in Queensland

and initially mistook it for bird droppings. And now, rowing across the Atlantic is something most of us would struggle to do at any age. Frank Rothwell is 73 years old and he's achieved that remarkable crossing of nearly 5,000 kilometres on his own for the second time. He broke his own Guinness World Record as the oldest person to row across the Atlantic and became the oldest person to row any ocean solo. During his time at sea, Frank, who's also the chairman of the British football club Oldham Athletic, capsized five times.

He's been speaking to our sports presenter, Gary Richardson. I was at sea for nine weeks and in that time I didn't even see an aeroplane. I saw three ships that passed in the night, and apart from that, there was no other human contact. I phoned my wife every day, but apart from that, that was it. Was it dangerous at all? There's always a danger if you're out at sea by yourself in a little boat. The first set of big waves was somewhere near New Year's Day

when, while I was sleeping, the boat got rolled over and everything in the boat got mixed up and wet. I'd expected it to get rolled over, but it's never happened before. Once it had corrected itself, I started to tidy up the boat and I thought I was feeling a bit sorry for myself. So I phoned my wife up to tell her the situation and a little bit of comfort really. And so I decided to have a day off rowing. So while I was out on the deck, a big wave came on the side of the boat and washed me overboard.

I'm in the sea, lost my glasses, lost my hat. Most importantly, I've lost something called an EPIRB, which is an emergency beacon. When the boat capsized, that must have been very frightening. It happened so quick. It wasn't frightening at the time. It's like when you've climbed back on the boat, you then start to think, whoa, what could have happened here? Rowing for nine weeks must have been exhausting because you're 73 years old. Well, yes, you're right. When you're rowing, you want to row all day and then you want to sleep and then you've got to row again the next day. So you don't put racing speed into it.

You put the amount of effort into it that you would be happy to walk at. Would you ever take on a rowing challenge like this again, Frank? Well, I promised my wife I wouldn't do. But it's unlikely she'll hear this. So, yeah, I really fancy it again, unfortunately. But I wouldn't do it as a solo again. I would have to do it in a pairs. 73-year-old transatlantic rower Frank Rothwell. We heard about conch shells earlier, but this story is about a more traditional instrument. This is the Il Canone violin. It's 280 years old and one of the world's most valuable

violins. It once belonged to the celebrated 18th century Italian composer Niccolò Paganini. Now experts are attempting to discover the secret of its magical sound by taking detailed x-rays, as Chantal Hartle explains. To the untrained eye, this may seem like an ordinary violin, but it's the sound that it produces that sets it apart, with Paganini himself naming it the Canon because of its power and projection. Over the years, only a handful of international musicians have had the chance to play the famous violin. In his will, Paganini gifted the instrument to his home city of Genoa, and it rarely leaves the town hall where it's displayed. It's currently

on loan to the French city of Grenoble, where scientists at a top cultural heritage repair workshop are scanning the violin in meticulous detail to understand why it plays such beautiful music. The idea is to create a 3D model so people can zoom down to a micron or millionth of a metre. Scientist Paul Taffra says so far their work has shown the violin is in good condition, considering its age.

When you go down to four microns or two microns, you can see every cell in the wood. And if there's even a micro crack, you can see all the details. We scanned it at 30 microns to make a map of any defects. We found very few. The team say the logistics of transporting the violin safely from Italy to France was a big challenge. It was insured for a value of 32 million dollars for the journey. Bruce Carlson is tasked with preserving the violin in Genoa. Paganini himself said, I leave my violin to the city of Genoa,

that it be perpetually preserved. And so now we are better able to understand the instrument and better able to conserve the instrument. The process of analysing the x-rays is expected to take several months. Chantal Hartel reporting. Finally, we need your help, or rather some fish do. Every spring, fish swim right through Utrecht in the Netherlands, looking for a place to spawn and reproduce. But many encounter a problem.

There's a lock for boats. And as there aren't many boats around, the lock gates rarely open, meaning the fish are unable to swim upstream. Ecologists have come up with an innovative solution. A doorbell. a fish doorbell. And as fish breeding season begins, the doorbell has been getting its first visitors of the year. Two of its creators, Ononej from Utrecht municipality and ecologist Mark van Hoekelen, told us more. The fish, they want to travel upstream from the river Vecht all the way to the river Kromerijn.

And then they have to pass the canal system of Utrecht. But there is a boat lock and that's where they got in trouble because they want to travel upstream, but they can't because the boat lock is closed during springtime. And Anna, take us through how this doorbell works. I think the main thing is that fish can't ring doorbells because they don't have any hands. Yeah, so we place a camera in the water and it's the place where there's a little water going through. So the fish, they feel it and they want to swim against the stream. So they go exactly there and there they come in front of the camera.

So everybody can look and can see if there is any fish waiting. And when they see fish, there is a doorbell. And then the lockkeeper, he gets a sign. He can look if there's really fish waiting. And if there is a lot of fish or there is some fish, he can open the lock. It's very sweet because I've seen some of the pictures and you just see these fish faces sort of just patiently waiting by this door. You've had quite a reaction online, haven't you? I was on there the other day and you had 900 people watching the live stream waiting for fish. That's quite a lot of users. Oh, it's truly amazing. We never expected this

to happen in the first place. We just started the project and we went door by door, people living just outside the lock, with notes asking them to join the Fish Doorbell and to help out, hoping that there would be maybe 10 or 100 people maybe helping us out. And as not only the creators of the Fish Doorbell, but as doorbell watchers, what's the best thing you've seen on the live stream? Well, I was pretty amazed about seeing the European eel several times. It's an endangered species now, so it's very special to see those fish past the doorbell. But I also are always impressed about this beautiful pike with

big bellies full with fish eggs. Clearly this project has been really successful then. You're seeing a lot of biodiversity. And importantly, has it worked? Has this improved the migration of fish and allowed them to reproduce? We know it helps because otherwise they were waiting there for weeks. We can also do monitoring by this. So we know what kind of species swim at what time. It's really interesting to know more about it. And Mark, what is next for the fish doorbell? Do you have plans to expand it? That's a good question.

I think we ask this question every year, Anna, to what's next. For now, we're just really enjoying the fact that there's so much help from all the world. And I think that really gives us energy to do more of these type of projects. Once you start to know what's living under the water, you start to take more care of it. And that's what we see right now within the city of Utrecht. More and more people are proud and interested by what's living under the water surface. Many of those people didn't even realize or know that there are actually fish living in the city. It was really a surprise for them. And I think that's something we want to

explore more. How can we involve the general public and also create more awareness, but also more urgency to make a change for biodiversity on the water. I think exactly what you just said, Mark, people really enjoy being a part of this project from not just Utrecht, but around the world, it seems. That's the most wonderful thing. We get so nice messages of people being amazed that they can help out. Some people even said, this is what the internet is for, to really make a change with each other. Well, that feels very big for us, a small project, but apparently it does create some sort of difference and that's just beautiful to be part of, and especially when it has such a big effect on our natural environment as well. Fish doorbell creators Mark Van Hoeklem and

Ononej, and they say they've received some lovely messages from people all over the world about how much they enjoy using the fish doorbell and answering the fish's calls. Here's Tam from Sydney in Australia. I was washing dishes and then when I finished, I just walked back to my phone just to have a look. And there was a fish's face just waiting at the camera. So I clicked on the doorbell and I think it did ring. I thought it was very fun and it's a really nice initiative and a way to bring people together. And I just thought maybe I should just leave you a voice

note just to tell you. Thanks, Tam. And if you'd like to answer the door too, just search online for fish doorbell. Give it a go and let us know what you think. And that's all from us for now. As always, if you'd like to be part of the Happy Pod, do email us. We're still looking for your rare and sparsely spoken languages. We'd also love to hear any stories that have made you smile. The address is globalpodcast at bbc.co.uk. This edition was mixed by Adrian Bargover. The producers were Anna Murphy and Rachel Bulkeley. The editor is Karen Martin. I'm Harry Bly. Join us next time. Goodbye. We'll be right back. You're looking to get stronger or faster. Peloton Tread has everything you need to become everything you want. Find your push. Find your power. Peloton. Visit onepeloton.ca.

If you're hearing this, you're probably already listening to BBC's award-winning news podcasts. But did you know that you can listen to them without ads? Get current affairs podcasts like Global News, AmeriCast and The Global Story, plus other great BBC podcasts from history to comedy to true crime, all ad-free. Simply subscribe to BBC Podcast Premium on Apple Podcasts or listen to Amazon Music with a Prime membership. Spend less time on ads and more time with BBC Podcasts.