Alexander Stubb

With the Soviet Union’s dissolution dragging down the economy of neighboring Finland, the Scandinavian country was plunged in a period of protracted recession. And with no recovery in sight, a soap opera offered Finns a respite from the grim reality; the debut of The Bold and the Beautiful on television quickly amassed a vast and dedicated following, whereas the arrival of American idols in the country, on tour, elicited unprecedented frenzy.

Jens Stoltenberg had planned to step down after nine years in the powerful position of NATO Secretary General. The 65-year-old politician had packed his bags to go home to his wife in Norway, as he had promised her. But then Joe Biden called and asked him to stay another year. Because in a troubled world, an experienced leader is needed more than ever. With unprecedented access, we follow Jens Stoltenberg through his last year as Secretary General of NATO.

The big names behind the big stories. Laura Kuenssberg talks to those making the news, inside and outside politics.

Levyraati was a Finnish television show which ran from the 1961–1992 originally on YLE and starting from 1992 on MTV3. It was based on the British Juke Box Jury. The show was originally hosted by Jaakko Jahnukainen and for a brief period by Vesa Nuotio. However, the show was most famously hosted by Jukka Virtanen from 1980 till 1997 when the show went on a five year hiatus. For its 2002–2003 run it was hosted by Raakel Lignell and later by Ruben Stiller. The show has been on unspecified hiatus since 2005. In the program Finnish celebrities would rate recordings and, in later years, music videos with a score from 1 to 10. With four guests in the panel the maximum score was 40 and the winning song or video would be performed during the ending credits. One of the panel members was a frequent guest placed among three weekly guests.