From Global Assertiveness to Domestic Reality: The U.S. Heading Into 2026

Jan 17, 2026 | Blog

With the snow gone again, it’s time to enter my outdoor gym, now with a U.S. outlook.

In 2025, the United States has exerted strong influence on global politics through an unconventional and often controversial policy agenda during the first year of Trump’s second term.

While early concerns about recession faded, the U.S. economy has shown resilience, largely supported by robust consumption. Beneath this stability, however, lie underlying structural weaknesses, including persistent budget deficits, rising public debt, productivity constraints, and long-term imbalances in labor markets and income distribution.

As the country moves toward the 2026 election, political and economic focus is increasingly shifting inward, with domestic priorities, fiscal sustainability, and the durability of a consumption-driven growth model becoming central issues.

https://podcasts.apple.com/se/podcast/makropodd/id1274471318?l=en-GB&i=1000739551852

Where Wine, Symbols, and Civilization Meet

Where Wine, Symbols, and Civilization Meet

Jan 17, 2026 | Blog, Joakim

As I was about to open a Spätburgunder from Wiesbaden, my attention was unexpectedly drawn to the fleur-de-lis on the bottle cap.

The fleur-de-lis has long stood as a symbol of European civilization: freedom of conscience, freedom of speech, equality before the law, and democracy shaped by responsibility.

At the same moment, another voice entered my thoughts, that of Martin Luther King Jr. In one of his reflections, he imagines being summoned before the Almighty and offered a remarkable choice: to visit any civilization in history. He mentally travels through ancient empires, Greece with its intellect, Rome with its power, and the Renaissance with its brilliance, the very framework of the civilization we know today.

After this reflection, the wine, through its fleur-de-lis symbol, set the theme of the evening: civilization and our shared heritage.

Geopolitics is absolutely a subject we must understand in business

Jan 15, 2026 | Blog

Geopolitics is absolutely a subject we must understand in business. I have done my homework for a long time.

This series of podcasts is a stream of intellectual dialogue, and I feel at home listening to it.

Today at the gym, I realized that almost everyone seems to have the latest geopolitical doctrine in their podcast rotation—so do I.

In 1823, James Monroe declared the Western Hemisphere off-limits to European interference, a principle that became known as the Monroe Doctrine and went on to shape U.S. geopolitical influence.

As with every major political power, doctrines evolve. The White House today appears to be articulating a kind of Monroe Doctrine 2.0.

The Western Hemisphere is:
• The most resource-diversified region globally
• Dominant in food, energy, water, and transition minerals

As the world shifts toward regionalization and security of supply, this region becomes increasingly central. In that context, the current geopolitical dynamics begin to make sense.

The Western Hemisphere also includes Greenland. Looking back to 1823, the pattern becomes clear.

https://podcasts.apple.com/se/podcast/the-ei-podcast/id1524774362?l=en-GB

When Silence Speaks: How a New York Times Podcast Captured Iran’s Communication Blackout

Jan 14, 2026 | Blog

As it is wintertime, I am forced to use my home gym—so far, even tonight. What is usually just a regular training session was changed today by The New York Times.

Today’s episode was brilliantly produced, especially through the use of symbolic silences between paragraphs to represent the blackout of communication in Iran. I sometimes think American podcasts fail to reach the deeper layers of global subjects. However, today the NYT presented a dialogue with genuine depth and insight.

I can rate this episode highly, as I have in-depth knowledge of Persia and follow this subject daily—and have done so for a long time. I even remember, as a nine-year-old, the moments that shaped this situation, going back to 1979.

https://podcasts.apple.com/se/podcast/the-daily/id1200361736?l=en-GB&i=1000745121807

The Spectator presented its Year in Review

Dec 30, 2025 | Blog

At yesterday’s outdoor kettlebell session, in temperatures close to zero degrees Celsius, I thought it was cold as ice — much like British politics this year.

I was therefore joined by The Spectator, which presented its Year in Review.

In true British fashion, they managed to find a story in almost every parliamentary moment, turning even the smallest happenings into part of a year-long narrative, examined from every possible angle.

Eltville by night

Eltville by night

Dec 29, 2025 | Blog, Joakim

Eltville by night, this market town and true capital of Riesling, feels like a fairytale town. With every cobblestone street you walk, you drift into a dream, carried by the sound of church bells.