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The Swedish Meatballs Controversy

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Manage episode 479677601 series 2921094
Content provided by The Retrospectors. All podcast content including episodes, graphics, and podcast descriptions are uploaded and provided directly by The Retrospectors or their podcast platform partner. If you believe someone is using your copyrighted work without your permission, you can follow the process outlined here https://ppacc.player.fm/legal.

Where are meatballs from, and why does it matter? Social media users frenziedly grappled with these very questions on 29th April, 2018, when Sweden’s official Twitter account proclaimed: “Swedish meatballs are actually based on a recipe King Charles XII brought home from Turkey in the early 18th century. Let's stick to the facts!”

Does this tale about the Royal family bringing meatballs back from the Ottoman Empire check out? And doesn’t every culture in the world have some form of meatballs? You’d think these would be innocent questions - but they ended up overhauling Sweden’s social media strategy for good…

In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly trace the origins of IKEA’s best-selling product; reveal the world-record for meatball consumption; and investigate a Finnish hack for soupy balls…

Further Reading:

• ‘Swedish Meatballs Are Actually Turkish, According to Sweden’ (TIME, 2018): https://time.com/5263690/swedish-meatballs-actually-turkish/

• ‘Sweden’s official Twitter account will no longer be run by random Swedes’ (The Verge, 2018): https://www.theverge.com/2018/9/5/17824338/sweden-twitter-account-citizens-takeover-swedish

• ‘Sweden admits Swedish meatballs are actually from Turkey’ (CBS Evening News, 2018): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p0ShdZADmhg

#food #culture #sweden #2010s #tech #funny

This episode first aired in 2022

Love the show? Support us!

Join 🌴CLUB RETROSPECTORS🌴to DITCH THE ADS and get an additional full-length episode each SUNDAY…

… Plus, get weekly bonus bits, and unlock over 100 bits of extra content.

Join now with a free trial on Apple Podcasts or Patreon and support our show ❤️

The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill.

Theme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Edit Producer: Ollie Peart

Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2025.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

  continue reading

1066 episodes

Artwork
iconShare
 
Manage episode 479677601 series 2921094
Content provided by The Retrospectors. All podcast content including episodes, graphics, and podcast descriptions are uploaded and provided directly by The Retrospectors or their podcast platform partner. If you believe someone is using your copyrighted work without your permission, you can follow the process outlined here https://ppacc.player.fm/legal.

Where are meatballs from, and why does it matter? Social media users frenziedly grappled with these very questions on 29th April, 2018, when Sweden’s official Twitter account proclaimed: “Swedish meatballs are actually based on a recipe King Charles XII brought home from Turkey in the early 18th century. Let's stick to the facts!”

Does this tale about the Royal family bringing meatballs back from the Ottoman Empire check out? And doesn’t every culture in the world have some form of meatballs? You’d think these would be innocent questions - but they ended up overhauling Sweden’s social media strategy for good…

In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly trace the origins of IKEA’s best-selling product; reveal the world-record for meatball consumption; and investigate a Finnish hack for soupy balls…

Further Reading:

• ‘Swedish Meatballs Are Actually Turkish, According to Sweden’ (TIME, 2018): https://time.com/5263690/swedish-meatballs-actually-turkish/

• ‘Sweden’s official Twitter account will no longer be run by random Swedes’ (The Verge, 2018): https://www.theverge.com/2018/9/5/17824338/sweden-twitter-account-citizens-takeover-swedish

• ‘Sweden admits Swedish meatballs are actually from Turkey’ (CBS Evening News, 2018): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p0ShdZADmhg

#food #culture #sweden #2010s #tech #funny

This episode first aired in 2022

Love the show? Support us!

Join 🌴CLUB RETROSPECTORS🌴to DITCH THE ADS and get an additional full-length episode each SUNDAY…

… Plus, get weekly bonus bits, and unlock over 100 bits of extra content.

Join now with a free trial on Apple Podcasts or Patreon and support our show ❤️

The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill.

Theme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Edit Producer: Ollie Peart

Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2025.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

  continue reading

1066 episodes

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