Summer is here - P1 Sommar presents the list of sommarpratare!

Saturday it's time again, for Swedish radio's longest running and greatest annual show, in itself a symbol signalling the summer season - P1 Sommar, or "Sommarpratarna" (eng. "The summer talkers") as it's also called. Comedian prank-caller turned language guru Fredrik Lindström will open the race.

The form is simple, for each day during the entire summer someone is selected (one is elected by listeners, this year 19-year-old Yrsa Walldén on the 16th of July) to do whatever they want with a 90-minute program - tell a story, play their favourite music, whatever they can think of. Obviously not all stories will be interesting, but on the whole it's great, you get a very personal and relaxed view of your favourite people. Fredrik Härén wrote a story about the initial gathering of all the talkers, and there's web-TV from it too.

P1 Sommar is actually a pretty unique program in that its brand involves a lot of diversity - both young and old listen to it and it does not shun conflict, like when Lena Andersson caused an uproar with her "Agnostic mass" in P1 Sommar 2005, and she's back this year again! Maybe in the world of IT, shoutcast and podcast, it's less relevant to have state radio program with a limited number of slots like this, but being a "Sommarpratare" still offers a bit of glamour and the show does have a ton of listeners.

I'm very much looking forward to it, and keep an eye out so you can download the programs afterwards. Or you can download them with music yourself!

This is the schedule for the talkers I do want to hear:

June
21 Fredrik Lindström - programledare, författare
22 Lena Andersson - skribent, författare
23 Max Tegmark - professor i astrofysik
25 Fredrik Härén - författare, föreläsare
26 Maj Briht Bergström-Walan - sexualforskare, psykolog
29 Margot Wallström - EU-kommissionens 1:e vice ordförande
30 Elisabeth Massi Fritz - advokat

July:
1 Amelia Adamo - tidningsmakare
2 Peter Wallenberg - styrelseordförande
3 Jana Söderberg - samtalsterapeut, kommunikationstränare
5 Jonas Wahlström - djurexpert, chef Skansenakvariet
6 Peter LeMarc - sångskrivare, artist
10 Isabella Lövin - miljö- och kulturjournalist, författare
11 Leif Silbersky - advokat
12 Tina Nordström - kock
14 Åsa Nilsonne - psykiater, professor, författare
15 Antonia Ax:son Johnson - familjeföretagare, entreprenör
16 Yrsa Walldén - studerande, Lyssnarnas Sommarvärd
17 Mattias Klum - fotograf, filmare
18 Hasse Wallman - grundare och vd Wallmans nöjen
19 Dolph Lundgren - skådespelare, regissör
20 Robyn Carlsson - sångerska, låtskrivare
21 Nils Simonson - kirurg, föreläsare
22 Eva Swartz - vd Natur & Kultur
23 Raymond Ahlgren - egenföretagare, författare
26 Manuel Knight - affärsman, psykolog, föreläsare
27 Jens Lapidus - författare, advokat
28 Annika Söder - undergeneraldirektör, diplomat
30 Göran Hägglund - socialminister, partiledare kd

August:
2 Svante Axelsson - generalsekreterare
4 Stavros Louca - matematiklärare
6 Sissela Benn - skådespelerska, komiker
7 Per Hallberg - Oscarsbelönad ljuddesigner
8 Boris Grigorjev - KGB-överste, bosatt i Moskva
9 David Batra - komiker, programledare
11 Carin Götblad - länspolismästare
13 Hassan Brijany - skådespelare
14 Mia Skäringer och Klara Zimmergren - komiker
15 Mikael Tornving - komiker
17 Sommar i backspegeln

These are the talkers I am more likely to skip listening to:

June:
24 Lennart Johansson - före detta UEFA-president
27 Björn Ranelid - författare
28 Lars Winnerbäck - artist, låtskrivare

July:
4 Fredrik Skavlan - norsk journalist, tecknare, programledare
7 Olle Carlsson - präst
8 Kajsa Bergqvist - världsmästare i höjdhopp
9 Michael Segerström - skådespelare
13 Björn Ulvaeus - kompositör, textförfattare
24 Katja Geiger - modeskapare, "Katja of Sweden"
25 Måns Zelmerlöw - artist
29 Martina Lowden - författare
31 Karin Mamma Andersson - konstnär

August:
1 Annika Norlin - artist, låtskrivare, journalist
3 Pia Johansson - skådespelerska
5 Åsa Borgström - hemmansägare
10 Pernilla August - skådespelerska
12 Ann Henning - författare, översättare
16 Marie-Louise Ekman - blivande Dramatenchef

Do you disagree with me, who are you going to listen to? Go on and comment!

(PS. I am aware this makes limited sense to write in English, but please bear with me)

(Update: I noticed the links to SR's site are broken and will try to fix them)

(Update 2: Hah, ok, SR has bigger problems than bloggers linking into their content:


Seems that their CMS is broken. Guess I won't be hearing Jonas Wahlström just now then :-) )

(Update 3: This is fun - Fredrik "Bison" Wass has made his own Sommar i P1 program. Just email him to get to listen to it. In a wired world, who needs Swedish Radio sanctioning?)

(Update 4: Now you can download all of the programs through The Pirate Bay)