Finland's former Prime Minister Sanna Marin has been making headlines around the world once again, this time as she promotes her new book, Hope in Action.
International interest in Marin began when, in December 2019, she became the world's youngest prime minister at the age of 34.
Her three-and-a-half-year tenure as PM coincided with seismic global events, such as the Covid pandemic and Russia's invasion of Ukraine, but was also marked by a number of personal and political scandals — including when a video of her dancing at a party with friends went viral.
Marin's recent book tour has seen her appear on The Daily Show in the US, on Germany's public broadcaster ARD, and on Channel 9's flagship current affairs show 60 Minutes in Australia.
Reporter Dimity Clancey interviewed Marin for the 60 Minutes report, and tells APN that "there's a level of fascination around her".
"I think people get sick of politicians being guarded and being typical politicians. I think that she breaks that mould a little bit, and I think that is what resonates," Clancey says.
However, while Marin enjoys media attention and widespread acclaim abroad, her profile in Finland is much more divisive.
"When you look at it from the domestic perspective, you see a politician, you see somebody who has a political ideology, and then of course Sanna Marin's personality, she's very straightforward, she's very strong in her opinions and she's not trying to please people," Helsingin Sanomat investigative journalist Salla Vuorikoski notes.
We also hear a wide range of opinions about Marin's new book.
"I like the hope and the vision, and how it gives an insider view of leadership that women everywhere recognise, the pressure to fit into a certain box, to be strong but not too strong, visible but never too much," APN listener Shweta Singh says.
Other reviewers, however, were less complimentary — demonstrating once again Marin's tendency to sharply divide opinion.
"Hope in Action should be seen as a milestone of monetisation, a landmark for the financial exploitation of Marin’s reputation, because as literature, it is a first-rate swindle," Helsingin Sanomat wrote in a review.
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Ronan Browne produced and presented this episode of All Points North. The sound engineer was Katri Koivula.
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