Well-functioning societies are always works in progress. It’s hard. Even those whose citizens operate with the best intentions struggle with mutual distrust, and with self-imposed threats to their collective welfare.

What pulls them through?

We go deep today on Sweden. Writer Erika Page reports on a sense of balance and moderation that’s so historically ingrained there that it has a name: “lagom.”

In a companion podcast, Erika talks about her reporting, and about a question of cultural cohesion that it raised:

“How do we move forward while honoring everybody’s individuality, but also with an understanding of our interconnectedness, and where is that balance? That’s especially interesting to me,” Erika says, “about the concept of ‘lagom.’”