This week our writers bring you the latest news from Sweden, the United States, and Iran. In Sweden, Nordic Noir finds a new form in a popular podcast, whilst mounting tension between the United States and Iran sparks debate over the politics of language and the sociopolitical responsibility of artists. Read on to find out more!

Eva Wissting, Editor-at-Large, reporting from Sweden

Take Nordic Noir and True Crime, mixed with the possibilities—and sometimes blurry legal framework—of new technologies for storytelling, and what you end up with is a podcast called Mordpodden (“The Murder Podcast”) that promises the listener to be able to “dig into creepy, true, and really thrilling murder cases.” Since most documents from Swedish trials are easily accessible, the popular podcast with over 250,000 weekly listeners, has no shortage of source material. There has, however, been complaints about lack of ethical considerations when relatives of murder victims have found themselves encountering the very witness statements and traumatic experiences they thought they had left behind. READ MORE…