Göran Rosenberg's Struggle to Believe in the World

It's easy to forget when Göran Rosenberg speaks—or writes. His voice is clear. His texts are vital. But he is 74 years old. I notice it in his summer talk.

It is marked by the sorrowful sentimentality that often descends upon thoughtful individuals in their twilight years. The kind that arises when the energy remains—but the realization that the days are numbered begins to take shape.

Not that he is bitter. But he is clearly wrestling with the desire to continue believing in the world—and the state he finds it in.

In this minor key, the author and journalist guides the listener through his 90 minutes on air, set to melancholic Americana.

The topics are familiar Rosenberg terrain:

The USA, of course, not least his dark view of the republic's current state. The experience of growing up with parents who survived the Holocaust. And—almost hidden, just a few minutes at the end—a poetic reckoning with Israel's lost soul.

I personally wished he had chosen one topic: Israel or the USA or the legacy of the Holocaust—rather than this mosaic of thoughts. But why complain? Everything is marked by a pure and fresh humanism that few others can evoke in this country.

Göran Rosenberg is a contributor to Expressen's culture page, and therefore his 'Sommar i P1' is reviewed by Björn Werner, who was the culture editor at Göteborgs-Posten between 2017 and 2022 and is now a critic at Svenska Dagbladet.