YouSaid · the spoken record

Sanna Marin

lines on the record: 26
first: 2025-12-07
most recent: 2025-12-07
sittings or episodes: 1
sources: podcast

Every line below is reproduced as it was said and linked to the record it came from. Nothing here is summarised or generated. Directory · Search · Corrections

“Well, now we have a different government that is doing different economic policies, and I won't go within the domestic politics as a former prime minister, but I think these are two things that we should focus climate and then education, research and development and new technologies.”
2025-12-07 · Intelligence Squared · The Courage to Lead, with Sanna Marin, Former Prime Minister of Finland (Part Two) · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“I think we are not, I will give you a general answer, not only answer this question. First of all, we are not doing enough as nations to stop climate change. We haven't reached those agreements that we all agreed in Paris. UK has actually done a lot compared to many other nations, and you have put on a legislation that also puts at price to polluting and to emissions. And that's a very good thing. And we would need those kind of models also elsewhere. But the fact is that we are not doing enough. And we are already in that kind of paste where even though we would all put all our actions together now and make those decisions, the world temperature has risen already to that critical level where we will see The outcome of climate change anyway. So we have to also discuss and”
2025-12-07 · Intelligence Squared · The Courage to Lead, with Sanna Marin, Former Prime Minister of Finland (Part Two) · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“A female president for 12 years, so it's not a new thing in Finland, but we have women on leadership positions. And of course, our government that was led by five women, that was very exceptional, that happened. But still in Finland, I wouldn't say that we have reached that place where it is as normal to have female leader, as male leader, but we have been getting there because of the work that has been done for decades and decades and the kind of society that we have been building. But when we look globally, there are not many women on those top positions, not in politics or not in business. And we need that critical mass to make that change happen. And that can be also done with legislatious changes.”
2025-12-07 · Intelligence Squared · The Courage to Lead, with Sanna Marin, Former Prime Minister of Finland (Part Two) · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“There have actually been a lot of studies done from this. You need a critical mass. When you have critical mass of gender on the tape, whether it is a company table, a business table or a political table, when you have that critical mass, then you will see the real change. It's not enough if there are one women on a board of a company or two women on the board of the company. You need enough to make that shift and change. And there have been a lot of studies also made from this. Finland has had three female prime ministers. I was the longest serving one. The first one had to resign very fast. The second came late on the term, served the year, and we have also had”
2025-12-07 · Intelligence Squared · The Courage to Lead, with Sanna Marin, Former Prime Minister of Finland (Part Two) · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“What is my next steps? I don't know. And that's the beauty of it. I have never planned or ever had any kind of five-year or 10-year-old plan because I don't believe in it. I believe that life needs to be a mystery. I only know that I want to work with the same matters that I joined politics in the first place, gender equality, human rights, making sure that everybody has those possibilities in their lives, that we have those kind of social structures in place, what will be my next jobs or passion. Well, if I could stop the climate change, that would be perfect, but I don't think I can do it by myself. But I want to work with the same matters and issues, but I don't have a plan for my career because I don't want to predictable if I want to live unpredictable life.”
2025-12-07 · Intelligence Squared · The Courage to Lead, with Sanna Marin, Former Prime Minister of Finland (Part Two) · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“Car, and if your neighbor has a bigger house or better job, I have to have the same. So maybe we are a bit more content what we have and we don't need that much more than maybe in somewhere else. And maybe that's why we are happy. It's not the weather, and it's not this time of year, I can tell you that.”
2025-12-07 · Intelligence Squared · The Courage to Lead, with Sanna Marin, Former Prime Minister of Finland (Part Two) · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“Well, first of all, I will answer this last one's first. Because we are not cheerful, but of course it tells you much deeper kind of happiness. It tells you the contentment of your society that you have within your society. Do you feel that you have possibilities in your life and that you can seek the way of life that you want? And maybe finish people the way we are more happy than maybe some other Nordic countries that have that kind of same societal structure is that maybe we are a bit more humble. I hope I did show some humbleness also today here on the stage, but maybe we are a bit more humble in our dreams and hopes and then we are a bit more content what we have because we don't think that we have to have everything that if your neighbor has bigger card than me, I have to have the same.”
2025-12-07 · Intelligence Squared · The Courage to Lead, with Sanna Marin, Former Prime Minister of Finland (Part Two) · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“Then we feel alone and we feel quite lost. So we also need to understand and remember that we are as humans, we are social beings, and we need each other and we need groups where to belong and groups where we can work together. So I think that gives me the idea where we can find something positive or something bright when we are together and when we work together.”
2025-12-07 · Intelligence Squared · The Courage to Lead, with Sanna Marin, Former Prime Minister of Finland (Part Two) · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“Well, that is true. Not a single individual, even a leader of a country can do a great things just by him or herself. We need a lot of people making that change. And that gives me hope and that gives me the positivity that I can also see, that I can do my part. It's not all that is happening. There are also other people that are doing their part. And to get there, like I said before, together we can make things happen. I do worry about people nowadays because people are also quite depressed and they feel defeated. They feel quite alone. And I think this is also because we live in a society that is so individualized and we don't have that collectiveness and to get theness anymore. And if we don't have that.”
2025-12-07 · Intelligence Squared · The Courage to Lead, with Sanna Marin, Former Prime Minister of Finland (Part Two) · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“Before you can be elected anywhere. And of course, that kind of system also puts the people on the side that doesn't have those resources and that kind of background. So I think we need to also adjust our political systems to be more friendly towards the younger generation and towards people from different backgrounds and not only say to them. Your best. We need to make the systems better for everybody to be able to join.”
2025-12-07 · Intelligence Squared · The Courage to Lead, with Sanna Marin, Former Prime Minister of Finland (Part Two) · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“Of course, in different countries, governments work differently and we have different political systems. What is great about Finland and Nordics is that, of course, we have different parliamentary system. We have more parties within our parliament. And you don't have to have that great amount of money or that kind of background and heritage from your side to run for office in local level or in national level. So it's much easier for young people to engage and to get elected and then to also delete here a nation. And I only wish that we would have those kind of paths for young people elsewhere. It's much harder in nations like US where you have to have massive resources in two-party system and massive machinery behind you.”
2025-12-07 · Intelligence Squared · The Courage to Lead, with Sanna Marin, Former Prime Minister of Finland (Part Two) · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“These issues, and I'm doing that from different positions and in different ways, and everybody can do something. And I think together we can make things happen.”
2025-12-07 · Intelligence Squared · The Courage to Lead, with Sanna Marin, Former Prime Minister of Finland (Part Two) · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“Order, international order after the Second World War, we in the Nordics, we built our welfare societies and everywhere we have also taken so much progress and taking step forward and that didn't happen just out of somewhere, out of the blue. There were people that were fighting and acting and engaging in politics and that is my hope also today even though the world might look very ugly and very nasty and very dark sometimes, we can do things. We don't have to accept that it is this way. Everybody can engage in their own way and we can make a brighter future together. So there's always hope when there is action and I trust people that they can do amazing things together and I won't leave politics as such even though I don't have political position anymore. I also want to work for”
2025-12-07 · Intelligence Squared · The Courage to Lead, with Sanna Marin, Former Prime Minister of Finland (Part Two) · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“Well, I will give you some hope. And I think the hope is there because we can all see that the world is quite dark place nowadays. The big problems that humanity is facing, climate change, loss of biodiversity, all the things that that will cause more wars, more conflicts everywhere rising, geopolitical turbulence entering this world of strong men where the international rules-based order is being questioned. War in Europe as we speak. So the world looks very, very ugly place sometimes and very dark place, but it doesn't have to be like this because it wasn't pretty also in the days when we look back, but there were so many people that fought for equality, for human rights. We built together the rules-based”
2025-12-07 · Intelligence Squared · The Courage to Lead, with Sanna Marin, Former Prime Minister of Finland (Part Two) · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“That had been there for the whole time of COVID and the war and NATO and the endless negotiations. And I hadn't seen her enough now was her time. And I wanted to spend more time with her. So I was able to decide also from my family's perspective and from her perspective to take a step back. And I'm really happy that I did it, because now I can also spend so much more time with her. I'm not sure sexy answer.”
2025-12-07 · Intelligence Squared · The Courage to Lead, with Sanna Marin, Former Prime Minister of Finland (Part Two) · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“I had also the opportunity then to evaluate my life as a party leader, as a prime minister. The job always comes first, always, no doubt about it, because that's the job. But I also had a small child at home. My daughter, who was just under two years old when I took the office, and now when we had elections, we didn't enter first. My party also gained more support and more seats in the parliament, but we gained third. And the opposition parties won. That is usually the case in Finland, actually, and now we are in the opposition. I'm sure our party will win the next elections. When we didn't enter first, I also had that personal right to evaluate my life. And I realized and understood that my child”
2025-12-07 · Intelligence Squared · The Courage to Lead, with Sanna Marin, Former Prime Minister of Finland (Part Two) · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“If you already know everything already, then what can you learn? Nothing. So I can also send that hopefully merciful message to everybody here and in general that you know I have to be perfect to take a lead. You don't have to be perfect to succeed. You can also fail sometimes. Get up and continue. It doesn't kill you. So I think we need to be a bit merciful from each other and ourselves and then we can also make better decisions together.”
2025-12-07 · Intelligence Squared · The Courage to Lead, with Sanna Marin, Former Prime Minister of Finland (Part Two) · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“Is or maybe some astrophysics are, or maybe some astronauts or extraordinary people, but many times people are just ordinary, normal. So we can have that room for everybody to join and engage. And after being a prime minister almost four years and understanding that I'm much more merciful to myself and also those moments when I found that I felt that I wasn't ready or was I good enough can I do this asking my friends and colleagues then at the night when I was elected do I really have to do this looking back now I can say that those were the moments that were extremely important also to jump and to seek that because then you can learn the most you learn when you are not ready”
2025-12-07 · Intelligence Squared · The Courage to Lead, with Sanna Marin, Former Prime Minister of Finland (Part Two) · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“Well, I have worked in the top level of politics and I have, of course, worked with other prime ministers and presidents and leaders of countries and governments. And I can say that people are just people. And that's also very comforting. And I also felt, for example, that kind of collegial atmosphere in European Council where we worked together to notice that people are just people, whether they are politicians, whether they are business leaders, they are just individuals like everybody else. So I think it's also very good for everybody to understand that there's no extraordinary people out there that have the great plans for the future and for our world somewhere out there. And then you can also feel maybe I can also personally do things because no.”
2025-12-07 · Intelligence Squared · The Courage to Lead, with Sanna Marin, Former Prime Minister of Finland (Part Two) · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“Can they raise their voices? Can they have an opinion? Can they engage in politics? And many people are thinking about this. And we need to understand that this isn't a problem of individuals. This is a societal problem. If we have a younger generation, women, people from different backgrounds thinking that they cannot participate within our democracies, then we have a huge problem within our democracies. So it's a societal problem, not a problem of individual, and that's how we should treat it. And that's where we need to find also the solutions to have enough, sturdy enough legislation to treat this kind of violence as violence in general are treated and also put the big tech companies and social media platforms to make sure that this content cannot exist. So we need to demand actions from them as well. This is a matter of”
2025-12-07 · Intelligence Squared · The Courage to Lead, with Sanna Marin, Former Prime Minister of Finland (Part Two) · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“What on earth is going on? This is so out of proportion. What is the press writing about this still? So there was a lot of support and I really appreciate that. And I could feel their warmth. And that meant the world to me. And we need to support women in different positions, not only politicians, but women in general, because women are still unfortunately facing the double standard in their lives. That also prevents them to actively engage in politics. And this is really worrying. And it's not about only the scandals, it's the hatred that comes from online. It's the social media platforms that are filled with so horrible content that women have to face and people, especially women and people from minority groups and different ethnic backgrounds, that they are really worried nowadays.”
2025-12-07 · Intelligence Squared · The Courage to Lead, with Sanna Marin, Former Prime Minister of Finland (Part Two) · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“Well, first of all, I think many women can relate not only politicians, but many women can relate that there are still double standards, and women are not viewed as whole persons as people that have many sides. And it might be sometimes difficult for us to understand that women can be extremely tough professional, good at their job. And that is true. And at the same time, they can be mothers, daughters, sisters, good friends. They can have free time and have fun. And they can be 100% of themselves. And they shouldn't be diminishing themselves because of these standards that nobody.”
2025-12-07 · Intelligence Squared · The Courage to Lead, with Sanna Marin, Former Prime Minister of Finland (Part Two) · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“Not because somebody was asking, but actually because a leader of an opposition party said that she should do this to clear her name because we otherwise cannot know what has happened. And that was serious. Not only an individual parliamentarian or somebody saying this, but a leader of a party. So of course I took it seriously. I had nothing to hide. So I did take that test. But of course I felt frustrated. It did took my energy away from the work and it was topped with this. Out of proportion and very false allegations. And that frustrated me.”
2025-12-07 · Intelligence Squared · The Courage to Lead, with Sanna Marin, Former Prime Minister of Finland (Part Two) · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“I wasn't angry, I was frustrated with the situation because it took so much time from the actual work because that happened during my whole summer holiday. So it wasn't when I was working, I was having free time. And then it leaked a few weeks after I had returned to work from my holiday. And we have tons to do. So I felt really frustrated that I had to focus on this private thing when I wanted to work and focus on the matters at hand. And it took a lot of time for me and also from my advisors that to handle the situation. And there was also very serious allegations combined that evening saying that we must have been using drugs because in the footage wasn't shown enough alcohol. Bottles and they were having that fun it cannot happen otherwise But you had to do a drug test. And I had to do a drug test”
2025-12-07 · Intelligence Squared · The Courage to Lead, with Sanna Marin, Former Prime Minister of Finland (Part Two) · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“Deeper story behind that. And I think that is that nobody ever asked a male politician questions like, how can you be a leader when you have a small child at home or how can you be at work today and be a professional when yesterday you went to a bar or a bob to watch football game with your friends and you drank beer? How dare you? So of course there was also this kind of like moralistic and sexist view. And for some of course it was outrageous seeing a woman of that age, a prime minister, a leader of a country, an image that wasn't maybe normal as such of a young woman holding that position, but also acting like a young woman with her friends having a free time. So there was a big, big media storm and media. Of Renzi over this.”
2025-12-07 · Intelligence Squared · The Courage to Lead, with Sanna Marin, Former Prime Minister of Finland (Part Two) · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“I do have a whole chapter about my scandals that are not very political as the name can, as you can read from the name, so nothing to do with political corruption, misuse of public money or power, but more like this moralistic scandals me wearing a plaza, showing too much skin on a photo shoot, and it didn't show actually anything except this part here. And then breakfast scandal, phone scandal, where I did bring only one work phone with me to a night out and not two when we had dinner with our friends. And then the dancing scandal, me dancing in a private apartment, friends apartment and singing at the same time, having fun. So of course that was scandalous. But I think there is also, of course, more.”
2025-12-07 · Intelligence Squared · The Courage to Lead, with Sanna Marin, Former Prime Minister of Finland (Part Two) · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT