Super thanks to Asa Butcher for spending some time with us. It was a fun show, usually we do a more serious interview about politics or current events, but tonight we spent about 10 minutes discussing gay pron. A very different Radio Free Finland indeed! And special thanks to all our e-mailers who participated on the show…

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This week on Radio Free Finland we’ll be joined by Ovi magazine editor and co-host of a Lähi Radio weekly show, Mr. Asa Butcher. This week’s topic will be “sexuality”…

Asa Butcher is the co-editor of Ovi magazine, a monthly online publication that is socially, politically and culturally opinionated, plus it is orange. Ovi is the product of a long partnership with Thanos Kalamidas, with whom he has also started writing books, plays and comics.

In addition to the Ovi project, he is the co-presenter of the Sunday night Bad Boys radio show on Lähiradio 100.3, which has recently gained its independence. Asa also writes feature-length articles for Ydin magazine, a bi-monthly Finnish language magazine, and works as a copywriter for Chameleon Project.

Asa, a 27-year-old Englishman, currently lives in Helsinki with his wife, seven-month-old daughter and two cats.

Many thanks to Hjörtur Gudmundsson, Iceland is a fascinating country and I could have chatted all night about it! And special thanks to everyone who wrote and called in their questions.

Download the show in high quality (26 MB - mp3)
Download the show in normal quality (13 MB - mp3)

How to create a live online radio show (podcast) using your computer and Skype (skypecasting) that can take live callers from a telephone.

There’s many ways to do this, I’ll explain the way I do it and why. I’ll explain advantages and disadvantages to different setups and equipment. There’s much easier ways to create podcasts if you don’t wish to make it live, or take live callers from telephones – however this document will focus on creating a live podcast with live telephone callers.

Please note: This is a living document, so hopefully I’ll be making changes/additions constantly. Like I said, there are many ways to do this, and I may not be doing it the best way. So your feedback is very much appreciated!!

What you’ll need…
- A computer (I use a PC), it doesn’t have to be the latest and greatest model at all. I’m sure a 800 MHz, 256MB RAM would be okay.
- A fast internet connection such as ADSL. (something with at least a 256kbps upload)
- Skype (www.skype.com)
- Headphones (any cheap headphones will do fine)
- A microphone (any cheap microphone will do, but a more expensive one will give a better sound)
- A server that can stream the sound (this is for the live broadcast, I’ll explain more below)
- Software to mix the sound and upload the stream (I use SAM Audio Broadcaster v3, but there are cheaper alternatives)
- SkypeIn (a service on Skype that allows people to call your computer with their normal telephones.)

What is recommended but optional… (I’ll explain in detail when and where you’ll need this stuff)
- A second sound card
- A second PC
- A mixing board (especially if you’ll have your interviewees come to your studio rather than do the interview over the computer)
- Some stereo cables and other cables if you’re using a mixing board
- MP3 editing software (I use Sony SoundForge 7.0, but there are free alternatives like Audacity)
- Software to create an RSS feed (you can use the TextPad that comes with Windows)
- SkypeOut (a service that allows you to call normal telephones using Skype)
(more…)

This Sunday night we’ll be joined by Hjörtur J. Guðmundsson, live on Radio Free Finland. He is director of the conservative free-market think tank, Veritas, and a regular columnist on The Brussels Journal. He’ll be on to discuss all things Iceland, and we’ll be sure to talk about the Danish Mohammed cartoons as well…

Hjörtur J. Guðmundsson is educated in sociology at the FNV College in Sauðárkrókur and in political history at the University of Iceland, Reykjavík. He is director of the conservative free-market think tank Veritas and a fellow of the Copenhagen Institute.

Hjörtur is a member of the Icelandic Independence Party (Sjálfstæðisflokkurinn) and a member of the party’s Committee on Foreign Affairs. He also served as chairman of the Foreign Committee of the National Youth Organisation of the Independence Party (Samband ungra sjálfstæðismanna) at its national congress in 2005.

Hjörtur is a founding member of Heimssýn, the cross-political organisation of Icelandic Eurosceptics (founded in 2002). He has been a boardmember of the organisation since 2004 and a boardmember of TEAM, the European alliance of EU-critical movements, on behalf of Heimssýn since 2005.

Furthermore Hjörtur has been editor of the website Heimssyn.is since 2003, the website ‘EU Related News From Iceland’ since 2004 and the website Ihald.is since 2005. He also writes for the website The Brussels Journal.

Hjörtur is also the author of many articles and essays published in a number of Icelandic newspapers and journals on politics and history since 1998.

Listen Sunday at 10pm Finnish time for the live interview. Send questions for Hjörtur to info@radiofreefinland.net - Or ask your questions live on the air by dialing +358 (0)9 2316-3876 or by connecting via Skype to the username: radiofreefinland

Many thanks to Mikko Rauhala for a fun and interesting discussion - and special thanks to everyone who phoned or wrote into the show!! Looking forward to seeing him next term’s ballot. He’s got my vote!

Download the show in high quality (26 MB - mp3)
Download the show in normal quality (13 MB - mp3)

Everybody needs a hobby and his is hosting an illegal DeCSS site and bribing corrupt officials. He is Mikko Rauhala and he’ll be on Radio Free Finland tonight to talk about his hobbies and other topics like civil rights in Finland, the Green Party, Lex Karpela, free software, free music, Electronic Frontier Finland, transhumanism, singulartarianism, and much more.

Listen at 10pm tonight for the live interview. You can call in live to the show with your mobile phones and ask Mikko a question, the number is +358 (0)9 2316 3876. Find out more info about Mikko from his website.

Many many thanks to Filip and Terhi for spending some time with us and sharing their thoughts!!

Download the show in high quality (26 MB - mp3)
Download the show in normal quality (13 MB - mp3)

Also appearing live on this Sunday’s Radio Free Finland, Young Kokoomus’ (Kokoomusnuoret) press secretary, Terhi Pirilä. She’ll be on to discuss Sauli Niinstö’s Presidential campaign, the National Coalition Party, and Kokoomusnuoret.

While she’s not working at their downtown headquarters in Helsinki, she studies TV & Radio at Helsinki Polytechnic and is active in local politics in her hometown of Ilmajoki.

Is talking about Mohammed a crime just like drawing him is? Let’s hope not - This Sunday on Radio Free Finland we’ll chat with Filip van Laenen of The Brussels Journal - They were the first to break the Danish cartoon story to the internet when it was first published in October. Filip has been actively writing about this hot topic ever since and he’ll be on the show to discuss it. Here’s a brief bio or you can check out his blog…

Filip van Laenen (1972) is an electronical engineer (KULeuven), currently working as chief engineer and chief security officer at a Norwegian software company. After a short stay at the Norwegian technical university (NTH) in Trondheim in 1995 as an Erasmus exchange student, he moved back to Norway in 1997 to the Oslo area.

Filip van Laenen was a member of the team that started the website of the Flemish Popular Movement (VVB), one of the first political websites in Flanders, and is currently one of the forces behind the political website Politiek.Net. He is also a judge and creator of several claims on the futures market Ideosphere.