Author: Peter - USA

Peter Balonon-Rosen is an accomplished early career journalist from New York, who has won national awards for his reporting. Peter’s an Associate Producer at Marketplace, a leading business news radio program by American Public Media. His work has been heard on National Public Radio stations (NPR), Marketplace, WBUR and Indiana Public Broadcasting. Besides identifying as an “audio guy”, Peter has experience with various media platforms: web writing, television work, photography and social media, in addition to podcasting and audio production. Twitter: @pbalonon_rosen

Espoo: A city using its past to move to the future

So, after a long weekend of homestays and some of us recuperating from sickness (well, maybe just me), we had an early day heading out to the city of Espoo.

I’m not much of a morning person. But don’t worry, I caught up on some sleep on the boat-ride over.

In my sleepy state, I didn’t yet realize our entire day would be examining a city that could be a case-study for much of Finland. Like much ...  (continue reading)

Licorice and lessons from Finland

Finland seems a lot like the salty black licorice it’s known for. A sweet candy at an initial glance. More complex and extreme once you look closely.

On one hand, Finland is known for its robust social welfare programs. On the other, it has a history of struggling to combat long-term homelessness. There’s the world’s top education system by certain measures, but also a history of ...  (continue reading)