An Interview with Honorary Doctors last episode: Helena Petäistö

The guest of the last episode of An Interview with Honorary Doctor is an Oulu-based journalist and non-fiction writer Helena Petäistö. She has made long and successful career as a foreign correspondent in France and Brussels and is one of the most well-known journalists in Finland. In addition, Petäistö is the author of many best-selling books related to France and Europe. She is also a popular columnist and lecturer known for her EU expertise.

n this interview we will get to know more closely Petäistö’s successful career path as a journalist, foreign correspondent, and author. Petäistö’s principle as a journalist is the former motto of Financial Times: “Without favour, without fear!”. Indeed, she was fearless when succeeding to get a promise from the Soviet Union’s president Mihail Gorbatšov that Finland can apply EU membership – an incident which Petäistö describes as the highlight of her journalist career.

Furthermore, Petäistö reveals what kind of book she would write about her former hometown Oulu. As a newly selected cultural capital of Europe, Oulu should highlight its glorious history as a center of tar and salmon export, Petäistö concludes.

Helena Petäistö is interviewed by professor Erkki Karvonen. The interview is in Finnish.

You can listen to the episode at Spotify or watch it on Youtube.

An Interview with Honorary Doctor is a podcast series, in which we will get to know the honorary doctors of the 11th Doctoral Conferment Ceremony. The conversations will cover interesting stories about the life and achievements of the guests and their connections to the University of Oulu. The list and presentations of the published episodes can be found from Doctoral Conferment Ceremony website.

Last updated: 11.10.2021