Last Week in Denmark
Curious about what’s really happening in Denmark — and how it affects the life of internationals living here? Each week, two hosts from the LWID community talk through the top news stories and developments — in English — sharing personal insights and international perspectives. It’s a clear and accessible conversation about life in Denmark, made for people who live here but didn’t grow up here. Last Week In Denmark is a volunteer-driven media project with a simple mission: to empower people through information.
With a mix of short summaries, thoughtful discussion, and context you can actually use, we cover everything from housing and healthcare to politics. Whether you're new to Denmark or have been here for years, this is your go-to bite-sized update on what’s happening — and why it matters to you. Thank you for helping us grow.
Last Week in Denmark
Denmark’s Missile Plans, Bangladeshi International Student Scandal, Porn Addiction Study: S4E7
From missiles to migration to addiction, Denmark’s headlines this week couldn’t be more explosive. Internationals Fionn O'Toole and Katie Burns share their take on how these stories shape life for those of us living here—from the government’s dramatic shift toward long-range weapons, to Roskilde University’s controversial recruitment of Bangladeshi students, to a study revealing MANY Danes struggling with porn addiction.
Topics:
(02:56) Denmark's Long Range Missile Plans
(14:21) Roskilde’s Bangladeshi Student Scandal
(23:47) Porn Addiction Study in Denmark
In this episode:
Cohosts:
- Fionn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/fionn-o-toole/
- Katie - https://www.linkedin.com/in/katherineeburns/
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- Stephanie - https://www.linkedin.com/in/dstephfuccio/
Audio Editor:
Transcript Editor/Podcast Project Lead:
- Francesca - https://www.linkedin.com/in/francesca-hills/
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Fionn
Hello and welcome to the Last Week in Denmark podcast where each week two of our hosts talk through some of the top stories that happened well last week in Denmark, we focus mainly on the impact they have on internationals living here. So if that sounds like you, well then welcome home. You're in the right place and we are very glad that you're here. I'm Fiona O'Toole and joining me this week once again is Katie Burns and we're going to be exploring three stories today. Our leading story being the paradigm shift in the Danish military with focus switching from defense to acquiring long range precision weapons. So, you know, that's going to be a cheerful story. We're going to be looking at a change in permits for non-EU students or third country students after a scandal involving Bangladeshi students in Roskilde University. Now, before you think we are going to come down hard on the students, I think it's probably more at the university. And last but not least, we have a study which shows that up to 60,000 people, or at least 60,000 people. So approximately 1% of people in Denmark suffer from porn addiction. And we're going to be looking at that and steps that people can take to help themselves with that. Now, before we get going, we'd love to ask just one thing from you. If the conversation this week resonates with you, if you like what we're doing, please take a screenshot of the episode and share it on your social media. We do this to help internationals in Denmark stay informed and feel connected. So thank you so much in advance for helping us reach more people just like you. Hey, Katie, how's it going?
Katie
Jan, good to hear you again.
Fionn
I know, right? It's always good to hear me. I love this.
Katie
I didn't say that. I definitely did not say that.
Fionn
Okay
Katie
it's fine.
Fionn
Well, it's fine. And that's the energy we're gonna take for episode seven of season four. It's good to be back. It has been a fun couple of episodes. I've been listening to our cohosts, including our new cohost Dom, who just recorded her first episode last week and I think it was really awesome. So we're super happy to have her on board, on the team. And yeah, this week we have three stories. I think they're three pretty different stories. We have a story about defence and what Denmark is buying, maybe the shopping list. We have a story about a scandal which kind of happened over the summer in or not in, but concerning Roskilde University and their focus on bringing in many third country students and how that has kind of, well, I think affected both the national conversation around this, but of course, also the students themselves. Right. And we're also going to be looking at porn addiction, which is apparently hitting over 1% of the population in Denmark. So should we jump into our first story?
Katie
Yes, let's do it.
Fionn
Okay, so I was thinking about this and 2024. What summer did we have?
Katie
What? What summer?
Fionn
We had Brat Summer.
Katie
Brat Summer.
Fionn
Come on, I'm the old guy here. We had Brat Summer right over Brat Summer.
Katie
What is brat summer. What does that mean?
Fionn
It was Brat Summer.
Katie
What does that. What does that mean? I'm thinking of, like, the Ugly Dolls.
Fionn
No, no, not Bratz Summer. It was Brat Summer. It was Charlie XCX had the Brat album and it was everywhere.
Katie
I don't know who you think I am. like, after this podcast, I'm going to bed. That's who I am. Why did you know it was Brat Summer?
Fionn
Um, I had many younger colleagues than myself. But it was Brat Summer and that was an attitude that you could take with you throughout the entirety of last summer if you so wanted. I'm sorry to only be informing you of this now because clearly you missed something.
Katie
Is it too late for Brat Summer? Should I do it now? What does it entail?
Fionn
Well, you know what I think before you go to bed, you should look up Brat Summer, because I'm definitely not the person to explain it, but I do think we're in the market for something for this autumn. And if we had Brat Summer, I think it is Long-range Missile Autumn.
Katie
I love that.
Fionn
That is top of the shopping list. Yeah, I know, right? I'm workshopping it. We're gonna put it out there. We're gonna see how it does. Maybe it'll lead to an album deal for me. Only spoken word, it'll be very boring.
Katie
It's much easier to understand than Brat Summer. Brat Summer leaves it open to a lot of interpretation, but Long-range Missile Autumn, I'm fully behind 100%.
Fionn
Well, that's good, because not only are you behind it and I'm behind it, but Mette Frederiksen is also behind it.
Katie
Oh, good. Yes. Our friend Mette Frederiksen. Of course.
Fionn
Yeah, our good friend Mette Frederiksen. It is basically in response to the shifting security situation, which is a nice way of saying the current rather tense moment that Europe is having with Ukraine and Russia and has been having for a little while. But I think particularly this week and even today, there has been some incursions into Estonian and Polish airspace again. And the government has been making a decision to really shift Danish defense policy from defense specifically to being focused on having weapons basically they hope they never, never need to use. And there they are looking at long-range weapons like long-range missiles. So long-range missile autumn that will be able to hit targets at great distances and defeat enemy missile threats. So of course we call it long-range missile autumn. But it's not only long-range missiles. There are quite a few different deterrents you could say that they're looking at which include missiles from ground to. What's the word? The sea. Wow. I can't believe that's a word that lost me there.
Katie
It's large, it's blue, it's very wet.
Fionn
Yeah. It surrounds Denmark. But for some reason I couldn't think of it. To also things like long-range precision drones, cruise missiles, really an all of the above on long-range missiles. And I don't know, this feels like a pretty big shift for in some ways a small country, but it really comes at a time when I feel at least the news is full of this is the weapon we're buying this week. This is the weapon we're buying this week. This is the new system we're looking into now. And I don't know, is this also something that's popping up in your news feed as well?
Katie
I think yes, also through this podcast. But I think every other week we're talking about some kind of defense spending in some way, shape or form. Like I even think last week they were talking about preparing supermarkets so that they're prepared if there's like any kind of bombings or anything like that, that food and water are available, backup generators, all that kind of stuff. But this does feel different. I feel like most of the news up till now has been very how are we in Denmark going to survive and how are we going to make it through our daily lives should something happen? Whereas this is more how are we going to stop it happening? How do we as a part of NATO try and fight back together against Russia? Like, what can we do in our small country that shows that we're not going to take any shit and we're coming for you if we have to. I think as well to kind of have that feeling like before it felt more like we needed to be ready, we as civilians. Whereas this is more if they try anything, we're coming for you. We have no matter what distance, we're coming for you with something. We don't know exactly what, but something's going to come. So it does feel like a big move in the attitude towards the Russian war. And I do also, I'd almost say, let's take a minute and kind of go, how is this still going on? Like, I remember when Russia first attacked Ukraine and I was like, how is this happening? Someone's going to do something, it's going to get sorted, it'll be a couple of months max. What are we, like four years in like?
Fionn
It does feel very, and this is a terrible comparison to have to make, I feel, but it does feel very like the First World War, you know, it'll, it'll be over by Christmas, everyone will be home by Christmas. And I really remember having that same feeling actually almost negatively at first when the invasion first happened, thinking, oh God, this is going to be, you know, they're parachuting into Kyiv like this kind of overwhelming force. This is going to be over very quickly. And thinking that that was also very tragic, right? A sovereign state being taken over by an aggressive neighbor and then also seeing the kind of fight back and push back. And I think that gave a lot of people you know hope for the situation. And I was amazed by the kind of heroics that you could say this underdog nation that was really fighting back.
Katie
Yeah like you're waiting to celebrate. You're waiting to be like, they did it, they absolutely did it.
Fionn
Absolutely absolutely. And you know, in my heart I'm still, still hoping for that kind of any day. But it really does seem to be this stalemate and if you see some of the satellite imagery of, you know, where the lines of contact, so to speak, have been over the last year and you then see the amount of lives lost over that year as well. It's, it does feel very, you know, First World War, things entrenched and lines not moving for a lot of human cost, which is awful, completely awful. And you know, I think everybody hopes that there is an end to the war and soon. But also, you know, one that is, I don't know if you could even say in Ukraine's favor because it's not a favorable situation to have been in and to have been through and the country will have been devastated afterwards, of course, but you know, a just end to the war that doesn't reward aggression and imperialism, I think. But I, I completely get what you mean. This feeling almost of like we are getting ready to, to throw hands if needs be. I mean, this talk now of long-range missiles, it comes very shortly after we, you know, Denmark has recently purchased F35 fighter jets. There are now plans to invest double-digit billions of kroner in surveillance aircraft for Greenland, which even the Minister of Defence basically put it out, almost as this isn't something you do unless you're a little bit desperate in the sentence that they, these things cost a heck of a lot of money and there had been hope and a wish to really be able to cooperate with both Germany and Norway for using these. But it turns out both Germany and Norway also feel like they have a need to use these quite often. So we couldn't get our turn on them. But those are packing surveillance equipment that can keep an eye on submarines and even also have the capacity to carry and hit with weapons as well. And I also saw that there's even spy surveillance space satellite being developed jointly by the Danish and Swedish military, which has, in fairness, the coolest name, which is the Bifrost.
Katie
Oh my god that's so cool.
Fionn
The rainbow bridge that the Norse gods would use.
Katie
That's so cool.
Fionn
It's really cool, right?
Katie
That's gonna make a great movie. I mean, that's just the title. You don't need anything else.
Fionn
I like, I've said many times on this podcast that I understand the need to, you know, defend yourselves and spend this money in terms of rearming, but there's always part of me that is very sad that we have to. Right. Because that money could go on so many other things. But I do think, you know, something called Bifrost is just cool enough to, to justify it no matter, no matter what. And of course, on top of all of this, we now have the largest ever, I think the largest ever military exercises being held on Greenland, basically with the Danish army and some allies testing and strengthening their ability to defend Greenland. So it does really feel like the kind of waiting for an incursion is there and the preparation to, to deal with it if it happens is, is being put in place.
Katie
The Greenland move is also to me kind of saying like, I think I have the privilege obviously to kind of push the whole thing to the back of my mind and I become aware when something pops up on social media or we're talking about it on the podcast. But this, the both the long-range missiles and kind of the 550 soldiers from several different countries training in Greenland now with one of the largest military exercises in recent times. It does feel like, oh no, it's definitely getting more serious. I'm just avoiding it more and more. And I'm glad someone's taking it seriously because if I was in charge, I'd still be on the candy tax and be like, maybe we can lower the price of asparagus as well, as opposed to, actually we should probably protect people. And I do think, not that Greenland is an afterthought when it comes to Denmark, but obviously we're mostly talking about Denmark and then Greenland is just over here whenever there's a scandal, so that there's something very proactive happening, it feels like, oh, okay, yeah, they're really worried about this, which again, it's a good thing. But in a sad circumstance like as you say, I wish we didn't have to think about these things, but I am glad somebody is thinking about it.
Fionn
I think the, the real value in all of this is actually kind of hidden a little bit in some of the articles that you'll see where the uh, Søren Andersen who is the head of the kind of Arctic Command, was explaining that among many nations that took part in this. So Denmark, France, Germany, Norway, but also Sweden and the Swedish soldiers played the role of the enemy during the exercise. And I think maybe this is all.
Katie
As they should.
Fionn
And I think this is all. Yeah, all just to cover for Denmark to actually say, okay, you know, we're, we're taking back Skåne. Really preparing for the real enemy, our best friends and neighbors, the Swedish. But I have to say the most shocking thing in all of this was that if you were replacing the candy tax, you would lower the tax on asparagus.
Katie
It's too expensive.
Fionn
I think we're going to have to. I think it is the worst vegetable ever.
Katie
You're making it wrong.
Fionn
I don't even want to say created. No, I'm not. I just. It makes your pee smell weird. We can get into this off-air because I think we have strong feelings and it will descend into violence.
Katie
Yeah okay, it might come up another week.
Fionn
Yeah.
Fionn
Did you know that the Last Week in Denmark newsletter is available in eight languages? Hey there, this is Fionn from the Last Week in Denmark podcast. And every week you guys are tuning in to hear me and my fellow cohosts talk about the top news of the week in English. But let's be real, we're all internationals. So not only are you speaking English every day, you're probably also speaking a bit of Danish, but you've probably also got your own native language as well, like the multilingual master you are. So why not treat yourself to the luxury of being able to read Danish news each week in your own native language. So head on over to lastweekdk.substack.com that's lastweekdk.substack.com and sign up for our newsletter delivered to you every single Sunday.
Fionn
But maybe if we move from that scandal on to, to another one that has been in the news this week, that has been the problem, as it's seen by some members of the government or people in political parties about the numbers of Bangladeshi students specifically who have been attending certain courses, certain master's programs in Roskilde University. And this essentially, from what I can understand, Mie louise Raatz writing in Berlingske was talking about how Roskilde University had a bit of a financial deficit in the double digit millions back in 2022 and they came up with a plan and that plan involved getting students from third countries specifically, or in this case specifically, anyway, Bangladesh who need to pay for their education and using that essentially to plug some holes in the coffers. And this has made some members of certain political parties rather unhappy. Katie.
Katie
Shocking shocking that people would be upset.
Fionn
Truly shocking. Yeah, there is. I, I would say it's primarily something that has been talked about by the conservative parties in, in the Folketing. And it's not new. New in the sense that this story kind of broke in many ways back in July I believe it was. Where this was kind of revealed, so to speak. Or it was, it was kind of being, attacks were being made on, on from one politician to another towards ministers and everything like that. And I feel like there is of course, you know, maybe you could say that there was a loophole being, being exploited in this way. And I did see the SF's education spokesperson, they were pointing out that the universities themselves are saying they're frustrated that they don't have better opportunities to say no. So if an applicant has basically the minimum bachelor's degree, even if that doesn't actually correspond to the Danish level, they don't really have a right of refusal and that this is a blind spot that needs to be corrected. And I think that's part of the story. But potentially introducing kind of tougher, I don't want to say tougher measures for people from third countries to apply to Danish universities. But one thing that bothered me, I have to say, is that when I looked at a lot of the Danish reporting on this, whether it was in Berlingske or in DR. They often quoted the Dansk Folkeparti's immigration spokesperson, Mikkel Bjørn, basically saying that this was like a way for the universities to dictate immigration policy in Denmark and yeah, and a way for them to kind of get around this loophole and get people from third countries into, into the Danish workforce, like sneaking them in. And to me this is sounds a bit extremist or not extremist, but a bit hysterical almost. But when I look at some of the non-Danish coverage of this, some of the quotes attributed to Mikkel Bjørn are him saying specifically, you know, it's deeply serious that Islamic immigration is growing at our universities. And we've seen this time and time again that this is supposedly a temporary presence that becomes permanent residence. It starts with a study stay and ends with family reunification and a lifelong presence. And this is maybe my problem, right, with this story that students who have come here completely legally, but because they're from a Muslim majority country are being targeted in, in a way that I don't feel like I would have been if, if I came to a Danish university, right, as a, as a fellow European.
Katie
Yeah, I mean, they say like a third country or a non EU country, but there's very specific non EU countries that they seem to have a problem with. I also feel like this whole story just has that feeling of, you know, when you were in school and the teacher punishes the whole class because one person acted out. So it is like, okay, some. It seems like I read a couple of articles on this and it does seem like some people applied fraudulently, they produced fake papers and that's how they were able to come over. Fair enough, that's not everybody. And it's certainly not every single person from Bangladesh. But I'm also a bit, okay, a few people resigned, but why aren't we pointing fingers at, first of all, the university? Because it was on them to check that the papers were relevant and that these people were qualified to go and be able to do these courses that they've applied for. It's not like, oh, they came over and, oh, they weren't able. They uprooted their lives and they did move their families over and they did pay a significant sum of money to be able to do this. And then the university just didn't want to fact check. And then it's like, oh, they wanted the money, that's fine. I don't feel like we can blame the people of Bangladesh for that. But also, what about every other non EU person who's now going to have more of a difficulty getting in? There's going to be a tightening of admission requirements for master's programs. There's going to be the control of applicants, which sounds very vague and confusing when it comes to the educational, like what the universities like, deem suitable educational documents. There's going to be tighter control of a lack of study activity, which sounds bizarre to me because to get SU, you are required to work a certain number of hours if you're not from Denmark, but then if you're working too much, they're going to come after you. But it's not too much, by the SU standards, it's going to be something else they're going to decide there's going to be higher tuition fees, larger upfront payments, cutting off the possibility of bringing your family. So anyone kind of older we can kind of just take out of the picture, they won't be able to come over. Shorter job search periods, so students are given a three year job search period at the moment, but that'll be shortened to one year which if you're a young person, very, very difficult I think in the Danish job market.
Fionn
Very difficult I think. Yeah.
Katie
So it is just like, okay, this is a very. I feel like their racism is getting thinner and thinner in terms of like the veiling of kind of like, oh because it's non EU and third and it's just like. But most of them are fine. It's just a select number that we're gonna mention.
Fionn
Yeah. And I think you hit the nail on the head with like where is being, blame is one thing but where's the attention also being focused on? And it feels like there is a lot being focused on these students. Right. Who I don't think, as you mentioned, are culprits here. I mean sure, if somebody fraudulently represented them, misrepresented themselves and you know, applied to the university, they shouldn't do that and they should face the consequence of their actions. Right. But to me that is on the university a to have a stringent admission standard. But given the context. Right. Of okay, well these students will have to pay a lot of money. The student, the university has a bit of a financial hole. It feels very much like the university exploiting this. And I thought the Bangladesh students, sorry, the Bangladesh association of Students and Alumni in Denmark, there's a mouthful. Were actually very unlike myself, very eloquent and succinct about this when they basically said that Bangladeshi students were being almost characterized as undocumented migrants. Even though they come through perfectly legal channels and they are paying tuition, they're following legal requirements and they're contributing academically and economically. And I think the really thing you touched on as well, the key thing is that access to the labor market is a really standard feature in international student policies globally. This isn't some loophole that some evil students have figured out in Denmark because in countries that have, and again I'm quoting them, limited scholarship opportunities, part time work is often essential not only for the financial survival but also for integration and professional growth. It's not a loophole. This is a natural and expected part of the international education experience and exactly that. So I think essentially you have some students who are being scapegoated. And sure, you know, the, I think the chair of the university did resign over this, but the whole rhetoric coming in from a lot of politicians, I think is really targeting absolutely the wrong people. And instead of seeing this as an issue around, I don't know if you want to say academic corruption or, you know, lax standards or, you know, universities focusing on the wrong things, it is being treated as kind of like a immigration dog whistle scare tactic once again in Denmark, which probably doesn't surprise anybody who follows stories about immigration politics in Denmark.
Katie
No, I feel it's just a kind of like a deep heavy sigh of just, oh Denmark you're better than this, come on. But they're not, so.
Fionn
Yeah, well, on that uh happy note. We're gonna talk pornography.
Katie
Woo.
Fionn
Yeah, well, hold your woos because it's less of a fun, joke filled pornography section and maybe a little bit more of a depressing talk about pornography addiction. And that is. Well, we're not just talking about porn addiction for, for no reason. There has been some studies and of course some, some programs looking at this issue in Denmark, which is estimated to affect at least 60,000 people or which would be around 1% of the population. And I have to say that number both surprised me in how big it is and then I thought, well, actually I'm not surprised by that at all.
Katie
I'm surprised it's not higher. I mean, I don't, I think it's difficult, and I think it talks about this in the article in the newsletter that like it's something that are so many people coming forward. Would people openly say, yes, I feel addicted to porn or even say that they watch porn and, and so I kind of expected to be a bit higher as well because it's being brought to the attention of like coming into the press and being talked about on a podcast. And I also did a quick search just to see what is that compared to like the U.S. and in the U.S. I think 7% of the population, so obviously significantly more people have a porn addiction. So in a way I kind of expected it to be higher. And I think as well, social media addiction is something that seems to be coming up more and more and kind of considering, you know, we call it doom scrolling kind of light heartedly. But is there an addiction there, particularly amongst young people? And is porn so different in the sense that we can immediately access it, you can get gratification from it and I presume like everything, the more gratification you get from it, the longer you have to work at it to find ways to get the same stimuli, things like that.
Fionn
Yeah, I think that link basically between porn addiction and general digital addiction, I think is a really interesting one. And it is something that was kind of referenced in a number of the articles that I was looking at here. And it is that instant dopamine hit essentially that, you know. We all basically have the Internet in our pocket now and so you're never more than a few taps away from accessing pornography if you want to. Right. And maybe you need a little bit of privacy to do that as well, I hope.
Katie
It depends on the person.
Fionn
Taking a little bit of privacy to do it as well. Yeah, but one of the kind of surprising things that porn addiction is not actually always accompanied by masturbation. It's. It's often just about finding new stimuli. And just like social media, it is that, that dopamine hit that people are kind of chasing. And it, yeah, it is incredibly easy to access it as it is incredibly easy to access social media when you have literally a little bar of the Internet in your pocket at pretty much all times. And this actually kind of linked back and this is maybe going to sound quite strange, but. So one of the real criticisms right around smartphones and a lot of the kind of smart technology that we have today is that to make these things, a lot of these kind of rare earth metals or minerals and need to be mined. And they're often done so in really, really awful conditions. For example, in like what are called boutique mines in sub-Saharan Africa, which are basically, they're boutique because they're small and they're not well regulated and they're often not using machinery. They're often using slave labor because there's more slaves.
Katie
I like that they call it boutique though.
Fionn
Today then there ever have been.
Katie
It makes it sound fancy.
Fionn
Oh yeah, it's. It's a great branding, but so basically this addiction to dopamine is almost driving part of a kind of global slave trade today. Because what really is, if you think about a smartphone, the thing that really, I think made smartphones take off is social media. Right. It is that ability to suddenly be connected at all times with everybody and to look at your phone and get that little rush when you see a notification coming in that, oh, this person liked your comment. And of course that is, you know, really actively contributing to this awful, you know, boutique. God, I hate using the word, but boutique mining and the kind of abuses that are related to that. And I remember reading an article actually a few years ago drawing kind of a parallel between that and when we think of the slave trade, like the transatlantic slave trade, which was very heavily influenced by the growth of sugarcane in the Caribbean, being used to make rum. And this, basically ability for one of the first times in human history to mass produce sugar, which we also find very addictive, and alcohol, which we also find very addictive.
Katie
Yes.
Fionn
So you have suddenly this influx of alcohol and sugar devastating societies that it lands in, but also being produced at really awful, awful human cost. And again, this being fueled by human addiction. So on one hand it's sugar and alcohol, and in the other hand it's, it's dopamine. So I don't know. That's, that's a very weird tangent. And apologies for going off to a strange place.
Katie
Was fascinating though. It was a good time, I think. Yeah, that was good.
Fionn
Yeah.
Katie
I feel like I've learned a lot. Everything bad, learned everything terrible. But it was informative. Thank you.
Fionn
Listen, that's. That's this podcast, right?
Katie
Once we keep laughing it's fine.
Fionn
At least when I'm on. Yeah, but I think, yeah, that, that idea that it's just, it's so accessible now that this digital addiction is so easy. And a lot of the articles kind of talked about that in the sense that it's not maybe just who you think it is in, in air quotes that might be addicted to porn. So it's not only young men, but it's people really across the spectrum of age and gender. It's the, the family man as much as it is the, the teenager and it is both men and women. Yeah.
Katie
I was shocked by like the intensity of what porn addiction can happen, because I heard it and I was like, okay, yeah, that's. That's a thing. But then when it was talking about, like ruining people's lives, so in the sense that it can lead to a huge amount of debt, job loss, if you need to. Because as well, I think they talked about it and had identified as addiction. So what the difference between enjoying porn and being addicted to porn is this, you're not enjoying it anymore, you need to have it. So, like that if you're working and then you're missing deadlines because you need to be watching X amount of porn, or you're caught watching porn while you're at work, any kind of relationship breakdowns if your partner finds out you're watching this much porn and you can't stop. And then obviously I, I kind of forgot that porn could be paid, but I assume there's a bunch of paid services that people can accidentally buy into. Porn is not made for lesbians. So I don't really know much about this sector, but like, that as well, like you're saying, it cuts across every age, every lifestyle, and it's estimated to be about one in five men and one in 20 women. So it could be anybody that's struggling with addiction and then they're talking about the different kinds of treatment. But it seems, I wonder, will it all come together, as you say, in that kind of digital addiction? But yeah, it's good to see a conversation about it.
Fionn
It absolutely is. And I think, yeah, the, the treatment options being there or treatment options being there, I think is, is very positive. But of course, the challenge, I think with any addiction and people coming forward, they always say the first step is admitting it. Right. And I think there is maybe extra shame and stigma around pornography addiction because a lot of people would, well, I think there's a lot of people who would find pornography and using pornography to have a stigma around it and to be something that is shameful. But I think there's also probably plenty of people who don't find it shameful, but still don't like to talk about their porn usage out in the open so much or like, wouldn't consider talking about that with their doctor. Like, they may consider, you know, oh, I'm struggling with my weight because I'm, I'm eating too much and I'm struggling to stop that. And I was. One of the things I was thinking, you know, there are. And this is my absolutely not medical advice in any way, shape or form, but if one of the things is this kind of digital addiction and that ease of access, it just reminded me I actually use this app on my phone and not for porn addiction, but because I, like, I'm the most scatterbrained person in the world and I really need to focus when I'm focusing on something. So for all of my working day, this app just lets me block. You know, I can pick a bunch of different apps and all the kind of social media or news ones, I just block them all. So I'm not getting notifications. I can't access them. I can't, you know, just by instinct, pull my phone out of my pocket because we're all addicted to our phones and try and check the news or anything. And I know a lot of those apps also have options where you can turn off kind of not safe for work access as well. I'm not sure how they do that, but they have some sort of option there anyway. So I don't know. I think I would hope at least more things like that maybe help people in some way recognize the issue. Right. That, like, oh, let me try this. Oh, I can't go without it. And spark a conversation with, with their kind of medical practitioners about. Yeah. Actually getting proper treatment rather than just what. What some guy said on a podcast about, you know, blocking apps.
Katie
Yeah, they didn't actually mention blocking apps, but I think that is, that would be a good start. I did. I tried something like that once upon a time. I turned off my phone when I got into work and I still picked up the phone like seven times even though I knew it was off. It was such an instinctual check of things. They're like, I'll go through phases of deleting my social media, but I still pick it up and go to like the spot where the icon used to be. And I'm just like, this is terrible. What are the children of today?
Fionn
I think the scariest thing is when you know your phone is off and you still feel it vibrate in your pocket.
Katie
Yeah,
Fionn
That's the, yeah. Well, on that note, that's all we have time for this week. We hope you have enjoyed listening to us talk about long range missile autumn. You heard it here first, but I guarantee you won't hear it here last. You've heard us talk about universities exploiting third country students and politicians maybe focusing on the wrong things as part of that story. At least that's my, and I think our opinion today. And of course you've heard about porn addiction from treatment options to cobalt mining to rum production in the Caribbean in the 1700s. So I think that's pretty, we can say that was a pretty tight, focused podcast. We definitely stayed on top.
Katie
Absolutely. We also managed to talk about porn addiction for probably a solid 10 minutes without saying put the dick in addiction. So we did. We did a great job.
Fionn
I think we can clap ourselves on the back there. Really took the higher ground. Maybe ruined it a little bit just in the last, last few moments, but. Well, we're not perfect.
Katie
No.
Fionn
No. But if you did enjoy this week's podcast, we'd love for you to share the episode with a friend. Maybe particularly somebody who doesn't know last week in Denmark already. Help them stay informed, of course, direct them to the newsletter. But, you know, rate us on the podcast app. Share it. Give us a like, give us a thumbs up on YouTube. Subscribe. All of the above things you probably heard every creator say in your life.
Katie
But we mean it sincerely and with love.
Fionn
We mean it.
Katie
We might send you a gift, maybe.
Fionn
Legally we have to say we won't send you a gift.
Katie
We. We could. Maybe. We are capable.
Fionn
We're getting into legal trouble here.
Katie
Oh, God. We'll just end it there.
Fionn
End it here. End it here. But thank you so much for listening, and we look forward to talking with you again very soon.
Katie
Bye.
Kalpita
Hey. This is Kalpita and Golda, cohosts of the Last Week in Denmark podcast. Did you know Last Week in Denmark offers sponsored content in the newsletter. Our reporters are producing original articles and content tailored for internationals in Denmark.
Golda
So if you have a business our readers should know about, let us write about it. Get in touch with us @reporter.lwid.dk you can also reach out to us on LinkedIn and Instagram @lastweekindenmark.
