With a big smile and exuberant enthusiasm, Farah Abadi regularly brightens up our lives on both radio and TV. This summer she is currently on Drömlandet together with Carina Bergfeldt and this fall she is hosting the new season of the entertainment show På riktigt?!

When INRIKES catches up with Farah Abadi for a phone interview, she's in a taxi on her way home from work. She talks fast, has a nice confident attitude and is always ready to laugh. She answers my questions intuitively, as if she doesn't have to think before she answers. During our conversation, she manages to do a lot of other things and we really get proof that Farah is a woman who can multi-task. No wonder she knows how to host live shows – where anything can happen.

Are you scared when you jump into new projects where you might have to do things you haven't done before?

– Well, I don't jump on things that I think are scary. I've never imagined myself being in Let's Dance or Prisoners at the Fort, I think that's scary, but making TV shows is just fun.

Have you lost your temper during a live broadcast, or do you have a technique for not losing your temper?

– I'm a pretty level-headed person and I don't lose my temper that often, and then I think it's fun when the unexpected happens. Especially in live broadcasts where you feel like things are happening, and that's why you're hired.

Because if something goes to hell, you're the one person who can solve it and then I feel good about my job.

It's great that you feel confident in what you're doing.

– It also makes for good TV when things don't go as planned. It would be much worse if we were doing brain surgery and something had gone to hell. We do TV and it's supposed to be entertainment. The whole point of broadcasting live is that things can get a little crazy. The best thing that happens when you're sitting at home watching TV is when someone messes up a bit on live TV and you think 'oh, how are they going to sort this out?!'‘

You work a lot in Stockholm but live in the countryside in Skåne. Do you enjoy it?

– I live in the countryside just outside Malmö and it's the best thing there is. It's wonderful to be able to have a garden and you know all the neighbors, it's so cozy.

I assume you get recognized a lot. Is that hard?

”"I'm a pretty level-headed person and I don't lose my temper that often, and then I think it's fun when the unexpected happens. Especially in live broadcasts where you feel like things are happening, and that's why you're hired."”

– You can't go around thinking about that, you also have a life. I've started to avoid going to the grocery store with the kids right after they get home from school. Because then I think I'll be perceived as a horrible person who says 'let it go, shit on it, yes, we'll be going home soon, no, there's no chocolate today'. She laughs and then says that people are kind.

– No one wants to hurt you. I also think it's exciting to recognize people. If I had seen Carola in ICA, I would have been completely taken aback!

How do you see the TV industry now compared to what it was like when you started?

– I have worked with the media for twelve years and the biggest difference is the impact of social media. I think a lot about comedians who don't need to have Sveriges Radio or SVT or any other channel to make a career. They can do it themselves, by podcasting and starting YouTube channels and so on. So everyone can be famous. Previously you had 15 minutes of fame, but now you can have it for a lifetime, if you want.

The problem today is rather that it can be difficult to find viewers and get good distribution. Nowadays, everyone can broadcast, and be on constant broadcast if they want.

– Yes, and today it is not enough to just be, for example, a good presenter or a good journalist. You also have to have a lot of other skills; you have to be able to film, podcast and do good social media. You have to know so many different things. But it also goes the other way, that people who are big on social media are not always such good presenters or journalists or such good comedians.

Many people on social media are fantastically good at marketing themselves on their various channels, but the content itself may not contain much more than what they are wearing that day or that they are airing their opinions on various more or less interesting topics. The interest club notes. But that can change.

– I think that for every trend we have, there can be a kind of backlash. I think the younger generation, who are maybe ten years old now, I don't think they will want to have their whole life out on the internet for everyone to see. I don't think they will want to post everything about themselves. Right now, many people live in some kind of make-believe world where you go on vacation to a place because it will make good pictures, or you eat a certain kind of food because it will make good pictures, or you decorate your home in a certain way because it will make good pictures. But that's not living your life for real. Life is so much more, much richer. You can also do things without telling anyone! Farah laughs. While she talked and answered questions, she also paid for the taxi, stepped into her home, took off her outerwear, peered thoughtfully into the fridge where she poured a glass of soda and took a few sips. When she had swallowed the last sip, she continued:

– Last year someone wrote to me on Instagram. I had posted a picture of me at the beach and she wrote 'haven't you found someone with your kids all summer?' I had been like a traveling circus with my kids that summer, but I didn't need to post pictures of them swimming or when we were at Tivoli or when we had coffee and ice cream, did I? I don't think it's that important.

How do you think about AI when it comes to your work as a program host?

– I usually say that when I die, my voice dies with me. In the future, you might just buy someone's voice and use it for all sorts of things. I also think that many people are afraid that AI will take over our lives, but I still think that people want the company of other people. I think that the more we are online, the lonelier people become. I read somewhere, I don't know how many there were, but if I remember correctly, it said that half a million Swedes are missing a close friend. It's terrible. Life is about your relationship with other people. People are afraid that AI will take over, but I think that the more things like that come along, there will be a backlash and we want to be able to find each other again.

You work at SVT and Swedish Radio. Are you passionate about public service?

– I love public service, it's a super wonderful job. I think there's something really nice about public service that's for everyone. I have a hard time seeing how I could work anywhere else.

This fall, the new season of På riktigt?! It must be a fun show to film.

– Yes, it's really super fun. People are so talented, and you realize that you have so many prejudices. 'You look like someone like that' and while you shouldn't have too many prejudices, it's probably prejudices that have made us survive. 'You seem dangerous so I don't want to talk to you!' We all have prejudices, but it's good to become aware of them so that we can work against them sometimes.

You work a lot and have a family. What do you do to stay healthy?

–I'm the laziest person in the world. When I'm off, I can lie on the couch for two days. But I have small children so I have to get up after a while. I think my job is the most fun job in the world, but I probably don't work as much as people think. Really?! We filmed for two weeks this spring but it airs once a week all fall.

Your children are 6 and 3 years old. Do they watch when you are on TV or are they uninterested?

– They are not interested in watching when I am on TV except for the history program which they thought was a bit funny. Otherwise they don't usually think it is that funny that mom is on TV. But sometimes they surprise me! The day before yesterday my 6-year-old and I had taken a taxi and when we were about to get out of the taxi and I was about to pay, I heard my son talking to some children he doesn't know and saying to them 'Hello kids!' Farah laughs and adds that her son is a bit old. She continues: – Then he said: 'My mother is Farah Abadi and if you wait a little while you can see her.' Then I felt that he was a bit proud of me, because he has never said anything before but the day before yesterday he was a bit proud of me. Wonderful.

Do you have a dream job you wish you could do in the future?

– No, I have my dream jobs now. I have the luxury of being able to say yes to a lot of fun jobs. I believe in doing a good job that is visible and that leads to more offers. I have to be able to enjoy the jobs you do and to be in the moment and not have to think about things and now I have to do this well in order to be able to apply for this and this job, to instead try to be here and now and do the best I can while having fun and if I as a program host think it is fun and exciting then people who watch will also like it. I wouldn't be able to say yes to jobs just because they are considered good for my career. That you should think about politics and have a strategy with everything in your career. Well, it's better to just do what you think is fun, to the extent that you can.

I'm guessing that since you work in public service, you're not allowed to advertise or work with sponsored collaborations on social media, for example. Is that good or bad?

– It's sooo nice. I don't want to sell people stuff. We need less stuff and instead more quality time with people we love and enjoy. Fuck going on that vacation, fuck buying new clothes and new shoes. Don't spend money on a lot of stuff. Go buy some good food instead and have fun. You don't have to buy a lot of stuff all the time. That's not where happiness is. Happiness lies in having a meaningful life with family, friends and work – put time and money into that instead.

3 QUICK – FAVORITE PLACES IN SWEDEN: Skåne.

I grew up in Landskrona. We rented a house there for a week this summer. I love spring when you fly over Skåne and look down on blooming rapeseed fields. When I studied in Jönköping, I loved getting off the train in Helsingborg and smelling the coffee scent that lingers over the city, and then I felt 'now I'm home'.

I love Strömstad and we'll be there a lot with the family this summer. I'll also go over to Koster and meet friends.

We have a house in Blekinge where we spend a lot of time, especially in the summer. There's a lot of swimming and flea markets!

FARAH ABADI

Age: 36. Lives: In the countryside outside Malmö.

Family Two children and husband Johan, a police officer.

Occupation Presenter at Swedish Radio and SVT. Background in brief: Farah's parents came to Sweden from Lebanon as Palestinian refugees when they were in their 20s. Just a few years later, Farah was born, and later three more sisters. She has a bachelor's degree in media and communication science with a focus on PR and marketing communications. She got her first radio job in 2012 as a presenter on Swedish Radio's Malmö channel. Two years later, she made her debut as a presenter on TV when she hosted Sommarlov on SVT. Since then, things have been going well and Farah is one of our most popular presenters. She has hosted radio programs such as Karlavagnen, Ring så spelar vi and Morgonpasset. She has also hosted Musikhjälpen's radio broadcasts. Farah is one of the most frequently hired presenters at SVT, where she has competed in På Spåret, hosted the Världens Barn gala and hosted Melodifestivalen, Sverige!, Historien om Sverige and På riktigt?!

Currently This summer we will see Farah in Drömlandet on SVT, where she travels around Australia with Carina Bergfeldt. This fall she will be the host of the new season of SVT's entertainment show På riktigt?!