Rawls & Me

The road ahead

noreply@blogger.com (Rasmus Karlsson) — Tue, 12 May 2026 06:00:00 +0000

Having struggled with overtraining, and a bit of orthorexia to tell the truth, last year, I have sought a better balance this year as my life circumstances keep changing. With the Essex Way Ultra coming up in early July, I have decided not to fall into the same trap again, especially as 52 days is too short for any miracles anyway. Instead of suddenly doubling my running volume or setting off on some wild 80-kilometre adventure along Gotaleden, I will try to stick to my current 50–70 kilometres per week, with a focus on time on feet, a few proper long runs, and some back-to-back sessions.

With that in mind, I traded what I feared would become an emotionally heavy coastal morning run for some gym time in my white paws. Now it is back to teaching statistics and reading student manuscripts.

High Lighthouse

noreply@blogger.com (Rasmus Karlsson) — Sun, 10 May 2026 06:06:00 +0000

Bouncing back to 70 kilometres this week and spotting a happy fox on my Skatås morning jog, I could no longer stand the thought of not having a race to look forward to. As such, I promptly registered for the Full Essex Way Ultra on the third of July, covering 132 kilometres from Epping tube station in London to the High Lighthouse in Harwich. Though I am obviously not alone in my fascination with lighthouses, there is something existential about racing towards the sea and seeing more of the Britain that I have come to appreciate so much over the years. While I still have to work out the precise logistics, Eddie will be away in Hungary that week, so the timing is sort of perfect.

For today, it is back to the U1800 chess tournament with William, whom I had the pleasure of sharing a pizza with last night after four intensive rounds.

Tintinification

noreply@blogger.com (Rasmus Karlsson) — Fri, 08 May 2026 06:29:00 +0000

With William and Anna soon moving to another city, it felt very good to book an autumn getaway for just William and me. Finding €25 tickets with Ryanair from Arlanda to Dubrovnik on the very last day of the summer schedule, William and I will fly down to Croatia for three days by the Adriatic at the end of October, then continue with easyJet for another €50 to Geneva for a night in Switzerland before returning to Stockholm with Swiss for a similarly ridiculous amount.

Booking the trip together with William was in itself like something taken out of Tintin: searching for adventurous routings with a map of Europe in front of us, giving him a sense of an open world, and hopefully memories to cherish throughout the winter.

Street Art and Buns

noreply@blogger.com (Rasmus Karlsson) — Thu, 07 May 2026 11:31:00 +0000

Yesterday, I taught my first statistics class using the software JASP, which will replace SPSS in all my classes going forward. Waking up early, I then spent three hours this morning learning more about its functions and building a dataset from our survey on the transition to higher education.

Sticking to my midweek long-run routine, I left the computer behind and headed out for a 23-kilometre street art run in the sunshine, which included a lion mural at Skanstorget created by the Lyon-based artist Kalouf. Sadly, I missed taking a photo of “Hästar som festar”, but I did get to discover some lovely houses in Linnéstaden that I had somehow overlooked in the past. Stopping at Kafé Marmelad for coffee and a banana bun, next to the sign proclaiming the “People’s Republic of Majorna”, I was reminded that fika really is the best part of long runs.

Carbonara

noreply@blogger.com (Rasmus Karlsson) — Tue, 05 May 2026 16:13:00 +0000

With the survey spectacle making me want to reach for an extra-large “skämskudde”, I made carbonara with guanciale for lunch. Though it is significantly colder today, the weather is absolutely lovely and is expected to stay that way throughout the week.

In other news, I am happy to report that I am now on a steady course to making my first million with Sellpy, as my accidental over-purchasing of beige jeans back in January and reselling them in May is paying off big time. In many cases, I paid 75–100 SEK back then and am now selling them for three times as much. Still, I am not entirely convinced this is the “infinite money glitch” I joked about with the kids, since the profits have a tendency to be reinvested in other purchases from Sellpy, like a Sunspel corduroy Harrington jacket (an irresistible bargain at a fraction of its list price).

Survey Slip-Up

noreply@blogger.com (Rasmus Karlsson) — Tue, 05 May 2026 06:17:00 +0000

After putting a bit of effort into formulating the questions for Johanna’s and my survey on the transition to higher education, yesterday turned into an empirical embarrassment episode of epic proportions (if we are to stick with the alliterations). Using the Artologik tool for the first time, I was a bit too quick to accept the reassurance from our administrative staff that everything looked okay before publishing the survey – unleashing an unstoppable queue of e-mails to more than three thousand present and former students, with the reminder to answer the survey being sent out before the actual invitation.

Wanting to run away from it all, I went for 5k around the block, finishing with pancakes in the garden while listening to a redstart singing in the tree, probably just back from Africa. Yes, the Merlin app has truly opened my senses to what has always been right in front of me.

Back to Tylösand

noreply@blogger.com (Rasmus Karlsson) — Sun, 03 May 2026 16:06:00 +0000

With no races planned, I made the most of this recovery week by running a faster half marathon out to Tylösand this afternoon, circling the cliffs of Tyludden before heading back past the quarries of Grötvik, soaking in the seaside light, and only easing off over the final five kilometres to leave enough energy for a bit of work later tonight.

Tomorrow, I will give a class on Agenda 2030, a topic I find both inspiring in its scope and frustrating in the way it often reduces sustainability to familiar, and not always particularly effective, discourses.

Wild nettle pesto

noreply@blogger.com (Rasmus Karlsson) — Sun, 03 May 2026 10:45:00 +0000

After taking Caia for a coastal sunshine stroll yesterday, Johanna and I ended the day at her wooden lookout deck over a bottle of Albariño that we had brought back from Portugal in December. Overnight, the blue skies had turned a solid grey, providing some downtime to catch up on academic duties and get Johanna’s guesthouse ready for rental.

From childhood, I remember my mother making nettle soup and the fleeting season for picking them at my grandfather’s farm in Skåne. Today, with a slightly postmodern twist, Johanna and I picked nettles of our own and made pesto for lunch.

Norrnäs

noreply@blogger.com (Rasmus Karlsson) — Sat, 02 May 2026 10:48:00 +0000

Having duly celebrated Valborg in Gyltige, Johanna and I filled her car with all possible camping gear and drove across the border into Kronoberg for a night on the shores of Bolmen. As Sweden’s twelfth largest lake, it almost felt like being at the sea, and through the night we could hear flocks of geese flying overhead.

Going swimming with Caia, Bolmen’s icy 36-metre depths proved a stark contrast to the sunny skies above. Before heading back, we got to check out the remains of the 13th-century fortification of “Piksborg”, the former narrow-gauge railway line between Halmstad and Karlshamn, and, most lovely of all, the beech-clad peninsula of Norrnäs udde stretching out into the lake.

3x Valborg

noreply@blogger.com (Rasmus Karlsson) — Fri, 01 May 2026 10:16:00 +0000

Gallows Hill

noreply@blogger.com (Rasmus Karlsson) — Tue, 28 Apr 2026 17:03:00 +0000

Despite my three years in Halmstad, today was the first time I ventured up Galgberget, with its nineteenth-century lookout tower, birch forest, and steep climbs. The tower even housed an anti-aircraft battery during the Second World War. Finishing my run at Espresso House with a freshly baked croissant, I felt almost as if I were back in San Diego, where Johanna and I would go for coffee runs in the mornings.

With the first three days of this week jam-packed with meetings, there has not been much time to reflect, but I look forward to turning Hallandsgatan into a more permanent home in the autumn, as Eddie will also start a new school here in Halmstad. For now, I guess it is back to work and that last sip of South Australian Shiraz.

Two hours

noreply@blogger.com (Rasmus Karlsson) — Sun, 26 Apr 2026 15:26:00 +0000

More than six years after Kipchoge’s highly choreographed two-hour marathon in Vienna, Sebastian Sawe broke the last great barrier and ran the world’s first official sub-two-hour race in London this morning. Meanwhile in Hamburg, my long-time Strava friend Niklas set a new marathon PR of 3 hours and 17 minutes at the age of 52, proving once again that no human is limited.

Trying to inspire the kids to adopt some of the same mindset, I took them on their longest hike ever this morning (which, apparently, also became my longest hike activity on Strava) under the most beautiful blue skies, spotting sparring deer and endless spring flowers as we traced Gotaleden eastward towards Jonsered. Topping it off with a record 15-kilometre indoor row at Nordic Wellness Örgryte, I think a recovery week in Halland is just what I need now.

Forty years later

noreply@blogger.com (Rasmus Karlsson) — Sun, 26 Apr 2026 12:19:00 +0000

Today marks forty years since that fateful night at reactor four of the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant, and what would become history’s worst nuclear accident. As the news media keeps recounting the events, a new report by the Anthropocene Institute brings much-needed perspective as it points out that the number of premature deaths would have been at least ten times higher had Chernobyl been a fully operational coal power plant. Though less spectacular, hundreds of thousands of people die every year from fine particulate pollution caused by the burning of fossil fuels, yet none of these deaths seem to inspire HBO documentaries or sustained public outrage. Having been to Pripyat myself back in 2016, I am not trying to trivialize the human tragedy but, given the urgency of climate change, irrational fear of nuclear energy may ultimately prove far more dangerous than radiation itself.

Saturday slow

noreply@blogger.com (Rasmus Karlsson) — Sat, 25 Apr 2026 08:54:00 +0000

Experiencing a sudden bout of springtime lethargy, I struggled to get out of bed this morning. After all the boundless sunshine, the sky had turned grey, and it took all my self-discipline to lace up my trail shoes and head out around Delsjön. Stopping to listen to the birds with the Merlin app, and then to spot KLM’s morning flight with the Planefinder app, I got my share of augmented reality before returning home to two boys playing Minecraft.

According to the forecast, it will stay colder, but with the sun returning, I will make another effort to go hiking with the kids tomorrow. Otherwise, I plan to spend much of the weekend clearing things out – including my multi-decade collection of Monocle – as we have finally given notice to our landlord and will be leaving Ängtegsgatan at the end of July.

Bureaucratization

noreply@blogger.com (Rasmus Karlsson) — Fri, 24 Apr 2026 08:00:00 +0000

Yesterday, Johanna and I drove down to Malmö for the world premiere of Kvalitetsplanen, a “performance lecture” about bureaucratization with Patrik Hall, who, some twenty-five years ago, was largely to blame for me ending up in political science. In the play, Patrik skillfully captured the paradox of the ever-increasing number of “organizational professionals” who are presenting their work as a response to bureaucratisation rather than a source of it.

Afterwards, we headed over to Vibliotek, which apparently was celebrating a decade on Södra Vallgatan, for some very Spanish tapas and happy hour prices on Estrella Damm. With the parks and fields turning green, one soon forgets that life in the Nordics is not always like this. Driving back over Glumslövs backar this morning – “där ute bland kuster och motorvägar” – everything somehow came together in one moment.

Stamboul Train

noreply@blogger.com (Rasmus Karlsson) — Wed, 22 Apr 2026 14:53:00 +0000

With fifty thousand Turkish Airlines miles expiring at the end of this year, train may not be the obvious choice for trips to Istanbul, but after watching Murder on the Orient Express in snow-laden Gyltige, its charm is nevertheless undeniable. Having finished The Quiet American, I wanted to read more of Greene, and the interwar years always hold a special appeal for me.

Unfortunately, for the moment, I am afraid I must focus on the 14-page review of the International Marketing programme in Halmstad that I have to read by tomorrow morning. As so many times before, I find myself wondering whether these ritualized exercises genuinely improve quality over time, or merely consume the energies that ought to be devoted to the work itself.

Bondi

noreply@blogger.com (Rasmus Karlsson) — Wed, 22 Apr 2026 07:48:00 +0000

Known as Hoka’s max-cushion cruiser for recovery days, the Bondi has been on my radar for years so, when Sellpy had a white pair for 400 SEK, I immediately jumped at the opportunity. Taking them out for a test run this morning, I think the shoe was just what I had been looking for and, though I do not know how many miles they already have in them, they felt plush and stable. While I primarily plan to use them for easy, sunny days on asphalt, I might also use them for longer walks, as none of my current white sneakers are any good for that.

Harbour life

noreply@blogger.com (Rasmus Karlsson) — Tue, 21 Apr 2026 13:40:00 +0000

Working since 5 a.m., I decided to trade my laptop for the brilliant spring sunshine, running along the quays of Gothenburg, just like a month ago, passing Amerikaskjulet and the slow churn of electric ferries crisscrossing the harbour, taking in the salty air with its mix of diesel fumes and pine tar.

After 17 kilometres, I stopped at The Alchemist for coffee and a chèvre toast with apricot jam, walnuts, and thyme, before returning home to the growing backlog of student papers to comment on. Though it exacts its price, finding time for these kinds of mid-week long runs is really worthwhile, and the coming weeks are expected to bring a lot more sun.

Upper Eden

noreply@blogger.com (Rasmus Karlsson) — Mon, 20 Apr 2026 09:35:00 +0000

On our way into the desert, Johanna and I stopped at a Trader Joe’s just off the I-15 to stock up on cheese and supplies. Among the shelves, a Pinot Noir with a blue label from the Santa Lucia Highlands proved irresistible (yes, embarrassing as it is, I sometimes buy wines based on the label alone). Packed with memories from the Central Coast, not far from Steinbeck country, it turned out to be just perfect for yesterday’s “Spargelzeit”, as duly celebrated in the interior of Halland with a Sunday steak and beurre noisette.

Based on all the feedback I received in California and through the internal review process, I have now resubmitted my book chapter to the editor in Singapore under its new title, “Surprisingly Green: Ecomodernism, Social Democracy, and the Limits of Eco-Centric Politics”. As always, having to cut words is painful, but I think the chapter is significantly stronger after these revisions. If the original timetable holds, the book may appear in print with Routledge sometime in early 2027.

Hunger games

noreply@blogger.com (Rasmus Karlsson) — Sat, 18 Apr 2026 13:30:00 +0000

“This is the best book I have ever read”. In this day and age, few things make a dad as happy as seeing his eleven-year-old kid completely absorbed by a novel rather than a screen. And after hiking eight kilometres together, surrounded by wood anemones, I have had the plot explained to me in wonderful detail. It is fascinating how books really can become doors to other universes.

Tomorrow, William has another chess tournament coming up and, with heavy rain expected, I am glad I got to run around Delsjön yesterday afternoon in the sunshine, even if it meant working all morning today.

One-hundred-eighty-three billion

noreply@blogger.com (Rasmus Karlsson) — Fri, 17 Apr 2026 09:27:00 +0000

Instead of moving quickly to build publicly owned nuclear power and clearly articulating its importance for phasing out fossil fuels globally, the Swedish government continues to procrastinate. The latest example is the announcement of 183 billion SEK for a new geological repository for nuclear waste.

It is difficult not to react – not only to the sheer scale of the sum, but to what it represents: yet another instance of nuclear power being burdened by politically constructed costs and institutional inertia rather than technical realities.

There is a much simpler alternative: continued interim storage. In Sweden, this takes the form of water-filled pools where spent fuel is cooled and shielded. This is not a temporary fix in the sense of being inadequate. It is a robust and well-proven method that can function safely over very long time horizons. Crucially, it also provides something that geological disposal does not: time.

Time to develop better technological solutions.

The case for geological disposal rests on a familiar assumption: that spent nuclear fuel must be isolated deep underground for up to 100,000 years. At first glance, this sounds both reasonable and morally compelling. But it contains an obvious contradiction. The 100,000-year requirement assumes that civilization is stable enough to plan, fund, and execute a century-long engineering project – yet somehow too fragile to be trusted with monitoring a storage pool a few centuries from now. You cannot have it both ways.

Because spent nuclear fuel is not merely waste. It is also a resource. With advanced reactor designs and technologies such as transmutation, there is real potential to significantly reduce both the volume and long-term radiotoxicity of spent fuel – while generating large amounts of clean electricity in the process. To permanently seal this material deep underground therefore appears, at best, premature, and at worst, a deliberate decision to foreclose future options.

This raises a more fundamental question: why the urgency to make something irreversible?

A common argument concerns security – the risk of proliferation or nuclear terrorism. But the logic here does not hold up to scrutiny. Sweden's interim storage facilities are among the most monitored, regulated, and physically secured sites in the country, operating under constant oversight precisely because of their political sensitivity. If a proliferation risk exists anywhere, it is in the vast and loosely tracked global inventory of nuclear material – not in a Swedish facility that is under continuous scrutiny. The question is not whether interim storage can be made secure. It can. The question is whether geological disposal is actually more secure, over any realistic policy horizon. The answer is far from obvious.

What is really at stake is a deeply embedded idea that the problem must be solved once and for all, permanently and irreversibly. But perhaps that very idea is the problem.

Rather than committing hundreds of billions to a system designed never to be reopened, the priority should be on what actually matters in the near term: rapidly expanding nuclear power to displace fossil fuels, in Sweden and beyond.

Seen in that light, 183 billion SEK for a geological repository is not just a large cost.

It is a misallocation. An extraordinarily expensive one.

Come sail away

noreply@blogger.com (Rasmus Karlsson) — Tue, 14 Apr 2026 17:58:00 +0000

This morning, I briefly escaped to the balcony with a cup of coffee and the escapist treat that I was able to pick up with some surplus cash at San Diego airport. Reading about the 16th-century Portuguese colony of “Paraty” on the Costa Verde, just south of Rio de Janeiro, the vibrant azulejo tiles and the intense greenery tell me that I am far from finished with the Lusophone world. For now, however, the only realms I will be sailing on are virtual ones, as I juggle a constant stream of student emails and Zoom meetings, topped off by the utter absurdism of watching the Swedish comedian Messiah Hallberg euthanize the Bolibompa dragon together with William.

Lucky

noreply@blogger.com (Rasmus Karlsson) — Mon, 13 Apr 2026 10:27:00 +0000

Only a few days after Johanna and I got back from the United States, the pilots and cabin crew of Lufthansa decided to celebrate the airline’s centenary in the most traditional way possible: by striking. With thousands of flights cancelled, customers have apparently spent up to six hours in line trying to be rebooked or found themselves stuck in endless loops with AI bots. Thinking back on our trip, with our double upgrade on the way over and our hike among rattlesnakes in the Cleveland National Forest, we certainly had our share of good fortune, and I even got a box of Lindt chocolate to bring home.

Sticking to the theme of luck, William went downhill skiing in Kiruna while I was in the US. Reviewing his Suunto app stats together, I got a bit of PTSD by proxy when seeing that his maximum speed had been 61 kilometres per hour and that he had made a couple of two-metre jumps. Happily, all went well, but I guess this is clearly one of those situations when the less I know, the better off I am.

Kongahälla

noreply@blogger.com (Rasmus Karlsson) — Sun, 12 Apr 2026 10:51:00 +0000

Taking the express bus north again for another tournament, this Sunday follows a now familiar pattern: me working and William playing chess, Picadeli lunches, and William’s friend Amos wearing his signature red bow tie.

The only break from the routine has been a visit to the nearby Nordic Wellness Kongahälla gym for the first ten of this month’s fifty kilometres, followed by a few more on the treadmill. After going without a quantitative running target for the first three months of the year, I have realised that having no target makes me just as stressed as having one. As such, I have decided to aim for 50 kilometres per week for the remainder of the year, for a total of 2,600 kilometres. Though significantly lower than in previous years, I hope that goal will help me stabilise my running at a sustainable level while still giving me time to be a present dad.

Birdsong

noreply@blogger.com (Rasmus Karlsson) — Sat, 11 Apr 2026 13:17:00 +0000

With Artemis II safely back on Earth despite some initial concerns about its heat shield, I am spending this weekend in Gothenburg making up for past sins by going to the gym with the kids, running thirty kilometres in the forest, and shopping at Lidl. Tomorrow, William and I are taking the bus up to Kungälv for the “Trekungamötet” chess tournament, where I hope to check out the indoor rowing machines at the nearby Nordic Wellness Kongahälla gym and finally stop feeling bad about that “Americone Dream” ice cream by Stephen Colbert ;-)

Running through the forest this morning, there was a lot of birdsong, which reminded me of Johanna’s fascinating Merlin Bird ID app, something that felt incredibly Star Trek. Developed by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, the app provides a spectrogram and is capable of identifying numerous birds at the same time, as can be seen in the screenshot above from our hike to Three Sisters Falls last Monday.