Sweden has begun issuing new bank notes that feature portraits of an equal number of women and men on the face of the notes. The reverse side of each note depicts a scene from nature or cultural motif related to the portraits. The Swedish women honoured on the face of the new bills are opera singer Birgit Nilsson, author Astrid Lindgren who wrote Pippi Longstocking, and actress Greta Garbo. The men are musician Evert Taube, director Ingmar Bergman, and diplomat Dag Hammarskjöld. The General Council of the Riksbank explained the selections as follows: “The General Council has chosen people who have made positive and important contributions to Sweden’s cultural heritage during the 20th century. We believe that the new motifs reflect Sweden’s cultural heritage and different parts of our country in a positive and representative way,” say Johan Gernandt and Leif Pagrotsky, Chairman and Vice Chairman respectively of the General Council. “Of course, achieving an equal balance between women and men has also been important.” As for media coverage of our campaign, on February 3rd I was a guest on The Sheldon MacLeod Show, a radio program on News957, Halifax. Images of new Swedish bank notes: http://www.riksbank.se/en/Press-and-published/Press/Press-photos/New-banknotes/