

The Week Unwrapped - with Olly Mann
The Week Unwrapped
Have you missed the biggest news of the week? Olly Mann and three of The Week's writers and editors decide which under-reported stories will have the biggest long-term consequences. Join Felicity Capon, Harriet Marsden and Jamie Timson to learn about three stories you won't hear on other news podcasts – but will remember in years to come.
Episodes
Mentioned books

Sep 12, 2022 • 35min
#293 Algerian English, dark tourism and two-headed beasts
Why is Algeria dropping the French language? Should we be holidaying in Ukraine? And how do some animals survive with two heads? Olly Mann and The Week delve behind the headlines and debate what really matters from the past seven days. With Mariana Vieira, Kari Wilkin and Leaf Arbuthnot. This episode was recorded before the announcement of The Queen’s death

Sep 1, 2022 • 44min
#292 Lost tribes, celebration shaming and Edinburgh blues
Was “the Man of the Hole” the last of his kind? Are footballers over-celebrating? And is Edinburgh feeling less festive? Olly Mann and The Week delve behind the headlines and debate what really matters from the past seven days. With Arion McNicoll, Guy Anker and Suchandrika Chakrabarti

Aug 30, 2022 • 12min
The Moscow-Washington Hotline
Start your Tuesday morning with The Retrospectors - Olly & Arion's daily history show - which we present to you here in its full, ten minute glory. Today's episode focuses on the hotline from Moscow to Washington.On 30th August, 1963, a 10,000 mile transatlantic Washington-Moscow cable went live from the Pentagon to Red Square.In the public imagination (in part thanks to Kubrik’s ‘Dr Strangelove’), it remains a red telephone - but it is, in fact, a pair of beige teletype machines that each required ten staff to operate.In this episode, Arion, Rebecca Messina (yes, that's Gillie to long-time Unwrappers) and Olly explain why, prior to this, diplomacy was often being skipped altogether in favour of inflammatory radio broadcasts; consider what the messages the two nations send each other can tell us about their cultural differences; and marvel at just how much geopolitics hinges on whether two particular world leaders like each other… Listen to The Retrospectors - Today In History every weekday at podfollow.com/retrospectors

Aug 25, 2022 • 36min
#291 Insanity pleas, Korean Danes and doppelgangers
How much violence can be explained by mental illness? Why were South Korean children sent to Denmark? And have you met your lookalike? Olly Mann and The Week delve behind the headlines and debate what really matters from the past seven days. With Abdulwahab Tahhan, Julia O’Driscoll and Leaf Arbuthnot

Aug 18, 2022 • 44min
#290 Chinese protests, supersonic jets and university cheats
Will mortgage strikes force China to change course? Does Concorde finally have a worthy successor? And what’s behind a rise in cheating? Olly Mann and The Week delve behind the headlines and debate what really matters from the past seven days. With Julia Macfarlane, Holden Frith and Kate Samuelson

Aug 11, 2022 • 41min
#289 Russian visas, Arab fattism and quiet quitting
Is Finland an unwilling backdoor to Europe? Has fat-shaming reached the Middle East? And are young workers really slacking off? Olly Mann and The Week delve behind the headlines and debate what really matters from the past seven days. With Cindy Yu, Abdulwahab Tahhan and Leaf Arbuthnot

Aug 4, 2022 • 40min
#288 Immunity, Tunisia and Big Brother
Will a drug called Evusheld cut Covid deaths still further? Is the Arab Spring over? And are we ready for the return of reality TV? Olly Mann and The Week delve behind the headlines and debate what really matters from the past seven days. With Tom Chivers, Arion McNicoll and Sorcha Bradley

Jul 28, 2022 • 38min
#287 Nigerian gas, female exercise and a new Saudi city
Could Nigeria step in to fill the Russian energy gap? Why are British women reluctant to get fit? And what can we expect from a solar-powered city in the desert? Arion McNicoll, standing in for Olly Mann, delves behind the headlines and debates what really matters from the past seven days. With Mariana Vieri, Kate Samuelson and Abdulwahab Tahhan

Jul 21, 2022 • 37min
#286 Headers, savings and costly chips
Is the FA phasing out headers? Do rising interest rates offer a glimmer of hope to savers? And how will fish and chip shops cope with a poor potato harvest? Arion McNicoll, standing in for Olly Mann, delves behind the headlines and debates what really matters from the past seven days. With Holden Frith, Guy Anker and Suchandrika Chakrabarti.

Jul 14, 2022 • 39min
#285 Massage apps, social media copyright and eradicating a tropical disease
Are home massage services putting users at risk? Is YouTube’s copyright claim system fit for purpose? And how has the world succeeded in almost completely eradicating a tropical disease? Olly Mann and The Week delve behind the headlines and debate what really matters from the past seven days. With Tom Chivers, Leaf Arbuthnot and Emma Smith