Olly Mann and The Week delve behind the headlines and debate what really matters from the past seven days.
In this week’s episode, we discuss:
Whaling
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
In the face of condemnation from the international community, Japan resumed commercial whaling this week. But with Japanese palates having long since moved on and the industry barely staying afloat without government subsidy, one question is being asked: what’s the point?
Read our briefing on Japanese whaling here.
The price of TV
This week NBC said it would not renew Netflix’s right to stream the American version of The Office, which is the most popular show on the streaming service - it accounts for 7% of all Netflix use. That’s because NBC is launching its own video-streaming service featuring its archive of programming - and so are many other big TV producers: the BBC and ITV are about to launch Britbox, a subscription service based on their archives, and Disney, Warner and Apple are planning their own players and their own big-budget shows. What that means is that anyone wanting access to either brand new hits or comforting old favourites is going to have to pay a lot more for the privilege.
The flight of a princess
Princess Haya of Dubai has reportedly fled to London with her two children in order to seek a divorce from her husband, Sheikh Mohammed al-Maktoum. In recent years, two of the sheikh’s daughters have unsuccessfully attempted to escape what they described as an ultra-controlling regime – and neither has been seen since. Does Princess Haya know more than she is letting on?
You can subscribe to The Week Unwrapped on iTunes, SoundCloud or wherever you get your podcasts. It is produced by Matt Hill and the music is by Tom Mawby.
Continue reading for free
We hope you're enjoying The Week's refreshingly open-minded journalism.
Subscribed to The Week? Register your account with the same email as your subscription.
-
The week’s best photojournalismIn Pictures A steaming volcano, a giant crater and more
-
Texas and Yelp are suing each other over crisis pregnancy centers
Talking Point A battle over free speech and abortion rights heads to court
-
Dianne Feinstein, history-making Democratic US senator, dies at 90
The Explainer Her colleagues celebrate her legacy as a trailblazer who cleared the path for other women to follow
-
The Week Unwrapped: Korean succession, terror by algorithm and German disquiet
podcast Could a 10-year-old girl rule North Korea? Will an Isis victim upend web law? And why is Germany upset with its Oscars contender?
-
The Week Unwrapped: The male pill, consultants and a green trade war
podcast Will men finally get an oral contraceptive? Is the government using too many consultants? And why are the US and EU at loggerheads over green tech?
-
The Week Unwrapped: Chinese chips, the Pope in Africa and podcasting
podcast Is China losing the microchip war? What is the Vatican doing in South Sudan? And has the podcast tide turned?
-
The Week Unwrapped: Sex and health, the Earth’s core and another new year
podcast Is the NHS failing British women? What’s going on at the centre of our planet? And what’s in a date?
-
The Week Unwrapped: Antisocial Saudis, hormone therapy and retro tech
podcast Why is Saudi Arabia investing in – and banning – social networks? Will new research make life easier for trans women? And is the future of technology dumb?
-
The Week Unwrapped: AI in court, Germans in Taiwan and ghostwriters
podcast Could artificial intelligence replace lawyers? What does Taiwan want from Germany? And are ghostwriters becoming less ghostly?
-
The Week Unwrapped: Millennial politics, Japanese payments and Swedish wolves
podcast Are today’s young voters staying leftier for longer? Will cash incentives get people to leave Tokyo? And why are endangered wolves facing a cull?
-
The Year Unwrapped: White refugees, Aegean islands and celebrity gossip
podcast Was 2022 the year of the white refugees? What’s really going on in the Aegean sea? And why are we so obsessed with showbiz scandals?
