The Week Unwrapped: CGI influencers, razor wire and Pinochet
Are CGI influencers less fake than the real ones? Why are Europe’s fences coming down? And who is Chile’s new women’s minister?
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:
CGI influencers
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This week a major US talent agency signed its first ever "virtual client", a CGI character named Lil Miquela. Named as one of Time's 25 most influential people, Miquela has more than 2 million followers on instragram. But is she, as her creators argue, less fake than many of her real-life social media peers?
Razor wire
The bank holiday weekend saw record irregular migrants arrive in the UK via the Channel. But with Spain currently dismantling the razor wire fence along the border with Morocco, the migrants arrive at a time when “fortress Europe” is rethinking its walls.
Pinochet
Sebastian Pinera, Chile’s rightwing president, has appointed a new minister for women’s rights and gender equality – Macarena Santelices, the great-niece of Augusto Pinochet. Under Pinochet's dictatorship, hundreds of women were raped and sexually tortured. The appointment has sparked outrage from many Chilean women, but Santelices has insisted she must be judged on her actions. Does this mark a turning point for a country whose past still casts a lingering shadow over its future?
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