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:
Destruction in the Amazon
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Deforestation of the Amazon has accelerated alarmingly under Brazil’s new president Jair Bolsonaro; by some estimates, an area the size of a football pitch is being destroyed every minute. We discuss why the rainforest matters to all of us and how populist leaders like Bolsonaro are using the climate crisis to further their goals.
Asbestos
Reports that hundreds of schools in England are to be investigated by the national health and safety body for allegedly failing to safely manage asbestos in their buildings have triggered fresh fears about the cancer-causing material. With thousands of people now dying each year as a result of exposure decades ago, are the nation’s schoolchildren under threat from an asbestos timebomb?
Gender-reveal parties
This week, video was released showing an Australian gender-reveal party gone awry. As such displays become more popular, performative, commercialised, and dangerous, it’s worth questioning their merit. Are gender reveals just harmless displays of parental pride? Or are we reasserting normative and regressive gender roles before our babies are even born? And what role does social media play in it all?
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.
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