The Week Unwrapped podcast: Self-rule, war crimes and female cars

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:

Self-rule

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The tiny island chain of Bougainville, part of Papua New Guinea, will this week hold an independence referendum in which its citizens are widely expected to secede and become the world’s newest sovereign nation. But with no real economic prospects, no exit strategy and memories of a brutal civil war in the 1990s looming large over the vote, is the future really bright for Bougainville?

Read our briefing on what Bougainville's independence means for the rest of the world.

War crimes

The US Navy has indicated that it will review and possibly expel a SEAL who posed for a photo with an enemy corpse. The review comes a few days after Trump ignored military advice to order the SEAL's rank be restored and issued full pardons to two other service members, all of whom had been involved with potential war crimes. All of this put the US president at odds with the military judicial system. Does he not trust the military anymore? And is this a sign that the US, under Trump, no longer cares about war crimes?

Read briefing on one of the pardoned men, Clint Lorance. And the accusations that the UK has also tried to brush aside war crimes.

Female cars

This week Aston Martin unveiled its first SUV to compete in the fast-growing and fiercely competitive luxury SUV car market. The new model is also an attempt to woo wealthy women – currently the car maker's customers are mostly all men. Is this a sign that the car industry is finally waking up to the unique demands and preferences of women, or just a bungled and patronising PR stunt?

You can subscribe to The Week Unwrapped on the Global Player, Apple podcasts, SoundCloud or wherever you get your podcasts. It is produced by Sarah Myles and the music is by Tom Mawby.