The Week Unwrapped: New news, equality in space and small talk
Will new TV news channels threaten impartiality? Is space the final frontier for disability? And do we really need lessons in chit-chat?
Olly Mann and The Week delve behind the headlines and debate what really matters from the past seven days.
To get six free issues of The Week magazine and a moleskine notebook visit theweek.co.uk/offer and enter promo code: pod25
In this week’s episode, we discuss:
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.
Rolling news
UK News and GB News - two new faces emerging soon on the UK's media scene - have got journalists chattering about whether more right-leaning punditry is really needed and the continued influence of media moguls. But are the two channels really going to bring Fox News-style broadcasting to the UK? Or is the concern about the launches just a storm in a tea cup?
Space
The European Space Agency has put out a call for more female and disabled applicants, as it seeks to broaden the pool of potential astronauts. The theory is two-fold - that non-traditional candidates will bring new talents (people with some physical disabilities, for example, may be more adept at manoeuvring themselves in zero gravity, as they are used to managing without the use of their legs) and also that the work they do could contribute to better assistive technology on earth.
Chit-chat 101
A British university has begun offering its law students a world first: classes in chit-chat. The module was introduced after internal polls found that 43% of students feared they would be judged by the way they speak, and a third worried about being asked a question they did not know how to answer. The university’s response? Talks on small talk.
You can subscribe to The Week Unwrapped on the Global Player, Apple podcasts, SoundCloud or wherever you get you get your podcasts.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
-
Parker Palm Springs review: decadence in the California desert
The Week Recommends This over-the-top hotel is a mid-century modern gem
By Catherine Garcia, The Week US Published
-
The real story behind the Stanford Prison Experiment
The Explainer 'Everything you think you know is wrong' about Philip Zimbardo's infamous prison simulation
By Tess Foley-Cox Published
-
Is it safe for refugees to return to Syria?
Talking Point European countries rapidly froze asylum claims after Assad's fall but Syrian refugees may have reason not to rush home
By Richard Windsor, The Week UK Published
-
The Week Unwrapped: wheels or doors, Russian losses and speaking pig
podcast What makes a social media post go viral? What does the war in Ukraine mean for pensions? And can an algorithm understand a pig’s emotions?
By The Week Staff Published
-
The Week Unwrapped: Seasonless fashion, sacred land and Saudi Magpies
In Depth Why is Gucci renouncing seasons? Why has an Aboriginal heritage site been blown up? And who are Newcastle Utd’s prospective new owners?
By The Week Staff Published
-
The Week Unwrapped podcast: Reincarnation, refugees and the green bubble
In Depth Can VR bring loved ones back from the dead? Could refugee camps cause a pandemic? And can BP reinvent itself for the green era?
By The Week Staff Published
-
Business Unwrapped: the UK media revolution
feature Is the growing backlash against social networks an opportunity for British media companies?
By The Week Staff Last updated