The Week Unwrapped: Medals, lizards and vibe shifts
Why did a US-born athlete choose to compete for China? How do lizards shed their tales? And are we ready for a vibe shift?
A free daily digest of the biggest news stories of the day - and the best features from our website
Thank you for signing up to TheWeek. You will receive a verification email shortly.
There was a problem. Please refresh the page and try again.
Olly Mann and The Week delve behind the headlines and debate what really matters.
You can subscribe to The Week Unwrapped wherever you get your podcasts:
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.
Chinese medals
The Chinese-American skier Eileen Gu won two gold medals at the Winter Olympics in Beijing. In China, her victories consolidated her heroic status, but in the US they seemed to provoke mixed feelings. Many commentators couldn’t understand why anyone born in the US would choose to represent another country, especially China, over her homeland. Does this story illustrate a broader challenge for dual citizens, who can easily find themselves caught between two countries.
Lizards’ tails
The phenomenon of autotomy – by which animals shed parts of their body, usually to escape predators – has long been a mystery to scientists. Now, a group of researchers has discovered how lizards are able to keep their tails firmly attached during day-to-day life, and then shed it the moment it’s seized by an attacker. What they discovered may help engineers develop a new approach to prosthetic limbs, or even to create robots that can shed damaged parts.
Vibe shift
We are, according to a celebrated American cultural commentator, on the cusp of a “vibe shift” – a moment when prevailing attitudes and aesthetics are overturned and a new set is installed. The forecast was published before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, as the pandemic seemed to be coming to an end and many people were looking for a fresh start. But the eruption of war in Europe may have a have a cultural as well as a political fallout, even if some of it is subconscious.
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.
Sign up to our 10 Things You Need to Know Today newsletter
A free daily digest of the biggest news stories of the day - and the best features from our website
-
Why is the government on the brink of a shutdown?
Today's Big Question GOP infighting is bringing the country to a standstill, but even Republicans aren't entirely sure why
By Rafi Schwartz Published
-
Today’s political cartoons — September 29, 2023
Friday's cartoons - Biden's dog bite incident, the government shutdown and more
By The Week Staff Published
-
'A teetering democracy of gerontocrats?'
Instant opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
By Harold Maass Published
-
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?
By The Week Staff Published
-
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?
By The Week Staff Published
-
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?
By The Week Staff Published
-
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?
By The Week Staff Published
-
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?
By The Week Staff Published
-
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?
By The Week Staff Published
-
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?
By The Week Staff Published
-
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?
By The Week Staff Published