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:
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Alcohol pricing
A new report on the effects of setting a minimum price for alcohol in Scotland in 2018 suggests that the heaviest drinkers didn’t cut their alcohol intake and the poorest of them reduced their spending on food and heating to pay for the higher drink prices. Other studies have found more positive effects, but after alcohol-related deaths rose during the pandemic, the Scottish government is coming under pressure to rethink its approach.
#JordanToo
A physics professor at one of Jordan’s leading universities has been suspended after being accused of sexual harassment by several female students. The case has prompted an outpouring of support for the women on Twitter and widespread media coverage, an unusual development in Jordan, a country in which women still play a relatively small role in public life.
Coastal erosion
Sir James Bevan, the chief executive of the Environment Agency, said this week that Britain must face up to the fact that many coastal towns and villages cannot be defended from coastal erosion. Instead, he said, local and national government – as well as individuals – will have to prepare for a future in which some homes are abandoned to the sea, or proactively demolished. Is this a sensible way to prepare for an uncertain future – or a defeatist approach to a solvable problem?
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The Week Unwrapped: Have televised confessions quelled protests in Iran?Podcast Plus, why has Elon Musk turned from Mars to the Moon? And will the BBC prove to be a puzzles champ?
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The week’s best photosIn Pictures An Andean god, a rogue squirrel, and more
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9 products to jazz up your letters and cardsThe Week Recommends Get the write stuff
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The plan to wall off the ‘Doomsday’ glacierUnder the Radar Massive barrier could ‘slow the rate of ice loss’ from Thwaites Glacier, whose total collapse would have devastating consequences
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Can the UK take any more rain?Today’s Big Question An Atlantic jet stream is ‘stuck’ over British skies, leading to ‘biblical’ downpours and more than 40 consecutive days of rain in some areas
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As temperatures rise, US incomes fallUnder the radar Elevated temperatures are capable of affecting the entire economy
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The world is entering an ‘era of water bankruptcy’The explainer Water might soon be more valuable than gold
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Climate change could lead to a reptile ‘sexpocalypse’Under the radar The gender gap has hit the animal kingdom
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The former largest iceberg is turning blue. It’s a bad sign.Under the radar It is quickly melting away
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How drones detected a deadly threat to Arctic whalesUnder the radar Monitoring the sea in the air
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‘Jumping genes’: how polar bears are rewiring their DNA to survive the warming ArcticUnder the radar The species is adapting to warmer temperatures
