The Week Unwrapped: Immunotherapy, unions and a house revival

Olly Mann and The Week delve behind the headlines and debate what really matters from the past seven days.

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In this week’s episode, we discuss:

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Immunotherapy breakthrough

A small trial of a new immunotherapy drug has found that the treatment had a 100% efficacy rate against a form of colorectal cancer. It’s only one form of the disease and it’s a very small trial, but it’s a really strong result – and it comes on top of 15 years of astonishing progress. Someone diagnosed with metastatic melanoma in 2008 was likely to be dead within two years. Now people can live with the disease for decades and die of something else. Are we finally turning the tide on cancer?

Unionising tech

Workers at an Apple store in Maryland have voted to unionise, and in doing so have become the company’s first official US union. Other American Apple stores have tried, but without success. As UK-based unions flex their muscles this week with rail and Tube strikes, is this a sign that organised labour is making a comeback?

House revival

Drake's new album, Honestly Nevermind, signals a significant change in tone, and Break My Soul from Beyonce has a similar energy. Both have acknowledged that they turned to 1990s House music for inspiration – and in some cases for talent too. Drake’s album was produced with the help of house and electronic music producers Gordo, Rampa, Black Coffee and Alex Lustig. But why now? What is the appeal of a genre that had drifted out of the mainstream?