Olly Mann and The Week delve behind the headlines and debate what really matters from the past seven days. With Guy Anker, Suchandrika Chakrabarti and Arion McNicoll.
In this week’s episode, we discuss:
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Savings rates
The Financial Conduct Authority, the UK’s banking regulator, says it will take “robust action” if banks fail to pass on rising interest rates to customers with savings as well as mortgages. High-street banks have been accused of being too slow to pay out more on savings accounts, despite raising rates on loans and mortgages almost immediately. What action can the FCA take? And what can we do to make sure we’re getting the best return on our money?
Allergies on the rise
The number of people taken to hospital in the UK suffering from severe allergies has more than doubled in the past two decades, rising from 12,361 to 35,721. The wider availability of foods from around the world is one factor, but an increase in the number of birch trees – which produce large quantities of pollen – has also been blamed. Amena Warner, head of clinical services at Allergy UK, the leading national patient charity for people living with all types of allergy, told The Guardian that the rise was “hugely worrying”.
Talking to strangers
A recent survey has found that people are increasingly unwilling to talk to people they don’t know. Even when we’re in a public place, we’re more likely to insulate ourselves from conversations with strangers by listening to music (or podcasts) or browsing on our phones. Are we denying ourselves the simple pleasure of chance encounters, and could there be a more significant drawbacks to our social retreat?
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Margaret Atwood’s memoir, intergenerational trauma and the fight to make spousal rape a crime: Welcome to November booksThe Week Recommends This month's new releases include ‘Book of Lives: A Memoir of Sorts’ by Margaret Atwood, ‘Cursed Daughters’ by Oyinkan Braithwaite and 'Without Consent' by Sarah Weinman
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‘Tariffs are making daily life less affordable now’Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
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Out of office: microretirement is trending in the workplaceThe explainer Long vacations are the new way to beat burnout
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The Week Unwrapped: Should we be eating less fat – or more?Podcast Plus who will benefit from the surprise Dutch election result? And how can art improve our health?
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The Week Unwrapped: Will Grace Wales Bonner change Hermès for the better?Podcast Plus will nuclear fusion deliver us from climate change? Is humour the best way to take on Trump?
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The Week Unwrapped: Can bullfighting win over young SpaniardsPodcast Plus, is online fandom inherently unhealthy? And is Putin’s economy running out of gas?
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The Week Unwrapped: Who had the last laugh in Riyadh?Podcast Plus are imported eggs undermining animal welfare? And what can we do about AI deepfakes?
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The Week Unwrapped: Was life sent to Earth by aliens?Podcast Plus why did Nepali voters use a gaming app to pick their next PM? And will a new national park boost the case for Welsh independence?
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The Week Unwrapped: Why is horse-racing going on strike?Podcast Plus, will the South Korean women who worked in state-run brothels set up for US soldiers succeed? And what’s behind a surge in leg-lengthening surgery?
