The Week Unwrapped: A new human, ME and date-stacking
Does Homo sapiens have a new cousin? Are people with ME about to get better treatment? And is three dates in one day too many?
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.
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.
The human family tree
Our understanding of ancient human ancestry took a step forwards this week with the announcement that a skull belonging to a 12 or 13 year old who died about 300,000 years ago seems to have belonged to an entirely new branch of our family tree. It has a combination of bone shapes and structures that have never been seen together in any other skull – part Homo sapiens and part Denisovans, who are themselves a recently discovered cousin of the Neanderthals. What does this tell us about our past – and our present?
A better deal for people with ME
The government is proposing a new approach to treating the estimated 240,000 people in the UK with ME, also known as chronic fatigue syndrome. Its goal is to improve understanding of the debilitating condition and remove the remaining stigma attached to it. In the absence of a cure, effective treatments or even a diagnosis, efforts will focus on better managing symptoms and carrying out research into what causes the disease.
Date-stacking
A viral trend is courting controversy: date-stacking, or scheduling multiple dates in one day. While some people see it as ruthless, dismissive and logistically taxing, others find it perfectly understandable and extremely efficient. But is it on the rise, or is this a new term for old speed-dating? Is it driven by ticking biological clocks, or time poverty? Or are dating apps teaching us to treat people like disposable commodities? And how long does it really take to know if there’s a spark?
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
-
How to create a healthy 'germier' home
Under The Radar Exposure to a broad range of microbes can enhance our immune system, especially during childhood
-
George Floyd: Did Black Lives Matter fail?
Feature The momentum for change fades as the Black Lives Matter Plaza is scrubbed clean
-
National debt: Why Congress no longer cares
Feature Rising interest rates, tariffs and Trump's 'big, beautiful' bill could sent the national debt soaring
-
The Week Unwrapped: Will Europe beat China and India to the North Pole?
Podcast Plus, is the man who designed the iPhone going to kill his own creation? And what's going on at the equalities watchdog?
-
The Week Unwrapped: Will the Enhanced Games change how we see doping?
Podcast Plus, how will autonomous weapons change warfare? And are Reform supporters more datable than Tories?
-
The Week Unwrapped: Why is cheese so bad for the environment?
Podcast Plus, will weight-loss drugs cut cancer rates? And what's behind a rise in 'sextortion' cases?
-
The Week Unwrapped: Will robots benefit from a sense of touch?
Podcast Plus, has Donald Trump given centrism a new lease of life? And was it wrong to release the deadly film Rust?
-
The Week Unwrapped: How is professional sport dealing with dementia?
Podcast Plus, is fossil-fuel advertising on borrowed time? And do male authors need more support?
-
The Week Unwrapped: Why was Pope Francis controversial in Argentina?
Podcast Plus, could marriage increase your risk of dementia? And what is the true cost of that viral pistachio chocolate?
-
The Week Unwrapped: Can we really 'de-extinct' prehistoric animals?
Podcast Plus, will womb transplants transform fertility? And why are prices falling in the art market?
-
The Week Unwrapped: Who is the world's first millennial saint?
Podcast Plus, what has Meta done to anger writers? And why would studios block the release of their own movies?