The Week Unwrapped: National service, Bahrain and Roman Polanski
Should we all serve country and community? Can Bahrain and Israel be allies? And has history finally caught up with a legendary director?
Olly Mann and The Week delve behind the headlines and debate what really matters from the past seven days. With Leaf Arbuthnot, Abdulwahab Tahhan and Harriet Marsden.
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.
National service
The think tank Onward has proposed the reintroduction of national service, in a radically different new form. It would be voluntary, for a start, and separate from the military. The stated aim is to “develop skills, improve mental wellbeing, and increase a sense of belonging among Britain’s youth”, but the reaction appears to have reopened a generational divide. Could any form of collective activity help to bridge it?
Bahrain and Israel
On Monday, Israel opened an embassy in Bahrain, marking the culmination of a process that began three years ago with the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two. The agreement was one of a series known as the Abraham Accords, which also normalised relations between Israel and the UAE, Morocco and Sudan. How significant is this step, and will it help pave the way to a deal with Saudi Arabia?
Roman Polanski
When the Venice Film Festival chose to present Roman Polanski’s new film, it sparked widespread backlash. The director is a fugitive from US justice, having fled the country after pleading guilty to raping a 13-year-old girl in 1977. The festival’s artistic director justified the decision to include “The Palace”, saying Polanski was “one of the last great masters of European cinema”. But the reviews are in – and the film has bombed. Is Polanski’s career finally cancelled? And can great art excuse bad artists?
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
-
5 educational cartoons about the Harvard pushback
Cartoons Artists take on academic freedom, institutional resistance, and more
By The Week US
-
One-pan black chickpeas with baharat and orange recipe
The Week Recommends This one-pan dish offers bold flavours, low effort and minimum clean up
By The Week UK
-
Merz's coalition deal: a 'betrayal' of Germany?
Talking Point With liberalism, freedom and democracy under threat globally, it's a time for 'giants' – but this is a 'coalition of the timid'
By The Week UK
-
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?
By The Week UK
-
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?
By The Week UK
-
The Week Unwrapped: Why is Trump sending detainees to El Salvador?
Podcast Plus should councils reverse their bans on playing in streets? And can a Peruvian farmer defeat an energy giant?
By The Week UK
-
The Week Unwrapped: Can Canadian consumers take on Trump?
Podcast Plus does Nepal want its king back? And could eating fish make you kinder?
By The Week UK
-
The Week Unwrapped: Why do young people love ASMR?
Podcast Plus can US football stamp out homophobia? And why is Scottish Gaelic getting a TV boost?
By The Week UK
-
The Week Unwrapped: What do forever chemicals mean for firefighters?
Podcast Plus can we avoid another heating bill hike? And will a new test tell us how quickly our organs are ageing?
By The Week UK
-
The Week Unwrapped: Why are sinkholes becoming more common?
Podcast Plus, will Saudi investment help create the "Netflix of sport"? And why has New Zealand's new tourism campaign met with a savage reception?
By The Week UK
-
The Week Unwrapped: Why Trump is getting rid of the penny
Podcast Plus, what does the Chagos Islands deal mean for the island's inhabitants? And do personality tests discriminate against neurodivergent job applicants?
By The Week UK