The Week Unwrapped - with Olly Mann – Details, episodes & analysis

Why has France arrested the head of a social network? Will cannabis ever be legal in Britain? And have government spending cuts led to worse art? Olly Mann and The Week delve behind the headlines and debate what really matters from the past seven days. With Rebecca Messina, Jamie Timson and Suchandrika Chakrabarti













Image: Nadine Rupp / Getty Images

Are Malaysian apes now working for the palm-oil industry? Will floating wind farms boost green power? And how will new checks affect European holidays? Olly Mann and The Week delve behind the headlines and debate what really matters from the past seven days. With Mariana Vieira, Jess Hullinger and Leaf Arbuthnot

Credit: Anup Shah / Getty Images

Why are Les Bleus speaking out about the French election? What's making people turn off the news? And should TikTok and Instagram carry health warnings? Olly Mann and The Week delve behind the headlines and debate what really matters from the past seven days. With Rebekah Evans, Jamie Timson and Abdulwahab Tahhan

Do opinion polls hinder our national debate? What’s the best way to test language skills? And how did the Queen of Denmark upset her grandchildren? Olly Mann and The Week delve behind the headlines and debate what really matters from the past seven days. With Jamie Timson, Abdulwahab Tahhan and Leaf Arbuthnot

Why has China put a 90-year-old priest on trial? Will a new vaccine stem declining bee numbers? And why has New York embraced the early dinner? Olly Mann and The Week delve behind the headlines and debate what really matters from the past seven days. With Julia Macfarlane, Holden Frith and Arion McNicoll

Will Iran’s ‘morality police’ have to change their ways? Have crime-solving podcasts proved their worth? And have moments of silence had their day? Olly Mann and The Week delve behind the headlines and debate what really matters from the past seven days. With Suchandrika Chakrabarti, Kate Samuelson and Emma Smith

Can the Metropolitan Police’s new commissioner fix the force’s problems? Why has Sweden swung to the political right? And are passwords set to become obsolete? Olly Mann and The Week delve behind the headlines and debate what really matters from the past seven days. With Abdulwahab Tahhan, Arion McNicoll and Julia O’Driscoll

Why is Algeria dropping the French language? Should we be holidaying in Ukraine? And how do some animals survive with two heads? Olly Mann and The Week delve behind the headlines and debate what really matters from the past seven days. With Mariana Vieira, Kari Wilkin and Leaf Arbuthnot. This episode was recorded before the announcement of The Queen’s death

Was “the Man of the Hole” the last of his kind? Are footballers over-celebrating? And is Edinburgh feeling less festive? Olly Mann and The Week delve behind the headlines and debate what really matters from the past seven days. With Arion McNicoll, Guy Anker and Suchandrika Chakrabarti

Start your Tuesday morning with The Retrospectors - Olly & Arion's daily history show - which we present to you here in its full, ten minute glory. Today's episode focuses on the hotline from Moscow to Washington.

On 30th August, 1963, a 10,000 mile transatlantic Washington-Moscow cable went live from the Pentagon to Red Square.

In the public imagination (in part thanks to Kubrik’s ‘Dr Strangelove’), it remains a red telephone - but it is, in fact, a pair of beige teletype machines that each required ten staff to operate.

In this episode, Arion, Rebecca Messina (yes, that's Gillie to long-time Unwrappers) and Olly explain why, prior to this, diplomacy was often being skipped altogether in favour of inflammatory radio broadcasts; consider what the messages the two nations send each other can tell us about their cultural differences; and marvel at just how much geopolitics hinges on whether two particular world leaders like each other…

Listen to The Retrospectors - Today In History every weekday at podfollow.com/retrospectors