Collapsing pensions and civilisations
Unexpected Elements
BBC
4.4 • 567 Ratings
🗓️ 8 June 2023
⏱️ 51 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
As French citizens protest against the raising of the state pension age, we look at the figures – are we really living longer? And if so, why? We take notes from the naked mole rat - it’s born looking wrinkled but this rodent is apparently ageless. And moving on from mere creatures, we’re asking if every state, society or civilisation has a lifespan, and if we can prevent it ending on our watch.
Also, as South Africans battle to live their best lives against almost daily power cuts, we look at load shedding – why is their power being switched off and is there a light at the end of the tunnel? We continue our quest to find The Coolest Science in the World with a man using tiny microbes for big problems, and the launch of a new BBC World Service drama about Fukushima gets us thinking about the consequences.
All that plus your emails and whatsapps, a team in three different countries and the decadence of Marnie’s footwear choices.
Presented by Marnie Chesterton Produced by Margaret Sessa-Hawkins and Ben Motley
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Oh, hello. You have chosen a BBC podcast, but before you listen to it, we thought you might |
| 0:04.7 | like our podcast too. You might. You might. It is called Sightracked with me, Nick Grimshaw. |
| 0:09.2 | And me, Annie Mack. And we talk about the week in music. All the news, all the cultural |
| 0:14.0 | happenings in the UK and beyond. And great guests. And it's on BBC Sounds. Yes, where you can |
| 0:19.7 | also enjoy lots of playlists, music mixes and |
| 0:22.6 | live radio. Everything from my six music breakfast show to Radio 3 Unwind. But obviously start with |
| 0:29.3 | our podcast, sidetrack. Obviously. Obviously. So if you like music, listen on BBC Sounds. |
| 0:36.7 | So this week, British summertime seems to have started, which for me means a change of |
| 0:42.8 | footwear. Out with the winter boots and in with the sandals, which are a good thing. |
| 0:48.4 | I've already had compliments about the pair I'm wearing today. But this is where the |
| 0:53.1 | law of unintended consequences comes in. |
| 0:56.5 | Shoes you aren't used to plus unsocked feet equals blisters. Something I can avoid by wearing |
| 1:03.1 | blister plasters, which cost an eye-watering one dollar per protected heel. That's enough to make |
| 1:09.7 | my footwear seem decadent. |
| 1:11.8 | But from now on, whenever I consider wearing them, |
| 1:14.7 | I'll remember that sometimes good things come with hidden costs. |
| 1:19.3 | I'm Marnie Chesterton from the BBC World Service. |
| 1:22.1 | This is Unexpected Elements. |
| 1:24.1 | Music elements. |
| 1:41.5 | Joining us from South Africa, we have Candice Bailey, a science editor, hello Candice. |
| 1:43.8 | Mulwheli, Manny, how are you? |
| 1:45.8 | I'm very well. Good to have you back. |
... |
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