Skip to content
Collapsing pensions and civilisations episode artwork

Jun 8, 2023 50 min

Collapsing pensions and civilisations

from Unexpected Elements Hosted by BBC World Service

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

Episode details come from the podcast's RSS feed.

Embed this episode

Ready to play

Collapsing pensions and civilisations

0:00 50:29

No transcript yet.

Requests help us decide what to transcribe next.

Frequently asked questions

How long is this episode of Unexpected Elements?

This episode is 50 minutes long.

When was this Unexpected Elements episode published?

This episode was published on June 8, 2023.

Can I download this Unexpected Elements episode?

Yes. Use the download control on the episode player to save the publisher-provided media file.