Book Club: The Scent of Wild Animals

In this first EU Scream Book Club, co-authors of The Last Bluff recount how the world watched in awe — and often admiration — as a scrappy government in Athens tried to stare down Europe's financial and political establishment.

With the COP26 climate conference about to get underway in Glasgow, major breakthroughs look elusive. Among the spectres at the feast are raging geopolitical tensions, high energy prices, the ongoing pandemic and a lack of diplomatic vigour from Europe.

In 2009 Connie Hedegaard presided over the Copenhagen climate conference that ended in rancour — and left Europe on the sidelines. Hedegaard went on to become the first European commissioner for climate action.

The European Union and its 27 member states will play a decisive role in deciding the fate of the hippo.

Speaking at the Global Progressive Forum, former Italian prime minister Enrico Letta describes the victim-shaming of Italy and Spain during the financial crisis — and explains how a big bag of money from Brussels may be helping heal the wounds.

The cliché of the big bad wolf continues into the present day. In places like Finland deeply-entrenched cultural anxieties fuel unfounded fears that they will attack innocent children on their way to school.