Outlook Mixtape: Saved by Spam, 'soft' boxer, infected blood

Available for over a year

In 2016, when Jenny Söderqvist and Helene Åberg’s car exploded in the middle of the vast Kalahari desert, their supplies and only lifeline to the outside world went up in flames. No rescue would come. The two friends from Sweden would spend the next five harrowing days lost in the wilderness and stalked by lions, until their salvation appeared to them in the most unlikely of forms: a tin of Spam. Maurice Hope was born in Antigua, and was a sensitive boy who cried easily. At 9 years old, Maurice moved with his family to the U.K. as part of the Windrush generation. After experiencing racist violence in the street he joined East London's famous boxing club, The Repton. In 1972 Maurice became the first black British Olympian boxer alongside Billy Knight. He went professional and soon found himself a world champion. When he met Queen Elizabeth II to receive a CBE he was determined to make an impression. In the 1970s and 80s thousands of people treated with blood products and given transfusions were unwittingly infected with blood-borne viruses such as HIV and hepatitis. A six-year-long public inquiry in Britain has been looking into what went wrong. The inquiry has heard evidence from many people affected, including Jason Evans, the leader of campaign group ‘Factor 8’. Jason’s father took blood product Factor 8 to treat his haemophilia, from this he contracted HIV and died when Jason was just four. Jason tells us about the effect on his and his mother's lives. From eBay to the abandoned silver mines of the American West: Viktor Fredback has built a denim collection spanning 100 years of American history, and worth hundreds of thousands of dollars. He's sacrificed time, money, and relationships in his pursuit of historic denim, and has even undertaken dangerous expeditions into long-abandoned 19th Century silver mines. Presenter: Mobeen Azhar Producer: Erin Riley Get in touch: [email protected] or WhatsApp +44 330 678 2707 (Photo: Cassette tape. Credit: Getty Images)