Show Notes
In mother-of-pearl suits, the Pearly Kings used to canvass East London for charity. The tradition of the Pearly Kings stretches back to the 1800s, when this area of the city was gritty and poor, and dressing up gave working-class people dignity. The most famous of the Pearly Kings, George Major, died in August at age 88. Major’s portrait still greets arrivals at Heathrow Airport, and he’s said to be the inspiration for an iconic character in a British sit-com. Support public media with NPR+ and enjoy perks for over 25 podcasts like this one. This show’s perks include sponsor-free listening. Learn more at plus.npr.org.
See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.
NPR Privacy Policy
More from State of the World from NPR
Chinese manufacturers have not had it easy these past few years, with U.S. tariffs as well as the wars in Ukraine and Iran pushing up their costs and shrinking profits.
In the Israeli occupied West Bank, dozens of Americans have been detained, including a politician running for Congress.
Sometimes it feels like when we aren’t worried about AI destroying humanity — we worry about it replacing white collar jobs like lawyers, accountants, coders. But tech companies have plans for AI-powered robots to replace blue collar jobs as well.
Israel holds an election on October 27th, electing members of the Knesset, their parliament. And this election will decide the future of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Ukraine finds itself in a difficult situation. It has endured increased airstrikes from Russia, especially in the capital Kyiv.