I am fascinated by the story of the Chernobyl Spirit Company, which has been much in the news these days because its first shipment of Atomik Vodka, made from apples grown in the exclusion area around Chernobyl, was seized by Ukrainian authorities for reasons that aren’t totally clear.

What is most interesting to me is the story behind the headlines. The UK and Ukrainian scientists want to raise funds to support wildlife conservation in the area and create a small economic endeavour to help some of the people who still live there. “I think this is the most important bottle of spirits in the world, because it could help the economic recovery of communities living in and around the abandoned areas,” said Prof. Jim Smith in 2019.