Economist Podcasts
Episodes
So this is quizmas: our inaugural holiday face-off
24 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Join our editors and correspondents in a gripping test of recall and reflexes. There are questions on business and politics of course—but also news ...
Growing pains: a recession in recessions
23 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Recessions are, in their way, bad news. But so, paradoxically, is a lasting dearth of them. We explain the dangers that lie beneath the current run of...
Slop stars: why AI-generated content could help creators
22 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In a world of infinite content, who wins and who loses? Our correspondent explains what the proliferation of AI-generated art means for human artists....
Country of the year: The Economist’s pick for 2025
19 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Each year, The Economist tries to identify which country has improved the most, whether economically, politically or in other ways. In a turbulent yea...
Weight boss? Competition for Novo Nordisk
18 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Since Novo Nordisk launched Wegovy in 2021, it has dominated the fast-growing market for slimming drugs. Now a new jab is eating into the Danish firm’...
Emissions possible: EU petrol ban quashed
17 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The European Union had promised to ban the sale of new diesel and petrol vehicles by 2035, as part of its environmental ambitions. Yesterday it watere...
After Bondi: how to tackle extremism
16 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
As the Australian authorities continue their investigation into Sunday’s deadly attack on a Hannukah party in Sydney, investigators have uncovered a...
Judgement day: Jimmy Lai convicted
15 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Today Hong Kong’s most prominent media mogul was convicted of flouting national security legislation. Our correspondent explains the consequences fo...
Right, here, waiting: Europe’s populists on the rise
12 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In Britain, Germany and France, populist-right leaders and parties are making hay. What unites their movements, and how do their respective political ...
Ven and the art of hemispheric maintenance: America’s national-security posture
11 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
America’s seizure of a Venezuelan oil tanker fits with the stated goals in its new national-security strategy: untrammelled hemispheric dominance. H...
Digital stimulation: AI and porn
10 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
At every technological revolution, the industry of indecency is close at hand. We look at how sex workers and porn-peddlers are making use of AI. The ...
“You’re….fired?” A momentous Supreme Court case
09 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Of all the sackings at federal level President Donald Trump has carried out—and that the Supreme Court has upheld—the one now under consideration ...
Transitional injustice: Syria one year after Assad
08 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
A year after ousting its despot, things are not as bad as many had feared. But old sectarian divides threaten the peace. Forced labour, sex tourism an...
The Weekend Intelligence: Operation Midas
06 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Ukraine has been hit by a corruption scandal. One that strikes at the core of the political establishment in a way never before seen—and this in a c...
Keir in the headlights: interviewing Britain’s PM
05 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The Economist’s editor-in-chief Zanny Minton Beddoes met Sir Keir Starmer for “The Insider”, our new video offering. We bring you the analy...
Delhi-novela: Putin and Modi rekindle bromance
04 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
As Vladimir Putin begins a two-day visit to India, our correspondent explains why Donald Trump’s policies have pushed India and Russia closer togeth...
Stars and strikes: was America’s ship-bomb illegal?
03 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
America’s attacks on possible drug boats in the Caribbean is already controversial. Now critics are questioning the legality of one particular strik...
The great wheel: China’s Robotaxi revolution
02 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Once derided as a copycat nation, China is now leading the world in innovation, from driverless cars to pharmaceuticals. Our correspondent explains wh...
Deal them back in? What we heard in Iran
01 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Our correspondents get a feel for today’s Tehran: no morality police but still much fear of speaking out. And the foreign minister indicates a desir...
Fire, then fury: Hong Kong’s deadly blaze
28 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The dead are still being found; the displaced huddle in public spaces. Who or what will be blamed, and what policies will change after the tragedy? We...
The Weekend Intelligence: Mise en masse
28 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Chef Gary Thomas has a lot on his plate. That’s because he’s in the business of feeding thousands of people a day on a ship in the middle of the o...
Growth negligence: Britain’s budget
27 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The tax-and-spend plan was fine-tuned to avoid immediate political jeopardy. But it will do little to help Britain’s chronic growth problem, and is ...
Party likes it 1959: Cuba in crisis
26 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The country’s Communist Party leadership continues to cling to old ideals amid on-again, off-again diplomacy with America—and the people’s suffe...
Trailer: Drum Tower
26 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Gain a deeper understanding of China with Jeremy Page and Sarah Wu. The Economist’s China correspondents report from across the country and the plac...
Wage against the machine: the distortions of minimum pay
25 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
For decades governments have found minimum-wage rises a politically expedient means of redistribution. But the onward economic distortions have at las...
Emission creep: a contentious COP closes
24 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
It is telling and troubling that the annual climate talking-shop’s outcome did not even mention fossil fuels. We ask whether the COP process is stil...
Flee country: Britain seeks to slash migration
21 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Britain’s home secretary Shabana Mahmood proposed a big shift in immigration policy this week. Our correspondent explains Labour’s reforms –&nbs...
War graft: scandal engulfs Ukraine
20 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Pentagon officials are meeting President Volodymyr Zelensky in Kyiv to discuss a Russia-US peace proposal Ukraine had no part in writing. That merely ...
Crown prince arming: Trump sells jets to MBS
19 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Muhammad bin Salman’s first visit to the White House in seven years earned the Saudi crown prince new weapons, giant tech deals and a burnished repu...
After Sheikh: what next for Bangladesh?
18 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Sheikh Hasina, Bangladesh’s former prime minister, has been sentenced to death for crimes against humanity. The country is at a pivotal moment...
Gang-buster: Can Sheinbaum beat Mexico crime?
17 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
This weekend, thousands of people protested in Mexico City about violent crime. But our correspondent notes that the government has had some success i...
Toil and rubble: who will rebuild Gaza?
14 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
After two years of war, over 80% of the buildings in Gaza have been destroyed. Our correspondent assesses various plans for reconstruction. Do large l...
Opening punch: Shutdown ends, now more Epstein emails
13 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Last night Donald Trump finally managed to end the longest federal government shutdown in history. But, amid a new release of emails relating to convi...
The little green look: China’s energy revolution
12 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
America has boycotted this week’s COP climate talks, but China has sent a giant delegation. The world’s biggest polluter is increasingly pivotal t...
Home alone: the relationship recession
11 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
People are spurning marriage and any other kind of romantic relationship in record numbers. Our correspondents explore the non-dating market. The rise...
British Broadcasting Capitulation: BBC bosses fall
10 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The BBC’s director-general and head of news have resigned amid accusations of institutional bias. Can the broadcaster recover its reputation? Ukrain...
Heir Jordan: the rising star of France’s populist right
07 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Jordan Bardella, the leader of the National Rally party, has a stonking lead in voting-intention polls. His plans, our correspondent says, would put F...
Recall of duty? Trump’s tariffs in court
06 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Just as soon as President Donald Trump started applying sweeping tariffs on trading partners, legal challenges to them started piling up. We listen in...
Into the blue: Democrats win big
05 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In the first electoral test of Donald Trump’s second term, Democrat supporters voted in a socialist mayor of New York and governors to New York and ...
Getting their ships together: America in the Caribbean
04 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
As America sends its biggest naval hardware to the Caribbean, we ask whether the intent is more than mere sabre-rattling—and why the Trump administr...
Capital gained: a grim turn in Darfur
03 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The paramilitary Rapid Support Forces have at last taken El Fasher, the capital of Darfur. Reported atrocities are sharply rising, in a chilling echo ...
Truce story: (a sketch of) a Trump-Xi trade deal
31 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Presidents Donald Trump and Xi Jinping agreed to holster their trade weapons for now. But even if the deal holds, it does not address the deeper probl...
Manhattan transfer: New York’s finance folk flee
30 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Taxes upon taxes are just one of the reasons that both financial-industry hotshots and businesses are moving out of the Big Apple. We look at what tha...
War-chest X-ray: how to finance Ukraine
29 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Europe is edging closer to using seized Russian assets to finance Ukraine. The country badly needs that 140bn-euro windfall—and much, much more. A m...
Bust a vessel: NATO v dark fleets
28 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Ships of unknown origin or intent are flummoxing NATO forces on the high seas. Our correspondent visits the Latvian navy on the Virsaitis as it interc...
Let Milei this out: Argentina’s midterms surprise
27 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Voters overwhelmingly backed the party of President Javier Milei, handing him a lifeline he was not expected to get. We ask how he can finish his vast...
The great brawl: China is winning the trade war
24 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
This weekend American and Chinese officials are meeting to try and ease tensions over trade after China’s recent decision to restrict rare-earth exp...
Shutting match: what will break the US federal impasse?
23 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The government shutdown in America is now the second-longest on record. Yet there is no apparent urgency to end it, either from Republicans or Democra...
Cocaine and able: drug runners innovate
22 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
America has been blowing up ships in foreign waters suspected of carrying drugs. That will do little to dent today’s narco-business, which is more i...
Rock and rule: Japan’s first female PM
21 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Takaichi Sanae, Japan’s new prime minister, rode motorbikes and plays heavy-metal drums. Will her political ambitions be as bold? America, a nation ...
Voices of Gaza: life amid a fragile peace
20 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Ten days into the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, the truce remains tenuous. Today our correspondent speaks to people on the ground in Gaza about ...
Bolt-on charges: Trump's former adviser is indicted
17 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
John Bolton, a former Trump ally-turned-critic has been charged with mishandling classified information. That raises further fears that the justice de...
Rome run: Meloni’s surprising stamina
16 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
When Giorgia Meloni was elected Italy’s prime minister, many people feared she would prove divisive and volatile. Instead, at a time when many other...
Aid pro quo: Trump weaponises foreign help
15 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
After cancelling much of America’s international development funding, President Donald Trump is now using that money to boost friends, allies agains...
Wrong side of the hack: cybercrime grows
14 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Cyberattacks have brought firms like Jaguar Land Rover and Asahi to a standstill. Our correspondent asks what companies and governments should do abou...
Out at last: Israeli hostages return
13 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Donald Trump arrived in the Middle East for a victory tour as Israeli captives were finally freed. But the path to peace does not run smooth: Gaza is ...
The Weekend Intelligence: The trial of Yevgenia Berkovich
11 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In May 2024, Yevgenia Berkovich and Svetlana Petrichuk, the director and writer of an experimental play, became the first Russian artists since Soviet...
Dune raider: Saudi is a video-game superpower
10 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Mohammed bin Salman, Saudi Arabia’s crown prince, is a huge video-game fan. Now his hobby is becoming a multi-billion-dollar industry for the kingdo...
Finally, a deal: the fragile peace in Gaza
09 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Donald Trump has brokered an agreement between Israel’s government and Hamas. It’s a momentous breakthrough. Our correspondent analyses what comes...
Liberté, égalité, désordre: chaos in France
08 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
France’s newly-appointed prime minister has resigned only weeks into the job. Now President Emmanual Macron has given him 48 hours to come up with a...
Man of steel, and aluminium: Carney talks trade with Trump
07 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The swiftest way for Prime Minister Mark Carney to ease pressure on Canada’s economy is to convince President Donald Trump today to pare back tariff...
One peace at a time: hopeful Gaza talks
06 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
As negotiators gather in Egypt, appetite for a short-term peace seems high on all sides. But there is much ambiguity surrounding a lasting accord. In ...
Chainsaw out of gas? Milei’s experiment wobbles
03 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
A telling local-election loss, persistent allegations of scandal and an American pledge to prop up the peso: much is chipping away at the experiment o...
Space invaders: Russia’s NATO nose-thumbing
02 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Russia’s dark-fleet maritime operations and brazen incursions into NATO airspace appear to be precision-engineered to test Western resolve. We ask h...
Shut happens: US federal funding stops
01 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
After Republicans and Democrats failed to compromise on the budget bill, money to US federal agencies has officially been cut off. Donald Trump threat...
Your peace or mine? Prospects for Gaza deal
30 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
After pressure from US President Donald Trump, Israel’s Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu has been strong-armed into agreeing a deal for Gaza. Will Hama...
Fortunes of war: is Russia’s economy slowing?
29 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The collapse of Russia’s wartime economy has long been foretold, yet massive fiscal stimulus has compensated for the effect of sanctions. Though the...
Under different thumbs: a scant TikTok deal
26 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
President Donald Trump’s executive order ostensibly puts a years-long debate to bed. But questions persist about who will own—and influence—TikT...
Home truths: Ukraine’s internal strains
25 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
A snapshot of the country reveals deepening military and economic problems—and, perhaps above all, political ones. America’s efforts to clamp down...
On warhead be it: Saudi Arabia and Pakistan
24 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
A long-suspected defence partnership between Saudi Arabia and Pakistan has burst into the open. We ask what Pakistan’s extension of its nuclear umbr...
States of disarray: the UN at 80
23 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Coffers running low and an increasingly absent principal member: the United Nations has never looked so precarious. We discuss its future amid uncerta...
One nation, under God, divisible: Charlie Kirk’s memorial
22 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Part commemoration, part megachurch meeting, largely political rally—the memorial service for Charlie Kirk revealed much about how the Trump adminis...
JAIpur to MumbAI: US firms invest in India
19 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
India is becoming one of the largest markets for Artificial Intelligence and shaping how the technology develops. Our correspondent assesses what type...
Wary pharma: AstraZeneca sours on UK
18 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca has paused a £200m investment in Britain and could move its primary listing to America. Can the UK maintain its stat...
Offensive: UN calls it genocide, Israel persists
17 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
A new United Nations report says Israel’s actions in Gaza constitute “genocide”. That has not deterred Binyamin Netanyahu, Israel’s prime mini...
Honey, we shrunk the kids: population fall
16 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Falling fertility makes a global decline in population inevitable. That will change the shape and make up of societies. But it may not make us poorer....
Losing the plot: Brazil-US relations tested
15 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
After Jair Bolsonaro was sentenced to 27 years in prison for trying to organise a coup in 2023, Donald Trump accused Brazil of staging a “witch hunt...
When the son comes up: the Murdoch succession battle
12 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
A high-stakes tussle about who will take over Fox and News Corp from Rupert Murdoch has concluded; Lachlan, his eldest son, came out on top. Will the ...
Combative, conservative, cut down: Charlie Kirk
11 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
America’s most prominent young conservative was assassinated while conducting one of his signature campus events. His death might only widen politic...
Strikes’ price: Israel’s shocking Doha attack
10 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Qatar had positioned itself as a regional mediator, a safe space for negotiations. Israel’s previously unthinkable airstrikes have put an end to tha...
Buns in ovens: heatwaves and maternal health
09 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
There is a growing awareness of how high temperatures affect expectant mothers and their babies. We look at the evidence for a climate-change effect t...
Go, fourth? France likely to lose another PM
08 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
An unpopular budget will probably spark the ousting of another prime minister, Francois Bayrou—and with him goes another government. Parliamentary i...
For her eyes only: a new boss at MI6
05 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
When the incoming chief of Britain’s secret services takes the helm on October 1st, she must balance competing priorities and navigate a world in wh...
Mission possible: Baghdad is booming
04 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Our correspondent meets Iraq’s prime minister Muhammad al-Sudani to discuss the country’s construction boom, its future aspirations and the obstac...
Sino-the-times: China gathers global allies
03 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
World leaders flocked to China this week for an international summit followed by a giant military parade commemorating the end of the second world war...
Call the shots: vaccine cuts imperil global health
02 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
America’s health secretary, RFK Jr, is known for his opposition to vaccines, particularly mRNA jabs, that have the potential to treat a large swathe...
Indonesia ablaze: Riots test Prabowo
01 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
For the past week in Indonesia, protesters have taken to the streets and cities have burned. President Prabowo is still popular – now he faces a big...
Split ends: political in-fighting in Israel
29 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Prime minister Bibi Netanyahu is focused on his own political survival. Our correspondent explains how strategic differences within Israel have shaped...
Chill baby chill: Modi-Trump relations dip
28 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Yesterday Donald Trump imposed a 50% tariff on Indian imports to America, among the highest in the world. How will Narendra Modi respond? Why Palantir...
Fed alert: can Trump fire a governor?
27 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
What does Donald Trump’s attempt to sack Lisa Cook, a Federal Reserve governor, mean for the institution’s independence? Uruguay may soon legalise...
Grand theft global: the business of street crime
26 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Car and phone theft were once the preserve of petty crooks in London. Now they underpin a vast and spreading international criminal network. Why you s...
That warm buzzy feeling: malaria and climate change
25 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
As temperatures climb, mosquitoes will migrate to places where natural resistance to malaria is lower. More and more severe natural disasters will mak...
Rule and divide: opposition grows in Syria
22 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Less than nine months after Syria’s dictator Bashar al-Assad was toppled, the honeymoon is over. How is the new regime responding to rising dissent?...
Stake and chips: will America take 10% of Intel?
21 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Intel was once synonymous with chip-making, but in recent years it has fallen behind. Now the Trump administration may become its biggest shareholder....
Trouble in paradise: US plans for Pacific war
20 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
With China as its new rival, America is reviving old wartime facilities across the Pacific. Our correspondent visits an abandoned airfield that has be...
On a win and a player: Britain’s gaming prowess
19 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
As the world’s biggest gaming fair gets underway, our correspondent looks at the surprising success of Britain, the world’s third-largest exporter...
Peace by piece? Zelensky and Trump meet again
18 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
After an inconclusive summit between Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin in Alaska on Friday, the stakes are high for Volodymyr Zelensky’s meeting with ...
A farewell to arms? Hamas considers its options
15 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Opinions of Hamas are shifting—among its international backers, in Gaza, even within its affiliates’ ranks. If it opts to disarm, what would happe...
Frozen conflict? A special episode in the Arctic
14 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In Norway’s north, a geopolitical quirk may yet transform into a geopolitical conflict. We visit Svalbard, an Arctic archipelago that contains a Rus...
Just getting started: El Salvador’s president for life
13 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
First he came for the gangs; then, for his critics. Now Nayib Bukele has come for El Salvador’s constitution, and there is little to stop him stayin...