Economist Podcasts

Space invaded: video games’ stunning growth

07 Apr 2023

Contributed by Lukas

These days the gaming industry takes in much more than the global cinema box office. We ask how things are changing, from gamers’ demographics to th...

Situation reporter: Evan Gershkovich’s detention

06 Apr 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Russia’s arrest of a Wall Street Journal correspondent is heading toward a diplomatic crisis—and will certainly chill foreign reporting in the cou...

Arraigning on his parade: the charges against Donald Trump

05 Apr 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Perhaps the only surprising thing about the former president’s arraignment was that it was not followed by big demonstrations—but he did take to t...

What he wants, what Xi wants: Macron in China

04 Apr 2023

Contributed by Lukas

On his visit to Beijing Emmanuel Macron, France’s president, has much to balance: his peacemaking ways, a more hawkish travel partner and the commer...

Get-rich-quick scheming: India and Indonesia

03 Apr 2023

Contributed by Lukas

There are similarities between the two economies set to be the fastest-growing this year—but their paths to greater prosperity will not look like th...

Charge d’affair: Donald Trump indicted

31 Mar 2023

Contributed by Lukas

For the first time in history, a former American president faces arrest. Mr. Trump denies the charges, but what could this mean for the 2024 president...

Time’s up: America debates TikTok’s future

30 Mar 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Links with China and allegations of surveillance have highlighted the threat that the social-media app may pose to national security. There is biparti...

The Gulf narrows: Iran-Saudi relations

29 Mar 2023

Contributed by Lukas

The two regional rivals have negotiated a deal, ending a seven-year lapse in diplomatic ties. Elsewhere, though, Iran remains aggressive. We ask what ...

Over the Finnish line: NATO set to grow

28 Mar 2023

Contributed by Lukas

After ten months of haggling, the military alliance is gaining a new member: Finland. We ask why a historically neutral country has switched tack...

Bibi bump: Israel’s unrest flares

27 Mar 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Protests against proposed judicial reforms have intensified. Could Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu succumb to the pressure at last? Pregnant Russian...

Iraq, a hard place: 20 years after the invasion

24 Mar 2023

Contributed by Lukas

America invaded Iraq 20 years ago this week. Today Baghdad is bustling, violence across the country is less frequent, but these gains have come at a h...

A bit Fed up: central banks’ dilemma

23 Mar 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Central banks face a painful tradeoff: raise rates too quickly and risk banking-sector instability. Raise them too slowly and risk continued high infl...

Not shy and not retiring: pension reform in France

22 Mar 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Emmanuel Macron narrowly survived two no-confidence votes, sparked by his pushing a pension-reform package through the legislature without bringing it...

Stopping the spread: how to fix the banks

21 Mar 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Silicon Valley Bank. Signature Bank. Credit Suisse. The world’s banks look wobbly, leading to fears of broader economic pain. Our economics editor e...

Bear backed: Xi heads to Moscow

20 Mar 2023

Contributed by Lukas

The visit of Xi Jinping, China’s president, to Moscow may seem like the solidifying of a simple, anti-Western alliance. But China is walking a delic...

Felling through the cracks: rainforests in crisis

17 Mar 2023

Contributed by Lukas

The economics are clear-cut: the benefits of preserving the lungs of the world vastly outweigh those of felling trees. We travel to the Amazon and fin...

Puts Bibi in the corner: Israel’s protests

16 Mar 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Proposed legislation that would hobble the judiciary has led to relentless demonstrations—and exposed a rift in Israeli society that has become dang...

One Tory building: Rishi Sunak’s mission

15 Mar 2023

Contributed by Lukas

From today’s national budget to hardline immigration legislation to international defence pacts, Britain’s prime minister is working hard to extra...

Starched rival: Turkey’s opposition candidate

14 Mar 2023

Contributed by Lukas

After internecine drama, the opposition-party alliance has picked their man. The bookish, mild-mannered Kemal Kilicdaroglu may be the best possible pr...

End run: Silicon Valley Bank

13 Mar 2023

Contributed by Lukas

An old-fashioned bank run has caused American regulators to intervene in a big way to save the bank’s depositors. We ask what went wrong, and what r...

A vote for Ukraine: why Estonia’s election matters

10 Mar 2023

Contributed by Lukas

The world’s biggest military donor to Ukraine, relative to GDP, is Estonia. Kaja Kallas, its prime minister, just won a resounding victory in an ele...

Not so Pacific: the frightening prospect of war over Taiwan

09 Mar 2023

Contributed by Lukas

The risk of a Sino-American war over Taiwan appears to be growing. Our diplomatic editor assesses the frightening prospects and possible damage. Mexic...

Home affairs: America’s revealing property market

08 Mar 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Economists and politicians around the world are consumed with one question: is the world headed for a recession, or a relatively soft landing? We’ll...

Bakhmut point: Ukraine readies a counter-offensive

07 Mar 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Ukraine is using a torrent of Western arms and training to prepare for a spring offensive. We learn why being on a corporate board of directors—or r...

Hedge of allegiance: South Africa’s diplomatic shift

06 Mar 2023

Contributed by Lukas

A policy of ambiguity is swiftly shifting; the country is falling into a Sino-Russian orbit at just the time it needs the most help from Western allie...

Seed of doubt: venture capital tightens up

03 Mar 2023

Contributed by Lukas

A slump in tech is driving investors to rediscover old ways. Out are the cash-splashing long bets; in are smaller, profitable, strategic firms. Nigeri...

Losing the threads: Bangladesh

02 Mar 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Shifts in the garment industry, which powered development in the country, represent one risk; meagre currency reserves are another. Yet nothing so imp...

The belt buckles up: China’s grand plan slims

01 Mar 2023

Contributed by Lukas

The Belt and Road initiative to encircle much of the world with Chinese-funded, Chinese-built infrastructure is growing leaner and more penny-wise. Bu...

Let’s remake a deal: Brexit and Northern Ireland (again)

28 Feb 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Since Brexit’s earliest days, the trade status of Northern Ireland and its border with the Republic of Ireland have been a perilous sticking point. ...

Has Obi won, can Obi? Nigeria’s elections

27 Feb 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Excitement still surrounds the spoiler candidate Peter Obi, whose down-to-earth ways appeal to a large constituency of fed-up youths. We look at the e...

A year of war: a Ukraine special

24 Feb 2023

Contributed by Lukas

After a year of a conflict that was predicted to last just days, we examine the battle lines—seeing an opportunity for Ukraine that may not come aro...

The prices fight: conflicting views on inflation

23 Feb 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Markets seem to think the worst is over; central bankers are not so sure. We ask why determining the trajectory of inflation is so difficult. Millions...

Fire and grim tone: Putin’s and Biden’s speeches

22 Feb 2023

Contributed by Lukas

President Joe Biden’s riposte to the bellicose speech of his counterpart Vladimir Putin was a study in contrast. We examine their views on Ukraine a...

The air of their ways: South Asia’s crippling pollution

21 Feb 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Particulate matter is shortening lives and hobbling economies in the region. We ask how policy changes and international collaboration could mitigate ...

What it is in aid of: Syria’s earthquake response

20 Feb 2023

Contributed by Lukas

The country’s war-torn north-west has been getting far less aid than it needs in the earthquakes’ aftermath. We investigate the dilemma of lifting...

Give fast, spry young: the new philanthropists

17 Feb 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Charitable giving is being disrupted by the same youthful tech folk who got rich disrupting other sectors: these days it is fast, data-driven and bure...

Independence fray: Scotland’s leader steps down

16 Feb 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Nicola Sturgeon is bowing out after shaping a party that has defined itself on the notion of Scottish independence. What now for Scotland and for Brit...

Haley to the chief? A long-shot candidacy begins

15 Feb 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Nikki Haley, a former governor of South Carolina and UN ambassador, has declared her 2024 presidential candidacy. We assess her chances and survey the...

End-Gulfed: Preparing for a post-oil future

14 Feb 2023

Contributed by Lukas

The petrostates of the Gulf are modernising their economies, growing more tolerant and liberalising their social contracts as they prepare for a world...

Toil and rubble: a report from Turkey

13 Feb 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Our correspondent visits town after devastated town. Poorly enforced building codes are one clear factor in the rising death toll—and a political ba...

A chance at renewal: Nigeria’s coming election

10 Feb 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Young voters are fired up and the electoral system has been strengthened, but Nigeria’s challenges are considerable. We explore why this month’s v...

Long division: America’s busy state legislatures

09 Feb 2023

Contributed by Lukas

America’s Congress may be gridlocked, but its state legislatures certainly aren’t. The laws they’ll pass this year will probably impact more peo...

Bot the difference: AI and the future of search

08 Feb 2023

Contributed by Lukas

The race for AI supremacy is on. Microsoft, Google, Baidu and a host of smaller firms are all placing bets on the technology’s future. Which version...

Race against time: rescue efforts in Turkey and Syria

07 Feb 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Amid unthinkable destruction and loss of life, we examine the factors that will frustrate relief efforts following earthquakes in an already troubled ...

Tony isn’t blinkin’: Sino-American relations, post-balloon

06 Feb 2023

Contributed by Lukas

American fighters shot down a balloon that China says was monitoring the weather, but America insists was spying. It was a minor incident, but it high...

Bold eagle: America's industrial evolution

03 Feb 2023

Contributed by Lukas

As part of The Economist’s new series on the remaking of the country's economy, our correspondent looks at the Biden administration’s audacious in...

Poll fishing: Peru’s persistent protests

02 Feb 2023

Contributed by Lukas

The country remains riven by unrest since the “self-coup” and subsequent arrest of its president in December; only an early election might bring a...

Troubled shares, troubles shared: Adani and India Inc

01 Feb 2023

Contributed by Lukas

The Adani Group, one of India’s biggest conglomerates, has come under fire from a tiny American research firm. A successful secondary share sale ami...

Not shy about retiring: strikes in France

31 Jan 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Fixing the complex, creaking pension system remains central to President Emmanuel Macron’s agenda of reforms. But leaving it alone is central to Fre...

Didn’t protect or serve: Tyre Nichols’s killing

30 Jan 2023

Contributed by Lukas

The response to the death of the 29-year-old has differed from that of previous cases of police killings; we ask what the tragedy indicates about how ...

Tunnel, no lights: South Africa’s crumbling infrastructure

27 Jan 2023

Contributed by Lukas

South Africa’s infrastructure—its ports, railways and power grid—are struggling and poorly managed. Ordinary South Africans are increasingly fed...

Bibi’s gambit: Israel’s government v its judiciary

26 Jan 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Israel’s right-wing coalition government has the country’s supreme court in its sights. Their proposal to effectively subjugate its independence t...

Tanks, a lot: arming Ukraine

25 Jan 2023

Contributed by Lukas

After months of foot-dragging, Germany is sending tanks to Ukraine, with America poised to follow suit. We examine how that could reshape the battlefi...

Marshalling resources: rebuilding Ukraine

24 Jan 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Around one-fifth of Ukraine’s population has fled. The country’s GDP has plummeted and foreign investors are staying away. Even as the fighting ra...

Feeling un-Wellington

23 Jan 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Jacinda Ardern resigned as New Zealand’s prime minister last week. As Chris Hipkins prepares to take over, we reflect on Ms Ardern’s legacy, and l...

A rarefied air: a dispatch from Davos

20 Jan 2023

Contributed by Lukas

The global elite’s annual Alpine jamboree may have lost some of its convening power, our editor-in-chief says, but the many encounters it enables st...

Turkey stuffed? A democracy’s last stand

19 Jan 2023

Contributed by Lukas

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has dismantled the country’s institutions. As an election looms we ask what democratic guardrails remain, and examine...

Tanks-giving parade? Arming Ukraine

18 Jan 2023

Contributed by Lukas

For nearly 11 months Western powers have resisted providing tanks to Ukraine, fearing an unpredictable Russian escalation. What happens now that red l...

Get down to Syria’s business: coming talks with Turkey

17 Jan 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Through years of Syria’s messy civil war, Turkey has been a foe. As the conflict slowly fades, the countries have a mutual interest in rapprochement...

What did the president stow and when did he stow it? Biden‘s mess

16 Jan 2023

Contributed by Lukas

A drip-feed of discoveries of classified material in Joe Biden’s home and offices—and the president’s botched messaging around them—are a gift...

Zero-sum: the imperilled global economic order

13 Jan 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Countries across the world are turning inward, embracing protectionism, subsidies and export controls. This threatens the global order that has lifted...

Unveiled threats: Iran's patient protesters

12 Jan 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Iran’s protests may have gone quiet for the moment, but that does not mean they’ve been defeated. Beneath a calmer surface, Iranians are seething ...

Doctors’ disorders: Britain’s overwhelmed health service

11 Jan 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Britain’s National Health Service is in crisis. Wait times are rising, nurses and paramedics are striking, and doctors are overworked—leading to h...

Unquiet on the eastern front: fighting in the Donbas

10 Jan 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Russian troops have turned Bakhmut, in eastern Ukraine, into a charnel house—and a proving ground for its mercenary army. The booming North Sea regi...

Cloud coup-coup land: riots in Brazil

09 Jan 2023

Contributed by Lukas

In a scene reminiscent of the US Capitol riot two years ago, supporters of Brazil’s defeated president rampaged through government buildings yesterd...

Bibi’s got backup: Israel’s right-wing government

06 Jan 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Israel’s new government is its most right-wing ever—but, in a break from the past, that may not derail deepening relations with neighbouring Arab ...

Silva’s mettle: Brazil’s newish president

05 Jan 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Our Brazil correspondent surveys the state of the country, as Lula assumes the presidency precisely 20 years after his first inauguration. We ask why ...

We need to balk about Kevin: Congress opens in chaos

04 Jan 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Republican control of America’s House of Representatives began in chaos: they failed to elect a speaker, the first time in a century that’s happen...

Ill news, spreads apace: covid in China

03 Jan 2023

Contributed by Lukas

The sudden rescinding of zero-covid strictures has, as expected, led to a spike in cases. Our correspondent visits overstretched hospitals and cremato...

The dragon chasing: China and a new nuclear order

02 Jan 2023

Contributed by Lukas

China’s arsenal of nuclear weapons has swiftly expanded; it is now roughly the size of Russia’s and America’s. That will make for a different—...

In passing: the notable lives lost in 2022

30 Dec 2022

Contributed by Lukas

From Pelé, the “king of football”, to Britain’s longest-reigning queen, our editors and correspondents reflected on the accomplishments of many...

Best-of three: our country, books and games of the year

29 Dec 2022

Contributed by Lukas

It is that best-of time of year. We outline the case for our country of the year, after an uncharacteristically easy nomination process. Our correspon...

Debasement all around: lessons from 16th-century inflation

28 Dec 2022

Contributed by Lukas

In 2022 global inflation spiked at a rate not seen in decades. A look at the world’s very first such bout reveals eerie echoes of today’s woes—a...

Cattle lines are drawn: cows in India

27 Dec 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Cows are venerated in India, but precisely how intensely often depends on politics. And being venerated does not necessarily yield a pleasant life for...

Land, sea and air: let us move you

26 Dec 2022

Contributed by Lukas

In a special episode, our Paris bureau chief witnesses the political divides that become apparent as she switches from France’s famed high-speed rai...

An oily sheen: Nicolás Maduro in from the cold

23 Dec 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Waves of protest after a stolen election in 2019 came to nothing. Now, thanks to the luck of geopolitics and petro-economics, President Nicolás Madur...

A figure of speeches: Volodymyr Zelensky in his own words

22 Dec 2022

Contributed by Lukas

At the beginning of the war, editors from The Economist went to Kyiv, the first Western journalists to interview Ukraine’s president. Our Russia edi...

Needs Musk? Tumult at Twitter

21 Dec 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Elon Musk may be stepping down as chief executive, but he has already changed the firm’s fortunes—and shown that social media’s free-speech stru...

Trump card marked: the January 6th investigation

20 Dec 2022

Contributed by Lukas

The Congressional committee probing the riot at America’s Capitol recommended that the Justice Department bring four charges against Donald Trump. B...

Under the missile flow: North Korea

19 Dec 2022

Contributed by Lukas

The country has been slinging missiles skyward at an alarming pace, and with ever-greater technological advancement. We ask why things are heating up,...

More generals, less pacific: Japan’s new defence policy

16 Dec 2022

Contributed by Lukas

A strategy approved today peels back some of the country’s constitutional pacifism; in large part that is because of its tense relationship with a h...

No rest for the weary: meeting Ukraine’s high command

15 Dec 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Our correspondent sits down with President Volodymyr Zelensky and two top military commanders—concluding that the next few months will determine the...

Precious joules: a fusion-energy result

14 Dec 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Scientists have reported a long-awaited nuclear-fusion breakthrough, using lasers to ignite hydrogen-isotope fuel in a self-sustaining burn. But that ...

Continental drift: Europe’s challenges

13 Dec 2022

Contributed by Lukas

A pair of crises will bedevil Europe, starting with crippling energy prices in the short term. And American protectionism threatens a longer-term dent...

Zero to sickly? China’s covid climbdown

12 Dec 2022

Contributed by Lukas

With astonishing speed, the machinery of testing, tracing and lockdowns is being dismantled. We examine the risks that will pose to a country that is ...

Second time as farce: Peru’s president falls

09 Dec 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Perhaps Pedro Castillo thought he could repeat the coup staged by his predecessor, Alberto Fujimori, in 1992. He did not, and is now behind bars. We a...

Like biding a Reich: Germany’s alleged coup plot

08 Dec 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Raids across the country netted 25 far-right extremists suspected of trying to overthrow the government. We look into what is known about a hare-brain...

Pastor present: Georgia’s Senate runoff

07 Dec 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Democrats will have a bit more breathing room in the Senate, with an outright majority provided by Reverend Raphael Warnock’s win. We ask what the s...

Suspension of this belief? Iran’s morality police

06 Dec 2022

Contributed by Lukas

The enforcers of the hardliners’ mores may have been disbanded; it is hard to know if the regime is bending to protesters or sowing confusion. Eithe...

The for-sixty-dollar question: a cap on Russian oil

05 Dec 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Shippers and insurers of Russian crude are now subject to a $60-per-barrel price cap. That may spark Russian production cuts—or an oil-market realig...

In sofa as I can recall: troubles for Cyril Ramaphosa

02 Dec 2022

Contributed by Lukas

South Africa’s leader says a pile of cash stashed in a sofa represents no wrongdoing. The outcome of an investigation could be the undoing of his pr...

Square dealing: Jiang Zemin dies

01 Dec 2022

Contributed by Lukas

The Chinese leader who took over a squabbling party following the Tiananmen Square massacre surprised the world by stifling dissent, overseeing a stag...

On the Horn’s dilemma: meeting Somalia’s president

30 Nov 2022

Contributed by Lukas

The Horn of Africa’s resurgent jihadists of al-Shabab pose the biggest problem to Hassan Sheikh Mohamud. He tells us his plans—political, economic...

The French connection: Macron’s state visit to America

29 Nov 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Behind the pageantry, Presidents Joe Biden and Emmanuel Macron will have much to chew over, from a unified response in Ukraine to tricky trade negotia...

Patience zero: China’s remarkable unrest

28 Nov 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Protests have become as bold as they are widespread—mostly against the country’s unsustainable zero-covid policies, but increasingly against the r...

Forgoing a song: protest inside and beyond Iran

25 Nov 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Players’ refusal to sing their national anthem at the World Cup has brought their country’s protests onto the global stage. We ask whether the dis...

Scar from the madding crowd: Korea probes a tragedy

24 Nov 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Grief about the deaths of more than 150 people in a crush has turned to anger, and the investigation into what actions were taken—or not taken—has...

A whole other kettle of fission: Ukraine’s imperilled nuclear plant

23 Nov 2022

Contributed by Lukas

The power station in Zaporizhia has served as an impromptu military base for Russian forces—but danger is mounting and there are signs that troops m...

Ploy story: a defenestration at Disney

22 Nov 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Executives have squeezed out Bob Chapek and re-anointed Bob Iger as boss. But the firm’s woes are less about leadership and more about the new econo...

Damage collateral: a tide turns at COP27

21 Nov 2022

Contributed by Lukas

An issue ignored for three decades came to dominate the summit’s agenda: reparations to poor countries for climate-driven “loss and damage”. Ala...