Economist Podcasts
Episodes
Entrenched: stalemate in Ukraine’s east
12 May 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Russia’s bid to conquer the eastern region of Donbas is proceeding at a snail’s pace. All over Ukraine resistance continues and a grinding, prolon...
It’s a family affair: Sri Lanka’s protests turn deadly
11 May 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Demonstrations that eventually ousted the prime minister have cost lives, but the protest mood is not fading: many want every member of the storied Ra...
Out like a Lam: Hong Kong’s new leader
10 May 2022
Contributed by Lukas
John Lee, the successor to Chief Executive Carrie Lam, won by a predictable landslide: he is just the sort of law-and-order type party leaders in Beij...
Under-armed sweat: America’s “arsenal of democracy”
09 May 2022
Contributed by Lukas
America accounts for the lion’s share of weaponry sent to Ukraine. But that may leave it short of arms in onward conflicts; boosting production is n...
The son shines: elections in the Philippines
06 May 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Voters in the Philippines choose a new president on Monday. The likely winner is a scion of one of the country’s most controversial families. Exxon ...
Powell’s points presentation: the Fed raises rates
05 May 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Prices in America are rising faster than at any time in the past 40 years. In response, the Federal Reserve has made its steepest interest-rate hike i...
Stormont weather: elections in Northern Ireland
04 May 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Voters in the UK head to the polls for local elections tomorrow. In Northern Ireland, a party that does not want the country to exist appears poised t...
Roe-ing away: Abortion rights in America
03 May 2022
Contributed by Lukas
A leaked draft opinion shows America’s Supreme Court is ready to let states outlaw abortion. We explore the implications for American politics, and ...
ROC and a hard place: Taiwan’s lessons from Ukraine
02 May 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Much like Ukraine, Taiwan has a well-armed neighbour that does not think it exists as a state: China. We ask what both sides are learning from Russia’...
General disarray: Russia’s military failures
29 Apr 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Before the invasion of Ukraine, Russia’s armed forces were believed to be lean, modern and fighting fit. We ask why they have performed so poorly. A...
Pipe down: Russia cuts gas to Poland and Bulgaria
28 Apr 2022
Contributed by Lukas
By shutting off gas to Poland and Bulgaria, Russia has made an aggressive move that may draw yet more European sanctions. How might the escalation end...
Strong suits: climate litigation
27 Apr 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Activists are tired of waiting for governments and companies to act on climate change. So increasingly they’re taking the matter to court—with suc...
A bird in the hand: Elon Musk buys Twitter
26 Apr 2022
Contributed by Lukas
The world’s richest man now has the keys to one of the most influential social-media platforms. Can it be the free-speech wonderland he is aiming fo...
Le Pen pusher: Macron wins again
25 Apr 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Emmanuel Macron’s re-election is historic and, for many, a relief. But, as we discuss in the final instalment of our French-election series, the cam...
Rwanda-on-Thames: Britain’s asylum proposal
22 Apr 2022
Contributed by Lukas
BRITAIN’S GOVERNMENT has proposed sending asylum-seekers to Rwanda. The plan has been widely criticised as expensive and ineffective—but the great...
Knocking on hell’s Dvornikov: the battle for Donbas
21 Apr 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has entered a new phase, and its forces in Ukraine have a new commander—one with a history of targeting civilians. Th...
Sana’a sunrise: A ceasefire in Yemen
20 Apr 2022
Contributed by Lukas
In Yemen, fighting between Houthi rebels and a Saudi-led coalition has led to hundreds of thousands of deaths. Recently, a ceasefire has taken hold —...
In neither camp: Neutrality and war
19 Apr 2022
Contributed by Lukas
ONE-THIRD of the world’s population lives in countries backing neither Russia nor Ukraine. The Biden administration has tried to persuade them off t...
Running for cover: our Ukraine-refugees special
18 Apr 2022
Contributed by Lukas
The war in Ukraine has created the greatest flux of refugees in Europe since the second world war. We visit Poland, where the response has been remark...
Girls interrupted: Afghanistan
15 Apr 2022
Contributed by Lukas
When the Taliban resumed power, there were hopes that women might not be as excluded, repressed and abused as they were previously. Those hopes have f...
Food haul: aid trickles into Tigray
14 Apr 2022
Contributed by Lukas
A ceasefire agreed weeks ago should have mitigated the suffering of starving Ethiopians caught up in war; we ask why so little aid has got through. Re...
Just fine: Boris Johnson and “partygate”
13 Apr 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Police have served Britain’s prime minister, among others, with a fine for breaching the lockdown rules he instituted. He may yet again emerge unsca...
A stretch and a run: Brazil’s ex-president returns
12 Apr 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva left office with a sky-high approval rating, having raised millions from poverty—but was then convicted of corruption. No...
Le Pen is mightier than before: France’s election
11 Apr 2022
Contributed by Lukas
President Emmanuel Macron and Marine Le Pen of the nationalist-populist National Rally party will advance to a run-off; in the continuation of our ser...
Laïcité, extrémité, fragilité: our French-election series in full
09 Apr 2022
Contributed by Lukas
The first round of the presidential election is on Sunday and our first-ever series has been following the race closely. This compendium of the first ...
Gota the trouble: Sri Lanka’s crises
08 Apr 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Through ineptitude and bad timing, President Gotabaya Rajapaksa—known as Gota—has driven his country toward ruin. Its people want him out. Russian...
Nasty, brutish and long? The war’s next stage
07 Apr 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Russian troops have withdrawn from suburban Kyiv to focus on the eastern Donbas region. With Western weapons for Ukraine flowing in, a grinding war of...
Zero's intolerance: Shanghai’s messy lockdown
06 Apr 2022
Contributed by Lukas
China’s zero-covid policy is being stretched to breaking point as the virus makes its way through the city. Supplies are low, residents are angry an...
Bodies in the streets: Russian atrocities
05 Apr 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Our correspondent reports from towns around Kyiv, where Russian forces appear to have committed war crimes, including summary executions and random mu...
No-confidence interval: Pakistan’s embattled PM
04 Apr 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Prime Minister Imran Khan seems to be trying everything to avoid an ouster. The powerful military brass may simply want a new leader who is less hosti...
All opposed, say nothing: Hungary’s election
01 Apr 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Viktor Orban’s eight-year assault on the country’s institutions will help his bid for re-election. But the poll is far bigger than Hungary: it is ...
Oil and vodka: Russia’s resilient economy
31 Mar 2022
Contributed by Lukas
After Russia invaded Ukraine, Western businesses pulled out and governments imposed punishing sanctions. But Russia’s economy is proving surprisingl...
Capital outflow: Russia changes tack
30 Mar 2022
Contributed by Lukas
It appears that Russian forces are withdrawing from Kyiv, Ukraine’s capital, to focus on the eastern region of Donbas. We examine what the shifting ...
Talk in Turkey: Russia-Ukraine peace negotiations
29 Mar 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Negotiators are again meeting face-to-face, this time in Istanbul. There is little hope of reaching an agreement at this stage—and even less that it...
In the war room: our exclusive visit to Zelensky’s “fortress”
28 Mar 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Our editors traverse layers of security to reach the situation room where Ukraine’s president is so often seen addressing the world. They ask about ...
Under fire: Life in Kharkiv
25 Mar 2022
Contributed by Lukas
For the past month, one of our editors has spoken daily with a young man in Kharkiv. Today he discusses his family's decision to leave their hometown ...
What little remains: The destruction of Mariupol
24 Mar 2022
Contributed by Lukas
For weeks, Russian forces have besieged the Ukrainian port city of Mariupol. Up to 90% of its structures have been destroyed, and while thousands have...
Vlad the in-jailer: Alexei Navalny sentenced
23 Mar 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Alexei Navalny returned to Russia after being poisoned in an assassination attempt that many believe came from the Kremlin. He was immediately arreste...
Russian to judgment: Putin accused of war crimes
22 Mar 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Joe Biden, among others, has called Vladimir Putin “a war criminal.” International tribunals have tried and convicted war criminals from Rwanda an...
Blood will out: Russian mercenaries
21 Mar 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Russian forces advancing on Kyiv have stalled. Ukraine has refused the demand to surrender Mariupol. But it’s not just Russian regular troops fighti...
Mention the war: Germany awakes
18 Mar 2022
Contributed by Lukas
For decades, Germany was doctrinally pacifist: a legacy left over from the second world war. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has changed that, seemingl...
Shock and war: global prices rise
17 Mar 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has pushed global prices, which were already climbing, even higher. As America’s central bank raises its target inter...
Bear hug? China’s take on Ukraine
16 Mar 2022
Contributed by Lukas
China appears content to let the carnage continue in Ukraine, anticipating a win for Vladimir Putin. Its real concern is avoiding an apparent win for ...
Capital accounts: on the ground in Kyiv
15 Mar 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Our correspondent finds Ukraine's capital already accustomed to an eerie war footing. People are getting married and playing music, even as medicine r...
Abject lesson: the siege of Mariupol
14 Mar 2022
Contributed by Lukas
To the west, strikes near Poland have rattled NATO partners. But look to the south-east to see what Russia intends for the Ukrainian cities it encircl...
Defog of war: your questions answered
11 Mar 2022
Contributed by Lukas
We tackle some of the many questions on the war in Ukraine that listeners sent in this week—why no-fly zones are a perilous idea, how weapons are ma...
A non-member states: Finland’s ex-PM on NATO
10 Mar 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Perched at Russia’s north-western corner, the country has plenty of history dealing with neighbourly aggression. We speak with Alexander Stubb, a fo...
Strikes, fear: an update from Kharkiv
09 Mar 2022
Contributed by Lukas
After failing to take Ukraine’s second city, Russian forces continue to pummel it with air, artillery and missile strikes. We speak again with an in...
War stories: the view from Russia
08 Mar 2022
Contributed by Lukas
With the propaganda machine at fever pitch, not everyone in Russia agrees on—much less agrees with—what is going on in Ukraine. Dissent is being m...
Bear trapped: the sanctions on Russia
07 Mar 2022
Contributed by Lukas
The West’s co-ordinated financial weaponry is starting to bite, opening a new age of economic conflict; once-unthinkable oil embargoes seem now to b...
Rushing from Russians: Ukraine’s refugees
04 Mar 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has triggered a refugee crisis in Europe. More than a million people have left; millions more could follow. Turkey’s ...
Climate of fear: the IPCC’s new report
03 Mar 2022
Contributed by Lukas
A new report shows that climate change is already causing widespread, tangible damage, and argues that adaptation is now as important as mitigation. A...
All that Xi wants: China’s Ukraine dilemma
02 Mar 2022
Contributed by Lukas
After backing Russia’s grievances against NATO, China now finds itself treading a very fine line on Ukraine. There are often reasons to be suspiciou...
Square in their sights: Kharkiv under siege
01 Mar 2022
Contributed by Lukas
The levelling of Freedom Square in Ukraine’s second city is powerfully symbolic. One resident has been speaking to us daily since the invasion began...
The battlefield broadens: Ukraine resists
28 Feb 2022
Contributed by Lukas
On the ground, Ukrainian resistance is holding—so far—and Vladimir Putin’s nuclear posturing reveals a crumbling of his plans. Meanwhile the int...
Capital offence: the battle for Ukraine
25 Feb 2022
Contributed by Lukas
As promised, Ukraine’s forces are fighting back tenaciously against a Russian invasion on multiple fronts—but Kyiv, the capital, is now squarely i...
It begins: Russia invades Ukraine
24 Feb 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Ukrainians woke to the sound of sirens. Volleys of cruise missiles, artillery, widespread reports of explosions: a large-scale invasion appears to be ...
Given choice: Colombia’s abortion-law change
23 Feb 2022
Contributed by Lukas
In little more than a year, three of Latin America’s four most populous countries have expanded access to abortion. We ask what is driving that chan...
Putting his first boot forward: Russian troops move
22 Feb 2022
Contributed by Lukas
President Vladimir Putin has declared the independence of the two Ukrainian provinces of Donbas—and sent in "peacekeepers". We ask what is next. The...
Trial run: genocide claims against Myanmar
21 Feb 2022
Contributed by Lukas
The Gambia’s first-of-its-kind case at the International Court of Justice might bring a rebuke and shine light on Myanmar’s brutal tactics. It mig...
On the brinkmanship: a special episode on Ukraine and Russia
18 Feb 2022
Contributed by Lukas
We unpick the week’s torrent of headlines; an invasion may yet come but either way President Vladimir Putin has already harmed Russia. The country’...
Sharpest tools, in a box: miniature vaccine factories
17 Feb 2022
Contributed by Lukas
BioNTech, the German firm behind the first licensed coronavirus jab, reveals its attempts to stuff its technology into shipping containers—to be use...
Judge, jury and executive: another power-grab in Tunisia
16 Feb 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Last summer President Kais Saied nobbled the legislature; now he has abolished the judiciary. We ask where the country is headed, and why there is so ...
Yen here before: Japan’s “new capitalism”
15 Feb 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Today’s figures showing the first annual economic growth in three years may seem promising. But the grand plans of Prime Minister Kishida Fumio rese...
Not trucking around: Canada’s protests spread
14 Feb 2022
Contributed by Lukas
It has become much more than a fight against proof-of-vaccination strictures. The anti-government mood has spread in Canada and abroad. What happens n...
Withdrawal symptoms: Afghanistan goes hungry
11 Feb 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Since American forces left, pessimism has skyrocketed—and with good reason. Starvation is driving Afghans to sell their organs and even their childr...
Which way UP: India’s bellwether election
10 Feb 2022
Contributed by Lukas
The state-legislature poll in Uttar Pradesh is in effect a vote on Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s increasingly stringent Hindu-national agenda—and...
The quiet man of Europe: Olaf Scholz
09 Feb 2022
Contributed by Lukas
So far Germany’s new chancellor has been all but invisible at home and on the international stage. We examine the motives behind his reticence—and...
FAANGer danger: big tech takes a beating
08 Feb 2022
Contributed by Lukas
For years, the big tech firms Facebook, Apple, Amazon, Netflix and Google were seen as a collective good bet; investors will soon judge them eac...
Fission creep: Iran nuclear talks resume
07 Feb 2022
Contributed by Lukas
After protracted negotiations, at last a conclusion appears nigh—but depending on whom you ask, a breakthrough is as likely as a breakdown. The regi...
Skin in the Games: Beijing’s nervy Olympics
04 Feb 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Our correspondent describes the fraught effort to attend the opening ceremony. It is a pageant highlighting a divided world, with party leaders a...
A model result: our French-election series begins
03 Feb 2022
Contributed by Lukas
In the first instalment of the series, we unveil our forecast model and visit one of the quiet suburbs where the vote’s outcome will probably be dec...
Action pact: NATO’s Ukraine role
02 Feb 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Our correspondent speaks with Jens Stoltenberg, NATO’s secretary-general, who says the alliance’s involvement in de-escalating Russia tensions is ...
Do as I say, except at my dos: Boris Johnson’s parties
01 Feb 2022
Contributed by Lukas
A long-awaited report confirms rumours that have consumed Boris Johnson’s premiership. He may be weakened, but early signs suggest he will not fall....
Sunshine statement: Ron DeSantis’s Florida
31 Jan 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Talk of a presidential run for the governor is growing. We examine the state’s rightward lurch as a bellwether of his intent and his political stren...
Insecurities in securities: why markets are sliding
28 Jan 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Huge swings and downward trends: markets are forward-looking, and it is clear they do not see much to look forward to in 2022. Warnings about infectio...
On the edge of his seat: Stephen Breyer
27 Jan 2022
Contributed by Lukas
The departure of one of America’s Supreme Court justices is an opportunity for President Joe Biden to choose a replacement, but the clock is ticking...
Twist of faith: religious hatred in India
26 Jan 2022
Contributed by Lukas
As the country celebrates its secular constitution, we examine the rising bigotry of Hindu nationalists—at best tolerated and at worst encouraged by...
What’s it good for? Putin’s Ukraine calculus
25 Jan 2022
Contributed by Lukas
More Russian troops piling in. Embassy staff pulling out. American forces on alert and sober diplomacy still on the docket. We examine Vladimir Putin'...
Prime mover? Mario Draghi and the Italian presidency
24 Jan 2022
Contributed by Lukas
This week’s secretive votes will determine the next president and the current prime minister looks to be a favourite. But that move would be bad for...
Unsustainable envelopment goals: China’s zero-covid fight
21 Jan 2022
Contributed by Lukas
The Omicron variant is destined to test the limits of a policy that has already proved costly: consumption, growth and confidence are all flagging. Th...
Heavyweight-price fight: how to beat global inflation
20 Jan 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Shoppers across the developed world face sharply rising prices, and leaders are reaching for all manner of remedies—but that’s what central banks ...
Drilling into the numbers: ExxonMobil
19 Jan 2022
Contributed by Lukas
America’s biggest oil firm has long been recalcitrant on climate matters, so its new net-zero targets may seem surprising. We examine the substance ...
Through deny of a needle: vaccine mandates
18 Jan 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Austria is set to enact a bold policy of levying fines on the unvaccinated. We look at what is driving governments to such measures, and whether they ...
But who’s counting? Voting rights in America
17 Jan 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Democrats will spend the week battling for a tightening of laws on casting votes; that will overshadow Republicans’ worrying push into how those vot...
His royal minus: Prince Andrew
14 Jan 2022
Contributed by Lukas
The queen’s second son has been stripped of his titles—an apparent bid to insulate the crown from his legal troubles. But dangers to the prince an...
In vino, veritas: Boris Johnson under fire
13 Jan 2022
Contributed by Lukas
While Britons followed covid strictures, the prime minister’s residence hosted boozy gatherings; widespread fury hints that his prevarications this ...
Not in the same class: America and schools
12 Jan 2022
Contributed by Lukas
The country’s children have missed more in-person learning than those in most of the rich world—to their cost. We ask why battles about schooling ...
Talking out his asks: Putin’s NATO demands
11 Jan 2022
Contributed by Lukas
This week’s flurry of diplomacy aims to address what Vladimir Putin, Russia’s president, says he wants. He cannot get it. Does an invasion of Ukra...
Hope for the crest: an Omicron wave hits India
10 Jan 2022
Contributed by Lukas
The country has the world’s worst estimated covid-death total—but as another variant takes hold there are reasons for optimism. Mexico’s preside...
Fuel to the flames: uprising in Kazakhstan
07 Jan 2022
Contributed by Lukas
What started as a fuel-price skirmish has engulfed the entire country; now Russian-led troops have been summoned to help. How did things escalate so q...
Capitol crimes: one year after America’s insurrection
06 Jan 2022
Contributed by Lukas
The insurrection’s horrors might have marked a turning point for Donald Trump’s supporters and enablers. Not so; the people and the politics remai...
Stop the presses! Hong Kong’s media crackdown
05 Jan 2022
Contributed by Lukas
The closure of two independent, Chinese-language media outlets all but completes the push to silence pro-democracy press; we ask what is next for the ...
Holmes stretch: Theranos’s founder convicted
04 Jan 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Elizabeth Holmes has been found guilty of fraud. We ask what lessons her downfall holds for Theranos’s high-profile backers—and for a startup cult...
Separate weighs: Brexit, one year on
03 Jan 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Trade is down, red tape is up, details of regulatory harmony are still being hammered out. Britain may be less divided about it, but the benefits of t...
All she wrote: our obituaries editor reflects on 2021
30 Dec 2021
Contributed by Lukas
From Prince Philip to Desmond Tutu, from an anti-racism campaigner and member of the Auschwitz Girls’ Orchestra to a war surgeon focused on civilian...
A few bright spots: our country of the year
29 Dec 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Each year The Economist selects its country of the year: a place that has improved the most. Improvement, though, was damnably rare in 2021. We run th...
You bet your dollar-bottomed: Erdogan’s next gambit
28 Dec 2021
Contributed by Lukas
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s idea for saving the lira by backing deposits with dollars means the Turkish taxpayer will end up bailing out the Tu...
Beginning of the endemic? Omicron’s spread
27 Dec 2021
Contributed by Lukas
The lightning-fast spread of a seemingly milder coronavirus variant may represent a shift from pandemic to endemic; we ask how that would change globa...
No safety in numbers: security in Haiti
23 Dec 2021
Contributed by Lukas
The security situation is hopeless, following violent unrest and a presidential assassination—as one family’s epic and ultimately failed attempt t...