Economist Podcasts
Episodes
Gas-trick distress: a visit to Ukraine
20 Oct 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Russia continues to pile pressure on the country, and will soon have the power to cut off its natural gas. Our correspondent pays a visit to find how ...
Meeting them where they are: a British MP’s murder
19 Oct 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Sir David Amess was killed doing what he loved: speaking directly with voters. We examine the dangers inherent in the “constituency surgeries” tha...
Chinese draggin’: growth slows
18 Oct 2021
Contributed by Lukas
A paltry GDP rise is down to the pandemic, power and property. We ask what growing pains President Xi Jinping will endure in the name of economic refo...
Port, and a storm: sectarian violence in Lebanon
15 Oct 2021
Contributed by Lukas
The effort to investigate last year’s port explosion in Beirut has fired up political and religious tensions—resulting in Lebanon’s worst violen...
For watt it’s worth: energy markets’ squeeze
14 Oct 2021
Contributed by Lukas
A fossil-fuel scramble reveals energy markets in desperate need of a redesign. We examine what must be done to secure a renewable future. Throngs of H...
Keep your friends close: Pakistan’s shifting role
13 Oct 2021
Contributed by Lukas
As the Taliban’s closest ally, the country bears a big responsibility for Afghanistan’s fate. We examine its diplomatic risks and opportunities. M...
Exit Poles? A bold challenge to the EU
12 Oct 2021
Contributed by Lukas
After a court ruling in Poland that is an affront to a core European Union principle, Poles hit the streets—fearing a “Pol-exit” they do not wan...
Zero-to-some game: Asia-Pacific covid-19 plans crack
11 Oct 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Where governments enacted zero-tolerance coronavirus strategies, numbers indeed stayed low. That was before the Delta variant. We ask how countries ca...
Strait of tension: Chinese jets test Taiwan
08 Oct 2021
Contributed by Lukas
China has sent more than 100 planes to probe Taiwan’s air-defence zone. We explain why Beijing has chosen this moment to send a message across the s...
How to lose friends and alienate people: Ethiopia’s civil war
07 Oct 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Abiy Ahmed is sworn in again as prime minister, even as continuing strife increases the country’s isolation. Our correspondent witnesses the gruesom...
Ticker shock: London’s wheezing stockmarket
06 Oct 2021
Contributed by Lukas
A global financial centre must move with the times, and—so far—London has not. Our correspondent lays out the causes of the malaise, and how to fi...
When it goes dark: Facebook’s terrible week
05 Oct 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Yesterday’s global outage is not even the worst of it: today’s congressional testimony will examine a whistleblower’s allegations that the compa...
Docket launch: a new term for America’s Supreme Court
04 Oct 2021
Contributed by Lukas
The court will be tackling just about every judicial and social flashpoint in the country during the term that starts today; our correspondent lays ou...
The courage of two convictions: Nicolas Sarkozy
01 Oct 2021
Contributed by Lukas
The first conviction of France’s former president shocked the nation; the second confirms for citizens that, these days, politicians will be held to...
Nobody’s fuel: Britain’s shortages
30 Sep 2021
Contributed by Lukas
From chicken to petrol, Britons are facing long queues and bare shelves. We ask about the multifarious reasons behind the shortfalls, and how long the...
Suga-free Diet: Japan’s next leader
29 Sep 2021
Contributed by Lukas
The ruling party’s choice for its president—a shoo-in for prime minister—seems to overlook the people’s will. We ask how Kishida Fumio is like...
A run for its money: funding crunches in Congress
28 Sep 2021
Contributed by Lukas
America’s crash of deadlines carries risks for the government’s budget and just possibly its sovereign debt, and threatens Joe Biden’s presidenc...
Colour schemes: Germany’s coming coalition
27 Sep 2021
Contributed by Lukas
The country heads for a three-party government after a nail-biting election. We cut through the flurry of letters and colours to ask what is likely to...
Clubs seal: China’s view as alliances multiply
24 Sep 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Leaders of “the Quad” are meeting in person for the first time; drama from the AUKUS alliance still simmers. Our Beijing bureau chief discusses ho...
Same assembly, rewired: the United Nations meets
23 Sep 2021
Contributed by Lukas
The annual United Nations General Assembly is more than just worthy pledges and fancy dinners; we ask where the tensions and the opportunities lie thi...
The homes stretch: Evergrande
22 Sep 2021
Contributed by Lukas
China’s property behemoth has slammed up against new rules on its giant debt pile. We ask what wider risks it now poses as a cash crunch bites. Brit...
Running to stand still: Canada’s election
21 Sep 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau remains in power after Monday’s election, but he emerges without the majority he wanted, and with his soft power damag...
Potemkin polls: Russia’s elections
20 Sep 2021
Contributed by Lukas
The winner of Russia’s elections was not in doubt. Vladimir Putin’s party, United Russia, came out on top. But despite the ballot stuffing and rep...
Sub plot: the AUKUS alliance
17 Sep 2021
Contributed by Lukas
The alliance between America, Britain and Australia has enormous significance, most of all for its nuclear-submarine provisions. We look at the global...
Shake, rattle the roles: Britain’s cabinet reshuffle
16 Sep 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Prime Minister Boris Johnson has re-allocated a number of key government posts. We ask how the changes reflect his political standing and what they me...
Hunger gains: Afghanistan’s humanitarian crisis
15 Sep 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Economic collapse and halting international aid following the Taliban’s takeover have compounded shortages that were already deepening; we examine t...
Percent of the governed: California’s recall vote
14 Sep 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Governor Gavin Newsom is fighting off a bid to remove him that puts the world’s fifth-largest economy and, possibly, control of the Senate in play f...
Getting their vax up: America’s vaccine mandates
13 Sep 2021
Contributed by Lukas
President Joe Biden’s requirements for employers to insist on vaccinations are a bold move amid flatlining inoculation rates. But will they work? Fo...
From the ground up: New York after 9/11
10 Sep 2021
Contributed by Lukas
The horrors of 20 years ago spurred an ambitious transformation, not just at the site of the attacks but across the city’s five boroughs. We visit w...
Putsch back: Africa’s latest coup in Guinea
09 Sep 2021
Contributed by Lukas
It is unclear whether better governance lies ahead after a military takeover; what is certain is that Africa’s unwelcome trend of defenestrations ha...
The call before the storm? Brazil’s protests
08 Sep 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Tens of thousands of people aligned with President Jair Bolsonaro held protests—at his direction. Yet the numbers are increasingly aligned against h...
Bitcoin of the realm: El Salvador’s experiment
07 Sep 2021
Contributed by Lukas
President Nayib Bukele thinks obliging businesses to take the cryptocurrency will help with remittances, inclusion and foreign investment. So far, few...
Heartbeat of the matter: Texas’s draconian abortion law
06 Sep 2021
Contributed by Lukas
The Supreme Court’s surprise decision to let the country’s harshest “heartbeat bill” stand bodes ill for the landmark Roe v Wade decision; we ...
Taking the fifth: Venezuela’s talks
03 Sep 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Four previous resolution meetings involving President Nicolás Maduro have changed little. This time international backing and aligned incentives migh...
Reeling and dealing: how to engage the Taliban
02 Sep 2021
Contributed by Lukas
In some ways America has more leverage now that its forces have left; we ask how diplomatic and aid efforts should proceed in order to protect ordinar...
Out for blood: the Theranos trial
01 Sep 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Elizabeth Holmes founded a big blood-testing startup; her claims were founded on very little. As her trial begins we ask how the company got so far be...
CDU later? Germany’s topsy-turvy election
31 Aug 2021
Contributed by Lukas
The party of Angela Merkel, the outgoing chancellor, is flailing in polls. We ask why the race has been so unpredictable and what outcomes now seem pr...
Banks note: the Jackson Hole meeting
30 Aug 2021
Contributed by Lukas
The message for central bankers at the annual jamboree: relax a bit about inflation and be loud and clear about plans to stanch the cash being pumped ...
The terror of their ways: Kabul and global jihadism
27 Aug 2021
Contributed by Lukas
The suicide-bombings that have killed scores of people signal how the Taliban will struggle to rule Afghanistan; meanwhile the rest of the world’s j...
To all, appearances: Israel’s PM in Washington
26 Aug 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Naftali Bennett’s first face-to-face meeting with President Joe Biden will look calm and co-operative. But in time, sharp differences will strain th...
Delta‘s force: Australia’s covid plans crumble
25 Aug 2021
Contributed by Lukas
For a while, closed borders and strict contact-tracing held the coronavirus at bay. What lessons to take now the Delta variant has broken through in t...
How you like them: Apple’s decade under Tim Cook
24 Aug 2021
Contributed by Lukas
The tech firm has ballooned under his leadership, but Mr Cook’s next ten years will not be as rosy as the first. We ask how he can maintain Apple’...
Annexed question, please: Ukraine’s summit on Crimea
23 Aug 2021
Contributed by Lukas
President Volodymyr Zelensky wants to draw attention to Russia’s continued occupation of Crimea, and its failure to look after the region’s citize...
Value-free investing: China and Afghanistan
20 Aug 2021
Contributed by Lukas
The Taliban’s takeover is a boon for China’s propaganda machine: America is tired, its policies disastrous, its values a distraction. Meanwhile Ch...
Fits and starts: SARS-CoV-2’s origin
19 Aug 2021
Contributed by Lukas
In the end, the World Health Organisation’s report in March revealed little. We ask why the coronavirus origin story is so crucial, and whether Chin...
Stymie a river: the American West dries up
18 Aug 2021
Contributed by Lukas
The first-ever water shortage declared for the Colorado River is just one sign of troubles to come; as the climate changes, century-old water habits a...
It rains, it pours: Haiti’s tragedy compounds
17 Aug 2021
Contributed by Lukas
A president’s assassination, a cratered economy and now this: a tropical depression that will hamper rescue efforts after a massive earthquake. The ...
Nothing to break the fall: Afghanistan
16 Aug 2021
Contributed by Lukas
The fall of Kabul, the capital, sealed the country’s fate: after 20 years, the Taliban are back in charge—a fearsome outcome for its people and fo...
Thicket and boarding pass: travel’s tangle of rules
13 Aug 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Restrictions are opaque, fickle and often illiberal—and it is not even clear how much they help curb the coronavirus. Chinese officials want to boos...
Bridges and divides: America’s infrastructure push
12 Aug 2021
Contributed by Lukas
The Senate has passed the first part of President Joe Biden’s mammoth plan, which is now tied to a far more ambitious part two. We examine their pro...
Blazed and confused: Turkey’s raging fires
11 Aug 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Across the Mediterranean and beyond, flames are consuming the landscape. Our correspondent says Turkey’s government helped make the country a tinder...
Shots or fired: America’s vaccine mandates
10 Aug 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Inoculation or testing requirements are spreading nearly as fast as the Delta variant. But it is not clear they will actually drive more people to get...
Hot prospects: a sobering IPCC report
09 Aug 2021
Contributed by Lukas
The UN climate body’s latest doorstopper report is unequivocal: climate change is human-caused, and already here—and 1.5°C of warming is looking ...
Coming in harder: Iran’s new president
06 Aug 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Ebrahim Raisi takes office as the country is blamed for multiple attacks in the region; a more mistrustful, hardline and aggressive regime awaits. Our...
No consent of the governed: Andrew Cuomo on the brink
05 Aug 2021
Contributed by Lukas
After a damning report into sexual-harassment allegations, support for New York’s governor has cratered. He is hanging on—for now. LinkedIn seems ...
No port, still a storm: Lebanon a year after the blast
04 Aug 2021
Contributed by Lukas
The explosion at Beirut’s port was a symptom, not a cause, of the country’s malaise. We find more questions than answers about the blast and a pol...
Block off the old chips? Nvidia’s fraught merger
03 Aug 2021
Contributed by Lukas
The semiconductor giant wants to acquire ARM—a British firm that is more complement than competitor—but regulators may balk. We look at what’s a...
No-sanctuary cities: the Taliban’s latest surge
02 Aug 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Sweeping rural gains made as American forces have slipped out are now giving way to bids for urban areas; an enormous, symbolic victory for the insurg...
Neither borrower nor renter be: America’s coming foreclosures
30 Jul 2021
Contributed by Lukas
America’s pandemic-driven measures granting relief on mortgages and rent arrears will soon expire, and millions of people are in danger of losing th...
Good news, ad news: Facebook’s big bucks and bets
29 Jul 2021
Contributed by Lukas
The social-media behemoth revealed huge profits and stressed even bigger plans: to become an e-commerce giant and a hub for digital creators, and to p...
Borderline disorder: the UN’s refugee treaty at 70
28 Jul 2021
Contributed by Lukas
An international convention devised after the second world war is ill-suited to the refugee crises of today—and countries are increasingly unwilling...
Alight in Tunisia: a democracy in crisis
27 Jul 2021
Contributed by Lukas
The president has sacked the prime minister and suspended parliament. It is clear that the country needed a shake-up in its hidebound politics—but i...
The blonde leading: Britain’s two years under Boris Johnson
26 Jul 2021
Contributed by Lukas
As the country tests a bold reopening strategy in the face of the Delta variant, our political editor charitably characterises the prime minister’s ...
A dangerous games? A muted start to the Olympics
23 Jul 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Tokyo is under a state of emergency; covid-19 cases are piling up. But for Japan, a super-spreader event is just one of the potential costs of this ye...
Three-degree burn: the warmer world that awaits
22 Jul 2021
Contributed by Lukas
It seems ever more certain that global temperatures will sail past limits set in the Paris Agreement. We examine what a world warmed by 3°C would—o...
Changing horses mid-streaming? Netflix’s next act
21 Jul 2021
Contributed by Lukas
On the face of it, the streaming giant’s quarterly results were lacklustre. But our media editor explains why its international growth looks promisi...
Joint pain: a rare rebuke of China’s hackers
20 Jul 2021
Contributed by Lukas
The European Union, NATO and the “Five Eyes” intelligence partners have all joined America in accusing China’s government of involvement in hack...
In a flash: floods devastate Europe
19 Jul 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Disaster-recovery efforts continue, even as heavy rains continue in many places. The tragedy brings climate change to the fore, with political implica...
A pounder of a quarter: American banks report
16 Jul 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Bank bosses are jubilant: revenues were down but profits way up. We look at the pandemic-driven reasons behind the windfall, and ask how long their in...
Loot cause: South Africa’s unrest
15 Jul 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Widespread looting and the worst violence since apartheid continue, exposing ethnic divisions and the persistent influence of Jacob Zuma, a former pre...
Texas hold-’em-up: a voting-rights standoff
14 Jul 2021
Contributed by Lukas
The state’s Democratic lawmakers have fled to Washington, stymieing a voting-rights bill. We examine the growing state-level, bare-knuckle fights on...
Flight attendance: airlines after the pandemic
13 Jul 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Which carriers will thrive? Long-haulers or short-hoppers? The no-frills or the glitzy? The bailed-out or the muddled-through? Our industry editor sca...
Hasta la victoria, hambre: rare protests rock Cuba
12 Jul 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Food shortages are nothing new. But it has been decades since shelves have been so empty—and since Cubans took to the streets in such numbers. Richa...
A decade decayed: South Sudan
09 Jul 2021
Contributed by Lukas
The world’s youngest state was born amid boundless optimism. But poverty is still endemic and ethnic tensions still rule politics; what hope for its...
Assassins’ deed: Haiti’s president killed
08 Jul 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Jovenel Moïse presided, in an increasingly authoritarian way, over a country slipping toward failed-state status. The unrest is likely to worsen foll...
Dropped shots: Russia’s third wave
07 Jul 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Despite registering the world’s first coronavirus vaccine, the country is being lashed by covid-19. Mixed messages and a long-cultivated mistrust ar...
Taken for a ride: why China is leaning on Didi
06 Jul 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Just after the ride-hailing giant made a splashy stockmarket debut, Chinese regulators came down hard. Why is the country crimping its tech champions?...
Leave them in no peace: America’s Afghan exit
05 Jul 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Passport queues are lengthening; ad-hoc civilian militias are strengthening. As foreign powers bow out, Taliban militants take district after district...
Repetitive strains: SARS-CoV-2 variants
02 Jul 2021
Contributed by Lukas
The coronavirus’s Delta variant accounts for ever more infections; we ask about mutational surprises yet to emerge, and what can be done about them....
Party piece: China’s Communists at 100
01 Jul 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Pomp and rhetoric marked the centenary of what are arguably the world’s most successful authoritarians. We sit in on the celebrations, tinged with p...
No day in court: Jacob Zuma’s jail sentence
30 Jun 2021
Contributed by Lukas
South Africa’s embattled former leader will be imprisoned for failing to show up to trial—a sign that, for all the rot in South Africa, its Consti...
Bear necessities: learning to handle Russia
29 Jun 2021
Contributed by Lukas
As both summitry and military near-misses proliferate, some want measured dialogue while others want markedly tougher talk. Our defence and Russia edi...
Third time’s the harm: Africa’s crippling covid-19 wave
28 Jun 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Hopes that the continent had escaped the worst of the pandemic have proved too hasty; our correspondent describes a slow-rolling tragedy with little h...
Iraq to its foundations: a chance to remake the state
25 Jun 2021
Contributed by Lukas
With elections looming, there is an opportunity to remake a state ravaged by war and riven by power struggles. We ask how to take Iraq out of a hard p...
Bench marks: weighing recent SCOTUS rulings
24 Jun 2021
Contributed by Lukas
The court’s term is not quite over, with contentious rulings still pending. We examine the latest decisions to gauge how its new conservative justic...
Hunger strikes: North Korea’s food shortages
23 Jun 2021
Contributed by Lukas
An admission that the country’s food situation is “tense” is a rare glimpse into the compounding effects of pandemic policies and crop failures....
Drop it when it’s hot: the Fed’s consequential hint
22 Jun 2021
Contributed by Lukas
The merest mention of future interest-rate rises from America’s central bank sent markets into a tizzy. We consider the merits and the effects of si...
A vote with no confidence: Ethiopia’s untimely election
21 Jun 2021
Contributed by Lukas
The northern region of Tigray, consumed by war and facing famine, will not vote today. It is all a far cry from what Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed once pr...
Press to exit: Hong Kong’s media arrests
18 Jun 2021
Contributed by Lukas
The raid of an outspoken pro-democracy newspaper, carried out under the city’s newish security law, has further spooked its media outlets. We ask wh...
A hardline act to follow: Iran’s presidential election
17 Jun 2021
Contributed by Lukas
The supreme leader is consolidating theocratic power and ensuring a hardline legacy. Voters know they have little meaningful choice; many will simply ...
Present, tense: Biden and Putin meet
16 Jun 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Joe Biden and Vladimir Putin have much to hammer out today—but don’t expect it to be genial. We examine what is on the table, and how each preside...
Patrons’ taint: Brazil’s pork-barrel politics
15 Jun 2021
Contributed by Lukas
President Jair Bolsonaro campaigned on a promise to overturn the country’s political patronage, but as his popularity has slipped he has come to nee...
Promises, promises: the G7’s fuzzy climate pledges
14 Jun 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Where they are clear, the summit’s commitments do not add much to existing targets; mostly, though, they are woefully short on detail. We pick throu...
Staying powers? The G7’s changing role
11 Jun 2021
Contributed by Lukas
For the seven world leaders meeting in Britain the immediate crises are clear. But a broader question hangs over them: how can the G7 maintain its rel...
An exit wounds: America’s Afghanistan retreat
10 Jun 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Air bases have been handed over; America’s remaining troops are shipping out and NATO forces are following suit. Can Afghanistan’s government forc...
You don’t say: Indonesia joins Asia’s digital censorship
09 Jun 2021
Contributed by Lukas
As governments across South-East Asia crimp online freedoms, the region’s healthiest democracy might have been expected to resist the trend. Not so....
Criminal proceedings: America’s spike in violence
08 Jun 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Piecemeal criminal-justice reforms following last year’s protests are coming up against hard numbers: violent crime is up. We ask what can, and shou...
Ballots and bullets: Mexico’s elections
07 Jun 2021
Contributed by Lukas
The run-up to the country’s largest-ever election has been bloody; the aftermath will set the tone for President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, whos...
Peace out: from bad to worse in Yemen
04 Jun 2021
Contributed by Lukas
The Saudi-backed government is hobbled; separatism is spreading; a humanitarian crisis grows by the day. A rebel advance on a once-safe city will only...
Catch-up mustered: Europe’s vaccination drive
03 Jun 2021
Contributed by Lukas
The bloc seems at last to have a firm hand on inoculation and recovery—but efforts to engineer even progress among member states are not quite panni...