Economist Podcasts
Episodes
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...
Swiping rights: Republicans’ vote-crimping bids
02 Jun 2021
Contributed by Lukas
A walkout in the Texas legislature is just the most dramatic of broad efforts to restrict voting rights—in particular of minority voters. We examine...
Bibi, it’s cold outside: Israel’s improbable coalition
01 Jun 2021
Contributed by Lukas
The only thing that unites the parties of a would-be government is the will to oust Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu. What chance their coalition can...
From the head down: rot in South Africa
31 May 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Jacob Zuma, a former president, at last answers to decades-old corruption allegations. But graft still permeates his ANC party and government at every...
Caught in the activists: oil majors’ shake-ups
28 May 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Activist investors installed green-minded board members at ExxonMobil; Chevron’s shareholders pushed a carbon-cutting plan; a Dutch court ruled Shel...
On the origins and the specious: the SARS-CoV-2 lab-leak theory
27 May 2021
Contributed by Lukas
The suggestion that the virus first emerged from a Chinese laboratory has proved stubbornly persistent; as calls mount for more investigation, it has ...
From out of thin air: Belarus dissidents' fates
26 May 2021
Contributed by Lukas
The regime got its quarry—a widely read, dissident blogger and his girlfriend—but faces international condemnation for its piratical means. How to...
To protect and serve: police reform one year after George Floyd
25 May 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Protests have followed police killings in America with saddening regularity, but the scope of demonstrations following George Floyd’s murder may mar...
From a tax to attacks: Colombia’s unrelenting unrest
24 May 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Protests that began last month show no sign of abating; our correspondent speaks with Iván Duque, the country’s increasingly beleaguered president....
The dust settles: ceasefire in Gaza
21 May 2021
Contributed by Lukas
After 11 days of fierce fighting, Israel and Hamas agreed to a ceasefire beginning in the early hours of Friday morning. But will the quiet ...
Game on: the Tokyo Olympics
20 May 2021
Contributed by Lukas
The Tokyo Olympics are due to begin in just over two months. But with coronavirus cases climbing in recent months, 80% of Japanese people want the gam...
Populists poised: Italian politics
19 May 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Italy’s prime minister, Mario Draghi, has been cheered by the markets since taking on the job in February. But a coalition of right-wing populists a...
Hot air: emissions reduction
18 May 2021
Contributed by Lukas
The International Energy Agency has published a report explaining what needs to happen if the world is to get to net zero emissions by 2050. It points...
Feast and famine: vaccine supply
17 May 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Though over 10bn doses of covid-19 vaccine may be produced this year, much of the poor world will see little of them. The supply of vaccines is much t...
Home front: Israel’s war within
14 May 2021
Contributed by Lukas
As Israel's war with Hamas has intensified, mob violence between Arabs and Jews within the country has made a tricky situation even more difficult. Is...
Purged: Liz Cheney’s sacking
13 May 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Liz Cheney had been a rising Republican star. Now the staunch conservative has been purged by her own party. Her removal shows that, even in defeat, D...
Baby bust: China’s census
12 May 2021
Contributed by Lukas
China just unveiled the results of its first census in over a decade. The results are striking, if not surprising: the world’s largest country will ...
Rockets over Jerusalem: Israeli-Palestinian violence
11 May 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Tension in the holy city of Jerusalem has been rising for weeks, amid the attempted eviction of Palestinians and a march by Jewish nationalists. Yeste...
North poll: Boris Johnson’s election victory
10 May 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Boris Johnson, Britain’s prime minister, is celebrating a wave of election victories for his Conservative Party in the north of England. But in Scot...
Down to brash tax: Colombia’s protests grow
07 May 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Demonstrations initially against tax reform have bloomed—and turned violent. The reforms have been shelved, but the protests now threaten President ...
Who’s to say? Facebook, Trump and free speech
06 May 2021
Contributed by Lukas
The social-media giant’s external-review body upheld a ban on former president Donald Trump—for now. We ask how a narrow ruling reflects on far br...
Cache and carry: American states’ gun-law push
05 May 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Today another state will enact a “permitless carry” law—no licence, checks or training required. We ask why states’ loosening of safeguards fa...
Strait shooting? The growing peril to Taiwan
04 May 2021
Contributed by Lukas
A decades-old policy of “strategic ambiguity” is breaking down; we ask about the risks and the stakes of a potential Chinese bid to take Taiwan by...
The turn at a century: Northern Ireland’s anniversary
03 May 2021
Contributed by Lukas
The province’s largest party aligned with Britain has lost its leader; in the 100 years since the island was split it has rarely seemed so close to ...
Illiberal-arts degrees: Hungary’s universities seized
30 Apr 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s proudly “illiberal democracy” has nobbled nearly every institution. Now that his ruling party will run the higher-...
A word in edgewise: Turkey, Armenia and genocide
29 Apr 2021
Contributed by Lukas
In calling the 1915 campaign against Armenians a genocide, President Joe Biden has rekindled tensions that never really faded—and has perhaps delaye...
A great deal to be desired: Europe-Britain trade
28 Apr 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Europe’s parliament has overwhelmingly voted to extend a stopgap trade agreement. But the rancour behind the vote, and the deal’s thin measures, s...
SPAClash: the buzz and the bust
27 Apr 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Special-purpose acquisition companies offer a novel way for companies to list on stockmarkets. We look behind the buzz, and something of a recent bust...
Extremist prejudice: rebranding Navalny
26 Apr 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Russian courts’ bid to designate opposition leader Alexei Navalny’s movement as a terrorist organisation is unsurprising: it fits a narrative of i...
Carbon date: Biden’s climate summit
23 Apr 2021
Contributed by Lukas
President Joe Biden laid out ambitious emissions targets yesterday, but in order to be taken seriously on climate change, America has some reputation ...
Growth negligence: India’s covid-19 failings
22 Apr 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Mass gatherings and in-person voting continue, even as new case numbers smash records and fatalities spiral in public view. We ask how a seeming pande...
Insuperable: Europe’s football fiasco
21 Apr 2021
Contributed by Lukas
A “Super League” plan wrong-footed fans, clubs, even governments. We examine what the failed bid says about the sport’s economics. We return to ...
A case rests, a city does not: Derek Chauvin’s trial
20 Apr 2021
Contributed by Lukas
The former police officer involved in George Floyd’s death awaits a verdict. What would conviction mean in a case emblematic of a far wider racial-j...
Lai of the land: Hong Kong’s democrats quashed
19 Apr 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Some of the territory’s most outspoken activists—from media mogul Jimmy Lai to “father of democracy” Martin Lee—have been sentenced. We look...
The path of increased resistance: Myanmar
16 Apr 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Protests against February’s military coup are only growing, even as the army becomes more murderous. The economy is paralysed. What can be done to p...
Boots off the ground: America’s Afghanistan drawdown
15 Apr 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Few believe President Joe Biden’s withdrawal plan is wise; it is already prompting allied forces to go. We ask about the risks of that untimely vacu...
Arms’ reach: Russia flexes at Ukraine border
14 Apr 2021
Contributed by Lukas
The troops and hardware piling up at the border are probably just posturing. But look closely: Russia’s military is swiftly getting better-equipped ...
Fission expedition: nuclear-site attack in Iran
13 Apr 2021
Contributed by Lukas
An apparent act of sabotage at an Iranian nuclear site, blamed on Israel, has complicated the prospect of America returning to the 2015 nuclear deal; ...
Plagued by uncertainty: German politics
12 Apr 2021
Contributed by Lukas
As the country wrestles with another covid-19 wave, the battle to succeed Chancellor Angela Merkel is building. We look at the political and epidemiol...
Like a tonne of bricks: violence in Northern Ireland
09 Apr 2021
Contributed by Lukas
The ostensible reason for continuing clashes relates to a well-attended funeral. But the terms of Brexit have raised tempers, inflaming centuries-old ...
Clotting factors: the AstraZeneca vaccine
08 Apr 2021
Contributed by Lukas
British and European regulators have addressed a possible link with blood clots. Expect more rare side-effects to emerge; what seems clear for now is ...
Deaths spiral: America’s spike in murders
07 Apr 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Estimates suggest that last year’s rise in murder rates was the greatest in perhaps half a century, reversing a long decline; we ask what is behind ...
Crown and thorn: Jordan’s royal ruckus
06 Apr 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Pressure on the king’s half-brother may represent a mere family feud, but Prince Hamzah’s complaints resonate with the country’s people. We ask ...
He said, Xi said: America-China ructions
05 Apr 2021
Contributed by Lukas
The Biden administration’s early moves suggest no “reset” in relations; we recall a time when the game of ping-pong brought the countries back t...
Battle acts: France beefs up its forces
02 Apr 2021
Contributed by Lukas
After years of peacekeeping and counter-insurgency campaigns, the country is getting tooled up and trained up for serious military conflict. The “ba...
Cresting: India’s second covid-19 wave
01 Apr 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Case numbers are on the rise—at a more worrying rate even than the first wave. We ask why, and what is being done to slow the spread. As revenues at...
Takeaway lessons: Deliveroo’s listing disappoints
31 Mar 2021
Contributed by Lukas
The tepid debut of Britain’s dominant food-delivery app signals doubts not only about the gig economy but also about London’s ability to lure tech...
High threat-count: boycotts in China
30 Mar 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Western fashion brands are in Chinese consumers’ crosshairs, the victims of political wranglings over sanctions and human-rights issues—a spat tha...
The smell of gas: insurgency in Mozambique
29 Mar 2021
Contributed by Lukas
In a province that is home to a massive natural-gas project, a long-simmering insurgency has burst into horrific violence; we ask why the government s...
Growth and stagnation: Bangladesh’s first 50 years
26 Mar 2021
Contributed by Lukas
The country has empowered its women, established itself as a garment-industry powerhouse and vastly improved public health—but its politics remains ...
Export-control panel: the EU meets on vaccines
25 Mar 2021
Contributed by Lukas
European leaders will address the thorny question of vaccine-export controls today. We look at the row with Britain and what it means for the broader ...
Can’t take a hike: more economic turmoil in Turkey
24 Mar 2021
Contributed by Lukas
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan just does not like interest-rate rises. So he has again sacked a central-bank governor given to imposing them—again, ...
Always be their Bibi? Israel votes, again
23 Mar 2021
Contributed by Lukas
It’s the fourth poll in two years, but a stable government is still far from guaranteed. We examine the firm grip Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu ...
Not-purchasing power: boycotts in Myanmar
22 Mar 2021
Contributed by Lukas
As demonstrations against February’s coup continue, many are trying a subtler form of resistance: starving army-owned businesses of revenue. We ask ...
Another race question: murder in Atlanta
19 Mar 2021
Contributed by Lukas
A shooting in the city left eight dead, six of them women of East Asian descent. We examine the past and present of anti-Asian sentiment in America. F...
Forces to be reckoned with: Afghan peace talks
18 Mar 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Negotiations in Moscow may at last forge agreement between the Afghan government and Taliban insurgents; that, in turn, would inform America’s long-...