Economist Podcasts
Episodes
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-...
Harms weigh: AstraZeneca vaccine fears
17 Mar 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Scattered reports of blood clots have sparked curbs across Europe, even though the jab is almost certainly safe. We take a hard look at the risks in r...
Earning them: Stripe’s monster valuation
16 Mar 2021
Contributed by Lukas
The firm got in early providing online-payment software to tech startups. Now it’s the most valuable Silicon Valley darling yet. We look at its futu...
Redrawing the map: a fragmented Syria
15 Mar 2021
Contributed by Lukas
As the country marks ten years of civil war, the economy is crippled; it has broken up into statelets and ethnic enclaves that may never be reunified....
Casting the net wider: remaking the welfare state
12 Mar 2021
Contributed by Lukas
As the Biden administration fires a $1.9trn pandemic-relief bazooka, we consider how governments might rethink welfare: providing more-flexible benefi...
Nuclear inaction: the legacy of Fukushima
11 Mar 2021
Contributed by Lukas
The cleanup effort in and around the melted-down power plant is still progressing, but rebuilding communities—and, crucially, trust—is proving far...
Whither permitting? Vaccine passports
10 Mar 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Formalising systems to divide the vaccinated from the unvaccinated is neither as risky nor as useful as many people think. In any case, vaccine passpo...
Reconciled to it: America’s stimulus bill
09 Mar 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Thanks to a parliamentary contortion called reconciliation, the $1.9trn covid-relief plan is likely to sail through—we examine what is in it and wha...
Despair and disparities: covid-19 consumes Brazil
08 Mar 2021
Contributed by Lukas
State and local pandemic responses are scattershot; a national effort is all but nonexistent. A creeping sense of fatalism makes for peril far beyond ...
Rubber-stamping ground: China’s parliament meets
05 Mar 2021
Contributed by Lukas
The National People’s Congress kicked off with two big signals of Beijing’s intentions: a return to economic-growth targets and a plan to eradicat...
Exit stages left: America and the Middle East
04 Mar 2021
Contributed by Lukas
The Biden administration would like to pull back from the region; America’s strategic interests have changed, as have regional dynamics. We examine ...
Owing to the pandemic: Britain’s budget
03 Mar 2021
Contributed by Lukas
The finance minister has a plan that will keep many safeguards in place—for now. We ask how the country will then dig itself out of a financial hole...
A dark picture emerges: atrocities in Ethiopia
02 Mar 2021
Contributed by Lukas
It is becoming more certain that war crimes are being committed in the northern region of Tigray. Yet, despite increasing international pressure, ther...
Coup fighters: Myanmar’s persistent protesters
01 Mar 2021
Contributed by Lukas
The temperature keeps rising: as demonstrations continue to grow, the army is becoming more brutal. We ask how the country can escape the cycle of vio...
Mutual-appreciation anxiety: Putin and Erdogan
26 Feb 2021
Contributed by Lukas
The presidents of Turkey and Russia make an odd couple; their former empires have clashed over centuries. We look at the fragile—but nonetheless wor...
Hell for Tether: a cryptocurrency crimped
25 Feb 2021
Contributed by Lukas
The notionally dollar-pegged “stablecoin” quietly underpins many crypto-market moves. We ask what the currency issuer’s clash with New York auth...
Let the games be thin: Tokyo’s Olympic tussles
24 Feb 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Planners are in a corner. Delaying or cancelling the summer tournament looks like defeat; pressing ahead looks like a danger. We take a look at the sp...
Confirmation biases: Biden’s cabinet picks
23 Feb 2021
Contributed by Lukas
President Joe Biden’s top posts are shaping up as Senate confirmation hearings continue—but some controversial nominations await a vote. We look a...
Contrary to popular opinion: Mexico’s president
22 Feb 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Andrés Manuel López Obrador roared into office with a grand “fourth transformation” agenda. Even after two years of policy failures and power-gr...
Have I not news for you: Facebook’s Australian battle
19 Feb 2021
Contributed by Lukas
A media code that would obligate tech giants to pay for linking to news stories looks set to pass. In response, Facebook pre-emptively took down those...
Watts the problem: Texas’s energy failings
18 Feb 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Crippling blackouts can be explained in part by the state’s unique energy market, but the disaster exposes wider failures that must be confronted am...
The next of 1,000 cuts: Hong Kong activists on trial
17 Feb 2021
Contributed by Lukas
It is not violent young protesters in the dock: the accused are the architects of the territory’s democracy. Our correspondent examines the city’s...
Desert stands: France in the Sahel
16 Feb 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Terror groups and separatists run riot in the sprawling region, and France has had some success in keeping the peace. But how, and when, to draw down ...
No Capitol punishment: Trump’s acquittal
15 Feb 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Donald Trump was all but certain to be cleared in his Senate trial, and so it went. But the few Republican votes to convict are telling. What next for...
Exit-stage plight: Brexit’s costs come due
12 Feb 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Stock-trading is shifting to the continent; businesses are bound up in red tape; border issues are still simmering. There is far more than mere “tee...
The coup is on the other foot: Myanmar
11 Feb 2021
Contributed by Lukas
A power-grab by the army’s commander, Min Aung Hlaing, is not turning out to be easy: the greatest protest movement in a generation is gathering ste...
Like hell out of a bat: SARS-CoV-2’s origin
10 Feb 2021
Contributed by Lukas
The World Health Organisation unveiled preliminary findings, suggesting the coronavirus probably jumped to humans via an intermediary animal and all b...
Very long covid: the lasting risks to Africa
09 Feb 2021
Contributed by Lukas
So far it seems the continent has weathered the pandemic well. But current numbers mask a future reckoning that is likely to have dire human and econo...
The art of the done deal: Trump on trial, again
08 Feb 2021
Contributed by Lukas
The second impeachment trial of Donald Trump will make history, but its outcome is assured. We ask what the proceedings say about the Republican Party...
Ballot bonanza: Latin America’s year of elections
05 Feb 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Ecuador’s elections on Sunday kick off a packed year of polls in the region. Democracy’s foothold in South America looks assured; in Central Ameri...
Cheques notes: getting America’s stimulus right
04 Feb 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Congress is on the cusp of pushing through a $1.9trn stimulus bill. But would it be money well spent? We examine the economics. Nearly half of India’...
Rise above the cloud: Amazon’s new chief executive
03 Feb 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Jeff Bezos is relinquishing the reins—partly—of the firm he founded. We take a look at Andy Jassy, who will replace him as chief executive at a pr...
As a general rules: Myanmar’s coup
02 Feb 2021
Contributed by Lukas
The army already had plenty of political power, but following a landslide election loss it dramatically seized more. After five years of democracy, wi...
More needles in the haystack: vaccine candidates proliferate
01 Feb 2021
Contributed by Lukas
That a coronavirus vaccine could be developed in a year is astonishing—and promising candidates just keep coming. How will the virus’s variants ch...
Tug of warheads: the nuclear order
29 Jan 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Successful arms-control diplomacy has kept proliferation at bay for decades. But many states now have nuclear ambitions; we look at an increasingly wo...
Conte’s inferno: political crisis in Italy
28 Jan 2021
Contributed by Lukas
The president is scrambling to pull together a workable government following Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte’s resignation—and the instability has b...
Vials and tribulations: the EU’s vaccine push
27 Jan 2021
Contributed by Lukas
The European Union’s vaccine rollout was slow and fragmented even before pharma companies warned of supply shortfalls; we ask what’s gone wrong. A...
Party down: Vietnam’s Communist leaders meet
26 Jan 2021
Contributed by Lukas
At this week’s five-yearly congress there will be pride in the handling of the pandemic—but broader discontent and mounting protests should worry ...
Vlad tidings: demonstrations across Russia
25 Jan 2021
Contributed by Lukas
The arrest of Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny—and an exposé he released alleging deep corruption—fuelled vast weekend protests, chipping away at Pr...
Biting the hands that would feed: Ethiopia
22 Jan 2021
Contributed by Lukas
There are signs that the federal government is obstructing humanitarian aid to the war-torn region of Tigray, putting millions of civilians at risk of...
Much to repair: Biden’s first day on the job
21 Jan 2021
Contributed by Lukas
The watchword was unity as Joe Biden took office—he struck a calming tone and got immediately to work. We analyse the gargantuan tasks that lie ahea...
Costly disbelief: covid-19 ravages Brazil again
20 Jan 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Desperate scenes in the city of Manaus may foretell a dire wave throughout the country. A misguided sense of “herd immunity” has worsened matters,...
Hell no, we won’t grow: Indian farmers’ mass protests
19 Jan 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Hundreds of thousands of farmers have participated in protests around Delhi, demonstrating against laws that they say threaten their livelihoods. We a...
Landed, in trouble: Alexei Navalny returns to Russia
18 Jan 2021
Contributed by Lukas
The opposition leader was detained as soon as he arrived—but President Vladimir Putin has no good options for dealing with his most vocal opponent. ...
Bold Wine in new battles: Uganda’s election
15 Jan 2021
Contributed by Lukas
After a violent campaign in which the opposition candidate Bobi Wine was extensively intimidated, authorities imposed an internet blackout. President ...
Two-timer: Trump impeached, again
14 Jan 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Some House Republicans broke ranks, joining Democrats to hand President Donald Trump an ignominious distinction. Our deputy editor lays out why the Se...