Economist Podcasts
Episodes
Wishful thinking: America’s offer to Venezuela
01 Apr 2020
Contributed by Lukas
The Trump administration makes Venezuela’s Nicolás Maduro an offer he seems sure to refuse: an end to sanctions in return for power-sharing and ele...
In need of Comfort: New York's covid-19 crisis
31 Mar 2020
Contributed by Lukas
New York is at the centre of America’s—and the world’s—coronavirus crisis. The metropolis has also been caught in a damaging three-way politic...
Containment or complacency? Covid-19 in Japan
30 Mar 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Japan has reported a relatively low number of coronavirus cases. But concern is growing. The Olympics have at last been postponed and infections are o...
Life sentences? Prisons and covid-19
27 Mar 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Outbreaks among inmates are all but inevitable. Efforts at prison reform that were already under way will get a boost, because now they will save live...
Going to townships: covid-19 threatens Africa
26 Mar 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Governments across the continent have had a head start, but that will not address some worrying systemic problems many of them share. Ventilators are ...
Fiscal firepower: governments’ covid-19 aid
25 Mar 2020
Contributed by Lukas
As American lawmakers reach a deal on the country’s largest-ever rescue package, we examine how planners are balancing the health of their citizens ...
Trial, trial again: the race for covid-19 treatments
24 Mar 2020
Contributed by Lukas
The world’s scientists are swiftly identifying drugs that may help with the pandemic, and setting out on the long road toward a vaccine. Ethiopia’...
Continental shift: covid-19 grips Europe
23 Mar 2020
Contributed by Lukas
The novel coronavirus is spreading around the world, but its grip on Europe is curiously tight; we ask why, and what to expect next. We pay a visit to...
Lessons unplanned: school shutdowns spread
20 Mar 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Schools are closing down as covid-19 measures take hold; we look into the social, economic and educational costs for a world thrust into distance lear...
Pandemic, meet politics: the US-China spat
19 Mar 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Prior tensions have blunted the chances for a co-ordinated response to covid-19—and both countries are fighting a grand ideological battle alongside...
Drawbridges up: lockdowns and covid-19
18 Mar 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Borders are closing; suggestions to stay home are becoming mandates. We examine how the national responses to covid-19 have varied, and how they may b...
Same old song, and Gantz: fresh coalition talks in Israel
17 Mar 2020
Contributed by Lukas
He has four weeks to form a government, but Binyamin Netanyahu’s rival Benny Gantz is likely to find that the battle lines from three inconclusive e...
Flight risk: airlines and covid-19
16 Mar 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Travel restrictions that are proliferating worldwide may represent an existential threat to many airlines. How long the pandemic lasts will determine ...
Coming two terms with it: Putin’s power grab
13 Mar 2020
Contributed by Lukas
A resetting of the clock on the Russian leader’s tenure will almost certainly pass into law. That sets up a standoff with a public swiftly losing fa...
Stimulating discussion: policy responses to covid-19
12 Mar 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Britain’s central bank made an emergency cut and released a budget with a whopping £30bn ($38bn) stimulus; we discuss what countries are doing, or ...
Hollywood moment: Harvey Weinstein’s sentencing
11 Mar 2020
Contributed by Lukas
The disgraced producer’s conviction may seem a clear-cut win for the #MeToo movement, but it’s as yet uncertain just how much will change outside ...
When in Rome...stay put: Italy on lockdown
10 Mar 2020
Contributed by Lukas
The unexpected expansion of quarantine measures are a look into the near future of many countries, each facing different social and epidemiological tr...
A day without women: a vast strike in Mexico
09 Mar 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Millions of women will stay home today, protesting against rising levels of violence against them. In the Netherlands, a criminal trial begins in the ...
Nevertheless, she persisted: the futility of restricting abortion
06 Mar 2020
Contributed by Lukas
America’s Supreme Court is again tussling with the age-old question of abortion rights. Internationally the picture is very different; abortions are...
Testing times: the world responds to covid-19
05 Mar 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Our journalists explore the variance in both policy and preparedness among different countries and regions that are dealing with coronavirus outbreaks...
Joe through a rough patch:Biden’s super Tuesday
04 Mar 2020
Contributed by Lukas
The former vice-president stormed a raft of primaries yesterday, setting up a two-horse race to the Democratic nomination. What happens next, though, ...
Caught in the middle: Idlib’s humanitarian disaster
03 Mar 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Turkey sees the fall of Idlib as an existential threat; Russian-backed Syrian forces see the province as the last redoubt of troublesome rebels. Milli...
EU’ve heard this one before: Brexit trade talks
02 Mar 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Once again, Britain’s negotiators are talking tough, threatening a no-deal scenario as a long series of trade talks begins in Brussels. They’ve go...
Playing with fire: Democrats may get Bern
28 Feb 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Bernie Sanders's rise in the Democratic primaries has echoes of Donald Trump’s road to the Republican nomination. He has already changed the tone of...
Delhi melee: India’s citizenship protests
27 Feb 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Violence in the country’s capital is the worst in decades. The unrest pits the ruling party’s Hindu-nationalist agenda against citizens proud of I...
Clash pipe: Canada’s widening protests
26 Feb 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Successive governments have overlooked the concerns of indigenous peoples, and that has elevated a small gas-pipeline protest into a national conflagr...
Mitigating circumstances: coronavirus spreads
25 Feb 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Global markets tanked yesterday as governments reported startling rises in covid-19 cases. Our correspondents around the world assess countries' diffe...
Peace-meal: ceasefire in Afghanistan
24 Feb 2020
Contributed by Lukas
For now, a “reduction in violence” is holding, and a long-awaited agreement hangs in the balance. But can the Taliban and the country’s governme...
Clerical era: Iran’s elections
21 Feb 2020
Contributed by Lukas
In a bid to unite a fractious populace, hardliners barred half of the parliamentary candidates; by silencing moderates, the plan will suppress turnout...
Uncut emerald: Ireland’s unification prospects
20 Feb 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Spurred on by demographic shifts, Brexit and the success of the Sinn Fein party in this month’s election, the once-unthinkable idea of Irish reunifi...
Many hands light of work: China’s 170m migrant workers
19 Feb 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Strict controls meant to contain the spread of the coronavirus are affecting many of the country’s villages. Our correspondent visits migrant worker...
A friend of mines: America’s explosive policy turn
18 Feb 2020
Contributed by Lukas
The Trump administration’s stance on anti-personnel landmines worries many—but also speaks to a future in which the rules of war are uncertain. Br...
The snails of justice: the International Criminal Court
17 Feb 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Sudan’s transitional government has pledged to hand over the country’s brutal former leader to the ICC—could justice for the court’s most-want...
Another man’s Treasury: Britain’s cabinet upheaval
14 Feb 2020
Contributed by Lukas
The dramatic departure of the head of the Treasury reveals Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s desire—and that of his wily chief aide—to take firm ho...
Defence on the defensive: NATO under scrutiny
13 Feb 2020
Contributed by Lukas
It’s not just President Donald Trump piling pressure on the alliance. As defence ministers meet in Brussels, we examine one of the longest-lasting d...
Bern turn: New Hampshire’s primary
12 Feb 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Bernie Sanders and Pete Buttigieg led the pack in New Hampshire. Two candidates have exited the race, and a potential spoiler is yet to compete. Argen...
Christian Democratic disunion: Germany’s political upheaval
11 Feb 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Chancellor Angela Merkel’s hand-picked successor is out of the running. The ruling CDU party must now pick a new leader and a path in dealing with t...
Trust the process? China’s coronavirus response
10 Feb 2020
Contributed by Lukas
The Communist Party is exuding an aura of complete control over the outbreak, but our correspondent finds an undercurrent of distrust. International h...
From out of left field: Ireland’s election
07 Feb 2020
Contributed by Lukas
After the adulation, the discontent. Voters are abandoning the party of the young, progressive leader Leo Varadkar, with many supporting Sinn Fein, a ...
Imperfect call: Trump’s exoneration
06 Feb 2020
Contributed by Lukas
A predictable outcome in President Donald Trump’s Senate trial will have unpredictable effects on executive power and congressional oversight—but ...
Address change: the State of the Union
05 Feb 2020
Contributed by Lukas
President Donald Trump seemed to be going out of his way to rankle Democrats while he pitched his tenure as a change from American decline to American...
An app-polling delay: Iowa’s caucus chaos
04 Feb 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Technical glitches and “inconsistencies” threw America’s first Democratic caucuses into disarray. That will have political consequences, irrespe...
Economic contagion: Hong Kong
03 Feb 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Hong Kong’s GDP report released today reflects the squeeze that enormous protests at home and economic headwinds on the mainland have put on the ter...
When one door closes: Brexit day
31 Jan 2020
Contributed by Lukas
The costs of leaving the European Union are likely to outweigh the benefits. But as Britain re-aligns itself in the world, those benefits should be se...
Viral hit: the costs of China’s lockdown
30 Jan 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Our correspondent travels to the border of the locked-down Hubei province, finding among the people a mixture of resignation, fear and distrust. Was t...
They went that Huawei: Britain’s crucial 5G call
29 Jan 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Facing pressure from both China and America on allowing Huawei into its next-generation network, Britain opted to fully appease neither—and that wil...
Showpiece in the Middle East: Trump’s “ultimate deal”
28 Jan 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Palestinian leaders have already rejected the American administration’s peace plan. But the proposal is nevertheless politically useful, both for Bi...
Spread bet: China’s coronavirus quarantine
27 Jan 2020
Contributed by Lukas
In Hubei province and increasingly across China, new-year celebrations are muted. Authorities are trying to contain the outbreak with an unprecedented...
Ill-judged: Poland’s rule-of-law crisis
24 Jan 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Poland's government has been trying to nobble the courts for years. Now the European Union is intervening, and the outcome could undermine the union i...
On the right track: a trend in diplomacy
23 Jan 2020
Contributed by Lukas
When conflict-resolution efforts falter in official channels, there are unofficial ones. We ask why “Track 2”—allowing well-meaning third partie...
Justin time, again: Trudeau’s second term
22 Jan 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Canada’s prime minister now leads a minority government, and has lost support in the country’s west. We ask what he must do, and how, with his wea...
Can I get a witness? Impeachment
21 Jan 2020
Contributed by Lukas
The rules are set, battle lines drawn and the outcome is all but assured. We ask why the Senate trial of President Donald Trump seems so sewn up. A de...
Tripoli crown: the battle for Libya
20 Jan 2020
Contributed by Lukas
This weekend’s peace talks in Berlin were a good start, but the situation is still ripe for a longer, messier proxy war. More than a million people ...
Address the problem: the global housing blunder
17 Jan 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Badly run housing markets are linked to broader ills, from financial crises to the rise of populism. The first problem? The conviction that home owner...
Checks and Balance: Trailer
17 Jan 2020
Contributed by Lukas
US editor John Prideaux and his colleagues from across the US and around the world go beyond the headlines and the horserace to delve deeper into the ...
Set for life? Putin’s power-grab
16 Jan 2020
Contributed by Lukas
After Russia’s president proposed vast constitutional change, the whole government resigned. It seems to be another convoluted power-grab by Vladimi...
Going through a phase: US-China trade deal
15 Jan 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Negotiators will sign a “phase one” pact today—but the trickiest issues remain unresolved, and plenty of tariffs will stay in place. Will the de...
A Biden by their decision? Democrats debate
14 Jan 2020
Contributed by Lukas
The race for the Democratic nomination looks much like it did a year ago—but previous contests prove that once voting starts, momentum can reshuffle...
Tsai of the times: Taiwan’s defiant election
13 Jan 2020
Contributed by Lukas
China has been getting more aggressive in its claims over the island, but voters have made it clear just how much they favour democracy. The relentles...
Scorched-earth policies: Australia and climate change
10 Jan 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Evacuations are expanding as fast as the flames, and worse may yet be to come. We visit the fiery extremes that climate change is making more likely. ...
Will you still feed me when I’m 62? Macron’s pension fight
09 Jan 2020
Contributed by Lukas
He won a landslide victory campaigning on it, but like French presidents before him Emmanuel Macron is struggling to push through his grand pension re...
Return fire: Iran’s missile attacks
08 Jan 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Attacks on bases that house American troops seem a dramatic retaliation to the killing of Iranian commander Qassem Suleimani—yet both sides seem to ...
Two heads aren’t better than one: Venezuela
07 Jan 2020
Contributed by Lukas
After chaotic scenes in the National Assembly, it seems the country’s legislature has two leaders. Has Juan Guaidó’s chance at regime change run ...
The general and specific threats: Iran
06 Jan 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Killing Iran’s top military commander does not seem likely to further America’s aims for the region. What should America and its allies expect now...
Negative feedback: reversing carbon emissions
03 Jan 2020
Contributed by Lukas
It is increasingly clear that putting less carbon dioxide in the atmosphere will not be enough to combat climate change; we take a look at the effort ...
Made (entirely) in China: a tech behemoth rises
02 Jan 2020
Contributed by Lukas
No longer content just to assemble devices, Chinese firms want to design them and the infrastructure around them—and in some sectors they look set t...
Lifesaver: meet a death-row detective
24 Dec 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Death sentences are occasionally overturned in America; we meet a private detective responsible for saving many of those lives. We scour our foreign d...
Lying in states: fibbing politicians
23 Dec 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Lies and politics have always come as a pair, but the untruths keep getting bigger and more frequent; our correspondent digs into why. We speak with a...
Old China hands: ageing in the Middle Kingdom
20 Dec 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Next year, China’s median age will surpass America’s, but with just a quarter the median income; the government is nervous that China will get old...
Exclusionary rule: India’s citizenship law
19 Dec 2019
Contributed by Lukas
The Hindu nationalist government’s latest move pointedly excludes Muslims from immigration reform. Protesters reckon that is an attack on the countr...
Marching orders: impeachment around the world
18 Dec 2019
Contributed by Lukas
America’s impeachment battle falls along unhelpfully partisan lines—but the process has other shortcomings. We take some lessons from how the rest...
Majority rules: Britain’s new Parliament sits
17 Dec 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Now that the prime minister has a thumping parliamentary majority, Brexit is assured—but on what terms? And what other legislative shake-ups are in ...
COP out: the UN climate talks
16 Dec 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Again, the annual COP conference ran long and ended with disappointment. Why can’t countries agree on what so clearly must be done? One big contribu...
Bolt from the blue: Britain’s Conservatives triumph
13 Dec 2019
Contributed by Lukas
A thumping win for Boris Johnson’s Tory party is more complex than it seems; the returns cast a light on changes bubbling under the surface of the c...
Defending the indefensible: Aung San Suu Kyi
12 Dec 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Myanmar’s de facto leader appeared before the International Court of Justice to answer allegations of war crimes. We look at the stark turnaround of...
Articles of faith: charges laid against Trump
11 Dec 2019
Contributed by Lukas
House Democrats have issued their narrowly focused articles of impeachment against President Donald Trump. We look back on the history of impeachments...
Running into debt: Argentina’s new president
10 Dec 2019
Contributed by Lukas
For the first time in decades, a non-Peronist president will peacefully hand over power. But the new president—and his deputy, former president Cris...
Oil be going: Canada’s separatist west
09 Dec 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Long-simmering tensions in the oil-rich west of the country have boiled over, and now there’s an increasingly credible push for secession. Investors...
Writing on the Wall: a revealing British-election hike
06 Dec 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Our correspondent walked the length of Hadrian’s Wall, in northern England, finding shifting party alliances and surprising views on Brexit. We take...
Not shy about retiring: strikes in France
05 Dec 2019
Contributed by Lukas
A massive, rolling, national strike begins today, in protest against proposed reforms of the sprawling pension system. But details of the changes have...
Inquiring minds: impeachment’s next stage
04 Dec 2019
Contributed by Lukas
The House Judiciary Committee will now take up the inquiry into President Donald Trump. But will any of it matter to uninterested voters? The probe in...
With allies like these: NATO’s bickering leaders hold a summit
03 Dec 2019
Contributed by Lukas
It will be all smiles at the NATO summit today in London--but many of them will be forced. Behind the scenes, the alliance’s leaders are arguing abo...
Terrorist on parole: A jihadist killer fools Britain’s justice system
02 Dec 2019
Contributed by Lukas
The Islamic militant who killed two people in London last week was supposedly being monitored by the authorities. That revelation has prompted a fierc...
AMLO and behold: Mexico’s president tries to tackle corruption
29 Nov 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Andrés Manuel López Obrador, Mexico’s president, is wildly popular, in part because of his determination to wipe out corruption. But is his crusad...
Presidential SEAL: Donald Trump puts his stamp on military discipline
28 Nov 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Donald Trump used to lionise generals, but this week he had a falling out with the top brass. Are the armed forces becoming as politicised as America’...
Global warning: The UN sounds the alarm on climate change
27 Nov 2019
Contributed by Lukas
The UN has just released its annual report on how well the fight to slow climate change is going. It finds that efforts to reduce greenhouse-gas emiss...
Start spreading the cash: Michael Bloomberg runs for president
26 Nov 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Michael Bloomberg, the billionaire former mayor of New York, has announced he is running for president. But he is late to join the race and not very p...
Protest vote: Hong Kongers send a message to Beijing
25 Nov 2019
Contributed by Lukas
After almost six months of protests and street battles, Hong Kongers have had a chance to vote in local elections. They sent a clear message of suppor...
Bibi in the corner: Binyamin Netanyahu’s indictment
22 Nov 2019
Contributed by Lukas
After years of investigations, Israel’s prime minister has been indicted. A fraught legal case will complicate the already messy business of cobblin...
Fuel to the fire: growing unrest in Iran
21 Nov 2019
Contributed by Lukas
After petrol subsidies were slashed, protests of surprising ferocity have flared up across the country—and neither the government nor the demonstrat...
Settling in: Israel-Palestine policy
20 Nov 2019
Contributed by Lukas
The American administration’s shifting position on Israeli settlements in the West Bank will have little immediate effect—but may end up sharply c...
Bits in pieces: a fragmenting internet
19 Nov 2019
Contributed by Lukas
The early vision for a borderless, unregulated internet has not panned out as its pioneers hoped. How to handle the “splinternet”? Doug Jones is A...
Head for the Hill: this week’s impeachment hearings
18 Nov 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Democrats have a hard task as the hearings’ public stage proceeds: not uncovering new evidence, but building a robust public case for impeachment. T...
Better the devil they know? Sri Lanka’s election
15 Nov 2019
Contributed by Lukas
After multiple suicide bombings in April, much campaigning has been about security. Will Sri Lankans vote tomorrow for the authoritarian-but-effective...
Language barrier: Cameroon’s forgotten conflict
14 Nov 2019
Contributed by Lukas
There is widespread terror in the largely Francophone country’s English-speaking region. Both hardline separatists and the army target civilians wit...
Umbrellas to firebombs: Hong Kong’s escalating protests
13 Nov 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Molotov cocktails are flying and live rounds have been fired. Once-peaceful pro-democracy demonstrations are transforming into violent confrontations—...
The American Dreamer: DACA in the Supreme Court
12 Nov 2019
Contributed by Lukas
The Trump administration has long wanted to scrap the “Dreamers” scheme, which allowed illegal immigrants who came as youths to stay in America. T...
Unpresidented: Bolivia’s leader resigns
11 Nov 2019
Contributed by Lukas
After weeks of protests following a disputed election, Evo Morales has stood down. Who is in charge, and how can the country escape its gridlock? On a...
Persistence of division: after the Berlin Wall
08 Nov 2019
Contributed by Lukas
This weekend marks three decades since the wall fell, yet stark divides remain between East and West. We revisit that moment of hope that remains unfu...
Allez, Europe! Macron’s diplomatic push
07 Nov 2019
Contributed by Lukas
This week our correspondent joined Emmanuel Macron on his visit to China. The French president is stretching his diplomatic wings, and has some striki...