Economist Podcasts
Episodes
The Intelligence: Indonesia’s election, more TikTok than tick-box
31 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Campaigning for a coming election in the world’s fourth-most-populous country has been almost entirely policy-free: a good social-media presence is ...
Drum Tower: Competing for kids
30 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
China’s decades-long economic boom was powered by workers who migrated from the countryside to cities to find jobs. But to do so, many of them had t...
The Intelligence: China’s ever grander property crisis
30 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
One of the country’s biggest property companies, Evergrande, has been crippled by its debt. What does a new court order mean for prospective homebuy...
The Intelligence: Iran increases the stakes in the Middle East
29 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Iran-backed proxies have killed three American soldiers and injured dozens of others in their weekend strike. A response from the Pentagon seems inevi...
The Weekend Intelligence: Digital Ghosts
27 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
As life moves progressively online, it is becoming increasingly possible to keep people alive in the digital sense. Tech companies are starting to use...
The Intelligence: Milei’s laborious reforms
26 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
For decades, Argentina’s labour unions have seemed like they can’t be touched. But the country’s new radical, libertarian president is daring to...
The Intelligence: what AI could mean for the world’s poorest
25 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Generative artificial intelligence dominated conversations at Davos this year. How might education and healthcare be transformed as the technology rea...
Babbage: Sam Altman and Satya Nadella on their vision for AI
24 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
OpenAI and Microsoft are leaders in generative artificial intelligence (AI). OpenAI has built GPT-4, one of the world’s most sophisticated large lan...
The Intelligence: Donald trumps Haley in New Hampshire
24 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
His decisive victory demonstrates just how much of a hold he still has on the Republican party, but his last remaining competitor is not bowing out ju...
The Intelligence: is Germany al[t]right?
23 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
The Alternative for Germany (AfD) party represents a growing anti-immigrant rhetoric in the country, but people are taking to the streets in their tho...
The Intelligence: Ron down, two left
22 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
He went from being the most viable challenger to Donald Trump for the Republican nomination, to endorsing him. Our US editor opines on why Ron DeSanti...
The Intelligence: the relentless audacity of Alexei Navalny
19 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
The ominous disappearance of Russia’s opposition leader led many to fear the worst. But he has turned up in an Arctic penal colony—his message of ...
Money Talks: Europe’s luxury crown
18 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
European firms dominate the global luxury landscape, accounting for two-thirds of sales and nine of the ten most valuable luxury brands. A strong emph...
The Intelligence: The darkness before the Don
18 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Many of America’s business leaders reckon a second Trump term would be worse for them and for the economy than the first was—not that they’re sp...
The Intelligence: Gaza’s ever-graver crisis
17 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
A tentative aid deal in Gaza is just a sliver of what is needed; hunger and disease may well claim more Palestinian lives this year than the military ...
The Intelligence: The CCP would like chips with that
16 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
China’s flip-flopping on video-game regulation reveals a messy message: leaders want to encourage “hard tech” such as chips and AI over the cons...
The Intelligence: Independents’ day
15 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Taiwan’s election of William Lai Ching-te of the pro-independence Democratic Progressive Party is sure to annoy leaders in Beijing; we ask what to e...
The Intelligence: Air strikes on Houthi rebels
12 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
America and its allies delivered on a threat to retaliate against Houthi rebels in Yemen who have been targeting Red Sea ships. How far will the escal...
The Intelligence: Growing, no pains
11 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
America seems to be in a best-of-worlds scenario: growth is outpacing expectations even as inflation keeps falling—how will the party end? This week...
The Intelligence: Emmanuel override
10 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Gabriel Attal, France’s youthful new prime minister, represents President Emmanuel Macron’s renewed push to pass policy reforms and to counter a r...
Drum Tower: Taiwan goes to the polls
09 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
China is watching Taiwan’s next presidential race closely. The results will influence Xi Jinping’s next steps when it comes to resolving the “Ta...
The Intelligence: Country code
09 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
As with many technologies that preceded it, generative artificial intelligence is increasingly viewed as a means to geopolitical advantage: welcome to...
The Intelligence: If a tree falls in the Amazon
08 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Our correspondents travel through the rainforest, seeing the pollution and clear-cutting firsthand. Establishing the rule of law first requires a dece...
Checks and Balance: Biden or bust
05 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Joe Biden’s chances against Donald Trump in November do not look good. He is unpopular and his age puts many Americans off. How did it come to this?...
The Intelligence: The city that never slipped
05 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
From Brexit to covid-19, nothing has yet stymied London’s successes. The city has its problems, but it remains a paragon of policymaking. In the las...
The Intelligence: Workers of the world, delight!
04 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Labour markets are changing in all kinds of ways, thanks to ageing societies, hot-running economies and technological boosts. It all adds up to a gold...
The Intelligence: the killing of a Hamas leader
03 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Saleh al-Arouri has long been a high-priority target for Israel and his death could weaken the Palestinian militant group. However, it could also draw...
The Intelligence: Volodymyr Zelensky on Ukraine’s year ahead
02 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
As Vladimir Putin promises to intensify Russia’s attacks, Mr Zelensky is frustrated at the wavering support from the West. Speaking to The Economist...
The Intelligence: 2024 is a big year for democracy
01 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Citizens across more than 70 countries will be heading to the polls over the next twelve months. It’s a record year for voting, but how democratic w...
The Intelligence: the notable deaths of 2023
29 Dec 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Only at the end of the year can a full appraisal be made of the figures—and landmarks—that the world has lost. From Harry Belafonte to Henry Kissi...
The Intelligence: The Economist reads
28 Dec 2023
Contributed by Lukas
What can A Space Odyssey by Arthur C Clarke tell us about AI? Does Shakespeare's Othello contain a warning for the 2024 US presidential election? Our ...
The Intelligence: The Economist explains
27 Dec 2023
Contributed by Lukas
On our website and in our app, “The Economist explains” is one of the best-read features. Today we invite a few of their authors to keep explainin...
The Intelligence: who wins The Economist’s country of the year?
26 Dec 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Which country improved the most this year? Nominations poured in from across the editorial department, and the competition was tough, but who came out...
The Intelligence: searching for the elixir of life
22 Dec 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Scientists are making considerable progress in the race to slow the ageing process of our cells, and in turn, our bodies. But what would living for lo...
Money Talks: There’s no business like it
21 Dec 2023
Contributed by Lukas
We raise the curtain on the business of New York’s iconic theatre district. Broadway has been struggling with rising costs and falling sales since t...
The Intelligence: Alice Weidel’s alternative plan for Germany
21 Dec 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Our Berlin bureau chief sits down with the increasingly popular co-leader of the Alternative for Germany, the furthest-right of the country’s seven ...
Babbage: Science book club
20 Dec 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Books are the original medium for communicating science to the masses. In a holiday special, producer Kunal Patel asks Babbage’s family of correspon...
The Intelligence: Colorado blocks Donald Trump’s candidacy
20 Dec 2023
Contributed by Lukas
The state’s supreme court has ruled that he cannot appear on the Republican primary ballot, citing insurrection and a constitutional amendment. It’...
The Intelligence: Congo’s election
19 Dec 2023
Contributed by Lukas
After a dubious win in 2018, Felix Tshisekedi is running for office again in the Democratic Republic of Congo – and an incumbency bias could work in...
The Intelligence: Red (Sea) alert
18 Dec 2023
Contributed by Lukas
In response to the war in Gaza, Iran-backed Houthi militants are attacking vessels along the key shipping route. If it continues, the consequences cou...
The Weekend Intelligence: MH17 and the battle for truth
16 Dec 2023
Contributed by Lukas
For almost a decade The Economist’s Noah Sneider has been following the story of MH17, the passenger plane shot down over Eastern Ukraine on July 17...
The Intelligence: Zelensky’s plea
15 Dec 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Volodymyr Zelensky is hoping to secure more aid from Washington. But the decision rests with a divided Congress. What does this mean for the next phas...
The Intelligence: is America’s media fair?
14 Dec 2023
Contributed by Lukas
News outlets are often hounded by the right for being too left-leaning. Our data show there might be something to that, but the reasons why are more c...
The Intelligence: good COP, bad COP?
13 Dec 2023
Contributed by Lukas
In a landmark agreement, nearly 200 nations have agreed to transition away from fossil fuels. However, that is not the same as phasing them out. Has t...
The Intelligence: Antisemitism and freedom of speech
12 Dec 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Since the Hamas attacks and the ensuing war in Gaza, debate at America’s top academic institutions has turned sour. Now, the issue has reignited an ...
The Intelligence: French fly, catch up
11 Dec 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Our correspondent joins the French air force on a mission in the Baltics, seeing increasing support for NATO just as the country draws down in Africa....
The Intelligence: America’s culture wars brought to bears
08 Dec 2023
Contributed by Lukas
In the American West, grizzly bears are spreading—and fights over protecting them under the Endangered Species Act test the frontiers between scienc...
The Intelligence: Putin’s growing advantage
07 Dec 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Even before America’s tussle over funding Ukraine’s war effort, it seemed as if Russia was gaining the upper hand—by exploiting Ukraine’s wide...
The Intelligence: No more Mr Nice-to-Guyana
06 Dec 2023
Contributed by Lukas
By the numbers, the outcome seems clear: Venezuelans voted to annex much of newly minted petrostate Guyana. But our correspondent says the referendum ...
Drum Tower: Stand-up feminists
05 Dec 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Tickets for “Nvzizhuyi”—a monthly stand-up comedy show in New York City— often sell out in less than a minute. The show invites Chinese citize...
The Intelligence: I spy, with my Valley eye
05 Dec 2023
Contributed by Lukas
The cradle of American technology was once known for its libertarian values—but as law-enforcement agencies seek more means of surveillance, Silicon...
The Intelligence: Israel pushes south in Gaza
04 Dec 2023
Contributed by Lukas
As its ground offensive appears to be expanding, Israel is acutely aware that time and international support will run out; we examine its impossible s...
The Weekend Intelligence: A nation on a knife's edge
02 Dec 2023
Contributed by Lukas
The Economist's editor-in-chief, Zanny Minton Beddoes, and our Russia and Eastern Europe editor, Arkady Ostrovsky, return to Kyiv to to find out if cr...
The Intelligence: meeting Ukraine’s first lady
01 Dec 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Olena Zelenska foresees a time when her family can regain a quiet life. Our editor-in-chief sits down with her to discuss her mental-health campaign a...
The Intelligence: Henry Kissinger’s legacy
30 Nov 2023
Contributed by Lukas
The doyen of diplomacy has died, leaving a complex legacy. Following extensive interviews with him earlier this year, our deputy editor examines what ...
The Intelligence: Swede demons
29 Nov 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Drug-related shootings and bombings are on the rise. Policies are changing and law-enforcement budgets rising, but stemming the violence is proving po...
The Intelligence: as Zuck would have it
28 Nov 2023
Contributed by Lukas
The singular focus on the metaverse of Mark Zuckerberg, Meta’s boss, fretted investors. But in the past year he has pulled off a spectacularly timel...
The Intelligence: eyewitness to slaughter in Sudan
27 Nov 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Our correspondent speaks with the Africa head of the Red Cross who has borne witness to the war, famine and genocide that continue—unrelenting and l...
The Intelligence: Land of the rising sums
24 Nov 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Look past short-term stumbles: there are plenty of reasons to think Japan may spin out of its decades-long deflationary spiral. But how to avoid anoth...
Money Talks: Play it again, Sam Altman
23 Nov 2023
Contributed by Lukas
In five days OpenAI’s boss was fired by its board; hired by Microsoft, the startup’s biggest investor; and returned to his post at OpenAI. Yet thi...
The Intelligence: a far-right victory in the Netherlands
23 Nov 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Geert Wilders campaigned on leaving the European Union, closing the borders, and even suggested banning Islam. The Dutch surprisingly voted for him an...
Babbage: Fei-Fei Li on how to really think about the future of AI
22 Nov 2023
Contributed by Lukas
A year ago, the public launch of ChatGPT took the world by storm and it was followed by many more generative artificial intelligence tools, all with r...
The Intelligence: Israel and Hamas’s hostage deal
22 Nov 2023
Contributed by Lukas
After weeks of negotiations, Hamas has agreed to release some hostages. In exchange, there will be a four-day pause in fighting. But then what? Americ...
The Intelligence: Sam Altman and the divide in the AI world
21 Nov 2023
Contributed by Lukas
It is still unclear why the board of OpenAI fired him last week, but hundreds of staff are revolting anyway. The debacle reveals a sizeable rift betwe...
The Intelligence: can Milei cure malaise in Argentina?
20 Nov 2023
Contributed by Lukas
He is a self-proclaimed “anarcho-capitalist” and in a run-off, the people have entrusted this political firebrand to shake the country out of econ...
Checks and Balance: Year all about it
17 Nov 2023
Contributed by Lukas
If the election were held tomorrow, Donald Trump would probably be the favourite to win. How should we be thinking about the race with a year to...
The Intelligence: Yes, Trump could win again
17 Nov 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Were America’s presidential election to be held today, Donald Trump would probably win. We examine the winds shifting in his favour, and how the Bid...
The Intelligence: on the ground in Gaza
16 Nov 2023
Contributed by Lukas
There is little left, in terms of people or infrastructure, in the north of the strip. Our correspondent, embedded with the Israel Defence Forces, con...
The Intelligence: antisemitism in France
15 Nov 2023
Contributed by Lukas
In the European country with both the largest Jewish and largest Muslim populations, a rise in antisemitic acts brings particular perils; we examine t...
The Intelligence: putting a Dave face on it
14 Nov 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Former prime minister David Cameron is back from the political wilderness—and his appointment as foreign secretary reveals much about the state of t...
The Intelligence: Kherson, one year later
13 Nov 2023
Contributed by Lukas
After a grinding and lethal eight-month battle, Ukraine’s forces retook the port city a year ago. Our correspondent visits, finding a populace both ...
The Intelligence: how strong is the Chinese military?
10 Nov 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Miscalculating the prowess of the People’s Liberation Army is dangerous. Overestimating it could cause unnecessary confrontation, but underestimatin...
Money Talks: Touring America’s industrial revival
09 Nov 2023
Contributed by Lukas
President Joe Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act promised $370bn for green infrastructure and industry. It has spurred a surge in massive construction ...
The Intelligence: higher-for-longer interest rates
09 Nov 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Economists have stopped waiting for interest rates to drop because it doesn’t seem to be coming. The upward pressure on long-term bond yields sugges...
The Intelligence: Asia’s transnational crime gangs
08 Nov 2023
Contributed by Lukas
A high-profile money-laundering case in Singapore with links to Chinese gamblers has shed light on a broader web of organised crime across the region....
The Intelligence: Lebanon’s peace plan for Gaza
07 Nov 2023
Contributed by Lukas
One month on from Hamas’ attack on Israel, we meet Najib Mikati. He is hoping to prevent Hizbullah from joining the conflict, and broader spillover ...
The Intelligence: embedded in Gaza
06 Nov 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Israeli troops are gearing up to enter Gaza city, bracing for the next round of urban warfare. Our correspondent spends some time with a brigade on th...
The Weekend Intelligence: The hope and the heartbreak of IVF
04 Nov 2023
Contributed by Lukas
In our second episode of The Weekend Intelligence, The Economist correspondents Catherine Brahic and Sacha Nauta tell a different story about fertilit...
The Intelligence: Sam Bankman-Fried convicted
03 Nov 2023
Contributed by Lukas
From can-do-no-wrong wunderkind to one of the biggest fraudsters in the history of finance: we look at Sam Bankman-Fried’s fall and conviction, and ...
The Intelligence: stalemate in Ukraine
02 Nov 2023
Contributed by Lukas
General Valery Zaluzhny concedes that five months of counter-offensive have not gained much—and can see from history why the impasse may be impassab...
The Intelligence: Gaza sparks a global culture war
01 Nov 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Online and on-screen reactions to the conflict reflect a subtle but important shift in Western attitudes, driven by three related forces: technology, ...
The Intelligence: meeting Senegal’s president
31 Oct 2023
Contributed by Lukas
As country after country in the Sahel has fallen prey to coups, President Macky Sall’s Senegal seemed an outpost of stability. Yet our correspondent...
The Intelligence: Israel’s Gaza offensive
30 Oct 2023
Contributed by Lukas
The long-anticipated invasion is not the expected blitzkrieg; we ask how a longer, more cautious war will be fought. Kemal Ataturk is still wildly pop...
Checks and Balance: Well enough alone?
27 Oct 2023
Contributed by Lukas
On foreign policy, trade and immigration, the Republican Party wants America to push the world away. This is a departure, but also a return to what th...
The Intelligence: Iran’s dangerous game in Gaza
27 Oct 2023
Contributed by Lukas
American airstrikes on Syrian bases linked to Iran are a reminder that Iran’s proxies lie behind many Middle East conflicts. But the ayatollahs’ a...
Money Talks: The future of crypto, part two
26 Oct 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Last week, we spoke to the author Michael Lewis, who was embedded with Sam Bankman-Fried, as FTX, the crypto-trading empire he built, came crashing do...
The Intelligence: America gets a House speaker
26 Oct 2023
Contributed by Lukas
With the accession of Mike Johnson as the lower chamber’s majority leader, Congress can at last get back to lawmaking—unless the leadership circus...
Introducing The Weekend Intelligence
25 Oct 2023
Contributed by Lukas
The Weekend Intelligence is a new podcast from the award-winning team at The Economist. It’s a space for our reporters and writers to take a break f...
Babbage: How to avoid a battery shortage
25 Oct 2023
Contributed by Lukas
In the coming decades, electric vehicles will dominate the roads and renewables will provide energy to homes. But for the green transition to be succe...
The Intelligence: Israeli hostages’ fortunes
25 Oct 2023
Contributed by Lukas
A network of captives’ families has sprung up to accomplish what Israel’s government has so far failed to do—and may yet emerge as a political f...
Drum Tower: What does it mean to be Taiwanese?
24 Oct 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, many have worried: is Taiwan next? China is giving Taiwan a terrifying choice: unify with China, or face war. Pe...
The Intelligence: Navalny’s peril deepens
24 Oct 2023
Contributed by Lukas
President Vladimir Putin has long had it in for Alexei Navalny, Russia’s principal opposition figure. But now his lawyers are in peril, too, and Mr ...
Hybrid work: Out of office
23 Oct 2023
Contributed by Lukas
To manage a workforce divided between the home and office, bosses should ask the five basic questions of journalism: who, what, where, when and why. J...
Leadership: Weed it and reap
23 Oct 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Andrew Palmer, The Economist's Bartleby columnist, learns lessons in management on a Norwegian mountainside. He hears from Emma Walmsley, the CEO of G...
Poll vault: Argentina’s Peronist surprise
23 Oct 2023
Contributed by Lukas
After dominating the polls for months, Javier Miliei, a right-wing firebrand, was outshone by the candidate from the ruling Peronist administration. W...
The day Hamas came: a report from an Israeli kibbutz
20 Oct 2023
Contributed by Lukas
They fled round after round of gunfire, hid for hours and saved hundreds of lives. It is a rare story of survival on what was a horrific day for Israe...
Genocide returns: slaughter in Sudan
19 Oct 2023
Contributed by Lukas
From a refugee camp in Chad, we speak with those fleeing murder in Darfur. Reporting on the war between the Sudanese Armed Forces and a powerful param...
Diplomacy up in smoke: Biden visits Israel
18 Oct 2023
Contributed by Lukas
A fatal explosion at a hospital-cum-shelter has led to outrage and the canceling of the very summit that the US president had flown in for. America’...
Invaluable bonds: rising borrowing costs
17 Oct 2023
Contributed by Lukas
America may have avoided a government shutdown last month but its fiscal worries are far from over. And unease in bond markets will spill over into th...
Pole position: elections in Poland
16 Oct 2023
Contributed by Lukas
After two terms in power, Jaroslaw Kaczynski’s nationalist party looks to have lost its majority. For Donald Tusk’s pro-Europe centrists, it’s b...