Economist Podcasts
Episodes
Re-route of all evil: transnational crime and Ukraine’s war
02 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Criminal networks have had to reorganise since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, with knock-on effects from Afghanistan to the Andes. We take a look at ...
Long shots: the complex nature of civil wars
01 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Climate change is stirring up internecine conflicts, criminality is making them longer, and cross-border contagion is complicating matters further. We...
Without reserves: Bolivia faces an economic crisis
28 Apr 2023
Contributed by Lukas
AS A GAS // As a gas producer, the state was able to build up enormous reserves. But failing to pivot when global prices fell has created debt, a doll...
Rising Starmer: An interview with Britain’s opposition leader
27 Apr 2023
Contributed by Lukas
As the country prepares to go to the polls next year, The Economist sits down with the leader of the Labour Party. Could Sir Keir Starmer’s agenda r...
One Good Term Deserves Another: Biden Declares
26 Apr 2023
Contributed by Lukas
He made the same announcement on the same day four years ago and went on to win. But this time, the President is older and less popular. Could he be e...
Brazilian balancing act: Lula’s foreign policy plans
25 Apr 2023
Contributed by Lukas
ATTEMPTS TO MAINTAIN // Attempts to maintain a neutral stance on the invasion of Ukraine, while also buddying up with China, are sending confusing sig...
Khartoum is burning: fighting continues in Sudan
24 Apr 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Ceasefires have failed, civilians are fleeing, and there is no end in sight to the fighting. We bring you an update on the escalating conflict. A Ukra...
Tick, Tick, Boom: SpaceX launches Starship
21 Apr 2023
Contributed by Lukas
In a historic first, the largest rocket ever assembled managed to get off the ground. But then it exploded midair. We ask if this launch can still be ...
Revolution Song: Myanmar’s unending war
20 Apr 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Deep in the mountains along the Thai border, a bloody civil war rages. Our correspondent gives us rare insight into one of the world’s oldest insurg...
Fighting chance: Ukraine prepares for counter-offensive
19 Apr 2023
Contributed by Lukas
The top-secret plan to pierce Russia’s defenses and reclaim territory could unfold any day now. We ask why this moment, in particular, could prove c...
A cut above the West: America’s astounding economy
18 Apr 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Contrary to the groaning of both Republicans and Democrats, the economy is still the world’s largest. How has this success been sustained? We ask wh...
A tough transition: unrest in Sudan
17 Apr 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Clashes in Khartoum have turned deadly as two rival military factions fight for power. As the conflict escalates, a transition to civilian rule could ...
Never-ending storeys: rebuilding Turkey
14 Apr 2023
Contributed by Lukas
It will be years until the country recovers from February’s devastating earthquakes—but progress toward that goal will determine whether President...
Make the world’s money go ‘round: a bunged-up IMF
13 Apr 2023
Contributed by Lukas
The International Monetary Fund is sitting on oodles of cash, but failing to disburse it. We examine why China’s lending practices are putting the I...
File-sharing: America’s huge intelligence leak
12 Apr 2023
Contributed by Lukas
A trove of once-secret documents is proving an embarrassment to both America and its allies, and a danger to Ukraine’s planned counter-offensive. Th...
Hard pact to follow: the Good Friday Agreement at 25
11 Apr 2023
Contributed by Lukas
The famed power-sharing deal did its work of sharply reducing sectarian violence, but a quarter-century on it has led to depressingly dysfunctional po...
Home economics: housing markets’ future
10 Apr 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Many people think that with inflation and interest-rate rises abating, the worst effects on housing markets might be over. Not so fast. A study that r...
Space invaded: video games’ stunning growth
07 Apr 2023
Contributed by Lukas
These days the gaming industry takes in much more than the global cinema box office. We ask how things are changing, from gamers’ demographics to th...
Situation reporter: Evan Gershkovich’s detention
06 Apr 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Russia’s arrest of a Wall Street Journal correspondent is heading toward a diplomatic crisis—and will certainly chill foreign reporting in the cou...
Arraigning on his parade: the charges against Donald Trump
05 Apr 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Perhaps the only surprising thing about the former president’s arraignment was that it was not followed by big demonstrations—but he did take to t...
What he wants, what Xi wants: Macron in China
04 Apr 2023
Contributed by Lukas
On his visit to Beijing Emmanuel Macron, France’s president, has much to balance: his peacemaking ways, a more hawkish travel partner and the commer...
Get-rich-quick scheming: India and Indonesia
03 Apr 2023
Contributed by Lukas
There are similarities between the two economies set to be the fastest-growing this year—but their paths to greater prosperity will not look like th...
Charge d’affair: Donald Trump indicted
31 Mar 2023
Contributed by Lukas
For the first time in history, a former American president faces arrest. Mr. Trump denies the charges, but what could this mean for the 2024 president...
Time’s up: America debates TikTok’s future
30 Mar 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Links with China and allegations of surveillance have highlighted the threat that the social-media app may pose to national security. There is biparti...
The Gulf narrows: Iran-Saudi relations
29 Mar 2023
Contributed by Lukas
The two regional rivals have negotiated a deal, ending a seven-year lapse in diplomatic ties. Elsewhere, though, Iran remains aggressive. We ask what ...
Over the Finnish line: NATO set to grow
28 Mar 2023
Contributed by Lukas
After ten months of haggling, the military alliance is gaining a new member: Finland. We ask why a historically neutral country has switched tack...
Bibi bump: Israel’s unrest flares
27 Mar 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Protests against proposed judicial reforms have intensified. Could Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu succumb to the pressure at last? Pregnant Russian...
Iraq, a hard place: 20 years after the invasion
24 Mar 2023
Contributed by Lukas
America invaded Iraq 20 years ago this week. Today Baghdad is bustling, violence across the country is less frequent, but these gains have come at a h...
A bit Fed up: central banks’ dilemma
23 Mar 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Central banks face a painful tradeoff: raise rates too quickly and risk banking-sector instability. Raise them too slowly and risk continued high infl...
Not shy and not retiring: pension reform in France
22 Mar 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Emmanuel Macron narrowly survived two no-confidence votes, sparked by his pushing a pension-reform package through the legislature without bringing it...
Stopping the spread: how to fix the banks
21 Mar 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Silicon Valley Bank. Signature Bank. Credit Suisse. The world’s banks look wobbly, leading to fears of broader economic pain. Our economics editor e...
Bear backed: Xi heads to Moscow
20 Mar 2023
Contributed by Lukas
The visit of Xi Jinping, China’s president, to Moscow may seem like the solidifying of a simple, anti-Western alliance. But China is walking a delic...
Felling through the cracks: rainforests in crisis
17 Mar 2023
Contributed by Lukas
The economics are clear-cut: the benefits of preserving the lungs of the world vastly outweigh those of felling trees. We travel to the Amazon and fin...
Puts Bibi in the corner: Israel’s protests
16 Mar 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Proposed legislation that would hobble the judiciary has led to relentless demonstrations—and exposed a rift in Israeli society that has become dang...
One Tory building: Rishi Sunak’s mission
15 Mar 2023
Contributed by Lukas
From today’s national budget to hardline immigration legislation to international defence pacts, Britain’s prime minister is working hard to extra...
Starched rival: Turkey’s opposition candidate
14 Mar 2023
Contributed by Lukas
After internecine drama, the opposition-party alliance has picked their man. The bookish, mild-mannered Kemal Kilicdaroglu may be the best possible pr...
End run: Silicon Valley Bank
13 Mar 2023
Contributed by Lukas
An old-fashioned bank run has caused American regulators to intervene in a big way to save the bank’s depositors. We ask what went wrong, and what r...
A vote for Ukraine: why Estonia’s election matters
10 Mar 2023
Contributed by Lukas
The world’s biggest military donor to Ukraine, relative to GDP, is Estonia. Kaja Kallas, its prime minister, just won a resounding victory in an ele...
Not so Pacific: the frightening prospect of war over Taiwan
09 Mar 2023
Contributed by Lukas
The risk of a Sino-American war over Taiwan appears to be growing. Our diplomatic editor assesses the frightening prospects and possible damage. Mexic...
Home affairs: America’s revealing property market
08 Mar 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Economists and politicians around the world are consumed with one question: is the world headed for a recession, or a relatively soft landing? We’ll...
Bakhmut point: Ukraine readies a counter-offensive
07 Mar 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Ukraine is using a torrent of Western arms and training to prepare for a spring offensive. We learn why being on a corporate board of directors—or r...
Hedge of allegiance: South Africa’s diplomatic shift
06 Mar 2023
Contributed by Lukas
A policy of ambiguity is swiftly shifting; the country is falling into a Sino-Russian orbit at just the time it needs the most help from Western allie...
Seed of doubt: venture capital tightens up
03 Mar 2023
Contributed by Lukas
A slump in tech is driving investors to rediscover old ways. Out are the cash-splashing long bets; in are smaller, profitable, strategic firms. Nigeri...
Losing the threads: Bangladesh
02 Mar 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Shifts in the garment industry, which powered development in the country, represent one risk; meagre currency reserves are another. Yet nothing so imp...
The belt buckles up: China’s grand plan slims
01 Mar 2023
Contributed by Lukas
The Belt and Road initiative to encircle much of the world with Chinese-funded, Chinese-built infrastructure is growing leaner and more penny-wise. Bu...
Let’s remake a deal: Brexit and Northern Ireland (again)
28 Feb 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Since Brexit’s earliest days, the trade status of Northern Ireland and its border with the Republic of Ireland have been a perilous sticking point. ...
Has Obi won, can Obi? Nigeria’s elections
27 Feb 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Excitement still surrounds the spoiler candidate Peter Obi, whose down-to-earth ways appeal to a large constituency of fed-up youths. We look at the e...
A year of war: a Ukraine special
24 Feb 2023
Contributed by Lukas
After a year of a conflict that was predicted to last just days, we examine the battle lines—seeing an opportunity for Ukraine that may not come aro...
The prices fight: conflicting views on inflation
23 Feb 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Markets seem to think the worst is over; central bankers are not so sure. We ask why determining the trajectory of inflation is so difficult. Millions...
Fire and grim tone: Putin’s and Biden’s speeches
22 Feb 2023
Contributed by Lukas
President Joe Biden’s riposte to the bellicose speech of his counterpart Vladimir Putin was a study in contrast. We examine their views on Ukraine a...
The air of their ways: South Asia’s crippling pollution
21 Feb 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Particulate matter is shortening lives and hobbling economies in the region. We ask how policy changes and international collaboration could mitigate ...
What it is in aid of: Syria’s earthquake response
20 Feb 2023
Contributed by Lukas
The country’s war-torn north-west has been getting far less aid than it needs in the earthquakes’ aftermath. We investigate the dilemma of lifting...
Give fast, spry young: the new philanthropists
17 Feb 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Charitable giving is being disrupted by the same youthful tech folk who got rich disrupting other sectors: these days it is fast, data-driven and bure...
Independence fray: Scotland’s leader steps down
16 Feb 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Nicola Sturgeon is bowing out after shaping a party that has defined itself on the notion of Scottish independence. What now for Scotland and for Brit...
Haley to the chief? A long-shot candidacy begins
15 Feb 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Nikki Haley, a former governor of South Carolina and UN ambassador, has declared her 2024 presidential candidacy. We assess her chances and survey the...
End-Gulfed: Preparing for a post-oil future
14 Feb 2023
Contributed by Lukas
The petrostates of the Gulf are modernising their economies, growing more tolerant and liberalising their social contracts as they prepare for a world...
Toil and rubble: a report from Turkey
13 Feb 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Our correspondent visits town after devastated town. Poorly enforced building codes are one clear factor in the rising death toll—and a political ba...
A chance at renewal: Nigeria’s coming election
10 Feb 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Young voters are fired up and the electoral system has been strengthened, but Nigeria’s challenges are considerable. We explore why this month’s v...
Long division: America’s busy state legislatures
09 Feb 2023
Contributed by Lukas
America’s Congress may be gridlocked, but its state legislatures certainly aren’t. The laws they’ll pass this year will probably impact more peo...
Bot the difference: AI and the future of search
08 Feb 2023
Contributed by Lukas
The race for AI supremacy is on. Microsoft, Google, Baidu and a host of smaller firms are all placing bets on the technology’s future. Which version...
Race against time: rescue efforts in Turkey and Syria
07 Feb 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Amid unthinkable destruction and loss of life, we examine the factors that will frustrate relief efforts following earthquakes in an already troubled ...
Tony isn’t blinkin’: Sino-American relations, post-balloon
06 Feb 2023
Contributed by Lukas
American fighters shot down a balloon that China says was monitoring the weather, but America insists was spying. It was a minor incident, but it high...
Bold eagle: America's industrial evolution
03 Feb 2023
Contributed by Lukas
As part of The Economist’s new series on the remaking of the country's economy, our correspondent looks at the Biden administration’s audacious in...
Poll fishing: Peru’s persistent protests
02 Feb 2023
Contributed by Lukas
The country remains riven by unrest since the “self-coup” and subsequent arrest of its president in December; only an early election might bring a...
Troubled shares, troubles shared: Adani and India Inc
01 Feb 2023
Contributed by Lukas
The Adani Group, one of India’s biggest conglomerates, has come under fire from a tiny American research firm. A successful secondary share sale ami...
Not shy about retiring: strikes in France
31 Jan 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Fixing the complex, creaking pension system remains central to President Emmanuel Macron’s agenda of reforms. But leaving it alone is central to Fre...
Didn’t protect or serve: Tyre Nichols’s killing
30 Jan 2023
Contributed by Lukas
The response to the death of the 29-year-old has differed from that of previous cases of police killings; we ask what the tragedy indicates about how ...
Tunnel, no lights: South Africa’s crumbling infrastructure
27 Jan 2023
Contributed by Lukas
South Africa’s infrastructure—its ports, railways and power grid—are struggling and poorly managed. Ordinary South Africans are increasingly fed...
Bibi’s gambit: Israel’s government v its judiciary
26 Jan 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Israel’s right-wing coalition government has the country’s supreme court in its sights. Their proposal to effectively subjugate its independence t...
Tanks, a lot: arming Ukraine
25 Jan 2023
Contributed by Lukas
After months of foot-dragging, Germany is sending tanks to Ukraine, with America poised to follow suit. We examine how that could reshape the battlefi...
Marshalling resources: rebuilding Ukraine
24 Jan 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Around one-fifth of Ukraine’s population has fled. The country’s GDP has plummeted and foreign investors are staying away. Even as the fighting ra...
Feeling un-Wellington
23 Jan 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Jacinda Ardern resigned as New Zealand’s prime minister last week. As Chris Hipkins prepares to take over, we reflect on Ms Ardern’s legacy, and l...
A rarefied air: a dispatch from Davos
20 Jan 2023
Contributed by Lukas
The global elite’s annual Alpine jamboree may have lost some of its convening power, our editor-in-chief says, but the many encounters it enables st...
Turkey stuffed? A democracy’s last stand
19 Jan 2023
Contributed by Lukas
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has dismantled the country’s institutions. As an election looms we ask what democratic guardrails remain, and examine...
Tanks-giving parade? Arming Ukraine
18 Jan 2023
Contributed by Lukas
For nearly 11 months Western powers have resisted providing tanks to Ukraine, fearing an unpredictable Russian escalation. What happens now that red l...
Get down to Syria’s business: coming talks with Turkey
17 Jan 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Through years of Syria’s messy civil war, Turkey has been a foe. As the conflict slowly fades, the countries have a mutual interest in rapprochement...
What did the president stow and when did he stow it? Biden‘s mess
16 Jan 2023
Contributed by Lukas
A drip-feed of discoveries of classified material in Joe Biden’s home and offices—and the president’s botched messaging around them—are a gift...
Zero-sum: the imperilled global economic order
13 Jan 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Countries across the world are turning inward, embracing protectionism, subsidies and export controls. This threatens the global order that has lifted...
Unveiled threats: Iran's patient protesters
12 Jan 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Iran’s protests may have gone quiet for the moment, but that does not mean they’ve been defeated. Beneath a calmer surface, Iranians are seething ...
Doctors’ disorders: Britain’s overwhelmed health service
11 Jan 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Britain’s National Health Service is in crisis. Wait times are rising, nurses and paramedics are striking, and doctors are overworked—leading to h...
Unquiet on the eastern front: fighting in the Donbas
10 Jan 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Russian troops have turned Bakhmut, in eastern Ukraine, into a charnel house—and a proving ground for its mercenary army. The booming North Sea regi...
Cloud coup-coup land: riots in Brazil
09 Jan 2023
Contributed by Lukas
In a scene reminiscent of the US Capitol riot two years ago, supporters of Brazil’s defeated president rampaged through government buildings yesterd...
Bibi’s got backup: Israel’s right-wing government
06 Jan 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Israel’s new government is its most right-wing ever—but, in a break from the past, that may not derail deepening relations with neighbouring Arab ...
Silva’s mettle: Brazil’s newish president
05 Jan 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Our Brazil correspondent surveys the state of the country, as Lula assumes the presidency precisely 20 years after his first inauguration. We ask why ...
We need to balk about Kevin: Congress opens in chaos
04 Jan 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Republican control of America’s House of Representatives began in chaos: they failed to elect a speaker, the first time in a century that’s happen...
Ill news, spreads apace: covid in China
03 Jan 2023
Contributed by Lukas
The sudden rescinding of zero-covid strictures has, as expected, led to a spike in cases. Our correspondent visits overstretched hospitals and cremato...
The dragon chasing: China and a new nuclear order
02 Jan 2023
Contributed by Lukas
China’s arsenal of nuclear weapons has swiftly expanded; it is now roughly the size of Russia’s and America’s. That will make for a different—...
In passing: the notable lives lost in 2022
30 Dec 2022
Contributed by Lukas
From Pelé, the “king of football”, to Britain’s longest-reigning queen, our editors and correspondents reflected on the accomplishments of many...
Best-of three: our country, books and games of the year
29 Dec 2022
Contributed by Lukas
It is that best-of time of year. We outline the case for our country of the year, after an uncharacteristically easy nomination process. Our correspon...
Debasement all around: lessons from 16th-century inflation
28 Dec 2022
Contributed by Lukas
In 2022 global inflation spiked at a rate not seen in decades. A look at the world’s very first such bout reveals eerie echoes of today’s woes—a...
Cattle lines are drawn: cows in India
27 Dec 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Cows are venerated in India, but precisely how intensely often depends on politics. And being venerated does not necessarily yield a pleasant life for...
Land, sea and air: let us move you
26 Dec 2022
Contributed by Lukas
In a special episode, our Paris bureau chief witnesses the political divides that become apparent as she switches from France’s famed high-speed rai...
An oily sheen: Nicolás Maduro in from the cold
23 Dec 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Waves of protest after a stolen election in 2019 came to nothing. Now, thanks to the luck of geopolitics and petro-economics, President Nicolás Madur...
A figure of speeches: Volodymyr Zelensky in his own words
22 Dec 2022
Contributed by Lukas
At the beginning of the war, editors from The Economist went to Kyiv, the first Western journalists to interview Ukraine’s president. Our Russia edi...
Needs Musk? Tumult at Twitter
21 Dec 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Elon Musk may be stepping down as chief executive, but he has already changed the firm’s fortunes—and shown that social media’s free-speech stru...
Trump card marked: the January 6th investigation
20 Dec 2022
Contributed by Lukas
The Congressional committee probing the riot at America’s Capitol recommended that the Justice Department bring four charges against Donald Trump. B...
Under the missile flow: North Korea
19 Dec 2022
Contributed by Lukas
The country has been slinging missiles skyward at an alarming pace, and with ever-greater technological advancement. We ask why things are heating up,...
More generals, less pacific: Japan’s new defence policy
16 Dec 2022
Contributed by Lukas
A strategy approved today peels back some of the country’s constitutional pacifism; in large part that is because of its tense relationship with a h...
No rest for the weary: meeting Ukraine’s high command
15 Dec 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Our correspondent sits down with President Volodymyr Zelensky and two top military commanders—concluding that the next few months will determine the...
Precious joules: a fusion-energy result
14 Dec 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Scientists have reported a long-awaited nuclear-fusion breakthrough, using lasers to ignite hydrogen-isotope fuel in a self-sustaining burn. But that ...