Some 300,000 people are homeless after an explosion of unthinkable size. The culprit appears to be sheer negligence, brought on by a broken system of governance. The Economist’s data team has updated its excess-death tracker, giving ever-better insight into just how deadly covid-19 is. And the tricky trade-offs for both bosses and workers as they return to the office. For full access to print, digital and audio editions of The Economist, subscribe here www.economist.com/intelligenceoffer Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A broken system, a broken city: Beirut

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Thirty years of democracy have not led to uniform prosperity, and nearly everyone disagrees about the equality of opportunity. How will the disenchantment manifest at the polls? How two small Texas towns became the patent-law centre of America (12:16). And a tribute to Eleanor Coppola, mastermind of the award-winning behind-the-scenes look at her husband’s epic, “Apocalypse Now” (19:26).
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The Intelligence: Mandela’s vision, tested

When a story about UFOs came across the desk of The Economist’s Michelle Hennessy, she was sceptical. A powerful cultural legacy of flying saucers and aliens is hard to ignore. But a recent flurry of interest from U.S defence agencies and NASA, stress the serious and scientific task of shedding light on what’s happening in the skies above.
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The Weekend Intelligence: Capturing UFOs

France’s president is known for pronouncements of grand scope with one eye toward history. But when our journalists visited him at his residence his assessment of the state of the world was bleak—a dark, prophetic call to arms. In this special episode, we ask whether his view is accurate, whether his proposed solutions would work and whether he is the person to enact them.
Read the full transcript of our interview here.
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The Intelligence: Our meeting with Macron

When you look around the world, and at a wider set of measures, Generation Z are far better off than the popular narrative would have you believe. We examine what India’s push to soup up its nukes means for the global arms race (09:30). And even as global fertility rates fall, sub-Saharan Africa is experiencing a relative baby boom (17:11).
Listen to what matters most, from global politics and business to science and technology—subscribe to Economist Podcasts+. For more information about how to access Economist Podcasts+, please visit our FAQs page or watch our video explaining how to link your account. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Intelligence: The kids are alright, turns out

A dramatic overnight raid in New York City was just one sign that protests at American universities are set to continue—a clear historical echo in an already-fraught election year. We ask why a niche newspaper run by Japan’s communist party has so much influence (13:05). And a study of new books on loneliness reveals both the benefits and drawbacks of solitude (20:39).
Listen to what matters most, from global politics and business to science and technology—subscribe to Economist Podcasts+. For more information about how to access Economist Podcasts+, please visit our FAQs page or watch our video explaining how to link your account Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A broken system, a broken city: Beirut

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