Big Take

Each weekday, The Big Take brings you one story—one big, important story that impacts your life. Host Wes Kosova talks to Bloomberg journalists around the world, experts in their fields and the people at the center of the news to help you understand what’s happening, what it means and why it matters. Money, politics, the economy and business, energy, the environment, technology—we cover it all on The Big Take. And we do it in plain English.
The Big Take features the best of Bloomberg's in-depth, original reporting from around the globe. Listen each weekday starting on Oct. 27.

Learn more about The Big Take www.bloomberg.com/bigtake and subscribe to our daily newsletter https://bloom.bg/3rBmR9g.

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Lula, the favorite against Bolsonaro, is promising to reverse rainforest-destroying policies and protect the climate. He’ll also have to keep the country from going hungry.

Bloomberg Businessweek's Mark Leydorf reads "The World Sees Brazil’s Election as a Climate Flashpoint. Brazilians Have Other Concerns" by Jessica Brice, Andrew Rosati and Tatiana Freitas.

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A deadly bacteria sickened babies across the the US. When the FDA finally acted, officials focused on a Similac factory in Michigan—and the country suddenly found itself desperately short of formula. Mark Leydorf reads Bloomberg Businessweek's "How Deadly Bacteria Spread in a Similac Factory—and Caused the US Formula Shortage" by Susan Berfield and Anna Edney.

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Africa is on the front line of the global conflict over plastic waste. Here, plastic saves lives, by allowing the sale of clean, safe water. It also destroys them, with discarded plastic causing fatal floods, toxic fires and polluting habitats. Ghana is often held up as a regional leader in the fight to stop plastic waste, in part because of much-hyped private sector effort. The initiative, backed by Coca-Cola, Unilever, Nestle, Danone and Dow Chemical, claims to offer "a second life" for plastic, by promoting proper waste disposal and recycling. But not everything is as it looks. Listen to "West Africa Is Drowning in Plastic. Who's Responsible?" by Kit Chellel, read by Scott Squires.

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Changpeng Zhao built Binance into the world's biggest digital currency exchange. Now he faces a looming regulatory crackdown in a brutal crypto winter.

Bloomberg Businessweek’s Mark Leydorf reads “Can Crypto's Richest Man Stand the Cold?” by Justina Lee and Max Chafkin.

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El presidente Nicolás Maduro, aliado del difunto revolucionario Hugo Chávez, permite que prosperen focos de libre empresa, lo que ayuda en un giro económico aún frágil. Malu Poveda de Bloomberg lee "La Venezuela socialista ya tiene Ferraris y casinos" por Andreina Itriago Acosta, Nicolle Yapur, y Ezra Fieser.

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Venezuela was long known as an economic disaster, with hyperinflation nearing 2 million percent. Now, a remarkable turnaround is underway — at least in the country's most elite pockets.

Bloomberg's Scott Squires reads "Socialist Venezuela Has $200,000 Ferraris and a Bustling Casino" by Andreina Itriago Acosta, Nicolle Yapur, and Ezra Fieser.

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Recently approved by the CFTC, Kalshi lets people place five-figure wagers on the outcome of the Grammys, the next Covid wave, and future SEC commissioners. What could go wrong? Bloomberg Businessweek's Mark Leydorf reads "A New Prediction Market Lets Investors Bet Big on Almost Anything"

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So far this year, the tech-heavy S&P 500 has lost just under one-fifth of its value. Among the worst-hit have been Amazon.com, Tesla, Meta, Zoom, and Shopify.  It’s comforting to call it cyclical or blame Covid, inflation and the war in Ukraine. But the truer explanation, one that necessitates a real reckoning, is that the industry, once again, is facing up to the compounding impact of its bad decisions. Listen to Bloomberg Businessweek’s “The Great Tech Rout of 2022 Was a Long Time Coming” by Brad Stone and Lizette Chapman, read by Mark Leydorf.

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Lehman Brothers' collapse is probably the most momentous event in modern finance. But it didn't all end on Sept. 15, 2008. Nearly 15 years later, a handful of employees at the infamous bank have stayed on to see it through to the bitter end of bankruptcy. Listen to Bloomberg Businessweek's "The Last of Lehman" by Lucca de Paoli and Jeremy Hill, read by Mark Leydorf.

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