Big Take

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg has been going through a bit of a MAGA rebrand, complete with a new look — gold chains, grown-out hair, custom boxy, black T-shirts — and appearances on so-called manosphere podcasts hosted by MAGA-friendly comedians like Theo Von and Joe Rogan.

Those changes have translated to his company, too. Since January, Meta has rolled back diversity efforts, weakened hate speech policies, disbanded its civil-rights team, eliminated its outside fact-checking system and added a prominent Trump ally to its board of directors.

On today’s Big Take podcast, Bloomberg’s Riley Griffin joins host Sarah Holder to discuss the political evolution of Mark Zuckerberg: What he hopes to gain from getting closer to Trump and what he has to show for it.

Read more: Mark Zuckerberg Loves MAGA Now. Will MAGA Ever Love Him Back?

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Tulum, Mexico has exploded in popularity since the early years of the pandemic. The area’s few Covid restrictions, picturesque beaches and laidback vibes attracted lockdown-weary travelers and helped trigger a real estate boom.

On today’s Big Take podcast, Bloomberg reporters Andrea Navarro and Tanaz Meghjani join host Sarah Holder to discuss the dark side of a pandemic-era development spree in Tulum that has left a trail of ripped off investors, millions of dollars in missing cash and even two bodies in its wake.

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In 2001, it was lipstick. After the 2008 financial crisis, it was DIY haircuts. In times of economic turmoil, consumers tend to change the way they spend on makeup and beauty. So what is the beauty industry telling us now about the state of the US economy? 

On today’s Big Take podcast, Bloomberg’s Ben Steverman visits a beauty convention and talks to masseuses and hair stylists about the trends they’re seeing in their salons, and cosmetics reporter Jeannette Neumann crunches the numbers on how these consumer behaviors are hitting companies’ bottom lines.

Read more:

• The Beauty Salon Recession Indicator
• Estée Lauder Forecasts Return to Sales Growth in 2026

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Despite the global hype around China’s DeepSeek, very little is known about the man behind it – Liang Wenfeng.

On today's Big Take Asia Podcast, host K. Oanh Ha talks to Bloomberg's Saritha Rai about the tech founder who led DeepSeek to the frontline of AI advances and what the company’s rise tells us about the battle for AI dominance.

Further listening: Why DeepSeek Sent Nvidia, Other Tech Stocks Tumbling

Watch, from Originals: How China’s DeepSeek Came for Big AI

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After decades in the public eye, 83-year-old media mogul and Fox co-founder Barry Diller is finally ready to tell his story. 

On today’s Big Take podcast, Diller joins host David Gura to talk about his new memoir, Who Knew, his storied career as an entertainment executive and his  decision to speak publicly about his sexuality for the first time. Plus, how he’s navigating President Trump’s shifting trade and regulatory policies.

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On stage at the Qatar Economic Forum on Tuesday, editor at large for Bloomberg Weekend Mishal Husain conducted a nearly 40-minute, wide-ranging interview with billionaire Elon Musk.

Husain asked Musk about his future at Tesla, his ongoing feud with OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, the possibility of Starlink going public and more. At times, the conversation grew heated, particularly when Mishal asked about reports of his communication with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

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Over the past year, Apple has pulled out all the stops to tout shiny new AI tools: from big presentations at its Worldwide Developers Conference to ads featuring The Last of Us star Bella Ramsey. Now, the company is facing questions about what it’s promised versus what it’s delivered.

On today’s Big Take podcast, Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman takes host Sarah Holder inside the company’s efforts to keep up on AI and what it needs to do next to stay in the game.

Read more: Why Apple Still Hasn’t Cracked AI

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As of this week, the trade war between the US and China is on pause, with both sides hoping to agree on a new trade deal by early August. But questions remain about how realistic that timetable could be, given the challenges facing the world’s two largest economies, who both collaborate and compete with one another. 

On today’s Big Take podcast, Former US Ambassador to China Nicholas Burns joins host David Gura to discuss the trade war, the challenges facing his successor and what he’s telling foreign policy students who are worried about the future of diplomacy. “We’ve gotta steel ourselves for the next decade or two to a historic competition with China. And China right now is stronger.”

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President Trump is wrapping a whirlwind trip to the Middle East — complete with a flurry of proposed investment deals , controversial gifts and a major shift in US-Syria policy.

On today’s Big Take podcast, Bloomberg’s Joumanna Bercetche joins host David Gura to unpack the biggest headlines from the president’s tour of the Persian Gulf and discuss what they tell us about his larger plans for the region. 

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Like a growing number of US communities, Torrance County, New Mexico, is convinced its financial survival depends on locking immigrants up. A lucrative ICE contract keeps a private detention facility open that local politicians say the area needs.

On today’s Big Take podcast, Bloomberg reporters Rachel Adams-Heard and Fola Akinnibi examine how these private facilities are becoming key to the US government’s immigration crackdown – and the financial incentives making it harder for small communities to quit them. 

Read more: Addicted to ICE

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