Big Take

More than half of Americans enrolled in Medicare receive their coverage from a private insurer through a program called Medicare Advantage. But according to whistleblowers, some of those companies may be overcharging the government and getting billions of taxpayer dollars in the process. Several Justice Department investigations have followed those claims.

On today’s Big Take podcast, we hear from one of those whistleblowers and Bloomberg health-care reporter John Tozzi about how Medicare Advantage took off and the questions these fraud allegations raise about how taxpayer dollars are spent.

Read more: 

• Major Insurers Are Scamming Billions from Medicare, Whistle-Blowers Say
• Medicare Advantage Fraud Case Settled for Up to $100 Million
• UnitedHealth Falls on DOJ Probe Into Medicare Billing

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Doug McMillon has been running Walmart since 2014. He’s credited with pushing the company into the digital age and successfully steering it through the COVID-19 pandemic. Now, he’s turning his attention to the company's next chapter and new challenges ahead.

On today’s Big Take podcast, Bloomberg reporters Jaewon Kang and Devin Leonard travel to Bentonville, Arkansas, to interview McMillon about navigating a second Trump presidency, appealing to higher-end shoppers and the company’s ambition to go after Amazon’s e-commerce crown.

Read more: 

• Walmart Wants to Be Something for Everyone in a Divided America
• Inside Walmart’s Corporate Culture Clash Over E-Commerce
• How Walmart Keeps an Eye on Its Massive Workforce

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The price of eggs was up 15% in January, driving overall inflation higher. The cause? Bird flu.

We’re joined by farmer Jim Hayes, as well as the hosts of Bloomberg’s Odd Lots podcast, Joe Weisenthal and Tracy Alloway, to talk about how bird flu threatens the chicken supply chain and public health — and what, if anything, can be done to lower egg prices.

Listen to Beak Capitalism from Odd Lots.

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Monday marks the three year anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. And over the last few days, Trump has revealed his approach to ending the conflict. It would reverse years of US foreign policy in the region and has, so far, left Ukraine out of direct conversations with Russia.

On today’s Big Take DC podcast, Bloomberg reporter Iain Marlow takes us inside the historic US-Russia talks in Saudi Arabia and explains what Trump’s pivot in policy and alliances could mean for America’s role on the global stage.

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Over the last four-and-a-half years, the footprint of Elon Musk’s Texas business empire has undergone rapid expansion. It now includes SpaceX facilities and a sprawling Tesla gigafactory outside the state capital.

New Bloomberg reporting shows that undocumented workers helped to build some facilities — even as Musk ratcheted up his anti-immigration rhetoric and advocated for a border crackdown.

On today’s Big Take podcast, Bloomberg’s Julia Love investigated how undocumented workers ended up at these sites — and the conditions they encountered — and joined host Sarah Holder to share what she found. 

Read more: The Undocumented Workers Who Helped Build Elon Musk’s Texas Gigafactory

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Since its US launch in 2022, Chinese marketplace Temu has rapidly risen to become America’s biggest e-commerce platform after Amazon, thanks to ultra-low prices on almost every product imaginable.

On today’s Big Take Asia Podcast, host K. Oanh Ha speaks to Bloomberg’s Spencer Soper and Rachel Chang about Donald Trump’s order to close a tariff loophole and what it means for American shoppers and the giants supplying them with goods direct from China.

Further listening: The Tariff Wars Are Here — And They’re Messy

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Prospera is a city-state operated by a private company on the Honduran island of Roatan. It offers businesses single-digit tax rates and the ability to choose their own regulations. Its proponents have touted it as a poverty relief initiative for the country and as the most ambitious experiment in self-governance ever undertaken.

But that dream is now facing an existential crisis. A little more than a decade after Honduras changed its constitution to allow for places like Prospera, a new political party is in charge — and they’re looking to shut the whole thing down.

On today’s Big Take podcast, Bloomberg Industry Group’s Umar Farooq and Bloomberg’s Michael McDonald join host Sarah Holder to break down the $11 billion battle over the fate of a special economic zone in the Caribbean.

Read more: A Libertarian Island Dream in Honduras Is Now an $11 Billion Nightmare

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This Valentine’s Day, as many as 13 million more Americans are single than before the pandemic. 

On today’s Big Take podcast, Bloomberg reporter Ben Steverman shares what he’s learned about the cause of this love slump and how it’s taking a toll on Americans’ hearts and on the US economy. And host Sarah Holder meets a group of singles taking matters into their own hands.

Read more: The Covid Pandemic Left an Extra 13 Million Americans Single

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President Trump’s attacks on a key international aid agency, USAID, has left its work frozen and kicked off a fierce legal battle between his administration and US courts over its future. 

On today’s Big Take DC podcast, we hear from Bloomberg’s Simon Marks and health care workers on the ground in Nairobi about how the fight playing out more than 7,000 miles away is affecting HIV treatment there. And national security editor Nick Wadhams explains why Trump has taken aim at USAID and what a gutting of the agency could mean for US soft power.

Read more: 

• USAID Cuts in Kenya Reveal Risks to Lives and American Influence Worldwide
• After DOGE's Chaotic USAID Shutdown: Wasted Supplies, Layoffs and Lawsuits

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Intel invented computer processors and was a dominant supplier of chips for decades. Now AI is fuelling record demand for next-generation chips. But Bloomberg’s Ian King says Intel is no longer the go-to partner for the global tech industry, and the company is at risk of disappearing. What went wrong?

Today on the show: The rise and fall of Intel, and where it could go from here.

Read Ian King’s coverage of Intel.

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