Big Take

A new series from the Big Take podcast investigates the booming market for human eggs.

In this episode, host Sarah Holder and Bloomberg’s Jessica Brice focus on the Kemptons, an Australian couple who needed donor eggs to get pregnant. They wanted access to a market they felt offered transparency. They especially wanted information about potential donors. What followed was an around-the-world quest to create a family — filled with promise, gutting losses and extreme cost. 

Read more: The Egg

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Every year, senior markets editor Sam Potter reads predictions for the year ahead from leading financial institutions around the world. The theme of this year’s predictions: uncertainty.

One event on the horizon has contributed to both their predictions for 2025 and the uncertainty in a unique way: Donald Trump’s return to the White House. Potter joins host David Gura to unpack what financial institutions are expecting for this year, given what they know and what they don’t.

Read more: Here’s (Almost) Everything Wall Street Expects in 2025

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

2024 was the year AI broke into the music industry. Record labels that had fought AI-generated songs at every turn started to consider how they might want to use AI tools. But as the technology creeps into more parts of the music production process, not everyone agrees on where to draw ethical and legal lines.

On today’s Big Take podcast, Grammy Award-winning producer Timbaland, Universal Music Group executive Michael Nash, Bloomberg audio reporter Ashley Carman and host Sarah Holder examine who stands to benefit from the AI-music boom — and who has the most to lose.

Read more: Ashley Carman’s Soundbite newsletter

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Indonesia has embarked on an ambitious project to build a new capital city from scratch because Jakarta is overcrowded, polluted and sinking, fast.

But the multibillion dollar new city, Nusantara, was plagued with problems from the very start. On today’s Big Take Asia Podcast, host K. Oanh Ha talks to Bloomberg’s Faris Mokhtar about what went wrong, and what’s at stake for Southeast Asia’s largest economy if it fails.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Frequent flyer programs began as a way for airlines to build loyalty and fill empty seats. They’ve since morphed into a complex financial ecosystem that’s drawn the ire of even the most savvy consumers and the scrutiny of the US Department of Transportation.

Bloomberg’s global aviation editor Benedikt Kammel joins David Gura to talk about points, miles, qualifying trips — and how we got here in the first place.

Read more: The Airline Rewards Game Is Getting Tougher to Win

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

From inflation data to unemployment rates, the US government releases numbers every month that move markets and shape policies. But the agencies responsible for gathering that data are struggling — and President-elect Donald Trump’s promise to find cuts across agencies could further strain their resources.

On today’s Big Take DC podcast, Bloomberg economics editor Molly Smith joins host Saleha Mohsin to dig into what’s at stake if the federal government scales back on its investment in economic data.

Read more: 

• Market-Moving Data Under Threat as Trump Returns to Washington

• BLS Needs Culture Revamp After Botched US Releases, Review Finds

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The gory, dystopian South Korean thriller Squid Game is the most popular series Netflix has ever released. This week, it drops season two — in the midst of the company’s efforts to grow the show beyond the screen.

On today’s Big Take Asia Podcast, host Rebecca Choong Wilkins talks to Bloomberg’s Sohee Kim and Lucas Shaw about the new season, the story of how the show was nearly never made and all the ways Netflix is trying to expand Squid Game into a global franchise — from reality TV and video games to in-person fan experiences. 

Read more: ‘Squid Game’ Returns in Test of Netflix Global Marketing Muscle

Further listening: K-Pop’s Big Bet on Becoming Less Korean

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy have skyrocketed in popularity over the past few years. To capitalize on that demand, telehealth companies started offering compounded versions of those drugs. That’s made them easier to access, but it’s also introduced new potential risks for people recovering from eating disorders like anorexia.

On today’s Big Take podcast, Bloomberg reporter Madison Muller joins host Sarah Holder to share what she’s learned about the ways telehealth can make it easier for people to get prescriptions that could harm them.

Read more: The Weight-Loss Drug Gold Rush Has a Dangerous Prescription Problem

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A new series from the Big Take podcast investigates the booming market for human eggs. It’s a global and opaque market where demand is so great, that even where regulations are in place, there are powerful incentives to evade them.

In this episode, host Sarah Holder and Bloomberg’s Vernon Silver focus on one fertility clinic in Greece that police say stole the eggs of as many as 75 women. It’s a story that shows how the actions of one clinic can have ripple effects around the world and reveals the unique ways that the fertility industry runs not only on capital, but on trust. 

Read more from Bloomberg Businessweek: The Egg

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In his final month as the United States’ chief diplomat, Secretary of State Antony Blinken is racing around the globe, responding to conflicts in the Middle East and the latest developments in the war in Ukraine. 

During a stop in New York, he sat down with host David Gura to talk about how he is preparing to hand over the country’s sprawling foreign policy portfolio to the incoming Trump administration.

Read more: Syria: Blinken Says US Weighs Sending Officials for Talks - Bloomberg

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.