Economist Podcasts

By The Economist

News & Politics

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Every weekday our global network of correspondents makes sense of the stories beneath the headlines. We bring you surprising trends and tales from around the world, current affairs, business and finance — as well as science and technology.   Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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Drum Tower: Stand-up feminists

12.05.2023

Tickets for “Nvzizhuyi”—a monthly stand-up comedy show in New York City— often sell out in less than a minute. The show invites Chinese citizens, mostly women, to tell jokes, perform skits and recount the absurd challenges they’ve encountered as feminist ...

Economist Podcasts episodes:

12.05.2023 Drum Tower: Stand-up feminists Tickets for “Nvzizhuyi”—a monthly stand-up comedy show in New York City— often sell out in less than a minute. The show invites Chinese citizens, mostly women, to tell jokes, perform skits and recount the absurd challenges they’ve encountered as feminist ...
12.05.2023 The Intelligence: I spy, with my Valley eye The cradle of American technology was once known for its libertarian values—but as law-enforcement agencies seek more means of surveillance, Silicon Valley companies are piling in. Mounting cases in America’s courts reveal a trend of progressives arguing for their religious ...
12.04.2023 The Intelligence: Israel pushes south in Gaza As its ground offensive appears to be expanding, Israel is acutely aware that time and international support will run out; we examine its impossible set of aims to achieve before then. Europe has not yet faced the kind of fentanyl ...
12.02.2023 The Weekend Intelligence: A nation on a knife's edge The Economist's editor-in-chief, Zanny Minton Beddoes, and our Russia and Eastern Europe editor, Arkady Ostrovsky, return to Kyiv to to find out if cracks are beginning to emerge in the iron shield of Ukrainian unity and to ask how the ...
12.01.2023 The Intelligence: meeting Ukraine’s first lady Olena Zelenska foresees a time when her family can regain a quiet life. Our editor-in-chief sits down with her to discuss her mental-health campaign and life in an unexpected spotlight. President Xi Jinping wants to improve China’s toilets; we ask ...
11.30.2023 Money Talks picks: Progress on climate change has been too slow An article from The Economist read aloud. We explain why the world must try harder on climate change. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
11.30.2023 The Intelligence: Henry Kissinger’s legacy The doyen of diplomacy has died, leaving a complex legacy. Following extensive interviews with him earlier this year, our deputy editor examines what Dr Kissinger stood for and whether his ideas will outlast him. As the COP28 climate summit begins, ...
11.29.2023 The Intelligence: Swede demons Drug-related shootings and bombings are on the rise. Policies are changing and law-enforcement budgets rising, but stemming the violence is proving politically tricky. Our columnist considers how China is using the war in Gaza to burnish its diplomatic credentials (9:36). ...
11.28.2023 The Intelligence: as Zuck would have it The singular focus on the metaverse of Mark Zuckerberg, Meta’s boss, fretted investors. But in the past year he has pulled off a spectacularly timely turnaround. We look at what is driving an illegal-gold rush in Venezuela as a lens ...
11.27.2023 The Intelligence: eyewitness to slaughter in Sudan Our correspondent speaks with the Africa head of the Red Cross who has borne witness to the war, famine and genocide that continue—unrelenting and largely ignored—in Sudan. As Ukraine’s men are sent off to war, the country’s women are upending ...
11.24.2023 Checks and Balance: About time This week we are celebrating our 200th episode. Each of our hosts has selected a year from the 20th century that they find particularly significant. We’ll take a trip back in time to explore those years—finding how each has affected, ...
11.24.2023 The Intelligence: Land of the rising sums Look past short-term stumbles: there are plenty of reasons to think Japan may spin out of its decades-long deflationary spiral. But how to avoid another false dawn? A visit to a mine in Zimbabwe reveals how valuable lithium is becoming ...
11.23.2023 Money Talks: Play it again, Sam Altman In five days OpenAI’s boss was fired by its board; hired by Microsoft, the startup’s biggest investor; and returned to his post at OpenAI. Yet things cannot be as they were: the shuffle will have consequences for the darling of ...
11.23.2023 The Intelligence: a far-right victory in the Netherlands Geert Wilders campaigned on leaving the European Union, closing the borders, and even suggested banning Islam. The Dutch surprisingly voted for him anyway. But without a majority, can he form a government? WeWork is a flawed company, but their bankruptcy ...
11.22.2023 Babbage: Fei-Fei Li on how to really think about the future of AI A year ago, the public launch of ChatGPT took the world by storm and it was followed by many more generative artificial intelligence tools, all with remarkable, human-like abilities. Fears over the existential risks posed by AI have dominated the ...
11.22.2023 The Intelligence: Israel and Hamas’s hostage deal After weeks of negotiations, Hamas has agreed to release some hostages. In exchange, there will be a four-day pause in fighting. But then what? Americans really love their cars and dependence on them is making the country fairer (09:34). And ...
11.21.2023 The Intelligence: Sam Altman and the divide in the AI world It is still unclear why the board of OpenAI fired him last week, but hundreds of staff are revolting anyway. The debacle reveals a sizeable rift between the tech companies at the forefront of AI development. Canadians typically consider themselves ...
11.20.2023 The Intelligence: can Milei cure malaise in Argentina? He is a self-proclaimed “anarcho-capitalist” and in a run-off, the people have entrusted this political firebrand to shake the country out of economic malaise. Will he deliver? Hamas has an intricate network of tunnels under Gaza, but new tech could ...
11.17.2023 Checks and Balance: Year all about it If the election were held tomorrow, Donald Trump would probably be the favourite to win. How should we be thinking about the race with a year to go? And how can the world outside of America prepare itself for the ...
11.17.2023 The Intelligence: Yes, Trump could win again Were America’s presidential election to be held today, Donald Trump would probably win. We examine the winds shifting in his favour, and how the Biden campaign might tack against them. The town of Basildon best matches Britain’s national-average statistics—a mean ...
11.16.2023 The Intelligence: on the ground in Gaza There is little left, in terms of people or infrastructure, in the north of the strip. Our correspondent, embedded with the Israel Defence Forces, considers the humanitarian crisis growing in the south. Our film on American school shootings discovers the ...
11.15.2023 The Intelligence: antisemitism in France In the European country with both the largest Jewish and largest Muslim populations, a rise in antisemitic acts brings particular perils; we examine them. Winemaking was always going to be hit hard by climate change. Our oenophile correspondent looks at ...
11.14.2023 The Intelligence: putting a Dave face on it Former prime minister David Cameron is back from the political wilderness—and his appointment as foreign secretary reveals much about the state of the ruling Conservative party. We ask how Israel has kept its airspace open during the conflict in Gaza, ...
11.13.2023 The Intelligence: Kherson, one year later After a grinding and lethal eight-month battle, Ukraine’s forces retook the port city a year ago. Our correspondent visits, finding a populace both anxious and defiant. As with technological transformations that came before, the benefits of artificial intelligence will accrue ...
11.11.2023 The Weekend Intelligence: The Apology How do you put a price on the loss of freedom? In our third episode, The Economist’s 1843 reporter Charlie McCann follows the Gladstone family to Guyana to meet descendants of the slaves their ancestor once owned. Tracing their journey ...
11.10.2023 The Intelligence: how strong is the Chinese military? Miscalculating the prowess of the People’s Liberation Army is dangerous. Overestimating it could cause unnecessary confrontation, but underestimating it is risky for Taiwan. We bring you some balance. Can descendants of slave traders be absolved of the sins of their ...
11.09.2023 Money Talks: Touring America’s industrial revival President Joe Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act promised $370bn for green infrastructure and industry. It has spurred a surge in massive construction efforts such as battery plants and electric-vehicle factories. Our correspondent goes on a road trip, visiting small towns with ...
11.09.2023 The Intelligence: higher-for-longer interest rates Economists have stopped waiting for interest rates to drop because it doesn’t seem to be coming. The upward pressure on long-term bond yields suggests that this situation could last for a while. How should the world adjust? Israel’s economy might ...
11.08.2023 The Intelligence: Asia’s transnational crime gangs A high-profile money-laundering case in Singapore with links to Chinese gamblers has shed light on a broader web of organised crime across the region. As governments wake up to the problem, what are the odds of them getting it under ...
11.07.2023 The Intelligence: Lebanon’s peace plan for Gaza One month on from Hamas’ attack on Israel, we meet Najib Mikati. He is hoping to prevent Hizbullah from joining the conflict, and broader spillover into the rest of the Middle East. Can he? The American state of Ohio is ...
11.06.2023 The Intelligence: embedded in Gaza Israeli troops are gearing up to enter Gaza city, bracing for the next round of urban warfare. Our correspondent spends some time with a brigade on the front-lines. How prepared are they for the task ahead? The pandemic is over, ...
11.04.2023 The Weekend Intelligence: The hope and the heartbreak of IVF In our second episode of The Weekend Intelligence, The Economist correspondents Catherine Brahic and Sacha Nauta tell a different story about fertility treatment. A story about the pain, the hope and the despair that is paid for a life to ...
11.03.2023 The Intelligence: Sam Bankman-Fried convicted From can-do-no-wrong wunderkind to one of the biggest fraudsters in the history of finance: we look at Sam Bankman-Fried’s fall and conviction, and what it has done to the wider cryptocurrency industry. The evident successes of IVF treatment mask many ...
11.02.2023 The Intelligence: stalemate in Ukraine General Valery Zaluzhny concedes that five months of counter-offensive have not gained much—and can see from history why the impasse may be impassable. Paris is starting to nip at London’s heels in the battle for supremacy in the art world ...
11.01.2023 The Intelligence: Gaza sparks a global culture war Online and on-screen reactions to the conflict reflect a subtle but important shift in Western attitudes, driven by three related forces: technology, demography and ideology. Britain’s King Charles is visiting Kenya—and will have a harder time navigating historical tensions than ...
10.31.2023 Drum Tower: Can chips save Taiwan? No industry matters more to Taiwan than chipmaking. That’s because semiconductors power everything—from mobile phones to electric cars—and Taiwan makes the most advanced ones in the world. Taiwan’s chips also give the world an economic reason to protect the island ...
10.31.2023 The Intelligence: meeting Senegal’s president As country after country in the Sahel has fallen prey to coups, President Macky Sall’s Senegal seemed an outpost of stability. Yet our correspondent finds him less than sanguine about democracy in the region. We sift through what little is ...
10.30.2023 The Intelligence: Israel’s Gaza offensive The long-anticipated invasion is not the expected blitzkrieg; we ask how a longer, more cautious war will be fought. Kemal Ataturk is still wildly popular a century after he founded modern Turkey—so instead of undoing his legacy, President Recep Tayyip ...
10.27.2023 Checks and Balance: Well enough alone? On foreign policy, trade and immigration, the Republican Party wants America to push the world away. This is a departure, but also a return to what the party used to believe. How did the Republican Party go from isolationism to ...
10.27.2023 The Intelligence: Iran’s dangerous game in Gaza American airstrikes on Syrian bases linked to Iran are a reminder that Iran’s proxies lie behind many Middle East conflicts. But the ayatollahs’ angling for wider war in Gaza is a deeply dangerous game. We introduce you to our latest ...
10.26.2023 Money Talks: The future of crypto, part two Last week, we spoke to the author Michael Lewis, who was embedded with Sam Bankman-Fried, as FTX, the crypto-trading empire he built, came crashing down amid allegations of fraud, which Mr Bankman-Fried denies. Mr Lewis credits Changpeng Zhao - the ...
10.26.2023 The Intelligence: America gets a House speaker With the accession of Mike Johnson as the lower chamber’s majority leader, Congress can at last get back to lawmaking—unless the leadership circus starts again. China’s banks may be loaded up with hidden bad loans; the industry’s covid-era hangover could ...
10.25.2023 Introducing The Weekend Intelligence The Weekend Intelligence is a new podcast from the award-winning team at The Economist that will transport you away from the hectic week towards broader horizons. Silence the alerts and notifications and journey into a wilderness of stories. Narrated by ...
10.25.2023 Babbage: How to avoid a battery shortage In the coming decades, electric vehicles will dominate the roads and renewables will provide energy to homes. But for the green transition to be successful, unprecedented amounts of energy storage is needed. Batteries will be used everywhere—from powering electric vehicles, ...
10.25.2023 The Intelligence: Israeli hostages’ fortunes A network of captives’ families has sprung up to accomplish what Israel’s government has so far failed to do—and may yet emerge as a political force. Protecting rhinoceroses from poachers is an expensive business; we look at what has become ...
10.24.2023 Drum Tower: What does it mean to be Taiwanese? Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, many have worried: is Taiwan next? China is giving Taiwan a terrifying choice: unify with China, or face war. People in Taiwan want neither of these. For this special four-part series, David Rennie, The Economist’s ...
10.24.2023 The Intelligence: Navalny’s peril deepens President Vladimir Putin has long had it in for Alexei Navalny, Russia’s principal opposition figure. But now his lawyers are in peril, too, and Mr Navalny’s privations in prison are ramping up. Gaza’s need for aid may be urgent but ...
10.23.2023 Boss Class 2: Out of office To manage a workforce divided between the home and office, bosses should ask the five basic questions of journalism: who, what, where, when and why. Jamie Dimon, the CEO of JPMorgan Chase, Jane Sun, the CEO of Trip.com Group, and ...
10.23.2023 Boss Class 1: Weed it and reap Andrew Palmer, The Economist's Bartleby columnist, learns lessons in management on a Norwegian mountainside. He hears from Emma Walmsley, the CEO of GSK; Daniel Kahneman, a Nobel prize-winning psychologist; and Claire Hughes-Johnson, the one-time COO of Stripe. Episodes are out ...
10.23.2023 Poll vault: Argentina’s Peronist surprise After dominating the polls for months, Javier Miliei, a right-wing firebrand, was outshone by the candidate from the ruling Peronist administration. We examine why Mr Milei fell so short and the run-off to come. Cross-border assassinations may be rising—and states ...

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