Digital fakery, from the latest generation of deepfakes to lower-tech trickery, threatens to erode trust in societies and can prevent justice from being served. But how can technology be used to both detect deepfakes and authenticate real images?

Patrick Traynor, a professor at the University of Florida, explains a novel method to expose audio generated by artificial intelligence. Ilke Demir of Intel Labs demonstrates how to spot visual fakery by analysing colour changes in the face. Plus, The Economist’s Benjamin Sutherland investigates the flipside of deepfakes: how to prove that footage is real. And Wendy Betts of eyeWitness to Atrocities explains how her technology is being used as evidence for war crimes. Alok Jha hosts.

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For nearly 11 months Western powers have resisted providing tanks to Ukraine, fearing an unpredictable Russian escalation. What happens now that red line has rightly been crossed? Bankruptcy proceedings simply are not built to untangle the mess left behind by the implosion of FTX, a spectacularly failed crypto firm. And what California’s deadly floods reveal about its climate future.

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The recent surge in covid-19 cases has exposed the gulf between China's urban and rural healthcare system. How vast is the gap and what is being done to bridge it? 

The Economist’s Beijing bureau chief, David Rennie, and senior China correspondent, Alice Su, hear how doctors in cities and villages are coping with the rise in covid infections. Winnie Yip, professor of the practice of global health policy and economics at Harvard School of Public Health, assesses the Chinese government’s plans to revitalise healthcare. 

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Through years of Syria’s messy civil war, Turkey has been a foe. As the conflict slowly fades, the countries have a mutual interest in rapprochement. Can they find common ground? Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva’s return as Brazil’s president renews a mission close to his heart: ameliorating the country’s widespread hunger. And why atheism is still taboo for America’s lawmakers.

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Where is American politics heading in 2023? Alexandra Suich Bass, The Economist's senior correspondent for politics, technology and society, and our Lexington columnist, James Bennet, look outside Washington, DC, to the four mega-states to take the political temperature. Will divided government and razor-thin majorities cause politics to grind to a halt in the coming year? And will the presidential election of 2024 be a re-run of 2020? Tom Standage hosts.

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A drip-feed of discoveries of classified material in Joe Biden’s home and offices—and the president’s botched messaging around them—are a gift to Republicans and to Donald Trump, who is under investigation for similar infractions. Our correspondent learns that many Ukrainian soldiers are freezing their sperm before heading to battle. And the fight about hunting in France is no small-boar matter.

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A selection of three essential articles read aloud from the latest issue of The Economist. This week, the destructive new logic that threatens globalisation, how Brazil should deal with the bolsonarista insurrection (11:55) and our review of Prince Harry’s autobiography (16:45). 

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2023 ought to be a big year in America’s transition towards electric vehicles.  The federal government has set aside billions to encourage consumers and manufacturers to hitch a ride, and to ramp up the nation’s charging infrastructure. What do electric vehicles tell us about the future of American industry?

On a road trip across the Midwest we look at whether America's industrial and environmental goals are compatible.  We visit a factory making a battery-powered version of a popular truck.  Ethan Karp from MAGNET talks about the prospects for a manufacturing renaissance in what some rudely call the rustbelt.  And Chuck Browning from UAW considers what the transition means for union workers. 

John Prideaux hosts with Charlotte Howard and Jon Fasman.  

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Countries across the world are turning inward, embracing protectionism, subsidies and export controls. This threatens the global order that has lifted hundreds of millions out of poverty, and risks economic conflict. Ethiopia’s newfound peace looks fragile and uncertain. And Mexico’s ballads that critics claim glorify criminality, but fans argue celebrate loyalty, ingenuity and hard work.

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For decades, the North Sea’s fierce gales have created a challenge for those extracting the oil and gas buried beneath its swells. But the region’s poor weather is also the key to its future: offshore wind. And the plans are surprisingly ambitious.

On this week’s podcast, hosts Tom Lee-Devlin, Alice Fulwood and Mike Bird ask whether the North Sea can turn green. The Economist’s Matthieu Favas says wind farms in the North Sea could power Europe’s 200m homes. Jesper Frost Rasmussen, mayor of Esbjerg, explains how the offshore wind industry has changed life in the Danish port town. Ulrik Stridbæk of Orsted, the world’s largest offshore wind developer, says that some sites are already generating the same amount of power as a large nuclear power station. Plus, we speak to Thomas Dalsgaard about why his firm, Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners, wants to build a physical island 100 kilometres off the coast of Denmark. 

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