FT Big Read

Electric cars are the future, and so are the batteries that power them. Yet, these batteries are dependent on cobalt, which has linked the electric vehicle industry to one of the most unstable countries in the world, and to practices like child labour. This, along with the metal’s high cost, has started a race to replace cobalt.

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YouTube video bloggers broadcast their lives on the Google-owned platform in the hope of attracting followers, fame, and money, say Hannah Kuchler and Emma Jacobs. They are overwhelmingly young and can build multimillion dollar businesses, but stars are few and even for them, popularity can bring huge stresses and pressures 

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Three years ago Volkswagen was caught cheating with emission tests, but they were not the only carmaker manipulating the data. Brussels is introducing a more robust regime but the manufacturers are already finding ways of undermining it, says Patrick McGee

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The country saw a huge surge in investment after the global financial crisis but this has brought huge domestic debt and slower growth. Tom O'Sullivan, the FT's deputy analysis editor, asks Shanghai bureau chief Gabriel Wildau and global China editor James Kynge what impact this is having on daily life. Produced by Anna Dedhar. Image by Dreamstime

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Digital distraction lurks everywhere. Google and Apple have taken steps to address smartphone addiction, but critics say the big tech groups have not regulated enough to cure hardcore addicts, say Tim Bradshaw and Hannah Kuchler. What's the solution to Silicon Valley's struggle between responsibility and revenue? Produced by Molly Mintz 

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India has a quickly growing gross domestic product and emerging middle class that is reaping rewards on foreign companies. Netflix entered India in a blaze of promotion and with a bag full of cash. The streaming service thinks the country is an untapped market, says Kiran Stacey. Will Netflix’s strategy succeed in scoring 100 million subscribers in India? Or will they fail to understand the country’s consumers? Produced by Molly Mintz

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Donald Trump’s relationship with Vladimir Putin has prompted scrutiny and caused controversy, as have US sanctions against Moscow and a Forbes list of Russian oligarchs republished by the US Treasury. However, the US president’s policies on Russia may become clearer when he meets the Russian leader and attends the Nato summit, says Courtney Weaver. Will Putin play his cards right, or will Trump outplay the strongman? Produced by Molly Mintz

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Beijing's ‘Made in China 2025’ industrial initiative has made government officials in America worried. The underlying motivation of the Trump administration’s protectionist mood and trade war with China is American anxiety about China’s rapidly growing technological prowess, says Shawn Donnan. Is investment the newest warfare tactic? And if so, how can it be stopped? Produced by Molly Mintz

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Theresa May’s moment of truth is coming. In the two years since the Brexit vote, the British cabinet is still negotiating with itself and the EU. With the impending release of a white paper and an important cabinet summit at Chequers, the prime minister is edging towards an agreement that looks like a single market for goods but not services, says FT Political editor George Parker. Is this political madness, or is the UK’s economic future close to being resolved? FT podcasts feedback: Please tell us what you like and don’t like about our shows at ft.com/podcastfeedback and enter our prize draw

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Recep Tayyip Erdogan appears simultaneously powerful and vulnerable ahead of the upcoming June 24 snap elections. The long-time leader of Turkey has used a mixture of both hope and fear to energise voters at a time of great economic uncertainty and amid an ongoing state of emergency, but opinion polls don't guarantee an outright victory in the first round of the presidential contest or a majority in parliament for the Turkish president, says Laura Pitel. FT podcasts feedback: Please tell us what you like and don’t like about our shows at ft.com/podcastfeedback and enter our prize draw

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