The Economist Asks

In the face of electoral upsets and viral black swans, Anne McElvoy asks the cofounder of the Good Judgement “superforecaster” project whether today’s future-gazers should still rely on historical precedent. As pollsters compete to predict who will win the US presidential election, what lessons have yet to be learned from 2016? And, where to spot the next black swan—or at least a dark grey one.

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The world’s universities face a new academic year like no other. Anne McElvoy asks Janet Napolitano, until recently president of the sprawling University of California system, whether higher education can pass the test of covid-19. Can universities survive without legions of high-paying international students, and convince increasingly sceptical young people that their degrees are worth the investment?

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Our editor-in-chief Zanny Minton Beddoes asks the philanthropist and co-founder of Microsoft what it will take to defeat the coronavirus. They talk about why a Biden presidency might not transform America’s prospects of defeating the pandemic. And, as rich countries scramble to be front of the queue for vaccines, should it be down to charitable billionaires to fund vaccinating the world's poorest?

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Adapting “A Suitable Boy”, Vikram Seth’s epic novel about marriage, politics and social upheaval in newly independent India, for the small screen was a labour of love for its director. Mira Nair talks to Anne McElvoy about why she worked with a white writer on this Indian classic, the eternal fascination of the matchmaker and the yoga pose that gets her in the right frame of mind.

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The coronavirus pandemic has widened inequality in America but has also supercharged charitable giving. Host Anne McElvoy asks Darren Walker, the president of the Ford Foundation, whether philanthropy can help save the American Dream. Will companies that proclaim the new era of "stakeholder capitalism" actually sideline their shareholders? And as the number of empty plinths grows, which forgotten heroes deserve to fill them? 

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How do you become a world-class athlete? Edwin Moses was undefeated in the 400m hurdles for 9 years, 9 months and 9 days and held the world record on four separate occasions. Anne McElvoy asks Moses, the chair of the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency, if state-sponsored doping can be eradicated, how the pandemic is affecting the Olympic Games and what does protest in sport achieve. Also, how should intersex and trans women compete in sports?

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With a sweeping new national-security law, has China won the battle for Hong Kong? Anne McElvoy interviews Regina Ip, a pro-Beijing member of Hong Kong’s cabinet, and Nathan Law, a prominent pro-democracy activist who has fled to the UK. Mrs Ip claims the democratic movement has been hijacked by secessionists and that activists like Mr Law are too young to understand. Mr Law counters that Hong Kong democrats will not give up easily.

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America is experiencing a secondary surge of covid-19 infections unlike anywhere else in the world. Host Anne McElvoy, and The Economist's US editor John Prideaux, ask the director of the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention how the country can regain control of its epidemic. When one in five Americans report they would refuse to get vaccinated, how big a threat do anti-vaxxers pose to public health? And, when will it be safe to reopen schools?

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The creator and star of “I May Destroy You” talks to Anne McElvoy about turning her experience of assault into a new drama probing the grey areas around sexual consent. Coel also opens up about the racist slurs she endured at the prestigious London Guildhall drama school. And, should good TV make people uncomfortable and the secret to the perfect yoga "crow".

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The Economist Asks: David Malpass

The president of the World Bank talks to host Anne McElvoy and Henry Curr, our economics editor, about how to stop covid-19 undoing decades of progress on global poverty. A veteran of the Trump and Reagan administrations, David Malpass argues that the private sector needs to step up. And what role should China play, as the biggest lender to most of the world’s poorest countries—is it guilty of “debt-trap diplomacy”?

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