The Economist Asks

After being acquitted in the Senate, Donald Trump will be the first president to run for reelection having been impeached. Anne McElvoy asks Benjamin Wittes and Susan Hennessey, the authors of “Unmaking the presidency”, about whether the verdict strengthens Mr Trump’s electoral hand. Will the way Mr Trump is reshaping the presidency outlast him and could he be changing the office for the better?

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In July 2019 Nicolas Pelham, The Economist's Middle East correspondent, received a rare journalist’s visa to visit Iran. But on the day he was due to fly home he was detained by intelligence officials from the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, one of the country’s most powerful institutions. He was questioned repeatedly and forced to stay in the country for seven more weeks. Although unable to leave, he was later allowed to roam the city without a minder and found a paradoxical liberation in captivity. He gained a rare insight into life in Tehran, recording the sounds of the city as he explored. In this podcast, he tells Anne McElvoy his extraordinary story.

Nicolas Pelham’s account, “Trapped in Iran”, is on the cover of 1843 magazine. 

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At the World Economic Forum, which celebrates its 50th anniversary, The Economist’s editor-in-chief Zanny Minton Beddoes, Anne McElvoy and Patrick Foulis debate the future of the annual alpine gathering. How did a young academic’s pet project come to be seen as the ultimate A-list bash for global CEOs, political leaders and celebrities alike? Anne McElvoy speaks to the CEO of Youtube, Susan Wojcicki, actress and activist Priyanka Chopra Jonas and Natalia Vodianova, a supermodel and philanthropist, about what they achieve at Davos and the mission behind the glamour. Is it a forum for effective decision-making—or just a week in the snow for the global elite? And finally, snowboots or stilettos?

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The 20th century has become known as the “age of dictatorship”, for the horrors perpetrated by Hitler, Stalin, Mao and other despots from Chile to Cambodia. Anne McElvoy asks Frank Dikötter, a historian and professor at the university of Hong Kong, how these men rose to power and why some survived while others were brought down. They debate the limits of authoritarian power today, including China’s ability to act in Hong Kong. And what makes a true dictator—or is there something a bit dictatorial in everyone?

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As America announces new sanctions and Iran threatens further revenge attacks, Anne McElvoy interviews Ambassador Ryan Crocker about what the killing of Qassem Suleimani means. The former US chief diplomat to Iraq, Syria, Kuwait and Lebanon explains why his reaction to the news was one of satisfaction and how the loss of its top general will reshape Tehran's influence in the region. They explore whether America can stop Iran from becoming a nuclear power. Or will the conflict become President Trump’s own endless war? 

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What can Britain today learn from Walter Bagehot? He was The Economist’s greatest editor who mixed with the cream of British society in the 19th century. The Economist’s current Bagehot columnist, Adrian Wooldridge, talks to James Grant, financial journalist and biographer of Bagehot, about Bagehot’s prose, politics and lasting influence

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In 2019 Anne McElvoy challenged the people making the news. From presidential candidates and CEOs to fashion icons and even a relationship therapist. Among her guests were Democratic hopeful Pete Buttigieg, editor-in-chief of Vogue, Anna Wintour and author Anand Giridharadas. 

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Every generation has its own “Little Women”. Anne McElvoy asks Greta Gerwig, the Oscar-nominated writer and director of “Lady Bird”, about how she reinvented the classic story of Jo, Amy, Meg and Beth March for a new audience. They talk about her move to behind the camera, rescuing her characters from stereotypes and the economics of being a woman artist then and now. Also, how does Barbie, the subject of her next film, fare in the age of #MeToo? 

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Prime Minister Boris Johnson has redrawn the political map in Britain after the Conservative party won the general election by a landslide. Outside the Houses of Parliament, Anne McElvoy asks Richard Burgon, a prominent pro-Corbyn frontbencher, whether Brexit or the Labour leader caused the party's crushing defeat. Did pollsters predict the blue rinse? And, Lord Falconer and Sir Michael Fallon, former cabinet ministers on either side of the political divide, debate how the Tories broke Labour’s “red wall” in the north-east, and where this leaves the Brexit process

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The historian Jung Chang, a survivor of the Cultural Revolution and the author of “Wild Swans”, talks to Anne McElvoy about her latest book, “Big Sister, Little Sister, Red Sister”. It follows three remarkable women from China’s brief period of democracy in the 1920s to positions of influence that shaped their country’s history. They talk about how Beijing views the challenge to its authority from the ongoing pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong and what the rest of the world misunderstands about China

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