The Economist Asks

By The EconomistNews

The Economist Asks episodes

August 02, 2018 The Economist asks: David Sedaris
The humourist talks to Anne McElvoy, our senior editor, about making people laugh, overhearing conversations and when can he look back at sad or embarrassing experiences with humour? Also, why he wanted to feed his tumour to a turtle and is there a funny gene in families? And, he reveals all about his sequin culottes.
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27 min
July 26, 2018 The Economist asks: Bjorn from ABBA
Bjorn Ulvaeus from ABBA tells Anne McElvoy, our senior editor, about the melancholy beneath the exuberant voices and his musical influences. Would he write the same songs in the #MeToo era and which song has had its lyrics changed for a different feminist time?

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22 min
July 19, 2018 The Economist asks: Tony Blair
The former British prime minister tells Anne McElvoy, our senior editor, why Britain should vote again on whether to leave the European Union. What should the referendum question be? And why he talks to Team Trump on the Middle East.
Music by Chris Zabriskie “Divider” (CC by 4.0 UK)

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28 min
July 12, 2018 The Economist asks: How is warfare changing?
Anne McElvoy, our senior editor, went on an outing of top-brass Anglo-German military — to discuss how they are preparing for future risks of urban warfare. She had exclusive access to a mock city in eastern Germany - and visited Nazi bunkers where armies are learning from decisive urban battles in history. And they explore the way ISIS and a renewed threat from Russia is changing conflict scenarios.
Music by Chris Zabriskie (CC by 4.0 UK)

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29 min
July 05, 2018 The Economist asks: How do you revive a classic musical as a tale for today?
Anne McElvoy heads to the Palladium theatre in London to interview Bartlett Sher, Tony award-winning director of “The King & I”. They discuss the challenges of reviving a story written in the 1950s – and set in the 1860s – for an audience in 2018. Also, the ways in which Hamilton is not so revolutionary and the limits of colour-blind casting.
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20 min
June 28, 2018 The Economist asks: Madeleine Albright
America’s first female secretary of state on how populism can slide into fascism, what Kim Jong Il and Vladimir Putin were like in person, and what Donald Trump could learn from reading her lapel pins.

Anne McElvoy hosts

Music by Chris Zabriskie “Divider” (CC by 4.0 UK)

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31 min
June 22, 2018 The Economist asks: James Comey
The sacked director of the FBI on the message of Melania Trump's jacket, why Special Counsel Robert Mueller is the straightest person he’s ever known and how Trump might unintentionally be helping America unite. Anne McElvoy hosts.

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37 min
June 21, 2018 The Economist asks: Do safe spaces and trigger warnings clash with liberal values?
Across America, there have been calls on university campuses to limit free speech. Anne McElvoy travels to the University of Chicago to explore the arguments. And a US correspondent, Idrees Kahloon, reflects on his student days at Harvard, when social justice campaigns riled him.

Music by Chris Zabriskie “Divider” (CC by 4.0 UK)

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21 min
June 14, 2018 The Economist asks: How should the West respond to Russian meddling?
On the eve of the World Cup in Russia, former American ambassador to Russia, Michael McFaul, says the US needs to stand up to Putin — build up resilience in the electoral technology, set targeted sanctions — and he explains how it feels to be the target of Putin’s steely eyes. Anne McElvoy hosts.
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27 min
June 07, 2018 The Economist asks: Has the West lost its touch?
Kishore Mahbubani, former president of the UN Security Council for Singapore and author of “Has the West lost it?” tells Robert Guest, our foreign editor, about the rise of a new world order – should the West be celebrating? Also, individual freedom in China, and why he thinks Donald Trump is the least of America’s worries. Music by Chris Zabriskie “Divider” (CC by 4.0 UK)
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20 min

About The Economist Asks

From the publisher's feed

One question posed to a high-profile newsmaker, followed up with lively debate. Anne McElvoy hosts The Economist's chat show. Recent guests include Henry Kissinger, Chris Patten and Maggie…