The Economist Asks

As a summer highlights special, Kenneth Cukier reflects on the most memorable Economist asks this year. We listen to Bill Gates discuss vaccine policy and actor Haydn Gwynne satirise Margret Thatcher. Also, why one guest's dead silence on the topic of Chinese surveillance and artificial intelligence caused a stir

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Women are underrepresented on the big screen. Last year, less than a third of speaking characters in the highest-grossing films were female - a trend that hasn't changed in over a decade. Stockard Channing - best known for her role as Rizzo in the 1978 hit “Grease” and Abigail Bartlett in “The West Wing” - speaks to Anne McElvoy about how a new generation of creative women are fighting back by "kicking butt"

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Technology has embedded itself within almost every facet of society. It is transforming the way people live their lives and run their businesses. So as the digital revolution continues to disrupt in waves, how should companies adapt to stay ahead? To explain, technology correspondent Hal Hodson is joined by renowned academics Andrew McAfee and Erik Brynjolfsson from the MIT Initiative on the digital economy

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Artificial intelligence is developing fast in China. But is it likely to enable the suppression of freedoms? One of China's most successful investors, Neil Shen, has a short answer to that question. Also, Chinese AI companies now have the potential to overtake their Western rivals -- we explain why. Anne McElvoy hosts with The Economist's AI expert, Tom Standage

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Morton Schapiro is an American economist and the author of “Cents and Sensibility”. He joins host Soumaya Keynes to discuss why economic models rarely reflect reality and how Tolstoy's War and Peace could be the key to understanding Putin.

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Which country poses the greatest global threat? The former Navy SEAL, who led the mission that killed Osama Bin Laden, analyses strategies against North Korea's irrational leader and its nuclear ambitions. And could making your bed lead to success? Anne McElvoy hosts.

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In this episode, hosted by Daniel Franklin, we look at The Economist's annual assortment of scenarios taken to their logical extremes. We discuss the Macron miracle, a world where blockchains rule and the conundrum of controlling the weather.

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Algorithms are increasingly being used to make sense of the world. But does big data implicitly discriminate against people based on income, race or class? We ask Cathy O’Neil, a data scientist and author of Weapons of Math Destruction: How Big Data Increases Inequality and Threatens Democracy

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Author Eden Collinsworth discusses how morality is changing in politics, sex and business. What is the impact of President Trump on America’s ethical argument - and has technology changed what we believe is right? Anne McElvoy hosts.

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Author and film director Lauren Greenfield’s latest project, “Generation Wealth”, represents three decades photographing and interviewing people about their relationship with money. She thinks we are living in a time of unprecedented obsession with wealth and status. But can consumerism also be a force for good? Anne McElvoy hosts.

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