The Economist Podcasts

By The Economist

News & Politics

What's The Economist Podcasts about?

Every weekday our global network of correspondents makes sense of the stories beneath the headlines. We bring you surprising trends and tales from around the world, current affairs, business and finance—as well as science and technology.   Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

4.4

2,642 ratings

Download our free app to listen on your phone

LAST EPISODE

Money Talks: The trillion-d...

06.08.2023

For over three decades, the people most excited about Nvidia’s chips have been gamers. They used its graphics cards to render games in super-high definition. But over the last 15 years Nvidia has slowly established itself as the go-to provider ...

The Economist Podcasts episodes:

06.08.2023 Money Talks: The trillion-dollar question For over three decades, the people most excited about Nvidia’s chips have been gamers. They used its graphics cards to render games in super-high definition. But over the last 15 years Nvidia has slowly established itself as the go-to provider ...
06.08.2023 No Khan do: Pakistan’s meddling army The country’s military is renowned for political overreach. Now, its leaders are taking on former prime minister Imran Khan. Is violent unrest on the horizon? Why a new Polish law to rid the country of Russian influence could threaten its ...
06.07.2023 Babbage: How to save cities from sinking Many of the world’s most important urban areas are on coastlines or rivers, putting them at risk of rising sea levels. Rapid urbanisation and climate change are conspiring to make this threat more urgent. How can cities adapt to avoid ...
06.07.2023 Not born yesterday: the world’s ageing population Fertility rates are falling to worrying levels, and an older, smaller, global population is bad news for economic growth. Apple’s new headset could revolutionise the virtual reality world, but only if it sells. And, despite being in decline for decades, ...
06.06.2023 Drum Tower: The cage—part two In this second episode of a special two-part series, The Economist’s senior China correspondent, Alice Su, investigates China’s repressions of Uyghurs at home and abroad. From 2017 to 2019 China locked up more than a million Uyghurs and other ethnic ...
06.06.2023 Drum Tower: The cage–part one Uyghurs inside China have long been persecuted. From 2017 to 2019, more than a million Uyghurs and other ethnic minorities were locked up in "re-education camps" in Xinjiang. Many of the camps have now been closed but Uyghurs are threatened ...
06.06.2023 Dam and blast: Ukraine launches counter-offensive After months of waiting, probing attacks have begun. A destroyed dam in Kherson suggests that Russia is upping the ante in response. But what else is in store? Uyghurs are still suffering in Xinjiang, and those who managed to escape ...
06.05.2023 Editor’s Picks: June 5th 2023 A selection of three essential articles read aloud from the latest issue of The Economist. This week, the economic consequences of the global collapse in fertility, Scotland’s holiday from reality (10:10) and the business of the rapper, Bad Bunny (18:10). ...
06.05.2023 Trouble in Shangri-La: Sino-American tensions escalate At a meeting of defence ministers from the Asia-Pacific region, heightened tensions between Beijing and Washington were all too apparent. A naval spat in the Taiwan Strait looms large over relations. What will it take for both sides to talk? ...
06.02.2023 Checks and Balance: Seal the deal The deal to raise America’s debt ceiling is finally done. The government will now be able to resume borrowing money to pay its bills, and avoid a default. The last-minute agreement will suspend the debt ceiling and flatten some categories ...
06.02.2023 League of her own: Sheikh Hasina’s grip on Bangladesh Over two decades in office, the prime minister and her Awami League party have overseen impressive growth and reforms in a notoriously corrupt country—but that same firm hand may now be limiting Bangladesh’s progress. Our correspondent visits the frontier of ...
06.01.2023 Money Talks: The great debt hangover Decades of cheap money has left businesses in America and Europe addicted to debt. Some companies have been borrowing cash just to dole it out to shareholders. But with interest rates now reaching levels not seen in 15 years, those ...
06.01.2023 On pain of death: Uganda’s anti-LGBT law The country’s homophobes claim that homosexuality is a malign foreign import; in reality it was anti-LGBT groups from abroad who helped lay the ground for vicious new legislation. Starlink, a satellite-internet constellation, has given Ukraine a battlefield advantage; we ask ...
05.31.2023 Babbage: What if generative AI destroys biometric security? Recent years have seen a boom in biometric security systems—identification measures based on a person’s individual biology—from unlocking smartphones, to automating border controls. As this technology becomes more prevalent, some cybersecurity researchers are worried about how secure biometric data is—and ...
05.31.2023 Debtors’ prism: mounting crises of Africa’s loans Many of the continent’s economies are hamstrung by debt—much of it held internationally. We look at the growing need for closer co-operation between China, Western creditors and multilateral institutions. A city on Ukraine’s front line has become an unlikely locus ...
05.30.2023 Drum Tower: China’s LGBT crackdown China’s gay communities are facing a campaign of repression. LGBT support groups are being closed down and pride events are being cancelled. The Economist’s Beijing bureau chief, David Rennie, and senior China correspondent, Alice Su, examine what the crackdown reveals ...
05.30.2023 Cash out: the digital-payments revolution The global digital-payments shift is more than just a matter of convenience. We examine the cashlessness push in different economies and potential effects on different currencies. The Golden Mile, a pioneering multi-purpose architectural experiment in Singapore, is crumbling. We discuss ...
05.29.2023 Editor’s Picks: May 29th 2023 A selection of three essential articles read aloud from the latest issue of The Economist. This week, why Donald Trump is very likely to be the Republican nominee for president, how to fix Britain’s National Health Service (09:55) and companies’ ...
05.29.2023 Poor more years! Erdogan triumphs in Turkey Recep Tayyip Erdogan has again retained the presidency. We ask how the best chance in a generation to unseat him came unstuck—and what to expect from an emboldened autocrat. South Korea’s suicide rates have turned a dark corner, with deaths ...
05.26.2023 Checks and Balance: You asked, we answer Normally we take one big theme shaping American politics and explore it in depth. This week is a little different: we’re going to answer your questions. We tackle whether America will ever have a female president, the politics of health-care ...
05.26.2023 Russian lessons: new and improved war tactics From infantry to air defences and even electronic warfare, improved strategies and engineering could threaten Ukraine’s counter-offensive plans. How can these ramped-up defences be breached? What would a world of superintelligent AI look like? We use economic theory to conduct ...
05.25.2023 Money Talks: Another way, another dollar? From Alipay’s QR codes to PayPal, it’s never been easier to move money around. Central banks are even considering their own digital currencies. And all that cross-border cashlessness has some wondering about the dollar’s international dominance. On this week’s podcast, ...
05.25.2023 A Ron turn: DeSantis’s disastrous announcement After a glitchy announcement on Twitter, the Florida governor’s campaign is off to a shaky start. And despite strong donor backing, he will struggle to secure the Republican party nomination. Airlines are under increasing pressure to decarbonise but their journey ...
05.24.2023 Babbage: Change clinical trials and save lives Clinical trials are the gold standard for testing the safety and efficacy of a treatment or drug, and a keystone in modern medicine. But their grinding timelines and skyrocketing price tags are hindering development and, ultimately, costing lives. Natasha Loder, ...
05.24.2023 Still the one that I want: Greece’s prime minister wins again Although Kyriakos Mitsotakis’ party fell short of a majority in parliament, meaning there will be a second vote, the incumbent prime minister did much better than expected. Will he be able to continue the country’s rebound story? America’s clean energy ...
05.23.2023 Drum Tower: Cash into their chips Unicorns are becoming a common sight in China. In 2022 there were more than 300 private firms valued at more than $1bn—more than double the number from just five years ago. Alice Su, The Economist’s senior China correspondent, and Don ...
05.23.2023 Narcos and avocados: Mexico’s diversifying drug cartels In attempts to amass more wealth, these organisations are dabbling in newer narcotics and even taking on the mining sector. The result is taking a toll on the country’s economy. Can a 100-year-old discovery solve the problem of antibiotic resistance? ...
05.22.2023 Editor’s Picks: May 22nd 2023 A selection of three essential articles read aloud from the latest issue of The Economist. This week, Henry Kissinger on the new world order, how the fight for digital payments is going global (10:50) and why the Taliban is going ...
05.22.2023 Raise the roof? America’s debt-ceiling debacle Today, the president will meet with the Republican leader in the house of representatives to try and prevent the country from defaulting. But what if they cannot come to an agreement? Britain is reviewing its surrogacy laws which could ease ...
05.20.2023 The Economist: Kissinger on avoiding world war Henry Kissinger was one of the most influential and controversial diplomats of the 20th century. He was National Security Advisor and Secretary of State to two American presidents. Now, with China’s growing influence and the prospect of powerful technology that ...
05.19.2023 Checks and Balance: Border disorder? With the lifting of Title 42, America is once again forced to consider its border policy, just as Democrat-run cities struggle to find shelter for busloads of migrants sent north from the US-Mexico border. What responsibilities do states and cities ...
05.19.2023 Shining armour: China’s new fleet Over the last couple of decades, the state has been making significant investments into its armed forces in an attempt to challenge America’s dominance. We ask how much further they will go. When the Ukraine war sent energy prices soaring, ...
05.18.2023 Money Talks: Why house prices are so stubbornly high Housing in America has never been this unaffordable. The pandemic set off skyrocketing prices; then the Fed began to rapidly increase interest rates, pushing up borrowing costs. Many predicted this might result in a crash. But after dropping 10% from ...
05.18.2023 In from the cold: Assad’s diplomatic redemption Tomorrow, Syria’s president will be welcomed back into the Arab League as regional leaders meet in Jeddah. Is this the dictator’s first step in a journey to restore ties with the rest of the world? America’s small banks are capturing ...
05.17.2023 Babbage: How to battle superbugs with viruses Antimicrobial resistance killed over a million people in 2019. That figure is expected to rise to ten million by 2050. Antibiotics remain vital to modern medicine, but this hidden pandemic of drug-resistant superbugs is driving scientists to explore possible alternatives. ...
05.17.2023 Better call Kissinger: an interview with the renowned diplomat In a conversation that lasted eight hours over two days, the statesman discussed paths to peace in Ukraine, his evolving view on their NATO membership, and where China comes into play. Our crony-capitalism index is back, and the chart-topping culprits ...
05.16.2023 Drum Tower: Outbreak of bossiness Xi Jinping wants to centralise power in China. Recently he’s created new law-enforcement agencies that are answerable to central-government ministries, as well as a new brigade of rural officials nicknamed nongguan. The public reaction has been loud and hostile. The ...
05.16.2023 New school Thais: a military establishment voted out Largely thanks to young, liberal citizens, a reformist third party won the most seats in Thailand’s general election. But a powerful army and influential incumbents could look to prevent its leader, Pita Limjaroenrat, taking charge. Bureaucracy is getting in the ...
05.15.2023 Editor’s Picks: May 15th 2023 A selection of three essential articles read aloud from the latest issue of The Economist. This week, is Chinese power about to peak? Why your job is (probably) safe from artificial intelligence (11:00) and how Mexico’s gangs are becoming criminal ...
05.15.2023 Changing the Guard? Turkey’s inconclusive election Despite the opposition’s lead in the pre-election polls, the incumbent president seems to have performed better than expected. What does a run-off mean for the nation? The mental health of teenage girls is plummeting and according to our data, social ...
05.12.2023 Checks and Balance: Man problems There have long been worries about manhood in the United States. Today, nearly half of men believe traditional masculinity is under threat. While the left talk about toxic masculinity, some politicians on the right fear men’s very “deconstruction”. Researchers point ...
05.12.2023 Suck in the middle: the hole in America’s consumer base The past few years have proved tumultuous both for American consumers and for retailers selling to them. The end result is a curious slump for middle-of-the-road brands. Artificial intelligence like ChatGPT stands to disrupt everything from art to coding; we ...
05.11.2023 Money Talks: Is the car industry running out of gas? Buying a car used to be about two things: style and performance. But as motorists trade in their petrol or diesel cars for electric vehicles, manufacturers are increasingly focusing on experience by adding features like karaoke machines and mood lighting. ...
05.11.2023 Autocrat v bureaucrat: Turkey’s crucial vote It is probably this year’s most important election—and for the first time in a long time, the country’s strongman leader has a plausible adversary. Our correspondent heads along to the Hollywood writers’ strike, finding an age-old conflict centred on the ...
05.10.2023 Babbage: How drones are transforming warfare in Ukraine The use of drones in the war in Ukraine has been increasing. Unmanned vehicles capture battlefield images, relay co-ordinates, and strike targets in Ukraine and even Russia. Whether purpose-built military devices or off-the-shelf civilian technology, the drones are having an ...
05.10.2023 A scratch in the Teflon: Trump’s sexual-battery loss A jury unanimously found Donald Trump liable for sexual assault and defamation. We examine his first major legal loss. Thailand’s opposition looks set to prevail in this weekend’s election—whether it ends up in office is another matter. And, Ukraine is ...
05.09.2023 Drum Tower: Two Top Guns “Born to Fly”, a new film made in collaboration with the People Liberation Army’s Air Force, recently jetted to the top of the Chinese box office. It’s drawn comparisons with “Top Gun: Maverick”, the Hollywood blockbuster starring Tom Cruise. The ...
05.09.2023 Ukraine 2.0: a revealing visit to Kyiv Our Russia and defence editors travelled to the capital, finding a city largely back to normal. They ask both civilians and the country’s top brass about Ukraine's position—and its future. China’s population-control measures worked perhaps too well, yet even an ...
05.08.2023 Editor’s Picks: May 8th 2023 A selection of three essential articles read aloud from the latest issue of The Economist. This week, governments are living in a fiscal fantasyland, why Turkey is holding the most important election this year (11:02) and the coronation of King ...
05.08.2023 Good, bad and ugly: the Taliban and Afghanistan Their return to rule is unequivocally bad for the country’s women and girls. But wholesale collapse has not come and some aspects of government have improved; it turns out threats of grotesque violence change behaviours. We investigate the curious case ...

Older episodes