The Intelligence from The Economist

Oil prices are at their highest since 2022, as a swift end to the Iran conflict proves elusive. Yet, our commodities editor says, markets do not yet yet recognise how deep the supply shock is. Who will contest next year’s pivotal election in France? And great expectations in Brazil ahead of the World Cup.

Watch “The Insider”: How high will the oil price go 

Guests and host:

• Matthieu Favas, commodities editor
• Sophie Pedder, Paris bureau chief
• Jon Fasman, senior culture correspondent
• Rosie Blau, host of “The Intelligence”

Topics covered: 

• Oil, Brent crude, OPEC, Iran, UAE
• France, Macron, Marine Le Pen, National Rally
• World Cup, Brazil, Pele 

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Artificial Intelligence is becoming ubiquitous, but the industry that powers it is struggling to keep up with demand. The host of our award-winning podcast series “Scam Inc” says fraudsters in Asia are becoming more sophisticated. And after Allbirds stops selling shoes, what comes next?

Guests and host:

• Shailesh Chitnis, global business writer
• Sue-Lin Wong, host of Scam Inc 
• Shera Avi-Yonah, business writer
• Rosie Blau, co-host of “The Intelligence”
• Jason Palmer, co-hosts of “The intelligence”

Topics covered: 

• AI, Anthropic, GPUs, Nvidia, TSMC
• Scam Inc, malware, cybercrime, fraud
• Allbirds, Casper, Warby Parker, Dollar Shave Club

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The “special relationship” between Britain and America is at its weakest since the Suez crisis of 1956. Will a state visit by King Charles III to America salvage the tie? Why Japanese automakers may be running out of road. And fish from New York’s Hudson river are now safe to eat.

Guests and host:

• Rosie Blau, host of “The Intelligence”
• Daniel Franklin, senior editor, Britain
• Ethan Wu, Asia business and finance editor
• Stevie Hertz, US policy correspondent

Topics covered: 

• King Charles III, state visit, special relationship
• Japanese carmakers, Toyota, Honda, Nissan, EVs
• Hudson river, fishing

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After a gunman stormed Donald Trump’s dinner with the press, questions are being revived about the president’s security. Germany’s top general explains the country’s new defence strategy. And listeners respond to our Weekend Intelligence episode on the passport bros who go abroad to find “a good woman”.

An earlier version of our lead story stated that the gunman shot a Secret Service agent. Subsequent reports indicate it is unclear whose shot struck the agent.We have now edited the start of the segment.

Guests and host:

• John Prideaux, host of “Checks and Balance” and US editor
• Tom Nuttall, Berlin bureau chief
• Carla Subirana, reporter
• Rosie Blau, co-host of “The Intelligence”
• Jason Palmer, co-hosts of “The intelligence”

Topics covered: 

• Donald Trump, assassination attempt, White House dinner, Cole Tomas Allen
• Carsten Breuer, Bundeswehr, NATO, Ukraine
• Passport bros, tradwife, misogyny 

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We go deep inside the Chernobyl nuclear-power plant and the surrounding exclusion zone, recounting the history of the accident on April 26 1986, and speaking with plant workers who were on shift that day. A pre-eminent Chernobyl historian discusses the lessons learned and yet to be learned from the disaster. And we consider the science still being done at Chernobyl.

In 2024 “The Weekend Intelligence” went to Ukraine to consider the aftermath of the Russian invasion and occupation of Chernobyl, and then of the Zaporizhia nuclear-power plant. What we found was an industry that had no expectation that could even happen, and nothing of a plan when it did. Listen here.

Guests and host:

• Serhii Plokhy, historian, Harvard University
• Olena Pareniuk, radiobiologist, Institute for Safety Problems of Nuclear Power Plants
• Jim Smith, environmental scientist, University of Portsmouth
• Jason Palmer, co-host of “The Intelligence”

Topics covered: 

• Chernobyl nuclear-power plant, history
• nuclear safety, nuclear-energy policy
• radiation exposure, radiobiology, radioecology 

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We examine what our forecast model predicts so far—and consider what might change its confident prediction for one house of Congress and toss-up call for the other. Our correspondent sits down with Steve Reich, a pioneering classical composer who is nearing his 90th birthday. And the surprising reason why firstborns tend to have more-successful lives.

Additional music courtesy of Steve Reich (Nonesuch Records), Erik Hall (Western Vinyl)

Guests and host:

• Dan Rosenheck, data editor
• Jon Fasman, senior culture correspondent
• Ainslie Johnstone, data journalist
• Jason Palmer, co-host of “The Intelligence”

Topics covered: 

• American elections, Congress, polling, gerrymandering
• Steve Reich, contemporary classical music
• birth order, statistics

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The decision of Anthropic, an AI giant, to keep its Mythos model sequestered surely makes for good press. But there seems to be more to it than that—and it might change the whole industry’s approach. Indian politicians are chasing female voters more than ever; we question the means and the outcomes. And next in our World Cup contender-country profiles: Senegal. 

Guests and host:

• Alex Hern, AI writer
• Kira Huju, Asia correspondent
• Jon Fasman, senior culture correspondent
• Jason Palmer, co-host of “The Intelligence”

Topics covered: 

• AI, Anthropic, Mythos
• India, women, politics
• World Cup, Senegal

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Tim Cook is stepping down after overseeing 15 years of spectacular growth. We take a look at his successor. Japan’s rural women are disproportionately heading to cities, and their home towns are working hard to lure them back. And a historical examination of boredom, and why Britons have perhaps less of it than they should.

Guests and host:

• Tom Lee-Devlin, business editor
• Moeka Iida, Japan reporter
• Catherine Nixey, culture correspondent
• Rosie Blau, co-host of “The Intelligence”
• Jason Palmer, co-host of “The Intelligence”

Topics covered: 

• Apple, technology, CEO, John Ternus
• Japan, demographics
• Britain, boredom

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This week’s peace talks are endangered after American forces fired on and boarded a cargo ship in the Strait of Hormuz. We visit Chernobyl’s ruined reactor to assess the damage done by a Russian drone to its enormous safety structure. The likes of McDonald’s and KFC have long been in China’s cities; now they are expanding at pace in the countryside.

Guests and host:

• Gregg Carlstrom, Middle East correspondent
• Sarah  Lawrynuik, deputy editor of “The Intelligence”
• Don Weinland, China business and finance editor
• Rosie Blau, co-host of “The Intelligence”
• Jason Palmer, co-host of “The Intelligence”

Topics covered: 

• Iran war, Strait of Hormuz
• Chernobyl, Ukraine war
• China, fast food

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When America seized Venezuela’s president Nicolas Maduro in January, it left the rest of his regime intact. Three months on, our correspondent finds optimism and some loosening of repression. Venezuela’s opposition leader María Corina Machado fled to America, now she explains her ambitions for the country. And celebrating the life of Nick Pope, who spent decades investigating UFOs.

Guests and host:

• Kinley Salmon, Latin America correspondent
• Ann Wroe, obituaries editor
• Rosie Blau, host of “The Intelligence”

Topics covered: 

• Venezuela, oil, Maduro, Trump
• María Corina Machado, elections
• Nick Pope, UFOs, aliens, NASA

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