The Intelligence from The Economist

NASA has successfully launched its first crewed space mission in over a decade. Our correspondent explains why America wants to build a moonbase. AI models underperform in languages other than English. And meet China’s social-media stars: influencer-officials. 

Guests and host:

• Oliver Morton, senior editor
• Deena Mousa, science writer
• Gabriel Crossley, China correspondent
• Rosie Blau, host of “The Intelligence”

Topics covered: 

• Artemis II, moon, NASA
• AI, LLMs, language
• China, Chinese Communist Party, influencers, social media 

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Ukraine’s resistance to Russia relies on the clever use of drones. Much of that strategy is down to a single person, a former grain trader with a great idea. Our correspondent meets him. Since the Brexit vote a decade ago, Britain has become more like Europe. And why American universities are abandoning the notorious swimming test. 

Guests and host:

• Oliver Carroll, Ukraine correspondent
• Matthew Holehouse, Britain public policy editor
• Doug Dowson, data journalist
• Rosie Blau, co-host of “The Intelligence”
• Jason Palmer, co-host of “The intelligence”

Topics covered: 

• Ukraine, drones, Russia, Putin
• Britain, Europe, European Union, single market
• American universities, race, discrimination, swimming

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An Economist investigation reveals that Iran is profiting from the war as it evades sanctions and oil prices surge. India’s government has promised to crush the country’s Maoist insurgency. Our correspondent visits a former rebel stronghold. And why understudies, a theatre’s insurance policy, are underestimated. 

Guests and host:

• Rachana Shanbhogue, business affairs editor
• Kira Huju, Asia correspondent
• Hamish Clayton, culture writer
• Rosie Blau, host of “The Intelligence”

Topics covered: 

• Oil, Iran, Kharg Island, sanctions
• India, Modi, Maoists
• Culture, theatre, understudies

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The Iran conflict is escalating with little prospect of an end in sight. Our correspondent explains why a US ground invasion is likely. In an ongoing history series, we look at how America’s attitude to migrants changed as it got richer. And “Project Hail Mary” is a sci-fi film drawing wide audiences.

Guests and host:

• Gregg Carlstrom, Middle East correspondent
• Annie Crabill, a news editor in New York
• Alexandra Suich Bass, Culture editor
• Rosie Blau, co-host of “The Intelligence”
• Jason Palmer, co-host of “The intelligence”

Topics covered: 

• Iran, Houthis, geopolitics, oil
• America, migration, colonialism
• “Project Hail Mary”, sci-fi

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Even before America crimped Cuba’s oil, the country was teetering. We ask what is to blame for the Cuban people’s plight, and whether anything better is in prospect. The craze of injecting peptides is not only scientifically unsupported—it is potentially dangerous. Chuck Norris once got mad at dinosaurs. Just once. Our obituaries editor recounts his unlikely rise to international manly stardom. 

Guests and host:

• Sarah Birke, Central America and Caribbean bureau chief
• Natasha Loder, health editor
• Tim Cross, senior science writer
• Ann Wroe, obituaries editor
• Jason Palmer, co-host of “The Intelligence”

Topics covered: 

• Cuba, Trump administration
• peptides, wellness, pseudoscience
• Chuck Norris

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A jury in California agreed with a plaintiff who argued that Meta and Google, two social-media giants, designed their platforms to be addictive. That opens the floodgates to more litigation and perhaps to regulatory change. We examine the world’s maritime chokepoints and how they shape geopolitics—littorally, not figuratively. And how digitally animated films came to dominate the box office.

Guests and host:

• Tom Wainwright, media editor
• Anton La Guardia, diplomatic editor
• Alex Selby-Boothroyd, head of data journalism
• Jason Palmer, co-host of “The Intelligence”

Topics covered: 

• social-media sites, internet use, online addiction
• geopolitics, chokepoints, Strait of Hormuz
• animated films

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In the daily tea leaves one might read that President Donald Trump would prefer a deal with Iran to a continuing military campaign. Where would that leave Israel and its goals? Cryptocurrencies have gained a particular foothold in Asian economies; will they become real financial infrastructure or just tools of fraud? And tracing the history of mafias through the ages. 

Guests and host:

• Anshel Pfeffer, Israel correspondent
• Sue-Lin Wong, Asia correspondent
• Jon Fasman, senior culture correspondent
• Rosie Blau, co-host of “The Intelligence”
• Jason Palmer, co-host of “The Intelligence”

Topics covered: 

• Iran war, Israel, America
• cryptocurrency, Asia
• mafias, crime families, history

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Air strikes and border raids have turned cross-border tensions into hot conflict. We ask what raised the temperature, and whether the Iran war may act to lower it. Meanwhile that war’s oil shock brings with it fears of rising inflation; we examine how recent disruptions might inform policy decisions. And “listening parties”, once for music-industry insiders, are becoming the norm. 

Guests and host:

• Tom Sasse, south Asia bureau chief
• Joshua Roberts, capital markets correspondent
• Caitlin Talbot, digital culture correspondent
• Jason Palmer, co-host of “The Intelligence”

Topics covered: 

• Afghanistan, Taliban, Pakistan, TTP
• Iran war, oil shock, inflation
• music, albums, listening parties

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As the war in Iran progresses, none of the options available to Donald Trump looks good. We examine each of them. Thailand’s Buddhist monks are implicated in lots of lawless and dodgy behaviour—but clearing out the bad apples is more complicated than it seems. And gene-editing comes to the fruit bowl: we look at what science is serving up next.

Guests and host:

• Gregg Carlstrom, Middle East correspondent 
• Alizée Jean-Baptiste, Asia senior podcasts producer
• Maria Lisik, news editor
• Rosie Blau, co-host of “The Intelligence”
• Jason Palmer, co-host of “The Intelligence”

Topics covered: 

• Iran war, Donald Trump
• Thailand, Buddhist monks
• gene-editing, fruit

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As attention has focused on war in Iran, Israel sees an opportunity to crush a weakened Hizbullah in Lebanon. Our correspondent says it would be far better for the Lebanese state to do so. As south-east Asia is modernising, Islam is counterintuitively gaining greater primacy in civic life. And a tribute to Jürgen Habermas, Germany’s and perhaps Europe’s most prominent intellectual.

Guests and host:

• Gareth Browne, Middle East correspondent
• Sue-Lin Wong, Asia correspondent 
• Ann Wroe, obituaries editor
• Rosie Blau, co-host of “The Intelligence”
• Jason Palmer, co-host of “The Intelligence”

Topics covered: 

• Lebanon, Hizbullah, Israel, Iran war
• Islam, south-east Asia
• Jürgen Habermas, obituaries

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