On the eve of the 2019 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP25) in Madrid, we ask what delegates hope to achieve. Also, how can online games help in the fight against fake news? And host Tom Standage interviews an artificial intelligence called GPT-2 about its views on the big themes of 2020. 

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“The World in 2020”, our future-gazing annual, is now available at shop.economist.com

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As doubts surround the launch of Facebook’s Libra, will 2020 really be the year of digital currencies? We find out what shopping is like when payments are automatic and invisible. And, how China provides a glimpse of how people will handle their finances in the future. Tom Standage hosts

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With recent protests taking place against president Abdel-Fatah al-Sisi, The Economist’s foreign editor, Robert Guest, considers what might happen if Mr Sisi's regime collapses. We discuss the global cannabis revolution, as medical use opens the way to wider liberalisation. And, instead of worrying about too many robots in the workforce in the future, should we be worrying that there will be too few?

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With tensions rising in the South China Sea, we consider how a potential clash between America and China might play out—and why the world should pay more attention to this region. And host Tom Standage takes a ride in a self-driving car in London, to see how Europe is faring in the race to build autonomous vehicles.

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If efforts to cut emissions fall short, might some nations resort to solar geoengineering — building a sunshade in the stratosphere — to buy more time? Also, what if Facebook blocked Europeans from using its services? Tom Standage hosts

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What if America decided to pull out of NATO? And a trip to 2029 to report on a landmark case in which parents are required to pay damages for sharing images of their children online, and refusing to take them down when the children grow up. Tom Standage hosts

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After the successful stockmarket flotation of Beyond Meat, maker of the Beyond Burger, we assess the potential impact of meat substitutes on global meat consumption. Also, is space tourism about to take off? And what can be done to preserve indigenous languages for future generations. Tom Standage hosts

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In this edition of The world ahead we examine a possible future where antibiotics no longer work. What causes such antimicrobial resistance (AMR) and what can be done to remedy it? And in another health-care scenario, we examine technology's potential to address the global shortage of medical staff. Anne McElvoy hosts

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In this episode we discuss why, after years of trying to make their products as addictive as possible, social-media companies are now heading in the opposite direction. We look forward to key dates later this year for elections, Chinese anniversaries and historic figures. And we ask what the former headmaster of Eton College is bringing to China’s educational system. Tom Standage hosts

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In this episode of our future-gazing podcast we discuss how an often-ignored region in Africa seems set grow in prominence, for the wrong reasons. Professor Stephen Hsu discusses the implications of genomic risk-scoring in health care. And we look at the rise of the couture designer in China. Tom Standage hosts

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