The Intelligence from The Economist
The Economist
Join Jason Palmer and Rosie Blau for noise-cancelling news and analysis from The Economist's global network of correspondents. Every weekday this award-winning podcast picks three stories shaping your world—the big shifts in politics, business and culture, plus things you never knew you needed to know. On Saturdays, download The Weekend Intelligence to dive deep into a single story, vividly told. If you’re already a subscriber to The Economist, you’ll have full access to all our shows as part of your subscription.For more information about Economist Podcasts+, including how to get access, please visit our FAQs page at https://myaccount.economist.com/s/article/What-is-Economist-Podcasts
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Episodes
Mentioned books
Jul 14, 2023 • 28min
Mass destruction: is the Ethiopian government covering up war crimes?
The burning of burial grounds in the northern region of the country suggests that authorities are destroying evidence. If these claims are proven true, will the government be held accountable? In news that might please your boss, emerging research suggests that working from home is stifling productivity (10:36). And honouring the life of a Ukrainian civil-rights campaigner (19:22). For full access to print, digital and audio editions of The Economist, try a free 30-day digital subscription by going to www.economist.com/intelligenceoffer
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Jul 13, 2023 • 26min
Second thoughts: Donald Trump’s policy plans
When he was last elected, many were surprised, even in his own camp. This time around, his backers are taking no such chances. We take a closer look at his policy plans. China currently supplies nearly all the world’s processed critical minerals. Could Australia change that (10:52)? And, a reality TV show with a greenfingered twist (19:03). For full access to print, digital and audio editions of The Economist, try a free 30-day digital subscription by going to www.economist.com/intelligenceoffer
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Jul 12, 2023 • 23min
AI-pocalypse: predicting the threat from artificial intelligence
Wiping out a tenth of the world? Possible. Wiping out all of humanity? Less likely, but not entirely impossible. We examine how two groups of experts have arrived at these worrying predictions about AI. Education is giving hope to inmates in a maximum security prison in New York (11:17). And, on Britain’s working men’s clubs which have nurtured rock bands for decades (18:00).For full access to print, digital and audio editions of The Economist, try a free 30-day digital subscription by going to www.economist.com/intelligenceoffer
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Jul 11, 2023 • 27min
Rutte, damn: the Dutch prime minister steps down
Mark Rutte is stepping down after leading the Netherlands for 13 years. Despite his renowned political survival skills, our correspondent explains why it was migration policy that brought about his downfall. As the NATO summit kicks off, what are the alliance’s plans for defending Europe (9:30)? And a look at the changing face of Britain’s lighthouses (19:00).
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Jul 10, 2023 • 27min
States, disunited: the controversy around cluster bombs
Despite considerable opposition from allies in NATO, America has agreed to send them to Ukraine. The highly controversial munitions could speed up Ukraine’s counteroffensive, but at what cost? As excitement around AI continues to generate, our new index examines how American firms are deploying the tech (11:16). And, what to read to learn more about the juiciest corporate scandals (19:11). For full access to print, digital and audio editions of The Economist, try a free 30-day digital subscription by going to www.economist.com/intelligenceoffer
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Jul 7, 2023 • 27min
I spy: meeting Ukraine’s intelligence chief
We sit down with Kyrylo Budanov, Ukraine’s youngest-ever spymaster. He is intense, resolute—and oddly charismatic. A world of electrified transport is going to need lots of nickel for batteries. We argue that, environmentally speaking, gathering it from the seafloor clearly beats mining it on land (11:12). And remembering Donald Triplett, the first person ever to be diagnosed with autism (19:25).Additional audio courtesy of “In A Different Key”, inadifferentkeythemovie.comFor full access to print, digital and audio editions of The Economist, try a free 30-day digital subscription by going to www.economist.com/intelligenceoffer
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Jul 6, 2023 • 24min
Clone wars: Meta’s Threads takes on Twitter
If there is one thing Facebook’s parent company does well, it is aping other social-media features and platforms—and it is a propitious time to steal Twitter’s thunder. Deeply indebted Arab countries desperately need loans from the IMF, but have good reasons to balk at the fund’s terms (10:00). And New Yorkers love their invasive parakeets; the birds’ enormous nests, less so (18:41).For full access to print, digital and audio editions of The Economist, try a free 30-day digital subscription by going to www.economist.com/intelligenceoffer
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Jul 5, 2023 • 23min
Group dynamics: Wagner in Africa
Its leader is in exile and its future is uncertain. But the Wagner Group will be loth to abandon the influence and the cashflow that its murky African operations bring. The striking down of affirmative-action university-admissions policies in America may counterintuitively spur more-progressive and more-efficient alternatives (9:56). And the reinvention (again) of a beloved Chinese sweet treat (17:08).For full access to print, digital and audio editions of The Economist, try a free 30-day digital subscription by going to www.economist.com/intelligenceoffer
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Jul 4, 2023 • 26min
Break camp: Israel’s West Bank raids
The so-called refugee camp in the city of Jenin has been subject to raids for months—and a hotspot for militants for decades. We ask what set things off so violently this week. Now that Jair Bolsonaro is barred from Brazilian office for eight years, what happens to his brand of politics (11:17)? And how America got a new king of beers (19:17).For full access to print, digital and audio editions of The Economist, try a free 30-day digital subscription by going to www.economist.com/intelligenceoffer
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Jul 3, 2023 • 24min
Riot-geared: the tensions behind France’s unrest
The killing of a teenager in a Paris suburb has ignited national unrest. We ask what is driving the disquiet, and what it means for a president squeezed on both political sides. In high-inflation times, rising wages worry economists—“wage-price spirals” are a textbook bogeyman. But perhaps the risk is overblown (10:34). And the researchers making burgers from extinct animals (18:22). For full access to print, digital and audio editions of The Economist, try a free 30-day digital subscription by going to www.economist.com/intelligenceoffer
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