Shows / The Intelligence from The Economist
The Intelligence from 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…
Episodes
The Intelligence from The EconomistFeds up: Trump orders troops on America’s streets
Camouflaged personnel with no insignia, protesters bundled into unmarked vans: the President Donald Trump's plan to put federal officers into American cities…
The Intelligence from The EconomistBat out of elsewhere? Tracing SARS-CoV-2’s origins
Scientists are looking to South-East Asia to find how the virus got its start in humans. Knowing that could head off future pandemics. It is often hard to…
The Intelligence from The EconomistFor old timers’ sake: covid-19 and care homes
The pandemic has taken its greatest toll in the world’s nursing homes—but the systemic problems surrounding elderly care long predate covid-19. Economists’…
The Intelligence from The EconomistWithout a trace: Israel’s covid-19 spike
Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu has gone from boasting about progress to battling protests as the country’s contact-tracing programme has been overwhelmed…
The Intelligence from The EconomistFull-meddle racket: Britain’s “Russia Report”
It remains unclear whether influence and misinformation campaigns have had significant effects on Britain’s institutions, or its elections—but only because…
The Intelligence from The EconomistGrant them strength, or loan it: Europe’s historic deal
After days of gruelling debate, European leaders have agreed a recovery plan. It includes, for the first time, taking on collective debt—to the tune of…
The Intelligence from The EconomistCheques imbalances: America’s partisan stimulus battle
As Congress reconvenes and covid-19 rages largely unabated, the biggest question is how much to prop up the economy—and how to get past partisan rancour about…
The Intelligence from The EconomistLaughing all the way: banks’ pandemic windfall
Pandemic panic has subsided, and economic pain deferred—so far. But never mind investment banks’ recent triumphs; uncertainty still abounds. Brazil once had a…
The Intelligence from The EconomistNo school, hard knocks: developing-world students hit hard
For many of the 1.5bn pupils affected by school closures, fewer lessons just means more labour—or worse. That spells a lifetime of lost earnings, and lost…
The Intelligence from The EconomistEastern exposure: Russia’s telling protests
The arrest of a popular governor in the country’s far east has sparked unrest that reveals President Vladimir Putin’s waning legitimacy—and hints at repression…
The Intelligence from The EconomistCrude awakening: the Arab world after oil
Historic price fluctuations are hastening a post-oil transition that many Arab countries were already contemplating. That could foment plenty of unrest, but…
The Intelligence from The EconomistBinary choice: a tech cold war looms
Tensions between China and America are hastening a global technology-industry split. That is not just inefficient; it will have far-reaching geopolitical…
The Intelligence from The EconomistReturn to centre? Poland’s presidential run-off
Integration or isolation? Conservative family values or liberal ones? The knife-edge election will decide Poland’s direction for years, and will send a signal…
The Intelligence from The EconomistCentrifugal force: attacks on Iran
Another strike, evidently on a nuclear-fuel centrifuge facility, is being blamed on Israel—and, by extension, America. It is just the kind of tactic that the…
The Intelligence from The EconomistIn front, and centred: Joe Biden
The former vice-president has shifted leftward with his party, but it is his centrist tendencies that make him electable—and could permit him to effect radical…
The Intelligence from The EconomistOff like a shot: the race for a covid-19 vaccine
A British team is leading the race for the one innovation that could, in time, halt the coronavirus crisis. But once a vaccine is approved, who would get it…
The Intelligence from The EconomistAttention deficit: China’s campaign against Uighurs
Unparalleled surveillance, forced labour, even allegations of ethnic cleansing: atrocities in Xinjiang province carry on. Why are governments and businesses so…
The Intelligence from The EconomistInto left field? America's chief justice
Recent Supreme Court rulings might seem like a leftward shift. But Chief Justice John Roberts is leaving loopholes for future conservative challenges. China’s…
The Intelligence from The EconomistUnsettled question: Israel’s annexation threat
A once-fringe position on annexing the West Bank is now a real prospect. But both international support and opposition are lukewarm; not even Israelis think it…
The Intelligence from The EconomistTwo systems go: a new law grips Hong Kong
A sweeping new national-security law deeply undermines Beijing’s “one country, two systems” approach in the territory; under it, arrests have already been…
The Intelligence from The EconomistThe next threat: confronting global risks
Six months on from the first reports of the coronavirus, this special episode examines the catastrophic and even existential risks to civilisation. Work is…
The Intelligence from The EconomistStates of alarm: America’s covid-19 surge
An entirely predictable pattern is playing out: the states quickest to exit lockdowns are being hit hardest. Can the country get the virus reliably under…
The Intelligence from The EconomistCouncil insecurity: the UN at 75
The founders of the United Nations expected it would move with the times. It hasn’t. Can reforms keep all those nations united? The global focus on policing…
The Intelligence from The EconomistRush to a conclusion: Latin America’s lockdowns
After scattershot enforcement of lockdowns, the region has become the pandemic’s new focal point. But many countries are opening up anyway. America’s latest…
The Intelligence from The EconomistLeave in peace: Afghan-Taliban negotiations
A withdrawal agreement struck with America has been damnably hard to implement, but the two sides may at last start talks to crimp nearly two decades of…
The Intelligence from The EconomistPast its Prime? Amazon comes of age
The pandemic has been great for sales; for profits, not so much. We examine the e-commerce giant’s prospects as it adapts to a changing world. Throughout…
The Intelligence from The EconomistIsle be damned: Britain ravaged by covid-19
Cosmopolitan, overweight, multi-ethnic: the country’s makeup has made the pandemic more deadly. But the government has repeatedly played a bad hand badly…
The Intelligence from The EconomistSyria’s condition: Bashar al-Assad
The country’s dictator has spent nearly half his time in power waging war on his own people. His patchwork support network is fading, but he will not go…
The Intelligence from The EconomistPainting the red towns: covid-19 in America
Coronavirus cases are easing in Democrat-held jurisdictions and rising in Republican-held areas. What is behind the shift, and what will it mean for President…
The Intelligence from The EconomistHimalayan assault: India and China clash
The first deaths at the contested border in 45 years signal broader geopolitical shifts—and mark an escalation that will be difficult to reverse. “Mercenary”…
The Intelligence from The EconomistNo port in a storm: the world’s stranded sailors
Pandemic policies seem to have overlooked the key workers who keep the global trade system afloat: merchant seamen. More than a quarter of a million are at sea…
The Intelligence from The EconomistA shifting alliance: NATO
As the organisation’s defence ministers meet this week we look at two of its principal challenges: China’s rising influence and America’s declining interest…
The Intelligence from The EconomistHeavy lifting: India’s lockdown tradeoffs
As the world’s largest lockdown loosens, we examine how it went wrong and the challenges ahead for a health-care system pushed to its limits. As statues fall…
The Intelligence from The EconomistSpend, sometime: Germany’s economic shift
After decades as the continent’s penny-pincher, the country seems to be splashing out. That isn’t just a covid-19 response; a big thrift shift was already…
The Intelligence from The EconomistHaftar be going now: the balance shifts in Libya
Tripoli has long been under siege by Khalifa Haftar, a warlord bent on toppling the internationally backed government. At last he has been pushed back from the…
The Intelligence from The EconomistCops, a plea: police reform in America
George Floyd will be laid to rest today; our obituaries editor reflects on his life and untimely death. His murder has fuelled a long-overdue discussion of…
The Intelligence from The EconomistSay his name, and others’: American protests spread globally
Far beyond America’s shores demonstrators are calling for justice in their own countries. It’s an awkward time for America’s allies, and a fortuitous one for…
The Intelligence from The EconomistNot everything in moderation: Twitter v Facebook
The seemingly similar social networks have quite different business models—and that goes some way in explaining why they choose to police their content…
The Intelligence from The EconomistThis, too, shall impasse: Brexit talks resume
The pandemic has made negotiations more difficult and changed the political calculus on both sides. Prospects for a deal before year’s end are dimming. After…
The Intelligence from The EconomistForgoing the distance: covid-19 spreads in Brazil
Even those who can distance themselves are unsure whether to do so—in part because President Jair Bolsonaro mocks the science and rails against lockdowns. The…
The Intelligence from The EconomistAn epidemic of hunger: covid-19 and poverty
The pandemic is driving up the number of impoverished people for the first time in more than two decades. Lockdown-policy calculations are simply different in…
The Intelligence from The EconomistThe flames spread: protests in America
Demonstrations against police violence have only amplified. We ask why George Floyd’s death touched a nerve, and why these events keep happening in America. A…
The Intelligence from The EconomistCrying foul, again: Black Lives Matter
Protests have broken out in Minneapolis and far beyond, following another black man’s death at the hands of a white policeman. Can the once-mighty Black Lives…
The Intelligence from The EconomistChecking their privilege: Beijing’s threat to Hong Kong
China’s parliament voted today to draft legislation that would utterly undermine the territory’s independence. What now for protesters, for Western powers, for…
The Intelligence from The EconomistLeading nowhere: assessing Trump’s covid-19 response
President Donald Trump’s failures of leadership have compounded the crisis. But America’s health-care and preparedness systems have problems that predate him…
The Intelligence from The EconomistShot chasers: big pharma’s covid-19 boost
The pandemic has caused a shift in how drug firms are viewed: their capacity for big-money innovation will give them immunity in the crisis. Widespread…
The Intelligence from The EconomistClear skies with a chance: covid-19’s green opportunity
Emissions have plummeted as the pandemic slowed the world. It could be a mere blip—but it is an unprecedented opportunity for a greener, more sustainable…
The Intelligence from The EconomistSystemic concerns: China’s party congress
Legislation signalled at the annual meeting undermines the “one country, two systems” approach to Hong Kong’s rule—and may inflame rather than quell protests…
The Intelligence from The EconomistSwimming against the currency: Turkey
A central bank struggling for independence, dwindling foreign reserves to prop up the currency and a president who just hates rates: Turkey’s economy looked…
The Intelligence from The EconomistPolitics trumps co-operation: the WHO’s annual meeting
Rhetoric and posturing at the World Health Organisation’s annual assembly reveal an agency under geopolitical stresses just when global co-operation is needed…
The Intelligence from The EconomistExtreme measures: America’s far right
Extremists are cropping up at protests and expanding their reach online. They see the pandemic as proof of their worldview, and as an opportunity to spread…
The Intelligence from The EconomistCarriers and the disease: the airlines set for hard landings
Which firms will fly above the covid-19 clouds? Big, low-cost carriers with strong finances seem likeliest, but either way consolidation is inevitable. The…
The Intelligence from The EconomistContinental divides: covid-19 strains the EU
What started as a public-health crisis is developing into an existential one. The most fundamental question to be addressed is: what is the European Union for?…
The Intelligence from The EconomistBibi steps: Israel’s long-awaited government
After three elections and 16 months, the unity government between sworn rivals Binyamin Netanyahu and Benny Gantz gets to work tonight. Can it withstand the…
The Intelligence from The EconomistFool Britannia? A covid-19 response under scrutiny
After a series of government missteps, people in Britain—and, increasingly, outside it—are lambasting the covid-19 response. That has great reputational costs…
The Intelligence from The EconomistMoveable feast: a global food system adapts
The vast network moving food from farm to fork has shifted gears mightily in response to covid-19. But some will still go hungry; governments must resist the…
The Intelligence from The EconomistBack to the furore: protests set to reignite
The pandemic overshadowed a striking spate of uprisings around the world. In Lebanon economic conditions have only worsened since—and the protesters are back…
The Intelligence from The EconomistRises and false: markets v the economy
How can stockmarkets be so healthy when many businesses are so unwell? We look at the many risks that are clearly not priced in. China’s documentary-makers are…
The Intelligence from The EconomistHitting a Vlad patch: 20 years of Putin
As Russia’s leader marks two decades in power, he faces almighty headwinds—not only covid-19 but also cut-price oil and an increasingly leery citizenry. The…
The Intelligence from The EconomistDisarming revelation: a chance at a global ceasefire
Many were shocked when armed groups heeded a call for a global ceasefire; given a squabble at the UN it would now be shocking if those pockets of peace…