The Intelligence from The Economist
by The Economist
Latest episode
Abate and switch: how China’s emissions fell
Abate and switch: how China’s emissions fell
About this podcast
Join Jason Palmer and Rosie Blau for noise-cancelling news and analysis from The Economist's global network of correspondents. Every weekday the winner of "Best Daily Show" at the 2026 British Podcast Awards, 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.
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Episodes
The newest 50 of 2,063 episodes
- Abate and switch: how China’s emissions fell · 21 minThe world’s largest carbon emitter is finally turning a corner and the rest of the world ought to pay attention. El Salvador’s president Nayib Bukele is taking his gangbusting…
- Let’s get this party restarted: Republicans reel from the midterms · 23 minAs Donald Trump’s party absorbs a sobering defeat at the ballot box, politicians are in reflective mood. Is Trumpism over? Parents across income groups are spending more to get…
- When chips are down: Nvidia CEO’s risky relationship · 22 minThe liaison has become more than just family business as Jensen Huang’s lover is allegedly a Chinese spy. The FBI and Nvidia’s board are investigating, but what will become of…
- All eyes on Eisenkot: Israel’s could-be prime minister · 24 minThe president has tasked the former general – and Binyamin Netanyahu’s strongest rival – with building a new government. With just six weeks and barely a third of the Knesset…
- “Britain is back”: an interview with Andy Burnham · 26 minAhead of the G20 summit in Manchester, Britain’s prime minister sets out his foreign-policy plans. From reviewing EU links, to brokering the relationship between America and…
- Forever young: the business of longevity drugs · 23 minThe success of GLP-1s has prompted biotechs to approach the challenge differently. After years of false starts and disappointing results, longevity drugs could be on the horizon…
- Not in Kansas any more: Republicans get a thrashing · 22 minIn the end, the result was clear and uncontested: Democrats had an astonishingly good night. Our editors and correspondents across America report on the proceedings, and we ask…
- Fertile ambitions: scientists’ plans to slow the biological clock · 22 minTwo European startups are tackling the chromosomal abnormalities that make it difficult for older women to get pregnant. Their innovations might also prevent younger women from…
- Off to the races: our American-midterms preview · 24 minAhead of tomorrow’s legislative elections we consider the chances of a “blue wave”, the most influential demographics this time around and whether to expect…
- Silver-year strongman: 25 years of Narendra Modi · 28 minWe examine the record of the man at the helm of India’s government. As protests pose a fresh threat, where will he take the country next? From New Hampshire to Virginia, our…
- Effective non-altruism: Elon Musk’s foundation · 23 minThe world’s richest person does not say much nice about philanthropy, and his foundation does not say much about itself. Our correspondent digs deeper. The next stop for our…
- Bye bye Bibi? Israel’s election results · 21 minBinyamin Netanyahu has underperformed but so has his main opponent, Gadi Eisenkot. Who will form a government? We decipher what the messy results mean for Israel. Our…
- Act of Claude: Anthropic’s IPO bid · 24 minIt would be the first public listing from a frontier-AI firm—and perhaps the largest IPO of all time. We comb through the filing to understand how the company is thinking about…
- From this day, fourth: Lula’s surprise win · 27 minBrazil’s president, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, staged a historic comeback to win a fourth term. We ask how he did it, and what he must do next. Each day this week our…
- Songs of disenchantment: the sorrow of Nigeria · 25 minNigeria is suffering a worsening security crisis, compounded by a lean harvest, global aid cuts and rising energy prices. So why is President Bola Tinubu likely to win January’s…
- Dunes and gloom: MBS’s annus horribilis · 24 minThis week, Muhammad bin Salman, crown prince of Saudi Arabia, was forced to postpone his annual investment summit. His other big bets on the kingdom’s future are also…
- Cash test: can Europe support Ukraine alone? · 24 minDonald Trump’s administration is turning against Ukraine. But as European powers confront trouble at home, they are struggling to replace American support. Are US private science…
- Disorder of magnitude: France’s riots · 21 minWhat started as student protests ballooned into national lawlessness. The disorder plays into the hands of France’s political extremes; expect more of it. In Zimbabwe white…
- Independence eh? Canada’s referendum · 22 minThe province of Alberta will vote on secession today. It is unlikely to go ahead, but the separatist vibe is just one of Prime Minister Mark Carney’s many headaches. Our…
- Schrödinger’s chat: can AI and scientists co-exist? · 28 minIn recent weeks, AI has solved hundreds of previously unanswered maths problems. Our correspondents ask if machines can do the same in other areas of science and what role human…
- An interview with Alice Weidel · 1 h 1 minUnder Alice Weidel’s leadership the Alternative for Germany (AfD), a right-wing populist party, has been riding high. A series of successes in state elections have brought it…
- Who wants to be a millennial? Generation comeback · 22 minTheir struggles to get jobs or buy homes once propelled political movements. Now many millennials are out-earning their parents and in positions of power. Our correspondent…
- Kicking Kyiv: Trump’s doubtful deals · 26 minDonald Trump claims to have brokered a deal to import Russian diesel and an energy ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine. As attacks on Kyiv continue, our deputy editor says Trump…
- Unrest in peace: misery in Gaza · 25 minA year ago Donald Trump created the Board of Peace to rebuild Gaza. Yet for many Palestinians, life is even harder, as the ceasefire is repeatedly violated, crime is rising and…
- Saudi under siege: Houthis attack airport · 23 minThis weekend, Yemeni rebels struck Saudi Arabia’s international airport in the deadliest attack on a Gulf Arab country since the Iran war began in February. Our correspondent…
- Saving your bacon: healthy-eating policy evolves · 25 minDecades of messaging have not worked, so governments are trying new ways to get citizens to eat well, from scary labelling to taxing the junkiest foods. Will it work? The death…
- Valley of the shadow of debt: bond-market jitters · 22 minBond yields across the rich world keep ticking up. We take a global look at where the risks are mounting most, and just how much worry is warranted. What might have once seemed…
- Gilets jeunes? France’s school protests · 20 minWhat started as a small protest about conditions of a school and of schooling has mushroomed, and tapped into national anxieties that may prove hard to tame. In the context of…
- House call: Spain’s snap election · 23 minPrime Minister Pedro Sánchez is gambling that anger about housing might solidify his mandate in a snap poll. Most probably it will instead add to the rightward shift in European…
- Here comes the son? Brazil’s election tips rightward · 23 minFlávio Bolsonaro, populist-right son of the imprisoned coup architect Jair, received the most votes in the presidential first round. We ask why Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, the…
- Coffer stop: AI may shrink tax base · 26 minIf Artificial Intelligence results in job losses or lower salaries, government revenues will fall. Our correspondent explains how best to tax the windfalls from AI. Paint is a…
- Trial and terror: Russia escalates Kyiv campaign · 22 minRussia has embarked on a new campaign to quell Ukraine, focused on supermarkets, playgrounds and other civilian targets. Our correspondent reports on the toll on daily life in…
- Cheques and the City: Premier League disgrace · 21 minAn independent commission has found Manchester City guilty of breaching over 100 rules. What penalty will the Premier League exact? Russia’s increasingly brazen attempts to…
- Brazil rut: Lula v Bolsonaro, again · 21 minOn October 4th, Brazil faces a polarising general election: re-elect the octogenarian incumbent or pick the son of a former president jailed for attempting a coup. In some…
- Foiled plot: did Iran plan British base attack? · 20 minFive men are in custody under suspicion of explosives and terrorism offences after being arrested near a British military base used by American aircraft. This could mark a…
- Big meet, little meat: the Trump-Xi summit · 27 minNot much of real substance appears to have emerged from the get-together. But our correspondent says there are clues of how both sides view an evolving relationship. Tommy…
- Home disadvantage: risks in housing markets · 23 minRich-world house prices survived the last fit of interest-rate rises; our correspondent lays out why they may not this time. Nine months after Australia banned social media for…
- National front-runner: who can beat Le Pen? · 20 minMarine Le Pen, party leader of France’s populist-right National Rally, starts her fourth presidential bid with a commanding lead. The country’s political centre is broad…
- The mob rule: criminality consumes South Africa · 21 minAn illicit shadow economy, rampant extortion and the capture of the criminal justice system: mafia members and tactics are eating away at the state. Oura seems to have captured…
- Centre punch: Germany’s state-election shocker · 21 minTwo more state-election results reveal surging support for both the far-right AfD and the populist-left Die Linke parties. Chancellor Friedrich Merz himself described the outcome…
- Drone truth: Russia has the upper hand · 26 minAfter a visit to Ukraine last week, our defence editor reports on a new phase of the war as Kyiv and other civilian targets are bombarded by Russian missiles. He also visits an…
- Rise and shine: Warsh’s Fed rate test · 22 minThe Federal Reserve has raised interest rates for the first time since July 2023. For the central bank’s new chair Kevin Warsh, that decision was a test both of monetary policy…
- The end of the world is AI? An existential threat · 24 minIs artificial intelligence becoming uncontrollably powerful? Our correspondent analyses whether a pause to breakneck development is possible or feasible. We have entered the new…
- Islamism in Britain: what is the threat? · 24 minThough a growing share of the British population is anxious about Islam, they have no reason to be. Islamism, a fringe ideology that believes government and society should be…
- Strait and narrowing: the Houthis’ striking advance · 23 minAfter years of stalemate, Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthis are taking territory, including on a Red Sea strait. We ask what has changed, and how the shift fits into the wider regional…
- The Weekend Intelligence: Shire folk - Episode 1: Tommy's Town · 49 minFor 15 years, the British media dismissed Tommy Robinson as a far-right extremist. We kept him off our televisions, and out of our newspapers. Today his rallies attract tens of…
- Out-numbered: AI’s contentious maths milestone · 23 minOpenAI’s claim to have solved one of the great problems in mathematics has itself created problems. We ask why the breakthrough has shaken the field. On the 25th anniversary of…
- Working through it: the AI jobs boom dawns · 20 minThe labour data are in from America and a trend is becoming clearer: on balance AI is starting to create more jobs than it hoovers up. Despite advancements of just about every…
- Chainsaw sputtering: Milei’s experiment falters · 22 minPresident Javier Milei has tamed inflation and improved the lot of many Argentines. But an election season approaches, and the promised economic and wage growth are not…
- School of shock: teenagers get dimmer · 21 minInternational tests in maths and reading show that 15-year-olds today score what 14-year-olds would have done a decade ago. Our correspondent explains the long-term decline. Is…
