Tax driver: Labour’s budget

2024-10-10

In 2023, a story about Olena Zelenska’s spending habits spread on social media. It was a lie. But how did it circulate so quickly—and what does it reveal about Russia’s disinformation war against the West?

2024-10-07

*This episode was first published 20/07/24

After a year of war in Gaza, people are beginning to discuss the aftermath. Schools, hospitals, the sanitation system are in ruins. Just clearing the rubble will take years.

Focusing on the long term, many neglect what needs to happen on day one. Gazans say the territory is becoming lawless. Who will control security, and with what legitimacy? Does anyone have a coherent plan?

In this special episode of The Weekend Intelligence The Economist’s editor-in-chief Zanny Minton Beddoes considers the dangerously rosy thinking about Gaza’s future and asks what happens when the dust settles.

Music credit: Epidemic Sound and Blue Dot Sessions

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2024-09-27

Ukraine’s president is again on American shores, trying to secure support of all kinds. He needs it (https://www.economist.com/briefing/2024/09/26/ukraine-is-on-the-defensive-militarily-economically-and-diplomatically?utm_campaign=a.io&utm_medium=audio.podcast.np&utm_source=theintelligence&utm_content=discovery.content.anonymous.tr_shownotes_na-na_article&utm_term=sa.listeners)—diplomatically, militarily and politically. America’s tendencies toward “woke” discourse and policies have permeated its politics, but our analysis finds that “peak woke” is already in the past

2024-09-23

Artificial Intelligence has gained ground so fast that OpenAI, the firm powering ChatGPT, is changing Silicon Valley’s investment model (https://www.economist.com/leaders/2024/09/19/the-breakthrough-ai-needs?utm_campaign=a.io&utm_medium=audio.podcast.np&utm_source=theintelligence&utm_content=discovery.content.anonymous.tr_shownotes_na-na_article&utm_term=sa.listeners) and how it innovates. Why the global nuclear order (https://www.economist.com/leaders/2024/08/15/reluctantly-america-will-have-to-build-more-nuclear-weapons?utm_campaign=a.io&utm_medium=audio.podcast.np&utm_source=theintelligence&utm_content=discovery.content.anonymous.tr_shownotes_na-na_article&utm_term=sa.listeners) may be in peril (10:24). And an alternative type of electoral forecasting is gaining ground: political

2024-08-08

Tourists are getting decidedly less-warm welcomes in popular spots, but blunt anti-tourism policies are self-defeating. We look at how to maintain benefits (https://www.economist.com/leaders/2024/08/01/how-to-make-tourism-work-for-locals-and-visitors-alike?utm_campaign=a.io&utm_medium=audio.podcast.np&utm_source=theintelligence&utm_content=discovery.content.anonymous.tr_shownotes_na-na_article&utm_term=sa.listeners) for both the visitors and the visited. As Russia tries to avoid another military draft, a slick recruitment drive (https://www.economist.com/graphic-detail/2022/10/21/where-are-russias-newest-soldiers-coming-from?utm_campaign=a.io&utm_medium=audio.podcast.np&utm_source=theintelligence&utm_content=discovery.content.anonymous.tr_shownotes_na-na_article&utm_term=sa.listeners)

2024-07-30

The dearth of fixed-line infrastructure that allowed the continent to leapfrog into the mobile-phone age now holds it back. We ask how to ensure (https://www.economist.com/leaders/2024/07/25/how-to-ensure-africa-is-not-left-behind-by-the-ai-revolution?utm_campaign=a.io&utm_medium=audio.podcast.np&utm_source=theintelligence&utm_content=discovery.content.anonymous.tr_shownotes_na-na_article&utm_term=sa.listeners) the even spread of AI’s dividends. A stinking Seine (https://www.economist.com/culture/2024/07/25/the-seine-may-determine-athletes-success-at-the-paris-olympics?utm_campaign=a.io&utm_medium=audio.podcast.np&utm_source=theintelligence&utm_content=discovery.content.anonymous.tr_shownotes_na-na_article&utm_term=sa.listeners) has delayed the Olympic triathlon, but the river could one

2024-07-16

After decades of torpor, is Japan recovering its dynamism (https://www.economist.com/asia/2024/07/01/japans-mind-bending-bento-box-economics?utm_campaign=a.io&utm_medium=audio.podcast.np&utm_source=theintelligence&utm_content=discovery.content.anonymous.tr_shownotes_na-na_article&utm_term=sa.listeners)? Our correspondent turns to an ancient bento box merchant to test Japan’s economic future. A new study shows how few therapies tested on animals (https://www.economist.com/science-and-technology/2024/06/14/only-5-of-therapies-tested-on-animals-are-approved-for-human-use?utm_campaign=a.io&utm_medium=audio.podcast.np&utm_source=theintelligence&utm_content=discovery.content.anonymous.tr_shownotes_na-na_article&utm_term=sa.listeners) end up being applied to humans (10:02). And if you don’t

2024-05-31

In 2022 the Supreme Court gave control of abortion back to “the people and their elected representatives.” This November will be the greatest test yet of what that means. Democrats are running hard on the issue (https://www.economist.com/leaders/2024/05/30/the-pro-choice-movement-that-could-help-joe-biden-win?utm_campaign=a.io&utm_medium=audio.podcast.np&utm_source=checksandbalance&utm_content=discovery.content.anonymous.tr_shownotes_na-na_article&utm_term=sa.listeners) and as many as 16 states will vote directly on abortion. A grassroots movement