Could AI build cities in space?

2024-12-16

This weekend, the ruling Georgian Dream party elected a new president – but only one name was on the ballot. That sparked further street protests, as our correspondent reports. Why a new US administration will find it hard to cut costs at NASA (https://www.economist.com/leaders/2024/12/05/nasa-is-an-obvious-target-for-elon-musks-axe?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) (12:19). And the enduring appeal of the martini

2024-12-11

As Syrians awoke to a new era, thousands rushed to fling open the dark, filthy prisons (https://www.economist.com/middle-east-and-africa/2024/12/09/inside-bashar-al-assads-dungeons?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) where Bashar al-Assad locked up dissenters. Our correspondent followed along. The first of our two-part series on spirituality reveals a lucrative nexus of DIY enlightenment and tourism (9:13). And the stumbles

2024-12-02

The country’s civil war never ended—it became a fragile stalemate that fell out of the news. A surprise rebel advance (https://www.economist.com/middle-east-and-africa/2024/11/30/syrian-rebels-sweep-into-aleppo-in-an-embarrassing-rout-for-bashar-al-assad?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) reveals how the war’s international players are busy facing their own challenges. Our correspondent found it so difficult to disappear from the internet that she gave up

2024-10-09

This summer, an American judge ruled that Google’s search dominance (https://www.economist.com/leaders/2024/10/03/dismantling-google-is-a-terrible-idea?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) was illegal. Now the Department of Justice has revealed possible solutions. How robots could help mend leaking water pipes (https://www.economist.com/science-and-technology/2024/09/25/new-technologies-can-spot-pesky-leaks-in-water-pipelines?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) (9:46). And the best books on the beautiful game

2024-10-05

One evening, Michael Kovrig, a former Canadian diplomat, grabbed a late dinner in Beijing with his partner. When they arrived back at his apartment, men in black were waiting for them. Mr Kovrig was pushed into a waiting SUV. Handcuffed and blindfolded, he was driven to a detention centre in southern Beijing that would be his home for the next 1,019 days. September 24th 2024 is the third anniversary of Mr Kovrig’s release. And now he is ready to talk publicly about his ordeal.

On the Weekend Intelligence, we bring you the first in a two-part series from Drum Tower, our weekly podcast on China. David Rennie, The Economist’s geopolitics editor, speaks with Mr Kovrig about the night he was seized, and how his detention was part of a far bigger geopolitical game.

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