Bye, cell: inside a notorious Syrian prison
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
Shock and thaw: Syria’s frozen war resumes
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
Google’s lurch: how to fix its monopoly
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
The Weekend Intelligence: Black boxes (part one): Michael Kovrig on how he became a political…
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.
Listen to what matters
What are Donald Trump’s policies?
2024-10-02
A second Trump presidency would leave a much greater mark on America than the first. Adam O’Neal, our Washington correspondent, explains why.
Sign up to our US politics newsletter: https://econ.st/3BC94Xb
See Harris and Trump’s latest polling numbers: https://econ.st/4dtMpK7
What are Harris and Trump’s economic plans?: https://econ.st/3Nb64Uy
What J.D. Vance is learning from Donald Trump: https://econ.st/4dtJeSM
What will happen if America’s election result is contested?: https://econ.st/3BwJPWA
War or less? Lebanon on the brink
2024-09-26
For now, Israel’s moves (https://www.economist.com/middle-east-and-africa/2024/09/25/hizbullah-seems-to-have-miscalculated-in-its-fight-with-israel?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) seem to be posturing, a means to intimidate Hizbullah into backing down. But there remains a prospect of a ground invasion—and another pointless war. Our swing-state series starts with a state that only recently became swing-y: North Carolina
What happens to your brain when you fall in love?
2024-08-09
00:00 – Love at first sight
00:57 – Love in the long term
01:20 – Love as a necessity
What really happens to your brain when you fall in love? We explain the science of attraction.
Sign up to The Economist’s Simply Science newsletter: https://econ.st/4cfEtvf
More from our Science & technology section: https://econ.st/4dE99az
The science of love at first sight: https://econ.st/4dUpsR5
How to keep the brain healthy: https://econ.st/4dFnB2l
Becoming a father shrinks your cerebrum: https://econ.st/3ytFe6h
More from Babbage, our podcast on science and technology: https://econ.st/3WUbNDE
Struck out: A Hamas leader is assassinated
2024-07-31
After the killing of Hamas’s political leader Ismail Haniyeh, what are the prospects for ceasefire talks in the region? In Venezuela Nicolas Maduro has declared victory (https://www.economist.com/the-americas/2024/07/29/nicolas-maduro-claims-implausible-victory-in-venezuelas-election?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) in presidential elections, but the opposition says the vote was rigged and protests have erupted on the streets (9:41). And why cooking may not be as healthy
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