The best non-fiction of 2024—so far

2024-08-09

The rich world is experiencing record migrant flows (https://www.economist.com/finance-and-economics/2024/07/21/the-rich-world-revolts-against-sky-high-immigration?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 the attendant social upheaval. Finding immigration policies that are not economically ruinous is damnably hard. Our three-part series starts to unpack why people are so fed up (https://www.economist.com/business/2024/08/08/why-people-have-fallen-out-of-love-with-dating-apps?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) with the big dating apps

2024-07-17

If you don’t have enough food in the first 1,000 days of your life, your brain may never reach its full potential. Our correspondent discusses what better nutrition (https://www.economist.com/leaders/2024/07/11/how-to-raise-the-worlds-iq?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.listener) would mean for the world. Undersea cables are the arteries of our telecommunications system, but that also makes them vulnerable (https://www.economist.com/international/2024/07/11/how-china-and-russia-could-hobble-the-internet?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) (9:13).

2024-07-08

A tactical ploy to diminish the chances for Marine Le Pen’s hard-right National Rally has worked—a surprise result that puts the left in front, but no party in charge (https://www.economist.com/europe/2024/07/07/a-shock-election-result-in-france-puts-the-left-in-the-lead?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). Despite sporting passions in Africa, continental leagues have fizzled; a passion for basketball

2024-07-03

As heatwaves become more frequent (https://www.economist.com/leaders/2024/06/26/simple-steps-to-stop-people-dying-from-heatwaves) and intense, they exacerbate existing inequalities. The poor, sick and elderly are particularly vulnerable. How should governments respond? Universities depend on the high fees international students pay. Now Indian scholars are replacing (https://www.economist.com/international/2024/06/20/brainy-indians-are-piling-into-western-universities) the diminishing flow of Chinese ones (10:00). And full-body deodorant is all the rage (https://www.economist.com/business/2024/05/23/americans-are-fretting-over-their-body-odour): find out if you should be using it (16:15).

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2024-07-01

Marine Le Pen’s far-right party made great gains in the first round of France’s parliamentary election (https://www.economist.com/europe/2024/06/30/a-crushing-blow-for-emmanuel-macrons-centrist-alliance). The left did too. We ask what this means for France and President Emmanuel Macron. Thailand will soon legalise same-sex marriage (https://www.economist.com/asia/2024/06/20/thailand-legalises-same-sex-marriage), but in other areas, democratic freedoms are being threatened (10:20). And penalty shoot-outs are agony (https://www.economist.com/science-and-technology/2024/06/14/the-secret-to-taking-better-penalties) for players, coaches and spectators. Can technology help (16:20)?

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2024-06-24

After decades as a scientific also-ran, China is becoming a superpower (https://www.economist.com/leaders/2024/06/13/how-worrying-is-the-rapid-rise-of-chinese-science?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) particularly in the physical sciences. We examine the risks and opportunities that poses for the West. Our correspondent looks into why denizens of the Mediterranean live so long (https://www.economist.com/europe/2024/06/20/why-southern-europeans-will-soon-be-the-longest-lived-people-in-the-world?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)

2024-06-07

When Russia attacked the Kakhovka dam in Ukraine a year ago, lives were lost, families stranded and towns submerged. But from that devastation emerged discussion on post-war reconstruction (https://www.economist.com/interactive/europe/2024/06/05/russias-explosion-of-a-huge-ukrainian-dam-had-surprising-effects). Our correspondent spent months investigating Narendra Modi (https://www.economist.com/audio/podcasts/the-modi-raj), the strongman who was humbled at this week’s Indian election (10:02). And remembering Barry Kemp (https://www.economist.com/obituary/2024/06/06/barry-kemp-spent-his-career-digging-up-akhenatens-abandoned-city), the Egyptologist who dug up Akhenaten’s abandoned city (17:18).

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