How high could the oil price go? | The Economist

2026-05-02

Is AI growing faster than the infrastructure that powers it? The Economist’s global business writer, Shailesh Chitnis, and co-host of The Intelligence podcast, Rosie Blau, discuss the global shortage of computing power. As demand surges, firms are throttling access, spending billions on expansion and facing supply-chain bottlenecks that could reshape the future of AI.

00:00 – Why are AI companies struggling to keep up with demand?
00:37 – What is actually in short supply?
01:26 – What are AI firms doing about the shortage?
02:10 – Will simply spending more money solve the problem?
03:27 – How are suppliers responding to the crunch?
04:06 – Where are the biggest bottlenecks in the tech stack?
06:24 – How will this supply crunch affect AI’s future?

Listen to the full episode:

2026-03-19

“If Europe is not an ally of the United States, then China rules the world”. In an interview with Zanny Minton Beddoes, The Economist’s editor-in-chief, Tucker Carlson says “there are people in the US government who really, really hate Europe” and he doesn’t understand why.

#europe #trump #usa #tuckercarlson

Watch the full interview: https://econ.st/47FuP5G
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2026-03-17

Why are Iranian drones so deadly? Shashank Joshi, The Economist’s defence editor, and Rosie Blau, co-host of The Intelligence podcast, discuss how the drones work, how Iran’s mass deployment is reshaping conflict in the Persian Gulf, and how Ukraine’s battlefield experiences are providing crucial lessons for countries facing attacks.

00:00 – What is a Shahed drone?
00:55 – Why are Shahed drones harder to detect and intercept?
01:49 – What are the most effective ways to defend against them?
02:36 – What has Ukraine learned from defending against Shaheds?
03:34 – How does drone-on-drone interception work?
06:08 – How is Ukraine sharing this expertise internationally?
06:27 – What does this mean for the current Iran war and global defence?

Listen to the full episode:

2026-03-11

Fans of cryptocurrencies are used to sharp crashes, but this one feels different. The aura of excitement that once surrounded digital assets has vanished. Crypto has survived every crash so far. It’s never had to survive being boring.

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2026-01-23

NATO allies have quarrelled before, but never quite like this. Donald Trump’s pursuit of Greenland—and his willingness to use intimidation and economic coercion to get it—could deal a deathblow to the post-war order. Zanny Minton Beddoes, The Economist’s editor-in-chief, Edward Carr, deputy editor, and a panel of our expert journalists discuss whether the diplomatic spat could be the end of the West as we know it.

00:00 What is the future of the transatlantic alliance and NATO?
01:00 Is this a permanent shift?
04:00 Is Europe prepared for this new world?

Watch the full show: https://econ.st/3ZqIcCb

The true danger posed by Donald Trump: https://econ.st/4pQGUv5

Europe’s five stages of grief for the transatlantic alliance: https://econ.st/4jSz7eR

Donald Trump’s expansionist

2025-12-10

Excited to settle in with a new book this Christmas? Rachel Lloyd, our deputy culture editor, shares five of our top novels published in 2025.

Click the link to see the rest of our top picks: https://econ.st/48Jpf1P

2025-12-05

Britain wants stronger growth—but politics keeps getting in the way. Zanny Minton Beddoes, Edward Carr and our Britain team unpack why closer EU ties remain difficult, how migration shapes the debate and whether the UK could ever rejoin the single market.

00:00 – Why not get closer to Europe?
02:10 – What is really happening with immigration
05:05 – How British voters feel about immigration

Watch the full show: https://econ.st/49ZXvIH

Read our Britain coverage: https://econ.st/48DsCrn

Watch the full Starmer interview: https://econ.st/48soxHH

Sign up to the Insider newsletter: https://econ.st/4nOyzIb

2025-12-03

Arrested as he tried to leave Iran, Nicolas Pelham, The Economist’s Middle East correspondent, was detained for seven weeks in 2019. Now the regime has invited him back.