One dam thing after another? Ukraine and reconstruction

2024-06-14

Britain’s pint-sipping rabble-rouser of the right has joined the campaigning (https://www.economist.com/britain/2024/06/06/the-return-of-the-farage-ratchet?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) ahead of a general election. Win or lose, he will make an impact. America’s stadiums and arenas are often built using taxpayer dollars; they are also often terrible value for money (https://www.economist.com/united-states/2024/06/03/a-new-wave-of-stadium-building-is-busting-budgets-in-america?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) (10:08). And a tribute

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

2024-05-31

Donald Trump is a convicted felon. Historic, yes. Game-changer? Probably not.

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Read more about the 2024 US elections: https://econ.st/4bF3q3X

Read our leader on the verdict: https://econ.st/4dWFkDn

Listen to our US podcast, “Checks and Balance”: https://econ.st/3yIkdo8

2024-05-31

Narendra Modi may well be the most popular politician on the planet. India’s prime minister is eyeing a third term atop the world’s biggest democracy.

A tea-seller’s son, Mr Modi began life an outsider and the man behind the political phenomenon remains hard to fathom. India has become an economic powerhouse during his ten years in charge. But he’s also the frontman for a chauvinistic Hindu nationalist dogma.

Can Mr Modi continue to balance both parts of his agenda and finish the job of turning India into a superpower? The Economist’s Avantika Chilkoti finds out what makes him tick.

Launching June 2024.

To listen to the full series, subscribe to Economist Podcasts+ (https://subscribenow.economist.com/podcasts-plus).

If you’re already a subscriber to The Economist, you have

2024-05-30

Ahead of a general election (https://www.economist.com/leaders/2024/05/22/rishi-sunaks-election-call-makes-no-sense-but-is-good-news?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 July, we reflect on 14 years of Conservative rule. It’s not a great record, but will the prime minister be able to spin it on the campaign trail? Latin America is still being torn apart by some of the world’s worst gang violence

2024-02-16

Alexei Navalny, Russia’s most prominent opposition leader, has died in a penal colony near the Arctic Circle, according to the Russian prison service. Listen to this excerpt on Navalny’s life and career from our podcast series “Next Year in Moscow”.

Original podcast: Producers: Sam Colbert, Pete Naughton, Ksenia Barakovskaya, Lika Kremer; Sound design: Weidong Lin; Original music: Darren Ng; Executive producer: John Shields.

00:00 – Alexei Navalny has died
01:14 – Navalny’s poisoning
07:26 – Returning to Russia
11:40 – His political work
18:50 – Navalny’s prison sentence
21:27 – Alexei Navalny’s legacy

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Obit: Alexei Navalny didn’t just defy Putin—he showed up his depravity:
https://econ.st/3OMDcmq

Read our 2020

2024-02-08

Things look bleak in the Middle East after Binyamin Netanyahu scorned America’s push for an end to the fighting. But in private he’s said to be more flexible. Could diplomacy actually work?

00:00 – The Saudi normalisation deal
00:42 – Israel and Saudi Arabia’s history
01:10 – How to solve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict
02:26 – Will the deal happen?

Sign up to The Economist’s daily newsletter: https://econ.st/3QAawvI

To read more on the conflict, visit our Israel and Hamas hub: https://econ.st/3HPfwtU

Israel scorns America’s unprecedented peace plan: https://econ.st/3SO4knJ

How to end the Middle East’s agony: https://econ.st/3OCHrRw

Listen to our podcast on Antony Blinken: the hardest working man in diplomatic business: https://econ.st/3OyKkCQ

America’s shuttle diplomacy to