Playing the fuel: reforming Nigeria’s subsidies
2024-09-17
Large fuel subsidies in Nigeria are popular but ruinous to other public services (https://www.economist.com/leaders/2024/09/11/nigerias-catastrophic-fuel-crisis-has-a-straightforward-solution?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). Our correspondents report from Lagos on how home-grown oil refining could help wean people off this popular premium. Texas was once a haven for crypto-mining; now many people are souring
Open to debate: Harris and Trump clash
2024-09-13
On Tuesday night in Philadelphia Donald Trump and Kamala Harris took part in what might be the only debate (https://www.economist.com/united-states/2024/09/11/kamala-harris-makes-donald-trump-look-out-of-his-depth?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) between them in this campaign. The race is extremely close (https://www.economist.com/united-states/2024/09/11/the-systemic-bias-kamala-harris-must-overcome-in-order-to-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): will the debate make any difference?
John Prideaux hosts with Charlotte Howard
Expelling mistake: the costs of hardline immigration policy
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
Food for thought: raising the world’s IQ
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).
Lurch in the left: France’s election shock
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
Degree programme: stopping heat deaths
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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One dam thing after another? Ukraine and reconstruction
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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NATO’s boss wants to free Ukraine to strike inside Russia
2024-05-24
NATO’s secretary-general, Jens Stoltenberg, has called on allies to lift restrictions on Ukraine’s use of NATO weapons inside Russian territory. Speaking to The Economist’s editor-in-chief, Zanny Minton Beddoes, Stoltenberg discussed in detail how the alliance can deal with the multiple threats Russia poses to global security—and prepare for a second Trump presidency.
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