Pier pressure: a visit to Gaza’s aid platform

2024-06-19

Both the left and right are likely to do well in France’s upcoming parliamentary poll, with President Emmanuel Macron’s party squeezed in the middle. The snap election could leave the country in chaos (https://www.economist.com/europe/2024/06/16/france-is-being-thrown-into-uncharted-territory). In America, recreational use of weed is now commonplace, but what impact does it have on users’ wellbeing (https://www.economist.com/graphic-detail/2024/06/06/is-americas-weed-habit-dangerous) (10:06)? And the joy of short books (https://www.economist.com/the-economist-reads/2024/05/31/six-non-fiction-books-you-can-read-in-a-day): the intense pleasure of a quickie (17:40).

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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

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.

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2024-01-18

If artificial general intelligence is achieved, it will be able to outperform humans on most intellectual tasks. The Economist asks Sam Altman, the boss of OpenAI, how worried the world should be about AGI.
Watch the full interview here: https://econ.st/3RUSgzm

2024-01-09

Ethiopia’s president, Abiy Ahmed, has signed a deal with Somaliland to get his landlocked country direct access to the sea. Abiy hails this as an act of diplomacy, but could it destabilise an already volatile part of the world?

00:00 – a new dispute in the Horn of Africa
01:00 – the historical context
01:29 – the implications of the new deal

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Read more about the region: https://econ.st/4b1lIwv

Ethiopia’s deal with Somaliland: https://econ.st/3tJGQGB

Why does Ethiopia want access to a seaport?: https://econ.st/3H9RA45

Why Somaliland isn’t a recognised state: https://econ.st/48pfwMY

Conflict in the Horn of Africa: https://econ.st/48mt7of

2023-12-31

More than half the people on the planet live in countries that will hold nationwide elections in 2024. In theory it should be a triumphant year for democracy. In practice it will be the opposite