How to play chess like a grandmaster | The Economist

2026-01-31

In this new season of the Boss Class podcast, host, Andrew Palmer, sits down with Bret Taylor, Chair of OpenAI and co-founder of Sierra, to discuss the future of AI agents and their impact on businesses around the world.

Listen to the new series of ‘Boss Class’ here: https://www.economist.com/audio/podcasts/boss-class

00:00 – What made Bret Taylor pay attention to AI?
01:25 – Why is generative AI different from past computing?
05:30 – Why does AI feel overhyped and underwhelming?
12:10 – How do you manage risk with AI?
21:09 – What does the future look like for AI and jobs?

Listen to the full episode: https://econ.st/3ZvFxXZ
The last days of brainstorming: https://econ.st/45CugIZ
Sign up to our weekly newsletter: https://econ.st/3J0xzBr

#TheEconomist #BossClass #OpenAI

2026-01-28

How has satellite imagery and open-source intelligence helped Ukraine to fight back against Russia’s invasion?
Will Marshall, co-founder and CEO of Planet, tells The Economist’s defence editor, Shashank Joshi, how his company has supported Ukraine with satellite data—and what it reveals about information advantage, ethics, and the growing role of private technology firms in modern warfare.

00:00 How OSINT supports Ukraine’s war effort
01:30 The role of tech firms in conflict
03:30 Satellites and the Russian threat

Watch the full show: https://econ.st/4a3I6FP

To protect itself, Europe needs the systems that make warfare work: https://econ.st/4taDuX9

More on how open-source intelligence influenced the war in Ukraine: https://econ.st/3O8p3m7

Spy-satellite-grade images could

2025-12-13

Could geothermal soon overtake nuclear power? Vijay Vaitheeswaran, our Global energy & climate innovation editor and winner of the Energy Writer of the Year Award 2025, speaks to Alok Jha, host of the Babbage podcast, about long-neglected geothermal energy and the new suite of technologies that could finally see it rolled out across the world.

00:00 — Why Has Geothermal Energy Been So Limited Until Now?
01:25 — What Is Geothermal Energy and Where Does the Heat Come From?
03:10 — What’s Driving the New Optimism Around Geothermal Power?
05:42 — Which New Technologies Could Make Geothermal Work Everywhere?
08:53 — How Close Are We to Commercial-Scale Geothermal Power?
10:27 — What Are the Remaining Risks and Roadblocks to Global Adoption?

Listen to the full episode:

2025-12-08

Is an insurgency brewing in Syria? Gareth Browne, our Middle East correspondent, joins Rosie Blau, co-host of The Intelligence podcast, to discuss Syria’s fraught transition one year after Assad’s fall and whether another uprising might be on the horizon.

00:00 – Could Syria face a new insurgency?
00:28 – What fault lines are emerging in Syria?
02:27 – How is the transition feeling on the ground?
03:25 – What are the economic and political challenges?
05:23 – What kind of state is being built?
06:47 – Is Syria heading toward a new authoritarian structure?

Listen to the full episode: https://econ.st/48KC4t3
An insurgency may be brewing against Syria’s new leaders: https://econ.st/3YkID0h
Sign up to our weekly newsletter: https://econ.st/3J0xzBr

#TheEconomist #Syria #Assad

2025-12-05

The Labour party stormed to victory in last year’s UK general election, following a long period in the political wilderness, but their popularity has collapsed since they took office. Like their European counterparts, they are facing pressure from the left and right. Our editor-in-chief Zanny Minton Beddoes sat down with Keir Starmer, the prime minister, to discuss his plans to address the country’s problems and what he makes of the rise of the insurgent Reform UK party.

Watch the full interview to hear how he hopes to meet the moment.

00:00 The fate of centrist politics
00:50 Reform UK’s policies
04:40 Britain’s relationship with the European Union
07:24 How Keir Starmer would sum up his politics on a bumper sticker

Watch the full interview: