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).
Holey alliance: NATO’s worries at 75
2024-07-09
It was formed to unite the world’s strongest countries and preserve peace, but as NATO holds a celebration summit for its 75th anniversary, it faces tricky challenges (https://www.economist.com/leaders/2024/07/04/how-to-trump-proof-americas-alliances). Climate change is jeopardising Scottish salmon (https://www.economist.com/britain/2024/06/17/climate-change-casts-a-shadow-over-britains-biggest-food-export), one of Britain’s biggest food exports (10:15). And why North Korea is sending hot air balloons (https://www.economist.com/the-economist-explains/2024/06/26/why-north-korea-is-sending-its-rubbish-to-the-south) over to the South, filled with rubbish and faeces (16:50).
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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
Leader of the package: Amazon turns 30
2024-07-04
It has changed our lives and become one of the world’s most valuable companies. As Amazon turns 30 (https://www.economist.com/business/2024/07/01/what-next-for-amazon-as-it-turns-30?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), what comes next? Education is key to social mobility in India (https://www.economist.com/asia/2024/06/27/narendra-modi-needs-to-win-over-low-income-indians?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), so protests have erupted over widespread cheating in university entrance exams, presenting Modi’s new government with its first
Trailer: Boom! How a generation blew up American politics
2024-07-01
Why are two old, unpopular men the main candidates for the world’s most demanding job? It’s the question John Prideaux, The Economist’s US editor, gets asked the most. And the answer lies in the peculiar politics of the baby boomers.
Since 1992, every American president bar one has been a white man born in the 1940s. That run looks likely to span 36 years – not far off the age of the median American. This cohort was born with aces in their pockets. Their parents defeated Nazism and won the cold war. They hit the jobs market at an unmatched period of wealth creation. They have benefitted from giant leaps in technology, and in racial and gender equality.
And yet, their last act in politics sees the two main parties accusing each other of wrecking American democracy. As the boomers near
Spring a leaker: Assange goes free
2024-06-25
As Julian Assange is released from prison our correspondent reflects on how the work of Wikileaks changed whistleblowing in the internet era, for good and for ill. Meanwhile Peter Navarro, Donald Trump’s trade hawk, remains behind bars—but is plotting for a second Trump term (09:25). And the social-media trend changing tinned fish from frumpy to foodie fare (18:33).
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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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