For whom the well tolls: Why we must price water

2024-08-09

00:00 – Love at first sight
00:57 – Love in the long term
01:20 – Love as a necessity

What really happens to your brain when you fall in love? We explain the science of attraction.

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The science of love at first sight: https://econ.st/4dUpsR5

How to keep the brain healthy: https://econ.st/4dFnB2l

Becoming a father shrinks your cerebrum: https://econ.st/3ytFe6h

More from Babbage, our podcast on science and technology: https://econ.st/3WUbNDE

2024-07-31

After the killing of Hamas’s political leader Ismail Haniyeh, what are the prospects for ceasefire talks in the region? In Venezuela Nicolas Maduro has declared victory (https://www.economist.com/the-americas/2024/07/29/nicolas-maduro-claims-implausible-victory-in-venezuelas-election?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 presidential elections, but the opposition says the vote was rigged and protests have erupted on the streets (9:41). And why cooking may not be as healthy

2024-07-23

A day is a long time in American politics: Kamala Harris has reportedly already secured the votes to become Democrats’ presidential nominee, a pile of campaign cash and the Trump campaign’s attention (https://www.economist.com/united-states/2024/07/22/republicans-adjust-their-attacks-for-their-new-foe-kamala-harris?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). For insight into how China treats its startup scene, we count the dwindling number of newly born unicorns

2024-07-18

J.D. Vance was largely unknown in American politics until Donald Trump picked him (https://www.economist.com/united-states/2024/07/16/jd-vance-is-now-the-heir-apparent-to-the-maga-movement?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) as his running-mate for vice-president. Last night he gave his first speech to the Republican National Convention. Why is trade so sluggish within Latin America (https://www.economist.com/the-americas/2024/06/13/why-latin-america-is-the-worlds-trade-pipsqueak?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) (11:34)? And forget

2024-07-10

Masoud Pezeshkian rode to victory on a promise of reforms that Iran’s people seem desperately to want (https://www.economist.com/middle-east-and-africa/2024/07/06/a-reformer-wanting-a-nuclear-deal-with-america-wins-irans-election?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). Will the former heart surgeon be permitted to carry them out? Ukraine has been getting a wartime pass on servicing its debts, but its creditors will soon come knocking

2024-07-04

The generation born in the 1940s grew up in a land of endless growth and possibility, ruled by a confident, moderate elite. But just as they were embarking on adult life, all that started to come apart. The economy faltered, and the post-war consensus came under pressure from two sides: from the radical right, who hated government moves on civil rights – and from the ‘New Left’, as boomers rebelled against their parents’ generation and its war in Vietnam.

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2024-06-26

Our correspondents were the first media to see the American-built JLOTS pier, intended for aid deliveries into Gaza. Things have not at all gone to plan. After years of slipping, house prices are on the rise (https://www.economist.com/finance-and-economics/2024/06/16/why-house-prices-are-surging-once-again?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) again; we ask why (16:51). And a trip to see the Savannah Bananas, a goofy exhibition-baseball team that has serious lessons

2024-06-17

Much of Sudan has already collapsed into chaos (https://www.economist.com/graphic-detail/2024/05/24/sudan-the-war-the-world-forgot). Now a crucial city may fall, the United Nations is belatedly scrambling to avert a bloodbath. Gary Lineker (https://www.economist.com/britain/2024/05/25/footballer-broadcaster-podcast-mogul-the-career-of-gary-lineker) is a former footballer, broadcaster and podcast mogul. He also embodies Britain’s social aspirations (10:52). And the women in Japan (https://www.economist.com/culture/2024/05/21/the-controversial-cult-of-the-host-club-in-japan) who pay men to praise them (18:49).

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