Will young people let democracy die?

2024-10-15

Our correspondent sits down with Keir Starmer on the sidelines of a conference dedicated to drawing much-needed investment. We examine the prime minister’s pitch to investors (https://www.economist.com/britain/2024/10/14/sir-keir-starmers-elevator-pitch-for-investment?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). All the connections within the fruit fly’s brain have now been mapped out (https://www.economist.com/leaders/2024/10/03/a-map-of-a-fruit-flys-brain-could-help-us-understand-our-own?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); we ask what that

2024-09-05

What happens to your brain when you burn out? This is the science behind thinking too hard.

00:00 – Does thinking make you tired?
00:21 – What biochemical changes take place?
00:51 – What is glutamate?
01:13 – How to stop burnout?

How thinking hard makes the brain tired: https://econ.st/3TfP0A5

Pity the modern manager—burnt-out, distracted and overloaded: https://econ.st/3B0VVGR

How to keep the brain healthy: https://econ.st/4cU1YdP

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Listen to Babbage, our science and technology podcast: https://econ.st/3WUbNDE

2024-09-04

We take a look at the grim conditions in and prospects for the frontlines in the country’s east and north. But not all of the fighting is military in nature. We examine a far wider cultural revival going on (10:59), in music and fashion and long-forgotten ingredients and methods of Ukrainian cuisine (19:13). “Oh, the Red Viburnum in the Meadow” sung by Andriy Khlyvnyuk

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2024-09-02

The hard right has taken Germany into uncharted territory (https://www.economist.com/europe/2024/09/01/the-hard-right-takes-germany-into-uncharted-territory?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), winning one state election and racking up a large share in another. The far left is on the march too. Is Germany dividing into East and West again? Motorbike taxis (https://www.economist.com/middle-east-and-africa/2024/08/15/cheap-asian-motorcycles-are-transforming-african-cities?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) are transforming Africa’s cities

2024-08-15

Donald Trump is a fan of nuclear weapons. If he were to win the 2024 election he would make nuclear deterrence even more unstable

Sign up to The Economist’s daily newsletter: https://econ.st/3QAawvI

US election coverage: https://www.economist.com/us-election-2024

America prepares for a new nuclear arms race: https://econ.st/4csgSYy

A new era of nuclear uncertainty: https://econ.st/4dJX8Rk

What would nuclear war in the 21st century look like?: https://econ.st/3X0XJse

1843: Inside a nuclear-power station on Ukraine’s front line: https://econ.st/4dIfjql

Beware a world without American power: https://econ.st/3WJu31i

2024-08-13

Corporate investment in artificial-intelligence infrastructure reaches $1.4trn by some estimates. We ask what might threaten (https://www.economist.com/business/2024/07/28/what-could-kill-the-1trn-artificial-intelligence-boom?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) the expected windfalls that justify the spending. A Japanese mine’s bid to be listed by UNESCO was made harder because it ignores South Korean wartime forced labour (10:49). And why a nicotine pouch

2024-06-21

Since his election last year, President Javier Milei has enjoyed some economic and political wins in Argentina. But his toughest fight (https://www.economist.com/leaders/2024/06/19/javier-mileis-next-move-could-make-his-presidency-or-break-it) is yet to come. On Britain’s general election trail, our correspondent found voters less keen on the prospect of a Labour victory than on punishing the Conservative party (https://www.economist.com/britain/2024/06/18/britains-conservatives-rule-the-thames-estuary-not-for-long) at the polls (10:00). And remembering Birubala Rabha (https://www.economist.com/obituary/2024/06/20/birubala-rabha-fought-to-end-the-stigmatisation-of-women), who campaigned against witch-hunting in India (18.35).

Listen to what matters most, from global politics and

2024-06-12

We have dusted off and tuned up our forecast model (https://www.economist.com/interactive/us-2024-election/prediction-model/president?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 America’s presidential race. So far it gives Donald Trump a marginally higher chance of a second term. There is at last progress on not one but two vaccines to beat malaria (https://www.economist.com/middle-east-and-africa/2024/05/30/new-fronts-are-opening-in-the-war-against-malaria?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) (9:02). And a look at the “tradwives