Latest Interviews
Showing 511–525 of 1,573 transcripts.
Clear all filters- Y Combinator38 min
How Zepto Became India’s Fastest Growing Startup
Zepto co-founders Aadit Palicha and Aadit Palicha (KB) scaled a Mumbai-based grocery startup into a $5 billion unicorn by pioneering a "customer backward" dark store model that delivers 1.5 million daily orders across 50 Indian cities in ten minutes. The company achieved financial efficiency by breaking even just over two years ago despite a global capital freeze, while diversifying revenue streams through advertising and new verticals like Zepto Cafe. Driven by a long-term vision to rival global giants like Amazon, Zepto leverages generative AI and a cost-effective Indian talent pool to expand beyond groceries into electronics and general merchandise.
- The Economist24 min
Gene genies: CRISPR’s critical moment
Jason Palmer, Rosie Bloor, Emily Steinmark, Leo Marani, Eleanor Whitehead
The 2020 Nobel Prize in Chemistry recognized Emmanuelle Charpentier and Jennifer Doudna for CRISPR, a precision gene-editing tool now enabling curative treatments like Kisjevi for sickle cell disease while facing regulatory hurdles distinct from traditional genetic modification. Simultaneously, Asian markets drove nearly two-thirds of global gold demand to hedge against currency instability and capital controls, with India and China leading consumption despite the trade deficits this high import volume creates. In New Zealand, an accelerated net brain drain of nearly 129,000 emigrants was fueled by economic recession and housing costs, as professionals migrated to Australia seeking higher wages under the Trans-Tasman Agreement.
- Goldman Sachs27 min
Is the market underpricing recession risks?
Tony Pasquarello, Josh Schifrin, Dominic Wilson
Following a pause on reciprocal tariffs that reduced immediate policy risk, analysts warn that recession fears remain significant and underpriced despite recent market rallies. While the U.S. dollar is entering a projected structural bear market over the next 6–12 months and oil faces downward pressure from disinflationary tariffs, equity volatility is expected to persist until clear trade outcomes emerge. Federal Reserve rate cuts will likely wait until deep financial stress or labor market cracks appear, with Chair Powell emphasizing the need to avoid unanchoring inflation expectations before acting aggressively.
- The Economist25 min
Trump’s fickle, Xi’s pickle: the dynamic driving US-China tensions
Trump, Xi, Rosie Bloor, Jason Palmer, David Rennie, Hanna Vioque, John Fassman
Amid escalating trade friction involving US tariffs and Chinese export controls, Beijing has diversified its diplomatic ties to Southeast Asia and Europe while rejecting direct negotiation tactics it deems chaotic. Concurrently, Spain faces a humanitarian crisis as record migrant arrivals and sea-route deaths overwhelm local morgues, forcing authorities to implement rapid burials that compromise identification protocols. In a contrasting sectoral shift, the pinball industry has experienced a resurgence driven by technological upgrades and a surge in competitive participation, reversing decades of decline to become a global market of nearly 40,000 players.
- The Economist22 min
Cash and checks: Argentina’s next IMF loan
Rosie Bloor, Jason Palmer, Charlie Salmon, Aaron Braun, Stanley Pignol
The IMF approved a $20 billion loan package for Argentina to implement flexible exchange rates and lift capital controls, a move President Javier Milei claims strengthens foundations while risking renewed inflation and political instability ahead of midterms. Concurrently, Texas has seen a sevenfold increase in high-speed police chases under Operation Lone Star, resulting in over 100 deaths despite reduced illegal border crossings and prompting local calls for safer pursuit guidelines. Across Europe, governments like Sweden's are mandating civil preparedness kits and considering mandatory training to counter evolving security threats from Russia and natural disasters.
- Goldman Sachs20 min
The case for private credit
James Reynolds, Lotfi Karoui, Alison Nathan
With private credit assets expanding to $2.1 trillion, the sector has evolved into a dominant financing alternative for private equity and sub-investment-grade borrowers, driven by institutional investors seeking inflation hedges and floating-rate yields. Despite limited historical recession data, the industry demonstrates resilience through superior creditor coordination and regulatory leverage caps that mitigate systemic fragility compared to the pre-2008 banking system. Looking forward, senior direct lending and flexible capital solutions in Europe and the U.S. present primary growth areas as traditional bank underwriting retreats, while emerging distressed opportunities in cyclical sectors offer avenues for debt-to-equity restructuring.
- The Economist24 min
The buck stops here? The threats to dollar primacy
Jordan Bardella, Jason Palmer, Henry Kerr, Sophie Bedder, Emma Irving
Following President Trump's April announcement of reciprocal tariffs, a financial sell-off has triggered concerns that the US dollar may lose its reserve status, potentially forcing bond yields higher and complicating the Federal Reserve's ability to manage inflation without a Congress unable to pass unpopular fiscal corrections. In France, Jordan Bardella has emerged as the strategic successor to Marine Le Pen after her 2027 election ban, leveraging his youth-oriented digital persona and critical stance on Vladimir Putin to modernize the National Rally while navigating internal party scrutiny. Concurrently, Hong Kong authorities are implementing strict regulatory measures for taxi drivers, including surveillance and penalty systems, to restore tourist confidence amid a sharp drop in visitor numbers and fierce competition from unregulated ride-hailing services.
- Goldman Sachs36 min
The recession question
Jan Hatzius, Dominic Wilson, Alison Nathan
Goldman Sachs has revised its U.S. economic forecast from optimistic to pessimistic, estimating a 45–50% recession probability as average tariff rates climb to 15–25%, which simultaneously drives inflation higher and suppresses growth. The firm projects the Federal Reserve will cut rates by 75 basis points in the near term if a soft landing occurs, though deeper cuts may follow if economic deterioration accelerates. These policy shifts coincide with a paradoxical market environment where Treasury yields and equity volatility rise, the U.S. dollar weakens against major currencies, and global growth forecasts turn negative across 21 of 25 covered economies.
- a16z41 min
Autonomy is no longer a moonshot—it’s a market
Erin Price-Wright, Qasar Younis, Jason Brown
Applied Intuition leverages a dual-use strategy that forces defense autonomy products to meet rigorous commercial benchmarks before government adoption, ensuring validity through real-world market competition. The company is capitalizing on the convergence of Waymo and Tesla methodologies to modernize legacy defense platforms while introducing transformative transformer-based architectures for swarm and collaborative autonomy. By bridging the gap between rapid commercial software development and the Department of Defense's traditional hardware-centric procurement culture, the firm is actively reshaping defense acquisition models to accelerate the deployment of scalable, cost-effective autonomous systems.
- The Economist23 min
Bloody Sunday: Russia’s strikes on Sumy
Jason Palmer, Tim Judah, Christian Odendal, Jess, Catherine Nixie
Amidst escalating Russian missile strikes that killed dozens of civilians in Sumy and Krivyi Rih, US envoy General Keith Kellogg condemned the violence while President Trump's administration faces internal division over peace timelines. Simultaneously, European nations are launching aggressive recruitment campaigns to reverse brain drain caused by US policy shifts, aiming to boost strategic autonomy despite significant R&D spending gaps. In a separate economic update, the UK's Consumer Price Index continues to evolve through the Office for National Statistics' rigorous tracking of a 750-item basket that now reflects modern leisure and pet care alongside historical inflation data.
- Goldman Sachs32 min
OpenAI CFO Sarah Friar on the race to build artificial general intelligence
Goldman Sachs and OpenAI leaders outline a strategic pivot toward full-stack infrastructure, highlighted by a $500 billion "Stargate" investment plan designed to secure 10 gigawatts of compute power for advanced reasoning models and autonomous agents. This capital deployment addresses severe hardware bottlenecks while driving breakthroughs in O-series models that now achieve PhD-level scientific proficiency and global coding supremacy. With revenue tripling annually and immediate plans to scale AI into education and enterprise banking, OpenAI aims to reach artificial general intelligence capabilities while treating an initial public offering as a long-term objective rather than an immediate priority.
- a16z44 min
Drone Warfare: The New Rules of Combat Are Here
Matt Cronin, Ryan Tseng, Adam Bry
Discussions with defense technology leaders from Skydio and Shield AI highlight an urgent "max-Q moment" driven by China's fearsome industrial capacity to produce drones at a scale that currently overwhelms US capabilities. The dialogue emphasizes a strategic pivot toward distributed, autonomous systems capable of operating in GPS-denied environments, leveraging rapid software iteration to close the OODA loop faster than adversaries. To counter this asymmetry, experts advocate for immediate procurement reform and the re-industrialization of the US domestic base to transform high-volume commercial manufacturing into a resilient national security asset.
- The Economist27 min
The great brawl: China v America
Donald Trump, Friedrich Merz, Betty Webb, Rosie Bloor, Don Wineland, Tom Nuttall, Anne Rowe
Escalating trade tensions between the United States and China, marked by reciprocal tariffs exceeding 125%, have triggered market volatility while forcing a strategic reshaping of global supply chains away from US dependence. Simultaneously, Germany's incoming coalition government led by Friedrich Merz has secured a mandate to address economic stagnation and defense obligations, navigating the new reality of aggressive US protectionism. In a historical parallel to current geopolitical anxieties, the life of Betty Webb, a WWII codebreaker who died at 101, has been revealed as a cautionary tale against modern fascist movements.
- The Economist21 min
Art of the real: Trump bows to markets
Trump, Rosie Bloor, Rachna Shambhog, Tom Standage, Andrew Miller
Following President Trump's announcement of a 90-day tariff pause amid market-driven recession fears, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent utilized the delay to reward non-retaliation while maintaining a 125% rate on China, prompting global leaders to prepare direct concessions on defense and trade. Simultaneously, the commercial space sector advances toward orbital data centers as StarCloud plans a 2024 AI chip demonstrator and Axiom Space operates station racks, with viability hinging on the projected launch cost reductions of SpaceX's Starship. Marking the centennial of its 1924 publication, F. Scott Fitzgerald's *The Great Gatsby* continues to define the American experience by contrasting the Jazz Age's glamour with a rigid class structure that grants the wealthy immunity from the consequences of their carelessness.
- The Economist23 min
Pulp friction: the trade war bites Apple
Rosie Bloor, Jason Palmer, Henry Trix, Owen Winter, Holly Berman
Following the implementation of new US tariffs and China's 104% retaliatory levy, Apple faced a $600 billion market value decline due to its heavy reliance on Chinese manufacturing, prompting the Trump administration to reject Tim Cook's $500 billion investment pledge as a basis for exemptions. Concurrently, meta-analyses of 6 billion Facebook friendships reveal that Britain exhibits stronger cross-class social integration than the United States, though this connectivity remains geographically fragmented by historic industrial zones. In the cultural sphere, a new wave of conservative female influencers is reshaping Republican branding by merging high-fashion lifestyle content with explicit politics, targeting Gen-Z audiences through digital communities and bypassing traditional media gatekeepers.