Latest Interviews
Showing 46–60 of 164 transcripts.
Clear all filters- The Economist36 min
Scam Inc 2: Opportunity of a lifetime
Zannie Minton-Beddoes, Sulin Wong
Recruited through deceptive job postings, victims from the Philippines, Uganda, South Africa, and South Asia are smuggled into remote Myanmar compounds where they are held captive and forced to execute "Pig Butchering" cryptocurrency scams. These workers endure 16-hour shifts and brutal physical punishment while impersonating wealthy professionals to defraud White Americans aged 40 to 65 of tens of thousands of dollars. Controlled by Chinese-led hierarchies and increasingly industrialized by satellite-confirmed infrastructure, these self-contained operations utilize deepfake technology and strict racial targeting to sustain a vast, transnational fraud network.
- The Economist24 min
It could happen to you: introducing “Scam Inc”
Jason Palmer, Rosie Bloor, Su Lin Wong, Simon Rabinovich, Tim Cross
Podcast series *Scam Inc.* reveals a multi-billion dollar online fraud industry utilizing violent coercion, AI-driven voice cloning, and psychological exploitation across the globe. Concurrently, the US administration has aggressively implemented sweeping tariff threats on major trading partners, creating significant market volatility while seeking to revitalize domestic manufacturing through protectionist policies. In the sports sector, Magnus Carlsen and Tim Cross are launching a rebranded Freestyle Chess Grand Slam Tour that employs randomized starting positions and F1-style broadcasting to transform chess into a mass-market entertainment product.
- The Economist26 min
As a next resort: Trump’s vision for Gaza
Trump, Binyamin Netanyahu, Jason Palmer, Rosie Bloor, Anshul Pfeffer, Avantika Chilkoti
Donald Trump's proposal to economically redevelop the Gaza Strip by relocating its two million Palestinians has drawn immediate rejection from Arab foreign ministers and the governments of Egypt, Jordan, and Syria, while garnering ecstatic support from Israeli far-right figures. Analysts widely characterize the plan as practically unfeasible and morally indefensible, suggesting it may serve as a political distraction for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rather than a viable diplomatic strategy. Simultaneously, rising tensions over the 1943–1944 Volhynia massacres threaten to strain Poland-Ukraine relations, while global baby industry spending surges despite demographic shifts and economic constraints.
- Goldman Sachs22 min
AI Exchanges: Will falling costs drive new opportunities?
Allison Nathan, George Lee, Kim Posnett
Host George Lee and guests analyze how DeepSeek's low-cost AI model challenges the economic viability of massive U.S. tech capital expenditures while triggering a shift in consensus from data scarcity to power availability as the primary industry constraint. Despite short-term market volatility, the panel highlights record CapEx commitments from hyperscalers and emerging enterprise adoption trends, including Goldman Sachs' internal AI tools and synthetic data markets, which collectively suggest a rapid transition toward autonomous AI agents and multi-gigawatt infrastructure needs. The discussion concludes with a bullish long-term outlook, predicting that declining computing costs will fuel new use cases and accelerate workforce productivity even as the sector navigates immediate supply chain bottlenecks.
- The Economist29 min
Rebel with a new cause: meeting Syria’s president
Ahmed al-Sharaa, Mamoon Alhidayat, Rosie Bloor, Jason Palmer, Zeni Minton-Bettos, Nicholas Pelham, Ethan Wu, James Francham
Ahmed al-Shara has consolidated power as Syria's transitional president following Bashar al-Assad's removal, though his refusal to explicitly reject Sharia law and vague commitments to democratic elections have raised concerns about potential authoritarian consolidation. Meanwhile, the Bank of Japan concluded its era of deflation by raising interest rates to 0.5%, driven by a virtuous wage-price cycle that has boosted bond yields despite lingering pressures on household spending. In the UK, a fifteen-year financial review disclosed that Members of Parliament earned £60 million from second jobs, with media appearances and speeches accounting for the majority of income and sparking public debate over potential regulatory caps.
- The Economist23 min
Putty people: can Trump get his picks?
Trump, Rosie Bloor, Adam O'Neill, Avantika Chirkotty, Luke Lithgow
The Trump administration is advancing controversial cabinet confirmations, including Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Tulsi Gabbard, while facing judicial and legislative resistance to executive overreach and potential pardons. Simultaneously, the global luxury market is contracting as aspirational brands struggle with economic headwinds, prompting a strategic pivot toward exclusivity and ultra-high-end clientele. In Australia, scientists are deploying genetic modifications and tadpole trapping to control the invasive cane toad population, which currently threatens native predators with lethal toxins.
- The Economist22 min
Remote control: Rwandan proxies occupy Congo
Rosie Bloor, Jason Palmer, Emmett Livingston, Robert Guest, Slaweja Čankova, Vishnu Padmarabhan
Following a collapse of government defenses, the M23 rebel group and alleged Rwandan troops captured Goma, displacing millions while exploiting the region's resources amid accusations of a proxy war strategy. Concurrently, medical research published in the *New England Journal of Medicine* identifies microplastics in half of a patient sample with arterial plaque, linking their presence to a quadrupled risk of heart attacks and stroke. Simultaneously, the global astrology market is surging to $23 billion by 2031 as Gen Z users increasingly turn to AI-driven platforms for guidance amidst declining religious adherence and rising societal stress.
- The Economist25 min
Bot against America: a Chinese AI jolts markets
Rosie Bloor, Jason Palmer, Guy Scriven, Sarah Larniuk, Tim Cross
DeepSeek's cost-efficient AI model triggered a global market sell-off by challenging the expense narrative of American tech giants, while US officials like Donald Trump framed the event as a competitive wake-up call for domestic industry. Simultaneously, Canada's Liberal Party faces scrutiny over unachievable 2030 goals to replace diesel in remote Indigenous communities due to climate-altered logistics and historical trust deficits with local First Nations. In the health sector, major fitness operators are pivoting from cardio to strength training to address metabolic health and counteract muscle loss linked to age and weight-loss pharmaceuticals.
- The Economist27 min
Right turn at a broken traffic light: Germany’s AfD
Rosie Bloor, Jason Palmer, Tom Nuttall, Gareth Brown, Ann Rowe
With a federal election imminent, the German far-right Alternative for Germany party has surged to second place in polling by broadening its platform to address economic anxiety while facing a cross-party firewall that excludes it from governing coalitions. Concurrently, the collapse of the Assad regime in Syria has triggered a significant return of displaced citizens driven by a desire to rebuild, despite ongoing infrastructure destruction and political tensions between secular and Islamist factions. Additionally, the film world mourns the death of auteur David Lynch, whose career was defined by juxtaposing suburban normality with cosmic dread in masterpieces like *Eraserhead* and *Twin Peaks*.
- The Economist23 min
A tax or attacks: how the Houthis fund themselves
Jason Palmer, Rosie Bloor, Corbyn Duncan, Stephen Askins, Alex Hearn, Ore Ogunbiyi, Amma Mensah, Sylvanus Ashan
In the Bab el-Mandab Strait, Houthi attacks have collapsed 70% of shipping volume and spiked freight rates fivefold, while major powers like the US and China remain constrained by regional diplomatic frictions that limit naval intervention. Simultaneously, China has rapidly narrowed its artificial intelligence gap with the US through cost-efficient frontier models like DeepSeek V3, challenging American infrastructure dominance despite sanctions on top-tier chips. In Ghana, founder Amma Mensah transformed a loss-making rainforest operation into a luxury spirits brand, boosting farmer salaries by 50% and targeting the global market with high-value rums derived from local botanicals.
- The Economist23 min
View to a killing: bond yields rise and rise
Rosie Bloor, Josh Roberts, Henry Kerr, Edward McBride
Rising global bond yields driven by sticky inflation and anticipated US fiscal expansion under Donald Trump are forcing higher borrowing costs for governments and consumers alike, while threatening to slow economic growth. Parallel strategic tensions involve the US exploring coercive or transactional methods to secure Greenland's critical mineral resources and naval significance, despite local sovereignty concerns. Meanwhile, Singapore faces a severe crisis in its UNESCO-recognized hawker culture as high recruitment costs and low profits deter younger generations, prompting a struggling government to rethink its intervention strategies.
- The Economist27 min
Moving the post goals: Musk’s British-politics meddling
Musk, Jason Palmer, Matthew Holhouse, Shashank Joshi
Elon Musk leverages his platform X to aggressively intervene in British politics by amplifying sexual abuse scandals and criticizing tax policies, creating a sharp generational divide between Prime Minister Keir Starmer's dismissive approach and Opposition Leader Kemi Badenoch's active engagement. Meanwhile, European governments are strategizing for a potential second Trump administration by preparing to increase defense spending to 3.5% of GDP and developing strategic autonomy amid fears of US aid withdrawal from Ukraine and rising instability in the Middle East. In cultural news, the passing of Cheng Yao marks the end of a forty-year Taiwanese literary career defined by her prolific exploration of resilient heroines and controversial portrayals of love.
- The Economist25 min
Adaptitude: India and climate change
Jason Palmer, Rosie Bloor, Robert Guest, Sukanya Ashin, CK Vishnudas, Arumar Rivi, Ganesh Shankar, John Prudhoe, Alex Hearn
Recent developments highlight a triad of global challenges and responses, where India's intensifying climate crisis drives urgent adaptation strategies ranging from community-led flood warnings to high-tech water conservation, while a forecast of Donald Trump's second term predicts aggressive regulatory rollbacks and tax cuts alongside low-probability foreign policy breakthroughs. Simultaneously, the English wine sector is pivoting toward robotic automation to counter labor shortages and rising temperatures, utilizing spectral analysis to harvest grapes with precision before their sugar levels compromise quality. These interconnected narratives underscore a broader shift where economic inequality, political constraints, and environmental pressures force rapid technological and policy adaptations across diverse industries.
- The Economist25 min
Against the clock: Gaza peace talks
Jason Palmer, Anshul, Guy Scriven, Emma Hogan
Outgoing and incoming US administrations are coordinating with Israel, Egypt, and Qatar to finalize a ceasefire and hostage deal in Qatar before Donald Trump's January inauguration, driven by shared strategic interests and domestic pressure on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Simultaneously, the region's economic and political landscape faces significant shifts as Nordic firms leverage long-term ownership structures to navigate global volatility, while Asian democracies grapple with authoritarian backsliding in Indonesia and Thailand despite coalition victories in India and Sri Lanka. These converging geopolitical trends underscore a critical transition period where security negotiations, business resilience, and the trajectory of political freedom are being actively redefined across multiple continents.
- The Economist26 min
All the president’s money men: the Trumponomics team
Jason Palmer, Simon Rabinovich, Rachel Dobbs, Anne Rowe
The Trump administration's 2024 economic strategy employs a tripartite advisory system balancing mainstream conservatives, entrenched America-Firsters, and tech tycoons, though internal conflicts over tariffs and immigration threaten governance stability. Concurrently, global tourism emissions have surged to represent 9% of worldwide output, driven by high-consumption travelers and weakened regulatory offsets that now demand comprehensive tracking and aviation caps. Meanwhile, astronomical observations indicate that Saturn's rings will vanish from Earth's view between March and November 2025 due to orbital alignment, echoing historical scientific misunderstandings and cultural metaphors regarding time and decay.