Latest Interviews

How to rig an election

Fadzai Mahere, Khaloud Khair, Robert Guest

The 2024 global election cycle, the largest in history, is characterized by authoritarian regimes systematically utilizing a coordinated playbook to rig outcomes through lawfare, disinformation, and tactical manipulation. Leaders such as Rwanda's Paul Kagame and Zimbabwe's officials leverage constitutional amendments and criminal laws to imprison dissent while digital tools and gerrymandering dilute opposition power and suppress voter participation. Despite Western geopolitical concessions, these "phony democracies" endure by gutting institutions without abolishing them, fundamentally undermining the free and fair standards necessary for democratic consolidation.

An assassination attempt: what next for America?

Rosie Bloor, Idris Kahloun, Daniel Franklin

Former President Donald Trump survived an assassination attempt at a Pennsylvania rally in which the gunman was killed by Secret Service agents, resulting in one attendee's death and critical injuries to two others. While President Joe Biden temporarily halted attack ads and called for national unity, the event triggered immediate partisan maneuvering that forced both campaigns to recalibrate their messaging strategies ahead of the 2024 election. Historical analysis suggests this crisis will momentarily consolidate support for Trump and stall Democratic succession rumors, though polling indicates the fundamental election trajectory remains largely unchanged despite the intense polarization.

Is nuclear fusion the future of clean energy?

Charlotte Howard

Following record-breaking plasma temperatures at 100 million degrees Celsius, private fusion startups like Tokamak Energy and US-based Commonwealth Fusion Systems are racing to achieve commercial net energy production by the 2030s. This ambitious timeline relies on overcoming significant engineering hurdles in materials science and containment through a collaboration between global firms and public research bodies such as the UK's Atomic Energy Authority. With over $6 billion in investment fueling more than 42 private entities, the industry aims to deliver stable, low-waste baseload power as a critical solution for global decarbonization.

Hoax school shootings: inside America's epidemic

In February 2023, a coordinated wave of sophisticated SWAT hoaxes targeting schools across the United States, including a specific incident at Aspen Elementary School that triggered a lockdown for 500 students and deployed over 90 first responders, highlighted the rise of organized criminal enterprises utilizing dark web services and AI-generated voices. Investigators linked these events to known swatters and characterized the attacks as potential domestic terrorism after finding consistent scripts and high-tech anonymization tactics that evade traditional tracking. While 16 states have since elevated these offenses to felonies and VoIP providers like TextNow have tightened security measures, the FBI continues to struggle with identifying perpetrators due to the anonymity provided by VPNs and cryptocurrency payments.

Winning the long war in Ukraine

The Ukrainian counter-offensive has transitioned the conflict into a protracted war of attrition, prompting leadership to reject short-term victory timelines in favor of long-term endurance strategies. Kyiv is increasingly leveraging deep-strike drone campaigns against Russian strategic assets and the home front to shatter Kremlin narratives without triggering major escalation, thereby encouraging allied nations to reconsider supplying advanced weaponry. With peace negotiations deemed futile as both sides bet on exhaustion, the conflict's trajectory now depends on societal resilience and economic stability rather than immediate territorial gains, with analysts predicting the war will only end when Russia's leadership determines the human and financial costs are unsustainable.

AI and our future with Yuval Noah Harari and Mustafa Suleyman

Yuval Noah Harari, Mustafa Suleyman

In a forecast for AI capabilities by 2028, Mustafa Suleiman and Yuval Noah Harari envision frontier models that will autonomously negotiate, execute multi-step actions, and interface with external APIs. While Suleiman frames these tools as engineered systems requiring deliberate constraints to prevent unintended agency, Harari argues that the technology's potential for independent idea creation marks the end of human-dominated history and introduces unique existential risks. To address these challenges, both speakers advocate for a "coalition of the willing" to enforce bans on harmful practices like human-impersonation bots, emphasizing the need for international cooperation over a geopolitical race to the bottom.

The future of money: three ways to go cashless

Following a pandemic-driven acceleration in digital adoption, the global payments landscape now revolves around three distinct models: the high-fee credit card ecosystems of the West, China's dominant closed fintech networks, and India's government-backed Unified Payments Interface. While Western banks and processors like Visa and Mastercard leverage interchange fees to fund consumer rewards and protections, China's Ant Financial and Alibaba faced regulatory blockades after their market dominance threatened financial stability. Conversely, India's interoperable UPI system processes one-third of the nation's GDP by enabling direct bank-to-bank transfers and data ownership, effectively creating a nonprofit alternative that prevents single-entity control over financial infrastructure.

The biggest bank heist in history (and why you've never heard of it)

Nicolas Pelham, Hussein Kanbar Agha, Jonathan Beckman, Mustafa Kadhimi, Mohammad Soudani, Thea Jahar-Lafda

In August 2022, a systematic theft of $2.5 billion from the Iraqi General Commission for Taxes was exposed, with the central plotter Noor Zahair bypassing official controls to distribute funds to five shell companies. Although Prime Minister Mustafa Kadhimi's administration initially arrested Zahair as part of a political maneuver against the pro-Iranian Fatah Alliance, the subsequent government collapse led to Zahair's release and the issuance of arrest warrants for the investigators. The operation exemplifies a broader pattern of grand corruption where the majority of the stolen cash remains missing and is allegedly reinvested into Baghdad's construction boom while key figures evade lasting legal consequences.

Inside El Salvador’s war on crime

Nayib Bukele, Robert Guest

El Salvadorian President Nayib Bukele has implemented a nationwide security strategy that has imprisoned approximately 70,000 individuals, primarily young men detained on circumstantial evidence through group trials that bypass standard due process. This campaign has effectively dismantled democratic checks by purging the judiciary and gagging press coverage, yet it retains approval ratings between 80% and 90% by eliminating gang intimidation in exchange for a police state environment. Minister Gustavo Villatoro explicitly defended these measures as prioritizing citizen safety over human rights protocols while projecting a model where public popularity is sustained through the erosion of civil liberties.

Wall Street's king, Jamie Dimon, on the US presidency

Jamie Dimon, Zanny Minton Beddoes

JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon characterizes the current geopolitical landscape as the most dangerous since World War II, citing the Ukraine conflict and complex Sino-U.S. tensions as primary drivers of global instability. He argues that the United States must overcome domestic stagnation by addressing policy failures in immigration and healthcare while pursuing "tough and mature" economic negotiations with China to avoid strategic isolation. Although Dimon rejects a presidential run at age 67, he advocates for a pragmatic balance between national security and free enterprise to restore American competitiveness and social cohesion.

Generative AI: what is it good for?

Alok Jha, Tom Standage, Abhi Burtix, Arjun Romani

Following the 2017 Transformer architecture and the historic 2022 adoption of GPT-3.5, large language models now process unlabeled internet data to excel at tasks ranging from medical licensing exams to code generation. Despite these capabilities, the technology remains a "black box" with complex, opaque weights that lack the transparency required for high-stakes fact-finding or full automation. Consequently, while economists project that generative AI will impact half of the daily tasks for 20% of the U.S. workforce, current deployment is expected to evolve as a human-AI collaborative workflow rather than an immediate replacement of human roles.

How to make poor areas richer

Shaq, Andy Preston, Michael Weikert, Ava Miller, Jonathan, Hayley, Tom Standage

Discussions on widening regional inequality highlight the risks of centralized governance while contrasting failed de-industrialization with successful economic pivots in cities like Pittsburgh and Middlesbrough. Case studies illustrate that targeted investments in dynamic hubs, such as Germany's post-reunification spending and Tulsa's remote work incentives, can reduce unemployment and spur growth, yet persistent wage gaps and migration challenges remain. Policymakers ultimately face a strategic dilemma between revitalizing every declining area or concentrating resources on specific centers to prevent national economic collapse and mitigate the moral costs of inaction.

Energy crisis: what can 1973 teach us?

Christian Onda, Vijay Vaitheeswaran

The event analyzes the parallels between Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine and the 1973 oil crisis, highlighting how Western dependence on single suppliers has triggered a severe global energy shortage and humanitarian disparities. It details how current strategies, such as aggressive LNG procurement and coal expansion, are pricing out developing nations and risking long-term climate goals while failing to replicate the US model of self-sufficiency. Experts conclude that without diversifying suppliers and accelerating decarbonization, Europe faces imminent threats of mass casualties and economic instability during the upcoming winter.

Ukraine war: what will winter bring?

Volodymyr Zelensky, General Valery Zaluzhny

During his historic first visit to the United States since the war began, President Zelenskyy, alongside General Zaluzhny and Commander Sirsky, reaffirmed Ukraine's absolute refusal to freeze front lines or compromise on its 1991 borders. Despite severe infrastructure damage leaving 50% of the power grid offline, Ukrainian leadership warns that Russia is rebuilding 200,000 troops behind the Urals for a potential major offensive targeting Kyiv, Odessa, and the Donbas region by March. With public support for total liberation at 96%, the conflict is projected to enter a prolonged, World War II-style phase of intense artillery warfare that will likely extend for months or years.

Why the counterfeit business is booming

Tallulah, Tom Standage

With the global counterfeit sneaker market valued at over $100 billion, high-quality replicas from hubs like Putian have blurred lines with legitimate production, fueling a surge in online sales that now account for 56% of EU seizures. While platforms like eBay process millions of authenticated pairs and social media influencers drive demand through "one-to-one" quality claims, these illegal networks are increasingly tied to severe human rights abuses and organized crime. Experts warn that without addressing the root demand alongside supply-side enforcement, these counterfeit operations will continue to dilute brand value and evolve despite law enforcement tracking digital sales records.