Latest Interviews
Showing 46–60 of 186 transcripts.
Clear all filters- The Economist28 min
Pompcast: Trump rallies Congress
Trump, Jason Palmer, Rosie Bloor, John Priddow, Ana Lankes, Alex Hearn
President Donald Trump suspended military aid to Ukraine following a dispute with Volodymyr Zelensky, triggering retaliatory 25% tariffs from Mexico and Canada and prompting Zelensky to signal readiness for a new minerals deal. In his first congressional address, Trump claimed record-breaking approval swings and erroneously contrasted European and American aid contributions while asserting he ranks alongside George Washington. Simultaneously, Ecuadorian Attorney General Diana Salazar continues high-stakes investigations into corruption linking drug cartels to former President Rafael Correa, with the outcome threatening to determine whether the nation remains a democracy or becomes a narco state before upcoming elections.
- The Economist23 min
Emmanuel dexterity: Trump and Macron chat
Emmanuel, Trump, Macron, Jason Palmer, Sophie Petter, John Joe Devlin, Eva Torstad, Dr. Kelrong Utne, Henrik Weiss, Dolly Sesson
French President Emmanuel Macron and U.S. President Donald Trump concluded a three-hour Washington meeting where Macron corrected Trump's Russia narrative and framed a potential European-led peacekeeping force in Ukraine as a strategic turning point. This diplomatic exchange highlighted a broader shift toward European strategic autonomy as leaders address NATO defense spending gaps and questions regarding American reliability. Simultaneously, Norway's wild salmon collapse, driven by aquaculture parasites and shifting oceanic conditions, has prompted immediate fishing bans and calls for escape-free farming technologies. Finally, the Michelin Guide is adapting to the digital age by expanding into new markets like India and prioritizing sustainable, informal dining over traditional luxury to maintain authority against social media critics.
- The Economist24 min
Left, right and centre: Germany’s election
Jason Palmer, Tom Nottel, Anton LaGuardia
Friedrich Merz is poised to become Germany's next Chancellor following a decisive CDU-CSU victory that left the SPD in opposition after smaller parties failed to reach the parliamentary threshold. His administration faces the immediate challenge of forming a coalition to address six years of economic stagnation while navigating constitutional hurdles to relax debt limits and managing a potential diplomatic rift with the SPD over strict immigration proposals. Merz has signaled a shift toward European defense autonomy due to concerns over US reliability, aiming to finalize these coalition negotiations by April to address urgent security and economic imperatives.
- The Economist25 min
Friends (the one with estrangement): Europe without the US
Pableaux Johnson, Rosie Bloor, Jason Palmer, Christopher Lockwood, Alex Domas, John Fasman
Vice President J.D. Vance and President Trump have shifted US policy to prioritize European security autonomy, sparking fears of a NATO unraveling if the US withdraws its commitment to Ukraine in favor of a bilateral deal with Vladimir Putin. In response, European leaders from France, Germany, and the UK are urgently convening to bridge a massive defense spending gap and develop a collective security strategy capable of operating without American participation. Simultaneously, global labor markets face potential restructuring as economists propose a "work-from-home tax" model, though current employer mandates and worker leverage have so far stalled the implementation of salary reductions in exchange for remote flexibility.
- The Economist21 min
Young, gifted and black: Africa’s next generation
Jason Palmer, Rosie Bloor, Ore Ogunbiyi, Simon Rabinovich, Wendelin von Bredow
Economists dismiss the Department of Government Efficiency's projected $2 trillion savings as structurally impossible given that mandatory spending dominates the federal budget, leaving only discretionary funds for superficial cuts to agencies like USAID. Meanwhile, deep economic distress in Africa drives widespread youth dissatisfaction with democratic institutions and high emigration rates toward Western nations, while Germany's generous sick leave policies generate billions in annual costs for employers without addressing underlying health metrics. These three distinct analyses highlight the friction between ambitious fiscal targets, geopolitical labor shifts, and the unintended economic consequences of social welfare structures.
- The Economist23 min
Colour visions: a German-election lookahead
Rosie Bloor, Jason Palmer, Tom Nuttall, Moeka Iida, Jeff Goddard, Charlotte Kilpatrick
Germany's upcoming federal election features a fragmented parliament where Chancellor candidate Friedrich Merz leads polling but faces complex coalition hurdles due to the AfD's exclusion and the precarious status of smaller parties like Die Linke and the BSW. Simultaneously, Japan is undergoing a cultural reckoning following the resignation of celebrity Nakai Masahiro for assault, sparking public outrage that exposes deep-rooted legal and societal barriers despite recent reforms raising the age of consent. In London, the traditional pie and mash shops that defined Cockney culture since the Victorian era are vanishing due to rising rents and demographic shifts, forcing surviving establishments to diversify menus with vegan options to adapt to changing customer bases.
- The Economist23 min
Get your Strait facts: China’s quiet Taiwan push
Rosie Bloor, Jason Palmer, Jeremy Page, Georgia Banjo, Amelia Wood
U.S.-China-Taiwan diplomatic tensions have escalated following the State Department's removal of anti-independence language and a surge in Global South endorsements of Beijing's unification claims amid warnings of a 2027 PLA invasion capability. Simultaneously, the Lucy Letby murder conviction faces scrutiny from international medical experts and statisticians who argue that circumstantial evidence supports natural causes, prompting a potential referral to the Criminal Cases Review Commission. In the sports sector, top European football clubs generated record revenues exceeding €11 billion while star player salaries remained stagnant relative to earnings a decade ago, shifting investment focus toward non-sporting revenue streams and future Middle Eastern deals.
- The Economist25 min
Munich insecurity conference: a re-ordering begins
Jason Palmer, Zannie Minton-Beddoes, Shashank Joshi, Anne Rowe
The 2025 Munich Security Conference marked a historic rupture in transatlantic relations as Vice President J.D. Vance framed internal European political fractures as the primary security threat, prompting a swift diplomatic backlash from Chancellor Olaf Scholz and an emergency summit convened by President Emmanuel Macron. Amidst contradictory US signals regarding Ukraine negotiations and potential troop withdrawals, European leaders like Zelenskyy and Starmer began rallying around the concept of a new European defense force while demanding direct inclusion in peace talks. These tensions have fundamentally shifted alliance expectations, forcing NATO members to prepare for defense spending exceeding 3% of GDP and accelerating the decoupling of European security strategy from unpredictable American policy.
- The Economist25 min
Love match: Modi-Trump’s tariffs tussle
Modi, Trump, Jason Palmer, Rosie Bloor, Kira Khuyu, Leo Morani, John Fassman
At the White House, President Trump and Prime Minister Modi advanced a "mega-prosperity" partnership marked by the "MIGA" slogan, even as trade tensions over reciprocal tariffs and immigration enforcement disputes threaten the $200 billion bilateral relationship. Concurrently, global aviation faces a decade-long crisis of eroding safety and shrinking airspace due to geopolitical conflicts, granting non-Western carriers a competitive edge while forcing Western airlines to cancel routes. In the entertainment sector, *Saturday Night Live* celebrates its 50th anniversary by maintaining structural consistency under Lorne Michaels' leadership, successfully adapting its political satire for the digital age to sustain high ratings during election cycles.
- The Economist23 min
War hoarse: is Zelensky being heard?
Zelensky, Jason Palmer, Rosie Bloor, Ore Ogunbiyi, Vicente Maldonado, Caitlin Talbot, Halen Michael Seaman, Gabe Poirot
President Zelensky warns of grim front-line realities and insists Ukraine will only negotiate with binding U.S. security guarantees, while simultaneously facing funding hurdles for a contingency plan to double the national army. In West Africa, aquaculture startups like Troppo Farms struggle to meet surging local fish demand due to high capital intensity and bureaucratic barriers, despite 60% of global consumption shifting to farming. Meanwhile, TikTok has become a primary driver of religious engagement for Gen Z, where viral influencers bypass traditional institutions to build communities, albeit with risks of spreading misinformation and fragmenting belief systems.
- The Economist30 min
Eye to the chancellor: interviewing Friedrich Merz
Friedrich Merz, Rosie Bloor, Jason Palmer, Sani Minton-Beddoes, Chris Lockwood, Tom Nuttall, Alice Hsu, Johnny Williams
Ahead of the German general election, CDU leader Friedrich Merz positions his party as the polling frontrunner by diagnosing deep structural economic crises while refusing to compromise on the constitutional debt brake. Simultaneously, Taiwan confronts an unprecedented wave of military espionage where Chinese agents coerce both retired officers and active-duty soldiers through debt traps and psychological tactics to prepare the population for a potential 2027 invasion. In a separate commercial shift, the backpack market has evolved from utilitarian gear into a high-fashion sector driven by luxury brands and design innovations, with limited-edition items commanding prices between $400 and $4,000.
- The Economist22 min
I’ll be jammed: electronic warfare in Ukraine
Jason Palmer, Shashank Joshi, Tim Cross
The event analyzes three distinct shifts in modern strategy: the intensifying electronic warfare contest between Russia and Ukraine driving NATO's need for portable spectrum tools, the emergence of carbon monoxide as a hard-to-detect performance enhancer in professional cycling, and the erosion of UK parliamentary oratory driven by social media constraints. Key figures include the Union Cycliste Internationale and UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer, while specific outcomes involve Ukraine's increased local EW production, WADA's pending classification of carbon monoxide, and a century-long decline in parliamentary speech length. Collectively, these developments highlight critical adaptations in military technology, sports regulation, and political communication required to address evolving threats and cultural changes.
- 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 Economist25 min
Leeward: we meet South Korea’s probable president
Marianne Faithfull, Jason Palmer, Noah Snyder, Claire McHugh, Anne Rowe
South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol faces removal following an attempted martial law imposition, while opposition leader Lee Jae-myung emerges as a frontrunner despite facing disqualification hurdles from past election law convictions and pending corruption charges. Simultaneously, Colombia's Catatumbo region endures a severe humanitarian crisis with over 53,000 displaced persons resulting from intensified violence between the ELN and FARC dissidents, prompting President Gustavo Petro to declare a state of internal commotion and suspend peace negotiations. In cultural history, singer Marianne Faithfull passed away as a symbol of redemption after a dramatic fall from 1960s counterculture fame to street life due to heroin addiction, followed by a critically acclaimed musical resurgence in the 1980s.
- 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.