The Economist: The week ahead Podcast
1) Stimulating discussion: policy responses to covid-19
Britain’s central bank made an emergency cut and released a budget with a whopping £30bn ($38bn) stimulus; we discuss what countries are doing, or should be, to cushion economies against the pandemic....Show More
2) From bad to awful: Trump’s four options in Iran
As the war in Iran progresses, none of the options available to Donald Trump looks good. We examine each of them. Thailand’s Buddhist monks are implicated in lots of lawless and dodgy behaviour—but cl...Show More
3) The Weekend Intelligence: Mise en masse
Chef Gary Thomas has a lot on his plate. That’s because he’s in the business of feeding thousands of people a day on a ship in the middle of the ocean. Not just any ship – the Star of the Seas, the la...Show More
4) Poll vault: Argentina’s Peronist surprise
After dominating the polls for months, Javier Miliei, a right-wing firebrand, was outshone by the candidate from the ruling Peronist administration. We examine why Mr Milei fell so short and the run-o...Show More
5) 6000 bombs in six days: life in Gaza
Bombs have rained on the strip since Hamas’s attack on Israel last Saturday. With food, water and electricity running out ahead of a ground invasion, one woman tells us the worst is yet to come. The U...Show More
6) Pestilent peninsula: covid in North Korea
North Korea’s zero-covid strategy appears to have failed. The country has officially acknowledged 162 cases; the true number is probably orders of magnitude more. The country’s health-care system is i...Show More
7) It’s his party: American primaries
Five American states held primary elections yesterday. The most important were in Pennsylvania, where a Trump-backed candidate won the Republican gubernatorial primary. The Republican senate race rema...Show More
8) It’s a family affair: Sri Lanka’s protests turn deadly
Demonstrations that eventually ousted the prime minister have cost lives, but the protest mood is not fading: many want every member of the storied Rajapaksa family out of government. We examine an ef...Show More
9) Capital outflow: Russia changes tack
It appears that Russian forces are withdrawing from Kyiv, Ukraine’s capital, to focus on the eastern region of Donbas. We examine what the shifting tactics signify. A court in Singapore has refused to...Show More
10) Talk in Turkey: Russia-Ukraine peace negotiations
Negotiators are again meeting face-to-face, this time in Istanbul. There is little hope of reaching an agreement at this stage—and even less that it would be adhered to. The metal cages appearing atop...Show More