The Intelligence from The Economist

Right, here, waiting: Europe’s populists on the rise

In Britain, Germany and France, populist-right leaders and parties are making hay [https://www.economist.com/leaders/2025/12/11/can-anyone-stop-europes-populist-right?utm_campaign=a.io&utm_medium=audio.podcast.np&utm_source=theintelligence&utm_content=discovery.content.anonymous.tr_shownotes_na-na_article&utm_term=sa.listeners]. What unites their movements, and how do their respective political environments shape their future prospects? And our obituaries editor reflects on the life of Frank Gehry [https://www.economist.com/obituary/2025/12/11/frank-gehry-shook-up-buildings-as-never-before?utm_campaign=a.io&utm_medium=audio.podcast.np&utm_source=theintelligence&utm_content=discovery.content.anonymous.tr_shownotes_na-na_article&utm_term=sa.listeners], perhaps the world’s most innovative architect. Get a world of insights by subscribing to Economist Podcasts+ [https://subscribenow.economist.com/podcasts-plus]. For more information about how to access Economist Podcasts+, please visit our FAQs page [https://myaccount.economist.com/s/article/What-is-Economist-Podcasts] or watch our video [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gczo71bg1uY] explaining how to link your account. ---------------------------------------- Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy [https://acast.com/privacy] for more information.

Ven and the art of hemispheric maintenance: America’s national-security posture

America’s seizure of a Venezuelan oil tanker fits with the stated goals in its new national-security strategy [https://www.economist.com/united-states/2025/12/05/donald-trumps-bleak-incoherent-foreign-policy-strategy?utm_campaign=a.io&utm_medium=audio.podcast.np&utm_source=theintelligence&utm_content=discovery.content.anonymous.tr_shownotes_na-na_article&utm_term=sa.listeners]: untrammelled hemispheric dominance. How much of the document is polemic and how much will become policy? The long-run costs of the work-from-home revolution are becoming apparent [https://www.economist.com/graphic-detail/2025/11/27/americas-work-from-home-capitals-are-in-a-sorry-state?utm_campaign=a.io&utm_medium=audio.podcast.np&utm_source=theintelligence&utm_content=discovery.content.anonymous.tr_shownotes_na-na_article&utm_term=sa.listeners] in many American cities. And the one region where Pepsi is the cola of choice [https://www.economist.com/middle-east-and-africa/2025/11/27/how-pepsi-trounced-coca-cola-in-the-middle-east?utm_campaign=a.io&utm_medium=audio.podcast.np&utm_source=theintelligence&utm_content=discovery.content.anonymous.tr_shownotes_na-na_article&utm_term=sa.listeners]. Get a world of insights by subscribing to Economist Podcasts+ [https://subscribenow.economist.com/podcasts-plus]. For more information about how to access Economist Podcasts+, please visit our FAQs page [https://myaccount.economist.com/s/article/What-is-Economist-Podcasts] or watch our video [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gczo71bg1uY] explaining how to link your account. ---------------------------------------- Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy [https://acast.com/privacy] for more information.

Digital stimulation: AI and porn

At every technological revolution, the industry of indecency is close at hand. We look at how sex workers and porn-peddlers are making use [https://www.economist.com/international/2025/11/27/ai-is-upending-the-porn-industry?utm_campaign=a.io&utm_medium=audio.podcast.np&utm_source=theintelligence&utm_content=discovery.content.anonymous.tr_shownotes_na-na_article&utm_term=sa.listeners] of AI. The sites of Syria’s most brutal civil-war deeds are just the latest destination for “dark tourists [https://www.economist.com/culture/2025/12/04/why-do-tourists-visit-sites-of-atrocities?utm_campaign=a.io&utm_medium=audio.podcast.np&utm_source=theintelligence&utm_content=discovery.content.anonymous.tr_shownotes_na-na_article&utm_term=sa.listeners]”; we explore the draw of atrocities. And to the many divisions in America, add one about a lawn-care implement [https://www.economist.com/united-states/2025/12/01/leaf-blowers-are-the-latest-thing-dividing-americans?utm_campaign=a.io&utm_medium=audio.podcast.np&utm_source=theintelligence&utm_content=discovery.content.anonymous.tr_shownotes_na-na_article&utm_term=sa.listeners]. Get a world of insights by subscribing to Economist Podcasts+ [https://subscribenow.economist.com/podcasts-plus]. For more information about how to access Economist Podcasts+, please visit our FAQs page [https://myaccount.economist.com/s/article/What-is-Economist-Podcasts] or watch our video [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gczo71bg1uY] explaining how to link your account. ---------------------------------------- Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy [https://acast.com/privacy] for more information.

“You’re…fired?” A momentous Supreme Court case

Of all the sackings at federal level President Donald Trump has carried out—and that the Supreme Court has upheld—the one now under consideration has the greatest implications [https://www.economist.com/leaders/2025/10/02/the-new-scotus-term-will-reshape-americas-constitution?utm_campaign=a.io&utm_medium=audio.podcast.np&utm_source=theintelligence&utm_content=discovery.content.anonymous.tr_shownotes_na-na_article&utm_term=sa.listeners] for presidential power. Now that satellites are going up by the thousands, earthly astronomers are struggling [https://www.economist.com/science-and-technology/2025/12/03/surging-satellite-numbers-threaten-to-dazzle-even-space-telescopes?utm_campaign=a.io&utm_medium=audio.podcast.np&utm_source=theintelligence&utm_content=discovery.content.anonymous.tr_shownotes_na-na_article&utm_term=sa.listeners] for clear views. And how one firm is bucking [https://www.economist.com/business/2025/12/04/even-europes-penmakers-are-under-threat?utm_campaign=a.io&utm_medium=audio.podcast.np&utm_source=theintelligence&utm_content=discovery.content.anonymous.tr_shownotes_na-na_article&utm_term=sa.listeners] the downward trend in the pen industry.  Get a world of insights by subscribing to Economist Podcasts+ [https://subscribenow.economist.com/podcasts-plus]. For more information about how to access Economist Podcasts+, please visit our FAQs page [https://myaccount.economist.com/s/article/What-is-Economist-Podcasts] or watch our video [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gczo71bg1uY] explaining how to link your account. ---------------------------------------- Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy [https://acast.com/privacy] for more information.

Transitional injustice: Syria one year after Assad

A year after ousting its despot, things are not as bad as many had feared. But old sectarian divides threaten the peace [https://www.economist.com/middle-east-and-africa/2025/12/04/an-insurgency-may-be-brewing-against-syrias-new-leaders?utm_campaign=a.io&utm_medium=audio.podcast.np&utm_source=theintelligence&utm_content=discovery.content.anonymous.tr_shownotes_na-na_article&utm_term=sa.listeners]. Forced labour, sex tourism and human-trafficking: ever more sophisticated drug gangs are behind a wave of exploitation [https://www.economist.com/the-americas/2025/11/30/trafficking-humans-is-the-drug-gangs-grimmest-business?utm_campaign=a.io&utm_medium=audio.podcast.np&utm_source=theintelligence&utm_content=discovery.content.anonymous.tr_shownotes_na-na_article&utm_term=sa.listeners] across Latin America. And the rocketing price of gold drives a new generation of prospectors [https://www.economist.com/united-states/2025/11/25/californias-latest-gold-rush?utm_campaign=a.io&utm_medium=audio.podcast.np&utm_source=theintelligence&utm_content=discovery.content.anonymous.tr_shownotes_na-na_article&utm_term=sa.listeners] to California. Get a world of insights by subscribing to Economist Podcasts+ [https://subscribenow.economist.com/podcasts-plus]. For more information about how to access Economist Podcasts+, please visit our FAQs page [https://myaccount.economist.com/s/article/What-is-Economist-Podcasts] or watch our video [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gczo71bg1uY] explaining how to link your account. ---------------------------------------- Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy [https://acast.com/privacy] for more information.