The Intelligence from The Economist

Getting their ships together: America in the Caribbean

As America sends its biggest naval hardware to the Caribbean, we ask whether the intent is more than mere sabre-rattling [https://www.economist.com/the-americas/2025/10/27/the-meaning-of-americas-vast-military-build-up-off-venezuela?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]—and why the Trump administration has appetite for another foreign entanglement. Our correspondent sits down with Salman Rushdie to discuss his new book and the value of humour. And as AI-generated spreads, more of the lyrics get filthy [https://www.economist.com/culture/2025/10/09/x-rated-ai-generated-country-songs-are-taking-over-the-internet?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.

Capital gained: a grim turn in Darfur

The paramilitary Rapid Support Forces have at last taken El Fasher, the capital of Darfur. Reported atrocities are sharply rising [https://www.economist.com/middle-east-and-africa/2025/10/30/darfurs-besieged-capital-falls-to-the-rapid-support-forces?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 a chilling echo of what happened in the region two decades ago. Artificial intelligence is narrowing the information asymmetry between sellers and buyers, spelling an end to the “rip-off economy [https://www.economist.com/finance-and-economics/2025/10/27/the-end-of-the-rip-off-economy?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]”. And why the literary genre of questionnaires is fading [https://www.economist.com/britain/2025/10/19/question-1-why-are-questionnaires-in-trouble?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.

Truce story: (a sketch of) a Trump-Xi trade deal

Presidents Donald Trump and Xi Jinping agreed to holster their trade weapons [https://www.economist.com/leaders/2025/10/30/america-and-china-have-only-holstered-their-trade-weapons?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 now. But even if the deal holds, it does not address the deeper problems in the relationship. We examine why mercenaries—and slick international firms that employ them—are doing a roaring trade [https://www.economist.com/business/2025/10/21/the-mercenary-business-is-on-the-brink-of-another-boom?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] these days. And a Halloween look at what our correspondent calls a golden age of horror [https://www.economist.com/culture/2025/10/30/frightfully-good-stuff-why-this-is-a-golden-age-of-horror-films?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.

Manhattan transfer: New York’s finance folk flee

Taxes upon taxes are just one of the reasons that both financial-industry hotshots and businesses are moving out of the Big Apple. We look at what that might cost the city. A snapshot of the drinks business [https://www.economist.com/business/2025/10/20/despite-abstemious-gen-zs-the-booze-industry-is-going-strong?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] reveals a subtle picture of who is drinking what, and where. And the Chinese rapper that is fast becoming [https://www.economist.com/culture/2025/09/25/skai-isyourgod-the-chinese-rapper-thrilling-global-audiences?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] a global household name.  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.

War-chest X-ray: how to finance Ukraine

Europe is edging closer to using seized Russian assets to finance Ukraine. The country badly needs that 140bn-euro windfall—and much, much more. A much-fretted-about AI jobs apocalypse is not here yet, but AI-adopting firms are hiring less [https://www.economist.com/graphic-detail/2025/10/13/can-ai-replace-junior-workers?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 junior-level positions. And our ranking [https://www.economist.com/graphic-detail/2025/10/16/the-worlds-most-and-least-powerful-passports?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 the passports that permit the most freedom of movement. 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.