Economist Podcasts

Iran’s strikes both before and apparently after a ceasefire began seem to threaten peace. If it holds, what will that mean [https://www.economist.com/middle-east-and-africa/2025/06/24/trump-says-the-war-is-over-how-14-bombs-may-change-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] for Iran’s ambitions, and for the wider region? A meeting of NATO-country leaders seems precision-engineered [https://www.economist.com/europe/2025/06/19/this-weeks-nato-summit-will-be-all-about-placating-donald-trump?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 appease the alliance’s most fickle member. And why Germany is considering cancelling [https://www.economist.com/business/2025/06/05/germany-thinks-about-cancelling-a-public-holiday?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] one of its many public holidays. Additional audio courtesy of Chatham House's “Independent Thinking” podcast. 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.

The picturesque town of Corning in upstate New York doesn’t look like the site of bleeding-edge innovation. But inventions by a 174-year-old glass company there have changed the modern world, thanks in part to some blunt advice from Steve Jobs.  To listen to the full series, subscribe to Economist Podcasts+ [https://subscribenow.economist.com/podcasts-plus]. https://subscribenow.economist.com/podcasts-plus [https://subscribenow.economist.com/podcasts-plus] If you’re already a subscriber to The Economist, you have full access to all our shows as part of your subscription. For more information about how to access Economist Podcasts+, please visit our FAQs [https://myaccount.economist.com/s/article/What-is-Economist-Podcasts] page 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.

After America’s strikes intended to destroy Iran’s nuclear programme, one question is whether they succeeded [https://www.economist.com/middle-east-and-africa/2025/06/22/trumps-iran-attack-was-ferocious-but-has-it-actually-worked]. Another is how Iran will respond; all of its options are bad ones [https://www.economist.com/middle-east-and-africa/2025/06/22/trump-smashes-iran-and-gambles-the-regime-will-now-capitulate?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 the West people have been shedding religion for decades, but that secularist shift now seems to be slowing [https://www.economist.com/international/2025/06/12/the-west-has-stopped-losing-its-religion?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 what is driving the decline [https://www.economist.com/britain/2025/06/12/inverted-commas-are-falling-out-of-fashion?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 inverted commas (aka “quotation marks”). 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. Runtime: 22 min ---------------------------------------- Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy [https://acast.com/privacy] for more information.

The most consequential decision of Donald Trump’s presidency is now on pause for two weeks. We examine how the choice pits two sides [https://www.economist.com/international/2025/06/17/in-trumpworld-toppling-rulers-is-taboo?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 Mr Trump against one another. India is an advanced-manufacturing powerhouse, but can it become [https://www.economist.com/asia/2025/06/12/can-india-really-innovate?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 hub for high-tech innovation, too? And as “Jaws” turns 50 our correspondent says its hero is probably not [https://www.economist.com/culture/2025/06/09/as-jaws-turns-50-who-is-the-blockbusters-real-hero?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] who you remember. 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.

The workplace wisdom that a university degree is a sure-fire key to success is very much in question [https://www.economist.com/finance-and-economics/2025/06/16/why-todays-graduates-are-screwed?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 the trend started long before AI began eating jobs. Russia has launched yet another summer offensive in Ukraine, and appears to be going for broke [https://www.economist.com/europe/2025/06/08/vladimir-putin-unleashes-a-summer-offensive-against-ukraine?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 our journalists share their picks [https://www.economist.com/culture/2025/06/05/the-40-best-books-published-so-far-this-year?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 the year’s best books so far. 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.