An explosion still echoing: Chernobyl at 40

The regal has landed: can Charles boost US bond?

The “special relationship” between Britain and America is at its weakest since the Suez crisis of 1956. Will a state visit by King Charles III [https://www.economist.com/britain/2026/04/23/britain-rethinks-its-special-relationship-with-america?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 America salvage the tie? Why Japanese automakers [https://www.economist.com/business/2026/04/09/japans-mighty-carmakers-are-in-serious-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] may be running out of road. And fish [https://www.economist.com/united-states/2026/04/16/the-hudson-is-now-so-clean-that-everyone-can-eat-from-it?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] from New York’s Hudson river are now safe to eat. Guests and host: * Rosie Blau, host of “The Intelligence” * Daniel Franklin, senior editor, Britain * Ethan Wu, Asia business and finance editor * Stevie Hertz, US policy correspondent Topics covered:  * King Charles III, state visit, special relationship * Japanese carmakers, Toyota, Honda, Nissan, EVs * Hudson river, fishing Listen to what matters most, from global politics and business to science and technology—Subscribe 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.

Security banquet: queries over Trump protection

After a gunman [https://www.economist.com/united-states/2026/04/26/a-gunman-storms-donald-trumps-dinner-with-the-press?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] stormed Donald Trump’s dinner with the press, questions are being revived about the president’s security. Germany’s top general [https://www.economist.com/europe/2026/04/22/can-the-germans-fight?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] explains the country’s new defence strategy. And listeners respond to our Weekend Intelligence episode on the passport bros [https://www.economist.com/podcasts/2026/04/18/meet-the-passport-bros?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 go abroad to find “a good woman”. Guests and host: * John Prideaux, host of “Checks and Balance” and US editor * Tom Nuttall, Berlin bureau chief * Carla Subirana, reporter * Rosie Blau, co-host of “The Intelligence” * Jason Palmer, co-hosts of “The intelligence” Topics covered:  * Donald Trump, assassination attempt, White House dinner, Cole Tomas Allen * Carsten Breuer, Bundeswehr, NATO, Ukraine * Passport bros, tradwife, misogyny  Listen to what matters most, from global politics and business to science and technology—Subscribe 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.

An explosion still echoing: Chernobyl at 40

We go deep inside the Chernobyl nuclear-power plant and the surrounding exclusion zone, recounting the history [https://www.economist.com/interactive/europe/2026/04/20/chernobyls-forgotten-nuclear-lessons?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 accident on April 26 1986, and speaking with plant workers who were on shift that day. A pre-eminent Chernobyl historian discusses the lessons learned and yet to be learned from the disaster. And we consider the science still being done [https://www.economist.com/interactive/science-and-technology/2026/04/21/scientists-are-still-learning-from-the-chernobyl-nuclear-disaster?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] at Chernobyl. In 2024 “The Weekend Intelligence” went to Ukraine to consider the aftermath of the Russian invasion and occupation of Chernobyl, and then of the Zaporizhia nuclear-power plant. What we found was an industry that had no expectation that could even happen, and nothing of a plan when it did. Listen here [https://shows.acast.com/theintelligencepodcast/episodes/the-weekend-intelligence-a-nuclear-catastrophe-waiting-to-ha?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]. Guests and host: * Serhii Plokhy, historian, Harvard University * Olena Pareniuk, radiobiologist, Institute for Safety Problems of Nuclear Power Plants * Jim Smith, environmental scientist, University of Portsmouth * Jason Palmer, co-host of “The Intelligence” Topics covered:  * Chernobyl nuclear-power plant, history * nuclear safety, nuclear-energy policy * radiation exposure, radiobiology, radioecology  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.

Bringing the House down: our American midterms model

We examine what our forecast model predicts so far [https://www.economist.com/united-states/2026/04/21/our-midterms-forecast-predicts-pain-for-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]—and consider what might change its confident prediction for one house of Congress and toss-up call for the other. Our correspondent sits down with Steve Reich, a pioneering classical composer who is nearing his 90th birthday. And the surprising reason why firstborns tend to have [https://www.economist.com/graphic-detail/2026/04/16/why-eldest-siblings-are-brainier?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] more-successful lives. Additional music courtesy of Steve Reich (Nonesuch Records), Erik Hall (Western Vinyl) Guests and host: * Dan Rosenheck, data editor * Jon Fasman, senior culture correspondent * Ainslie Johnstone, data journalist * Jason Palmer, co-host of “The Intelligence” Topics covered:  * American elections, Congress, polling, gerrymandering * Steve Reich, contemporary classical music * birth order, statistics 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.

White hat, black box: AI’s next chapter

The decision of Anthropic, an AI giant, to keep its Mythos model sequestered [https://www.economist.com/business/2026/04/08/how-dangerous-is-mythos-anthropics-new-ai-model?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] surely makes for good press. But there seems to be more to it than that—and it might change the whole industry’s approach. Indian politicians are chasing female voters more than ever; we question the means and the outcomes [https://www.economist.com/asia/2026/04/14/a-battle-for-female-voters-is-changing-indias-elections?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 next in our World Cup contender-country profiles: Senegal.  Guests and host: * Alex Hern, AI writer * Kira Huju, Asia correspondent * Jon Fasman, senior culture correspondent * Jason Palmer, co-host of “The Intelligence” Topics covered:  * AI, Anthropic, Mythos * India, women, politics * World Cup, Senegal 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.