The Intelligence from The Economist

Wage against the machine: the distortions of minimum pay

For decades governments have found minimum-wage rises a politically expedient means of redistribution. But the onward economic distortions [https://www.economist.com/leaders/2025/11/20/why-governments-should-stop-raising-the-minimum-wage?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] have at last become clear. Of course AI can write a faster cover letter — perhaps even a better one. But there are knock-on costs [https://www.economist.com/finance-and-economics/2025/11/13/how-ai-is-breaking-cover-letters?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] when everyone is doing it. And a look at Florida’s bold experiment in the free choice of unbundled education [https://www.economist.com/united-states/2025/11/13/florida-is-running-a-radical-experiment-in-education?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.

Emission creep: a contentious COP closes

It is telling and troubling that the annual climate talking-shop’s outcome [https://www.economist.com/international/2025/11/22/cop30-ends-with-a-whimper?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] did not even mention fossil fuels. We ask whether the COP process is still fit for purpose. Cryptocurrencies could be heading for an almighty fall [https://www.economist.com/finance-and-economics/2025/11/18/crypto-got-everything-it-wanted-now-its-sinking?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 would they take down with them? And the revealing vowels and diphthongs of whale communications [https://www.economist.com/science-and-technology/2025/11/12/sperm-whales-communicate-with-vowels?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]. (Hear much more on animal communication in our series on “Babbage”: part 1 [https://www.economist.com/podcasts/2025/02/12/do-animals-have-language] asks whether animals truly have language, and part 2 [https://www.economist.com/podcasts/2025/02/19/could-ai-translate-animal-communication] whether AI could translate it.)  Additional audio courtesy of Project CETI [https://www.projectceti.org].  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.

Flee country: Britain seeks to slash migration

Britain’s home secretary Shabana Mahmood proposed a big shift in immigration policy [https://www.economist.com/britain/2025/11/20/will-britain-copy-asylum-policy-from-a-place-with-poor-integration?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] this week. Our correspondent explains Labour’s reforms – and the reasoning behind them. Why military spy balloons [https://www.economist.com/science-and-technology/2025/09/29/armed-forces-are-using-18th-century-technology-to-spy-on-enemies?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] are making a comeback. And celebrating historian Gillian Tindall [https://www.economist.com/obituary/2025/11/20/gillian-tindall-revelled-in-the-past-of-ordinary-lives?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 illuminated ordinary lives to bring the past to life. 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.

War graft: scandal engulfs Ukraine

Pentagon officials are meeting President Volodymyr Zelensky in Kyiv to discuss a Russia-US peace proposal [https://www.economist.com/europe/2025/11/19/a-terrible-american-russian-proposal-to-end-the-war-in-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] Ukraine had no part in writing. That merely adds pressure as a giant corruption crisis is already embroiling top officials. Fifty years on from the death of Franco [https://www.economist.com/europe/2025/11/13/half-a-century-after-the-death-of-franco-spain-is-a-far-better-place?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], our correspondent assesses how much Spain has changed. And should you date your boss [https://www.economist.com/business/2025/11/11/the-costs-of-dating-your-boss?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]?  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.

Crown prince arming: Trump sells jets to MBS

Muhammad bin Salman’s first visit to the White House [https://www.economist.com/middle-east-and-africa/2025/11/18/saudi-arabia-is-in-no-hurry-to-join-the-abraham-accords?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 seven years earned the Saudi crown prince new weapons, giant tech deals and a burnished reputation. Our correspondent explains Trump’s warm welcome. Why gay rights in Hong Kong [https://www.economist.com/china/2025/11/06/hong-kongers-support-gay-marriage-their-leaders-not-so-much?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] are going backwards. And how snail farms [https://www.economist.com/britain/2025/11/13/a-slimy-scheme-to-avoid-property-tax?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] help Britons dodge tax. 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.